A Family of Adult Siblings

On Thursday, June 25 – Saturday, June 27, I (Ben) attended the Central District Conference annual meeting in Harrisonburg, VA. I cherished the opportunity to meet other pastors, folks from other congregations across the conference, and newcomers discerning if CDC might be a good home for their community.

Joel Miller – the board president of CDC and pastor of Columbus Mennonite Church in Ohio – opened his address to the conference by reflecting on the conference as a “family of adult siblings,” and referencing a document describing that this type of family means that “We love each other and are concerned about each other. We want to help each other but we do not feel a need to control each other.” For our local congregation – CDC is our “chosen family” of encouragement, support, and love in the journey of following Jesus.

At the gathering attendees from Chapel Hill and Raleigh Mennonite congregations jointly led one of the worship services for the gathering. I attended seminars on developing an Anabaptist supplement to “Our Whole Lives” human sexuality curriculum for kids/youth and another on the “Orienting with the Word” practice of congregational Bible study. The delegate body unanimously passed a resolution calling for continued actions for justice in Palestine and we also discussed and gathered feedback on what CDC’s approach might be regarding Article 19 of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.

You can read more about the official happenings at this year’s Central District Conference annual meeting and watch videos of worship and delegate sessions here: https://mcusacdc.org/2026-annual-meeting-2/