O’Leary completes Journey Missional Leadership Development Program
Published: December 1, 2025
By Annette Brill Bergstresser
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) — Shane O’Leary of Wauconda and Schaumburg, Illinois, completed the Journey Missional Leadership Development Program of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, in 2025.
The distance-friendly undergraduate-level certificate program develops leaders centered in Jesus Christ for ministries in local churches and communities. It’s designed for pastors, those exploring a call to ministry, church planters and lay leaders. The program — which consists of online study, biweekly meetings with a mentor, and face-to-face gatherings twice a year — currently has 38 participants in Canada, Nigeria, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Uganda and the United States.
O’Leary, who joined the Journey program in the spring of 2023, serves as Associate Pastor of North Suburban Mennonite Church in Libertyville, Illinois — a congregation of Illinois Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA. In this role, he preaches monthly, leads a Bible study on Zoom, and helps plan and lead worship. He’s also connected with North Suburban’s partnering congregation, Christ Community Mennonite Church in Schaumburg — also an Illinois Mennonite Conference congregation. He works as a Supply Chain Manager for Fairchild Industries in Lake Zurich, Illinois, communicating with partners in locations such as India, Pakistan and Brazil.
O’Leary’s mentor in the Journey program was Ben Bouwman, Pastor of Walnut Hill Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana — a congregation of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
“I came into this program as a fairly new Mennonite, and I was seeking to learn more about the roots of the tradition as well as find my place in the community as a whole,” O’Leary reflected. “I can say truthfully that both of those goals were accomplished, and I met some great people whose influence will go with me wherever I go. This is where I belong.”
O’Leary is married to Darby O’Leary, and they have one daughter. He will receive his Journey certificate at North Suburban Mennonite Church on Dec. 7.
Located in Elkhart, Indiana, on ancestral land of the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary is a learning community with an Anabaptist vision, offering theological education for learners both on campus and at a distance as well as a wide array of lifelong learning programs — all with the goal of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God’s reconciling mission in the world. ambs.edu
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