Sunnyside Mennonite Church

Welcome to Explore the Core . This multimedia curriculum package with a companion Student Study Guide grew out of the work of t he Core Values Council. The Council, established by the Bishop Board in 2002, worked toward the goal of the discovery “of a center of values that will commend themselves to the constituency and help the formation of a common core of beliefs and values in the years to come.” This goal focused both the assigned work and the outcome upon the desire to become a missional Lancaster Mennonite Conference that envisions new, revitalized, and multiplying congregations extending God’s Kingdom. With this focus, the Council worked with two objectives:

1. To move core values of Lancaster Mennonite Conference from an unconscious to a conscious level.

2. To discover shared values around which conference congregations can unite in dynamic ministry.

Since the Core Values discovery process started in 2002, the Lancaster Mennonite Conference constituency has consistently affirmed the outcome of the work of the Council, from Bishops, to credentialed leaders, Celebration of Church Life delegates, and individual classes and groups within congregations. The current products from the core-values discovery process incorporate comments and suggestions from all of these settings.

The Teacher’s Manual presents the conclusion of one major round of testing from a variety of settings. Those who interact with this material are encouraged to supply their comments and evaluations as the journey toward a Missional Anabaptist identity in Lancaster Mennonite Conference continues. As this input into the process was collected, another version of this Study Guide was produced with a multimedia DVD curriculum.

Explore the Core first introduces the term, “missional Anabaptist identity.” Next, Jesus Christ, the center of faith and life, is explored. Then the ten Core Values are explored. The ten values are are grouped in three categories or “ways:” a way of seeing, a way of reading, and a way of living. The final session concludes with an encouragement to students to “Tell Our Story.”