ELKHART, Indiana - Mennonite Mission Network has named Interim Director of Constituent Engagement Eric Frey Martin as the permanent director of constituent engagement effective August 19, 2024. He has served as interim director of constituent engagement since March 2023 after the former director, Marisa Smucker, was promoted to interim (now permanent) executive director.
"With [Frey Martin]'s knowledge of Mission Network, established connections with conferences, constituents and staff and his gifts, contributions and experience in the position over the past year, we believe that Eric is the best person for this position," said Marissa Stewart, director of human resources, in an email to Mission Network staff on August 19.
As a constituent engagement representative and, later, interim director of constituent engagement, Frey Martin has met with congregations, conferences, and churchgoers across the United States to explore ways of building strong communities of faith and service through mission. In his permanent role, he will provide leadership for staff who will engage and maintain relationships with Mennonite Church USA constituency, focusing on conferences, congregations, educational institutions, related agencies, and other Anabaptist affiliates.
"I am excited to continue relating the work and ministry in which Mission Network is involved to churches and congregations," he said. "Mission Network is an extension of the church, and there are many ways in which we can all join in God's reconciling work in the world."
Frey Martin and his family are active members of Silverwood Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana.
A 2008 graduate of Bluffton (Ohio) University with a Bachelor of Arts in religion, Frey Martin continued his education at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Elkhart, Indiana) with a master's degree in divinity in 2020.
From 2017-2020, Frey Martin and his wife Kelly Frey Martin served as international service workers in Colombia through Mission Network. They connected with youth and young adults while working with Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Colombia in areas of leadership development and theological and biblical education.
Mennonite Mission Network exists to lead, mobilize and equip the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world.
Contact: Jennifer Hayes, director of marketing and communications, Mennonite Mission Network, jenniferh@mennonitemission.net, +1 (574) 501-4139.