Joetta Handrich Schlabach worked in various writing, educational and administrative capacities with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) from 1982-87 and 1989-91, including assignments, with her husband Gerald, in Nicaragua and Honduras. She received a BA in home economics from Goshen (Ind.) College, an MA in family economics and management from Michigan State University, and an MA in theology from St. Catherine University in St Paul, Minn. After 15 years of programmatic work in international and multicultural education at three universities, she became a pastor in 2007, serving at Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. She and her husband reside in St. Paul, Minn., and are parents of two adult sons and a daughter-in-law. They enjoy the vibrancy of a multicultural city neighborhood where neighbors extend the table by sharing garden produce across back-yard fences.
