Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

How did we get here?

Mosaic Mennonite Conference has deep historic roots, originating from European Mennonites who settled in colonial Philadelphia. Over time, the Conference has been shaped by reconciliation, migration, and mission. 

Mosaic was formed by the reconciliation of Eastern District Conference and Franconia Mennonite Conference in 2019. At Pentecost of 2020, amid social unrest and a pandemic, we acknowledged our changing reality by announcing our new name: Mosaic. 

The new conference included congregations in California that transferred in 2017 from Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference. Numerous congregations in Florida that were formerly part of Southeast Mennonite Conference also joined. Since 2020, more congregations have joined Mosaic, and several in Colombia and Mexico have expressed interest. 

In these last years we have begun to outline our commitments to life and work together. In 2021, we affirmed our new vision and mission statements. 

In May 2022, Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) held a special delegate session which repealed the denomination’s membership guidelines and passed a Repentance and Transformation resolution. Emotions were running high for many within the Conference and in response, a Listening Taskforce was created from a diverse, representative group of Mosaic leaders to hear and process feedback.  

Their recommendations led to the creation of the Pathways Strategic Planning Process, which included an evaluation of our relationship with MC USA. In Dec. 2022, the Mosaic Conference Moderators sent an Open Letter to the MC USA Executive Board, highlighting concerns and sharing about the Pathways process.  

In March 2023 the Pathways Steering Team was launched, and invited all to engage in prayer and fasting for their planning and discernment work. The Team was charged with a two-year process of guiding a listening tour, reflecting on feedback and aligning it with existing priorities, creating a three-year strategic plan, and a recommendation on the question of Mosaic Conference’s affiliation with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). Representing the diversity of gifts and perspectives of the Conference, they learned to submit to God and one another. 

In August 2024, the Conference Board affirmed the Pathway Steering Team’s recommendation to seek partnership, rather than membership, with MC USA. Based on feedback from the delegate preparation meetings, open-ended questions about partnership for which there were not clear answers, and an indication at the time that MC USA was willing to work together in good faith, the board’s resolution for the Fall 2024 Assembly extended the work toward partnership for one more year, bringing bylaw changes to the 2025 assembly.  

That resolution received 71% affirmation (green and yellow votes) in Nov. 2024, with responses reflecting the diversity of perspectives in the conference.  

In 2025, the board has been tasked with carrying out this recommendation with MC USA. In February, the Mosaic board proposed that Mosaic Conference become a program entity of MC USA (a designation already in MC USA’s bylaws) to facilitate ministry partnership. At MC USA’s request, the Mosaic board responded to four questions in writing in April, which directly name the challenges that Mosaic Conference has faced with MC USA.  

In May 2025, MC USA’s executive board unanimously voted to deny Mosaic’s proposal to become a program entity of MC USA, and later that month, the Mosaic board declined the board-to-board mediation process offered by MC USA at that time. In July, the board invited delegate feedback about the way forward and received a wide variety of responses. 

In part in response to this feedback, Mosaic’s Moderator reached out to MC USA’s executive committee requesting further conversation in late July and was informed that the committee was not available. 

With no indication of MC USA’s willingness to move forward, the board is left owing our delegates a recommendation without what feels like good faith negotiation or clarity from MC USA. On Sept. 15, the Mosaic board recommended that the Conference discontinue its existing membership with MC USA.  

This recommendation will be brought to delegates for discernment and a vote at the 2025 Mosaic Delegate Assembly. Eight delegate preparation sessions are being held prior to the November 1, 2025, Delegate Assembly. 

In September, the board also affirmed a Centering Document to help articulate the Conference’s identity, and relational posture as “centered set,” with Jesus as our center. 

Articles from Mosaic Mennonite Conference about the affiliation question:  

Articles by Anabaptist World:  

Articles by MC USA:  

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.