{"id":576761,"date":"2025-11-17T19:23:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576761\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T19:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:23:13","slug":"conservation-amid-change-what-do-you-keep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576761\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservation amid change: What do you keep?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MC USA Executive Director Glen Guyton<\/strong> reflects on the tensions, opportunities and faithful discernment at the heart of Reimagining Mennonite Church USA.<\/p>\n

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\"GlenGlen Guyton<\/strong> is the executive director of MC USA. He is the first person of color to serve in the role. Glen has almost 30 years of leadership experience in the denomination. Guyton joined the MC USA Executive Board staff in 2009 as the director of Intercultural Relations, and for the next serval years, held various staff roles until becoming executive director.\u00a0An officer in the United States Air Force when he first joined the church, Guyton credits several Mennonite leaders for teaching him what it means to be an Anabaptist Christian, in particular Bishop L.W. Francisco III, oversight pastor at C3 Hampton<\/a>, and Titus Peachy, formerly of Mennonite Central Committee, which led him to leave the military and commit to nonviolence. Guyton holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in management from the United States Air Force Academy and a master\u2019s degree in education from Regent University. He is the author of several books including, \u201cNavigating Microaggressions at Work: A Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Microaggressions in the Workplace,\u201d<\/a> and \u201cReawakened, Activate Your Congregation to Spark Lasting Change,\u201d<\/a> which explores eight keys to developing the abilities of congregations to bring healing and hope to their communities. Guyton is also a professional member of the National Speakers Association.<\/p>\n

This blog is part of a special series on \u201cReimagining Menonite Church USA,\u201d<\/a> an initiative to \u201creimagine a framework that maintains the interconnectedness between the church\u2019s various entities and better responds to current and future needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Focusing on what not to change will be one of the most empowering and challenging aspects of Mennonite Church USA\u2019s reimagining process. The denomination that we assembled in 2001 \u2014 and the world that envelops it \u2014 is not the same. Yet, at the same time, we as Mennonites draw a tethered line to our roots, which emerged some 500 years ago in Zurich, Switzerland. Since 1525, many aspects of Mennonite identity and practice have evolved, but others have remained unchanged. We may be more ethnically and culturally diverse, but Christ remains at our center as does the message of peace.<\/p>\n

But, as we look ahead to the next 10 to 20 years of MC USA, we need to ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d<\/p>\n

The task group, the Executive Board and, eventually, our delegates will need to consider where our roots should be deepened and which branches should be pruned \u2013 ultimately, laying out how this will happen.<\/p>\n

Change can be scary, so we tend to stick with the formulas and recipes that got us from point A to point B. Typically, that does not bode well for the future of successful organizations, as the social, cultural, and organizational landscapes around them are constantly changing. On the flip side, visionary leaders sometimes want to uproot everything, but that often causes instability and clouding of purpose. So, how do thoughtful, long-lasting institutions endure?<\/p>\n

According to the book \u201cThinking about the Future,\u201d there are three factors instrumental in the longevity of organizations:<\/p>\n