Entering Assembly with Gratitude

by Stephen Kriss

Two years ago, amid a lot of emotions, we gathered in person at Assembly for the first time “as Mosaic” at Souderton (PA) Mennonite. It was hard and holy. It felt different. Our theme focused on God’s chesed, or lovingkindness and pre-existent grace, which I’m still convinced will be essential for Mosaic to thrive, along with yieldedness and the ability to go the second mile (c.f. Matthew 5:41).  

This week, we will gather again to mark the conclusion of the Pathway process and recognize our ongoing growth and challenges. We discerned to keep our meeting date ahead of a contentious US presidential election, knowing that it could bring additional emotions into the space. We continue to experience growing pains. After two years together, the Pathway team has given us a new strategic plan, already approved by the Board, with priorities that include relationship building and clarifying our identity. 

Amid all of this, I am coming to Assembly grateful. Over the past number of weeks, the majority of Mosaic delegates have been engaged in listening and discerning. This is a hard time to do church across difference. We have language, culture, and geographic differences on top of our theological, social, and political ones. I’m grateful for each person who has given time, energy, prayer, and sometimes restless sleep to this process thus far. It is evident that we care about our future together, even when we disagree about what that future could look like. 

Nearly 200 delegates will take their places at the Assembly table groups, to encounter God together, bringing their own experiences and wisdom of their communities to the table. We will use the method of red, yellow, and green colors as a way to avoid up/down decisions. This approach allows us to hear dissent and move toward yieldedness.  

We will vote to affirm the Pathway Team’s recommendation to establish a healthy partnership with MC USA. This is a vote to keep the process moving for another year so that we can clarify what partnership means, with bylaw adjustment options coming in 2025. It extends chesed so that we can have better clarifying conversations about our relationships with Mennonite Church USA and allow those of us who had griefs and concerns to be heard and to listen as well. In the year ahead, we will learn more together to be able to make more informed decisions, deepened and broadened by our engagement with each other and MC USA leaders. 

In some ways, this process keeps us in what can feel like the wilderness (c.f. Exodus 15-16). We cannot move forward, and we cannot go back. The wilderness was a time of learning new behaviors and of distraction and complaining. There was manna and quail. There was a golden calf and broken tablets. 

Being together in a wilderness can help us learn about God’s provision. It gives space for praise led by worship leaders like Miriam. It gives time for young adults like Joshua and Caleb to grow into their leadership skills. It’s also a place of becoming a people redefined no longer by enslavement but by a new identity that emerges as both beautiful and broken. 

I’m grateful God has brought us this far. We know it’s by grace. And as we gather with a bustling group that bursts the seams of Souderton Mennonite’s meetinghouse, we know the Spirit will show up. I humbly and expectantly look forward to experiencing the Spirit’s leading us, together.