by Jewel Showalter, Lancaster Mennonite Conference
The stately old former-Presbyterian sanctuary on the corner of Edgmont and 23rd Street – now home to Way Thru Christ Community Fellowship – overflowed with more than 500 Mennonites on the evening of April 26.
They’d come from the 14 churches of the Philadelphia District of Lancaster Mennonite Conference (LMC), to ordain and install a new Bishop Team for the district: Al Motley, Way Thru Christ, Tuyen Nguyen, Philadelphia Vietnamese Mennonite, Leonard Dow, Oxford Circle Mennonite (a Franconia Conference Partner in Mission), and Tim Darling, Norma (N.J.) Mennonite.
“We’re so grateful they’ve been called and that they’ve responded,” said Freeman Miller, bishop of the Philadelphia District, in his opening remarks. “They will serve in this oversight role in the district in addition to continuing their pastoral responsibilities.”
Keith Weaver, moderator of LMC, spoke from Ephesians 2:11-22. “What does God want to do through our fellowship of 175 congregations scattered along the east coast?” he asked, noting that ordinations mark a significant moment in the life of a district and conference.
“Our largely Germanic bishop board now has a little color!” he said. “Together we must focus on the message of reconciliation to which God has called us. We need to feel a sense of urgency about the walls that must come down. How can we help our congregations get outside the walls of our churches to spend ourselves on behalf of the needy?”
As Miller led in the ordination charge, he invited the four men and their spouses to “celebrate, consecrate and commit” themselves to the new role of spiritual oversight in the district. “Your service shows that God has already blessed your ministries,” he said.
Miller plans to retire from his 15 year role as bishop on June 30.
As the new team “lives into” roles which give each man oversight of one quadrant of the old district, now divided up into Philadelphia North, Philadelphia Southwest, Chester, and South Jersey, they will take turns chairing the monthly district meetings and attending the bishop board. Weaver said the bishop board is already feeling enriched by the new racial and ethnic diversity from Philadelphia.
“Urban churches are dynamic and fluid,” Miller commented. “It seems we’re always starting or closing something. None of us have the time and expertise to shepherd all the diversity, but together there’s a depth of wealth and perspective.”
Weaver noted that although LMC has had an African-American bishop in another district, Motley and Dow are the first in the Philadelphia District. Nguyen is the first Asian-American bishop to be called to serve in LMC.
“When I first realized this, it felt weighty,” Nguyen said. “But now it doesn’t feel so hard. Sometimes we Vietnamese Mennonites are tempted to get impatient because other Mennonites move so slowly, [in church planting] but I tell my people, ‘Germanic peoples are like diesel engines. They start slow, but they go the long haul. We need to learn from them.’”
“There’s certainly a lot of synergy and learning going both ways,” Miller said. He noted that while many of the churches in the district had been started with assistance from Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM), it’s a brand new day. EMM is still available for consultation and assistance, but many of the Philadelphia Mennonite churches are initiating their own church plants.
“This is a highly significant moment in the life of these churches,” Miller said. “There’s a new sense of belonging and ownership. It’s long overdue. When I see the beauty in what has happened, I’m eagerly anticipating my retirement.”
Photo credit: Richard Showalter
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.