ADNet Board: Looking to the Future

ADNet’s Board of Directors met in Goshen October 7-8, 2011, for its yearly in-person meeting. The mood was remarkably buoyant after the previous year’s somber budget-cutting decisions.

Strategic planning with the assistance of consultants Orville Yoder and Mim Shirk from Mennonite Health Services Alliance concentrated on finding ways to continue ADNet’s focal mission to congregations within the current economic climate.

Key outcomes included a three-year plan to focus person-to-person resources on congregations in the Great Lakes region to make the most of finite resources, while continuing to serve those at a greater distance through our newsletters, comprehensive website, phone and email support, and volunteer network.

Board recruitment within the Great Lakes region will receive significant attention within the coming year, as the board aims to add three new members by October 2012. Your suggestions (including self-nominations) of qualified board candidates with a passion for disabilities and mental health inclusion in the church are invited. Those who nominate a candidate who becomes a board member may receive as a gift one of our new books, Supportive Care in the Congregation or After We’re Gone , as an expression of our thanks.

In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Sharon Beyer,  Norristown, PA, with thanks for four years of service.