Martin W Lehman

Below is the link for the livestream memorial service for Martin Lehman.  The link will go live 5-10 minutes prior to the service.

https://boxcast.tv/channel/n12gpk18euckrb3gcgs4

Martin W Lehman, 96, of Goshen died early on September 6, 2022, at Goshen Hospital. He lived at Greencroft Healthcare and was known for his singing that would echo through the halls. As he aged, Martin’s tears also came often to express his love for the church and his grief for its boundary-driven tendencies. He asked for a large print Voices Together hymnal and soon learned a new favorite song: “Ask the complicated questions.”

Martin was born March 14, 1926, on a small farm in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, to J. Irvin and Ruth (Martin) Lehman, a Mennonite minister and his wife. His favorite childhood pastimes were exploring the stream and woods on their “Blueberry Acres” farm. His brother John, six years older, was his only sibling.

Martin studied three years at Eastern Mennonite School in Virginia.  As a tenth grader Martin first declared his feelings for classmate Rhoda Krady in a love poem and placed it on her desk during study hall. When she moved home to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Martin asked her father’s permission to correspond with her. In lieu of his senior year, Martin received GED credit, and joined his father as a partner on their organic farm of vegetables, berries, poultry and honeybees.

Martin was drafted and served in Civilian Public Service as a conscientious objector, 1945-46. He worked in soil conservation in Grottoes, Virginia, then served four months alone on fire towers next to the Sierra National Forest in North Fork, California. His hours alone were spent singing, reading the book of Romans, and pondering the differences among Mennonites and other faiths he was encountering. Martin’s last post was in the public health service unit at Gulf Port, Mississippi, which exposed him for the first time to racial injustice.

Martin and Rhoda were married on April 5, 1947, at Vine Street Mission in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They built a cottage on a small piece of land deeded to him by his father and were active members at Marion Mennonite Church. The following year they welcomed baby Rachel Elaine. Martin reveled in his new role as daddy.

The couple also were discerning potential ministry and were called to a small mission in Tampa, Florida, affiliated with the Lancaster Mennonite Conference and supported by Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities. In early 1950, Martin drove their 1932 Chevy Coupe to Tampa, and they moved into the parsonage next to the Ida Street church. Martin was happy that the property included citrus trees, live oaks, and room for a garden, beehives, and a few goats.

Martin was 24 and untrained but faith-filled, passionate, and determined to read, listen, and learn. In their traditional Mennonite dress, Martin and Rhoda made friends by spending time in homes, enjoying new foods, and learning Spanish. Over the years Martin’s message and expectations changed as he struggled to give answers that did not fit.  Martin’s youthful conservative faith evolved as he listened and learned.

In 1961, Martin was ordained by Lancaster Mennonite Conference to serve as bishop. The district included churches in South Carolina, Georgia, and Peninsular Florida. The diversity of cultures and needs scattered throughout the Southeast presented challenge. Martin was grateful for the freedom that distance from Lancaster gave him to encourage each church to find its mission in its particular community.

In 1963 a young mother they knew well died suddenly. At the father’s request, Martin and Rhoda welcomed his two-month-old baby as the son they had longed for and named him Jonathan Conrad. Raising an active son provided more learning for Martin.

Martin was granted the school year 1967-68 away to study at Eastern Mennonite College and Seminary and allowed to study courses of his choice. That year Martin relinquished the custom of bishop-led baptism and communion to the pastors. In a meeting with his pastors at the end of that year, Martin told them that he had decided that anything standing in the way of making Jesus known must go.

Martin knew that churches were stronger when working together. As he built relationships with churches across Florida, Martin became a leader in the development of the Southeast Convention, serving as general secretary for ten years until Southeast Mennonite Conference was formed.  In 1980, Martin and Rhoda moved to Sarasota. Martin became Conference executive secretary and secretary of congregational Life. An advocate for women in ministry and congregations as the locus of authority, he sought to equip, give counsel, and provide access to churchwide resources. Martin held this post until his retirement in 1992.

A lover of nature, Martin longed for city children and youth to experience camp. The first week-long summer camp was held in 1956. Martin’s efforts, along with pastors and southern Mennonites with financial means, led to the Southern Mennonite Camp Association and the purchase of land that became Lakewood Retreat.

Seeing the need for biblical study, Martin founded, wrote lessons, and directed Project Timothy, a leadership and biblical study program for pastors and lay people.

Martin’s relationships broadened and he was invited to various denominational meetings and also to serve on the Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries.  In 1982, he was asked to serve on a Listening Committee organized and mandated only to listen to Mennonites and their families who identified as gay [LGBTQ] and their experiences of rejection and intimidation in the church.  They continued to listen until the Committee was disbanded in 1990.  However, Martin’s learning and relationships continued throughout many years ahead.

During the same time period Martin began to find his voice in other issues.  He boldly found his own way of addressing issues of justice by literally taking off his shoes to gain admission to groups outside his comfort zone on both left and right, voicing his perspectives with humility and wisdom. Martin also went public with his faith in written articles for Mennonite and local newspapers.

Martin continued to be active well after his retirement. He acquired certification in the DISC personality system in 1991 and conducted workshops to assist congregational leadership councils to become more effective. He became active in the Sarasota’s Suncoast Evangelistic Association and was invited to serve in various leadership roles even though he frequently challenged their views. He also served as interim pastor in Harrisonville, MO, and Arcadia, FL.

Martin was a prolific writer.  A first small booklet, Job , published in the Sword and Trumpet represented his conservative take on his CPS experiences. Later he wrote articles for Gospel Herald , The Mennonite , and the Mennonite Weekly Review and was invited to contribute to a number of books. Martin saw computers and the internet as important means of communication. He became a regular correspondent on MennoLink , advocating for LGBTQ Mennonites and other views on church. Martin wrote Whimsies , Highlights , poetry, and sermons that he shared widely by email. He wrote one unpublished children’s book that he titled, The Old Man and the White Cat .

Martin was in his eighties when he completed and published Roots and Branches: A Narrative History of the Amish and Mennonites in Southeast United States; Volume 1 Roots 1892-1969 and Volume 2 Branches 1970-1992. Martin has also had a website: www.oldmennofools.com which is still available for reading, including many topics that have attracted young and old interested in the ponderings of a self-described “ nonagenarian who chooses to call himself, "The Old Fool."

Martin is survived by his daughter, Rachel Lehman Stoltzfus and son Conrad (and Jill) Lehman, grandchildren Dan (and Angela) Stoltzfus, Phil (and Rosa Oseguera) Stoltzfus, Belinda Bradford, Kyle Spencer, Diana Lehman and Zach Lehman along with twelve great grandchildren. His dear friend Joyce Buschert also survives.  Martin was preceded in death by his wife Rhoda, parents, brother John, son-in-law Eldon Stoltzfus, and great grandson JaQuan.

A memorial service for Martin will be held at College Mennonite Church on Saturday, November 12 at 10:00 am . following a short visitation with the family. It will be livestreamed. Martin’s ashes will be scattered in the College Mennonite Church Memorial Garden in a private service and also placed in the columbarium at Sarasota Community Church, Sarasota, Florida at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to the College Mennonite Church: Good News Fund, which provides assistance to immigrants and refugees. https://collegemennonite.org/give