Collection MCUSA-MM-001 - MennoMedia Records

MennoMedia was formed on 1 July 2011 with the merger of Mennonite Publishing Network and Third Way Media, then operating as a division of Mennonite Mission Network. The former Chief Executive Officers of the two merging agencies, Ron Rempel of Mennonite Publishing Network and Burton Buller of Third Way Media, retired and Russ Eanes, then Chief Financial Officer for Mennonite Publishing Network, was appointed as the new Executive Director.

MennoMedia retained the bi-national character of the Mennonite Publishing Network with three Canadian and five American board members. It operates as the print and media arm for Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada.

Mennonite Publishing Network’s operations were relocated from Scottdale, Pennsylvania where it had offices for more than 100 years, to Third Way Media’s building in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Mennonite Mission Network gifted that building and allocated significant financial support to MennoMedia during its first five start-up years. The building in Scottdale was sold for $100,000 to serve a Christian congregation.

In 2015 MennoMedia had approximately 21 full time equivalent employees with offices in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Kitchener, Ontario, Newton, Kansas and Elkhart, Indiana. Additionally, several employees work from their homes.

During MennoMedia’s first three years it experienced financial losses due to operations, but also garnered considerable financial support from churches and individuals as it developed and rolled out a new Anabaptist Sunday school curriculum, Shine. Financial realities dictated two rounds of staff layoffs in the early years and a refocusing on the agency’s core mission of providing the church with the faith formation resources it needs to carry out its work from a distinctly Anabaptist perspective. In its fourth year it operated with positive operating revenues.