Worship in the Woods is the summer vespers series of the Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center. Join us Sundays at 7 PM from June 27 through August 15 in our beautiful, outdoor, wooded amphitheater!
Please bring your own lawn chair for seating. An offering will be taken to support the ongoing mission of the Heritage Center. Parking is available in the field at the top of our hill. Golf cart assistance is available for those who wish it; if handicap parking is needed at the bottom of the amphitheater, please request it when you arrive.
In case of inclement weather, the service will be moved to the Log House and parking signs will be relocated to that area.
Our service on July 18 will feature Robert Yutzy as speaker, with Becky Hunter and Mary Kay Adams providing special music.
Robert Yutzy is pastor of Lindale Mennonite Church, and comes to Harrisonburg from North Newton, KS. Robert grew up on a farm in Plain City, Ohio and for sixteen years Robert and his wife Luann operated Luann’s family farm in the same area and started their own family of five children.
Their congregation called Robert into the ministry in 1998 and in 2000 their family moved to Hesston, KS for Robert to attend Hesston College’s Pastoral Ministry Program. Luann was also called into pastoral ministry and graduated from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and was ordained in Western District Conference. While she was in seminary, Robert worked for the STAR program (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) and completed a master’s degree in conflict transformation and organizational leadership from EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding with an emphasis on congregational health.
Robert was the founding Coordinator of Congregational Ministries for the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (KIPCOR) at Bethel College in North Newton where he offered consultation, training, and facilitation to congregations and leaders which included a variety of denominations in Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. He has worked with over three dozen congregations and leadership groups. He especially enjoys helping congregations discover their identity as rooted in their story and where God is calling them next.
Robert and Luann moved into transition ministry and over the past 10 years have worked with 12 congregations in transition, sometimes as co-pastors and sometimes in separate churches.
Robert has served as a pastor in congregations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and as a transition pastor in Kansas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. Robert’s most recent transition pastorates were at Hesston Mennonite Church and he co-pastored with Luann at Springs Mennonite Church, Springs, PA.
Becky Hunter and Mary Kay Adams will provide special music, with Becky on violin and Mary on cello.