By Ben Woodward-Breckbill, Dove's Nest's Acting President and Associate Pastor at Shalom Mennonite Church, Newton, KS

By Nancy Kauffmann, Interim Executive Director

Dove’s Nest
Executive Director Job Description
(40 hours per week, $40,000 per year)

Approved by board, 10/7/2021

By Samuel Voth Schrag, Dove's Nest's Board Treasurer 

As a Sunday School teacher I’ve gotten to teach the Circle of Grace curriculum to all different ages. I really appreciate the image of a Circle of Grace around the children in my congregation. And as a parent I’ve found it very useful in helping my children negotiate their relationship and how they can think about their own sometimes rough-and-tumble play. 

By Nancy Kauffmann, Dove’s Nest’s Interim Executive Director

Many churches have put in place child/youth protection policies to create safe environments to protect children and youth from abuse. After taking this is wonderful step, what can a congregation do as follow-up to keep their commitment to child safety front and center?                                                     

By Dr. Jeanette Harder, Dove's Nest's Cofounder and Speaker's Bureau Member

How did I get here? After spending 14 months in my basement taking Zoom calls and pacing the floor, I got in my car and drove over 1,000 miles across the country to spend the summer researching Plain communities’ responses to child abuse. To say I experienced culture shock would be a gross understatement.

Nancy Kauffmann is a founding board member of Dove’s Nest. She was on the board of directors from 2009 to 2021, most recently as board president, and has served in ministry leadership roles at congregational, conference, and denominational levels for 40 years. Nancy is a member at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana, and has two grown children and one granddaughter.

After almost six years of service, Anna Groff submitted her resignation to the Dove’s Nest board of directors on July 26, 2021. She will begin as assistant professor of communication at Goshen College in Indiana this fall.

By Marlene Bogard, Former Dove's Nest Speaker's Bureau Member, with 2021 Updates from Dove’s Nest Staff

Congregational mentoring programs are designed to nurture
a spiritual friendship—one youth to one adult. How does the mentoring relationship fit with some of the procedures that
Dove’s Nest suggests?

Teaching and Modeling the Healthy Use of Power in Congregations

By Dayna Olson-Getty

YOUR CIRCLE OF GRACE
Sunlight streamed through the sanctuary windows as a group of children reached their arms high above their heads, wiggling their fingertips in the beams of light. After a pause, the children’s hands swooped toward the floor, their fingers brushing the carpet. A moment later, they stood, stretching their arms in front of their bodies as far as possible, then extending them behind their backs, each inscribing a complete circle around their body.