My professional journey began with a phone call. When I was 10 years old, I phoned my local bicycle shop to help troubleshoot a problem: the brakes on my vintage Schwinn were not working properly. With the shop owner’s verbal guidance, I removed the faulty part, procured a replacement, and successfully completed the repair. A short time later, the bike shop owner reached out to my parents, inquiring whether I might want to apprentice as a mechanic.
I leapt at the opportunity.
I developed mechanical skills, retail experience, and customer-service acumen, not to mention self-confidence. I continued working there through my high school years and have always enjoyed learning about how things work and how to use tools to solve problems.
I first came to northern Indiana after high school. I left my small hometown in Ohio to complete my undergraduate degree in Music Education at Goshen College. I chose Goshen because of its close-knit campus community and emphasis on intercultural learning.
I took many lessons from the bike shop into my first career in Music Education: listening, collaborating, problem-solving, and delivering quality products and services. For eighteen years, I conducted choirs and taught vocal music from elementary through university level in Iowa, Indiana, and Kansas. I earned a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa. I performed in twenty four states and seven European countries and enjoyed getting to witness the many ways making music transforms people’s lives.
In 2016 I was tapped to lead the creation of a denominational hymnal for *Mennonites in the US and Canada. I facilitated and supervised an intergenerational team of 12 experts (theologians, liturgical scholars, and musicians) to curate a social justice hymnal for theologically diverse Christian communities. Voices Together (MennoMedia, 2020) comprises 759 songs and 310 worship resources. Our team prioritized listening to constituents, learning from diverse communities, engaging ecumenical partners, and working quickly (!) as we operated under a four-year mandate.
Hymnal work requires a container sturdy enough to hold rigorous research and debate while malleable enough to allow us to shape and change our processes over the course of a complicated and rewarding project. Our team forged strong bonds of mutual respect and trust, enabling us to make decisions by consensus.
The end result was a broad suite of deliverables in print and digital formats. And relationships. Whether corresponding with content creators, listening to constituents, or carrying out committee work, relationships are the abiding hallmark of this work.
Last year found me ready for new vocational challenges and living in Goshen again. I was thrilled to learn about enFocus and its unique contributions to a thriving region. I’m drawn to this community of innovators because learning and collaborating are core currencies here. I am especially energized by how much I can learn in this diverse milieu of supportive professionals. Although the tools have changed over the course of my professional life, the principles of hands-on learning and problem-solving remain. I’m excited to share my experience and insights in helping the region grow stronger and more equitable for all of its residents.
*There are many Mennonite groups in North America with distinct beliefs and practices. The specific (progressive) denominations involved in this project are Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. MennoMedia is their shared publisher.