Steven Yoder

Steven Yoder, (1955- ) lives in Bluffton, Ohio. He has served as pastor of First Mennonite Church since 2003. Prior to this call he served at Bethel College Mennonite Church in North Newton, Kansas for nine years. Steve grew up in central Ohio, on a farm near Plain City. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1982 and married Janet Jantzi in the summer of '82. They moved to Urbana, Ohio, where Steve taught elementary school (gr. 4) for seven years before moving to Chicago for seminary. In Urbana their three sons were born. Neil, Aaron and Jeff are now living in Seoul, South Korea; Lansing, Michigan and Nashville, Tennessee respectively.

Experiences as a boy on the farm form the context for Steve's first children's book- Look for Something Good. Growing up with a huge garden, a large barn and lots of activity on the farm made for many memorable events. Occasionally the cows would get out and run loose through yards and gardens. That memory serves as a pivotal event in the story he wrote. Steve hopes to continue writing more stories in the future.