Six students complete Journey Missional Leadership Development Program
Published: February 12, 2026
By Annette Brill Bergstresser
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) — In 2025, six participants completed the Journey Missional Leadership Development Program of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana. They represent congregations of Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Church Uganda and Life Church Uganda.
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.
Learn more: ambs.edu/journey
The six graduates include:
Shella Franz
Franz’s mentor in the Journey program was Lois Janzen Preheim of Salem Mennonite Church in Freeman, South Dakota — also a CPMC congregation. The Freeman/Marion community is also where Franz spent her formative years.
“Journey has left me with renewed hope in the church because of God’s mission to the world and God’s call to come alongside Him in that mission,” she reflected. “My Journey studies improved my knowledge of the Bible and sharpened my awareness of which of my beliefs are uniquely Anabaptist. They boosted my confidence and gave me new tools for being a lay leader in my congregation.
“Much of the Journey program focused on relationships and being in community with each other. Each student is accepted where they are at in their personal spiritual journey and is affirmed and encouraged. We bounced ideas off each other, worshiped together and sought the Lord together. It was a beautiful thing. I treasure my Journey experience very much.”
Franz is married to Duane Franz, and they have five adult children and 13 grandchildren. She is also a graduate of Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, and of Freeman Academy and Freeman Junior College in Freeman. She received her Journey certificate at AMBS in January 2025.
April Hicks Lo
April Hicks Lo of Chicago, Illinois, joined the Journey program in the fall of 2022. She has been a stay-at-home caregiver and parent for 14 years. Before that, she worked as a social worker for 18 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Goshen (Indiana) College (1994) and a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (2004).
As a lay leader at Chicago Community Mennonite Church (CCMC), Lo has led worship and has served as Co-Chair of the Church Council; on other committees such as Fellowship, Mutual Aid, and the Prayer and Care Team; and on the Chicago Mennonite Voluntary Service Leadership Team. CCMC is a congregation of Central District Conference (CDC) of Mennonite Church USA.
Lo’s mentor in the Journey program was Anne Munley, Pastor of North Suburban Mennonite Church in Libertyville, Illinois — a congregation of Illinois Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
Lo said she joined the Journey program “to do something just for me” at a time of transition in her life. She had left her job as a social worker to be a stay-at-home parent, and her present roles — as a caregiver to an elderly family and as a parent — were shifting.
“The Journey program helped provide me with the education and support to explore my leadership abilities and what future options are available to me,” she reflected. “I find joy, light and meaning in my leadership roles in my congregation. I am not sure what the next steps of my personal journey will be, but I look forward to what my possibilities are.”
Lo is married to Alexander Lo, and they have two sons. She received her Journey certificate at the CDC Annual Meeting at Bluffton (Ohio) University in June 2025.
Benard Oguti
Benard Oguti of Mukono, Kampala City, Uganda, joined the Journey program in the spring of 2023. He works as a Christ-Centered Education Officer with Edify, a Christian nongovernmental organization focused on raising disciples through promoting Christ-centered education globally. His daily work involves supporting the Christian school proprietor through discipleship and leadership support.
In his home congregation, Life Church Uganda, he currently serves as Teens Pastor and Discipleship Group Leader. He is also connected with Ntale Mennonite Church in Mukono, a congregation of Mukono Conference of Mennonite Church Uganda.
Inspired by his experiences in the Journey program, Oguti launched Ripefields Global Ministries, a new ministry to plant churches and train church leaders in his area, in 2025. He is actively involved in this mission and evangelism ministry, and so far, five local churches have been planted.
Oguti’s mentor in the program was Bishop Simon Okoth of Ntale Mennonite Church, whom he met while searching for a Bible school. He said had looked at online Bible schools, applied for several scholarships and talked with various people who could connect him with Bible colleges, but nothing had worked out.
“I have always desired to understand Scripture and the author of it more deeply,” he said. “When I met Bishop Simon, he told me about this opportunity, and I immediately asked him to connect me. Journey has enlightened me spiritually, theologically and as a maturing minister. It has also given me confidence to share the word of God. The lessons of the Bible story, God’s salvation plan and how God’s mission is central in my Christian life inspired me to start my ministry fully focused on missional work, and I thank God for this inspiration and growth through the Journey program.”
Oguti has also studied at Uganda Christian University in Mukono and LivingStone International University in Mbale, Uganda. He is married to Faith Oguti. He received his Journey certificate in October 2025 in Mukono, Uganda.
Shane O’Leary
Shane O’Leary of Wauconda and Schaumburg, Illinois, joined the Journey program in the spring of 2023. He serves as Associate Pastor of North Suburban Mennonite Church in Libertyville, Illinois — a congregation of Illinois Mennonite Conference (IMC) 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 IMC 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 received his Journey certificate at North Suburban Mennonite Church on Dec. 7, 2025.
Jason Pauley
Jason Pauley of Trenton, Ohio, joined the Journey program in the fall of 2022. He is Pastor of Trenton Mennonite Church, a congregation of Ohio Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA. His mentor in the Journey program was Ron Wenzel, also of Trenton Mennonite.
“The Journey program was amazing,” Pauley reflected. “The mentoring aspect of Journey helped me to grow and strengthen my faith, as well as edifying me for my current role of Pastor at Trenton Mennonite. Everyone at AMBS wanted to see you succeed and took the time to show you a path to flourish. The Weekend Learning Events were wonderful — I miss them!”
Pauley has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is married to Jerelyn Pauley, and they have two children. He received his Journey certificate at AMBS in January 2025.
Rachel Stolpe
Rachel Stolpe of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, joined the Journey program in the fall of 2022. She is actively involved at Milwaukee Mennonite Church (MMC), a lay-led congregation of Central District Conference (CDC) of Mennonite Church USA. She often leads worship, occasionally gives the reflection and frequently helps in other areas. This spring, she is looking forward to leading a Bible study group at MMC through Orienting With the Word, a program of AMBS’s Faith Formation Collaborative. She also hopes to start a Wild Church meeting on Wednesday evenings in Milwaukee.
Stolpe’s mentor in the Journey program was Mariah Martin, Pastor of Faith Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana — also a CDC congregation. She credits the program with having supported her through difficult times in the past three years.
“The work in Journey is something I got to do, not had to do,” she reflected. “I will be forever grateful to the Journey program leaders, to Doug [Luginbill, CDC Conference Minister] for asking, to Mariah for mentoring, and of course to the Holy Spirit, who nudged me to start the program, knowing I would need the outlet as my world was crumbling. I’m always happy to talk about my experience in the program and recommend it to anyone willing to listen.”
Stolpe noted that one of the requirements of the program was to do an independent project. She wrote The Book of Fallacians: Is that really from the Bible?, a look at sayings that are assumed to be biblical but usually are not. Only six copies were hand printed and bound, but more are now available on demand through Amazon.
Stolpe is married to David Stolpe, and they have two adult children. She received her Journey certificate during the CDC Annual Meeting in June 2025 at Bluffton (Ohio) University.
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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