Peace Mennonite Church has seen more than its share of change during the past four to five years:

• Departure of a veteran pastor, the arrivals and departures of an interim minister and another full-time pastor.
• Difficult and contentious decision to become a publicly open and affirming congregation, welcoming gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people into the full life of the church.
• Membership turnover, up-and-down attendance at Sunday worship services and the reality of a shrinking budget.

The church, which meets at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., is a congregation in transition.

Enter the Rev. Kathy Neufeld Dunn, Peace Mennonite’s new intentional interim pastor.

Dunn, installed at the church Sept. 12, describes herself as facing a fivefold task.

Peace Mennonite Church interim pastor Kathy Neufield Dunn speaks during worship services. The service was Sunday at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.

Her goals are to help the church come to terms with its history; discover a new identity; prepare for new leadership; renew denominational ties; and make a commitment to new directions in ministry.

“The church is in an adolescent stage,” says Dunn, who will split her time each month between Lawrence and her home in Ann Arbor, Mich., where her husband, Michael, works for the University of Michigan.

“As teens, we search for our identity, and we try to rebel a little bit against the authorities (in this case, denominational). This church does a little bit of both.”

Dunn’s job, in essence, is to guide the 80 to 90 active members as they try to determine — practically and theologically — just who God is calling Peace Mennonite to be.

Her ministry represents simply the next step in the church’s unfolding journey, not a long-term solution for its future.

“I do come in with some skills and a lot of compassion. But I am here to be a temporary shepherd,” Dunn says.

Gracious, engaging

Members of Peace Mennonite — originally founded as a fellowship in the early 1980s — seem to think Dunn is cut out for the job.

“We hired her because of her experience working with churches in transition, and she has, since she started in September, absolutely fulfilled my expectations. She’s begun the kind of process that we expected in a quiet, deliberate way,” says Kirsten Bosnak, the church’s co-moderator.

Mark Olson, also a co-moderator, expressed confidence in the abilities Dunn brings to the table.

“I think she’s outstanding. I think it’s uncanny that at the time that we decided to seek an intentional interim pastor, someone with her skills, gifts and training was there for us,” he says.

The church was aided in its search for leadership by the Newton-based Western District Conference of the Mennonite Church USA, Olson adds.

Since Dunn’s arrival, the church appears to be on the upswing, according to Joanna Harader, chair of Peace Mennonite’s worship committee.

“There seem to be more people coming (to Sunday worship), we’re having more social events, services are going well and the children’s program is pretty solid,” says Harader, who has attended the church for the past three and a half years.

“People seem to really like her (Dunn) and appreciate her leadership style. She’s very gracious and engaging, but she also has firm ideas about the directions the church needs to go.”

Harader is working, alongside Dunn, in a student pastor capacity. She plans to enter seminary in the Kansas City area in January.

Reaching consensus

One aspect of Dunn’s career profile that drew the attention of the Lawrence church’s leaders is her experience as both an ordained minister and a trained mediator.

Dunn served as pastor from 1992 to 2000 at Shalom Community Church: A Mennonite and Church of the Brethren Congregation in Ann Arbor.

Before starting her ministry in Lawrence, Dunn had served the past three years as chaplain at Glacier Hills Retirement Center in Ann Arbor.

But she has also worked as a mediator with individuals, large groups and churches in Michigan. Dunn describes a mediator as a third-party, neutral person who tries to help people or parties in conflict come to mutual agreement.

She’s now working on a doctorate in ecclesial mediation at the Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Ind.

“It’s very rare (to be both a pastor and trained mediator). I didn’t go into ministry assuming I was going to do this kind of work,” Dunn says.

Her skills in helping people with diverse viewpoints reach consensus could prove useful in her new position.

“Peace (Mennonite) is not in great crisis now. They do have an agenda they need to work on: organizational restructuring, visioning and goal setting. In addition to helping them come to grips with some tough past history,” Dunn says.