We Gather as the Mosaic God Is Creating

by Stephen Kriss, Executive Minister

Over the past year, when I have represented Mosaic in spaces with other Mennonites, I have encountered a variety of responses to Mosaic’s new alignment, which embraces both autonomy and collaboration with other Anabaptist and Mennonite groups.

Some have welcomed the change; others have been confused by it. Some conversations have been awkward. At times, people have read their own theological and sociopolitical perspectives into our discernment (as most of us tend to do).

This fall, however, someone I trust, who has been watching the process from a distance, said to me: “It looks like you’re attempting to allow a variety of Anabaptist expressions to emerge and flourish.”

To be honest, this is what I had hoped others might see: a multiplicity of expressions, with space to hold relationships noncoercively, and an expansive Anabaptism that allows people to find their place yet holds tension and diversity of viewpoints.

As we gather this week for our annual Assembly, we enter a new chapter in Mosaic’s life. With no major controversial agenda items beyond naming board members, we will have space to embody the autonomous, collaborative community we discerned becoming last year. We will also recognize the outcome of that discernment, including the release of congregations and communities that have chosen other alignments. This part has been difficult. We will bless those moving to Mennonite Church USA-affiliated conferences, LMC, or becoming autonomous themselves.

We are also beginning to build our identity without some of the restrictions that some of us felt hindered our trajectory. This weekend, we will celebrate the first congregation from outside the United States to join Mosaic: Iglesia Menonita Casa de Oración (House of Prayer Mennonite Church), in Nuevo León, Mexico. Their relationship with a Texas congregation that joined us last year through South Central Conference reminds us that national borders may shape political identities and complicate relationships, but they do not sever them.

This is part of an emerging Mosaic reality: becoming a more intentionally global and local (glocal) community of communities, emphasizing relationships that cross nation/state boundaries and the significance of the neighborhoods and places where we are planted.

We will continue working to define our identity not by what we are against but by who we are and where we are headed. The Clarifying Our Center document will again be part of our conversation. Drawing on the work of Paul Hiebert and Mark Baker, both Mennonite Brethren shaped by cross-cultural work, this framework invites us to consider how the peaceable way of Jesus, grounded in Anabaptist identity, continues to transform communities interculturally.

We will also continue reviewing the Church Together Statements, which originated in Franconia Conference and became part of Mosaic through our reconciliation process with Eastern District and Franconia, but may not adequately represent current practices and policy. This review is outlined in our strategic plan and was recommended by the Pathways group for completion in the next year. Revisiting them together will give us time to recalibrate and consider how we might move forward in response to who we are and the Spirit’s invitation to us now.

Our gathering will also reflect the realities facing our communities. Some of our immigrant leaders will participate online because of concerns about current immigration enforcement, even among those with complete documentation. We have honored their decisions and will accommodate their participation. We will also continue discerning how best to accompany and advocate for immigrant communities through an afternoon conversation about our recent Pastoral Letter.

We will celebrate 20 newly credentialed leaders—nearly 15 percent of our active credentialed body. We will worship multilingually and hear voices from within Mosaic: Brent Camilieri of Deep Run East Mennonite (Perkasie, PA), Grace Pam of Los Angeles Faith Chapel, and Marco Güete of Mosaic staff and Resplandece Mennonite (Pembroke Pines, FL). Greetings from Nelson Okanye of Mennonite World Conference will remind us of our “glocality.” We will also connect with partners across the Anabaptist world and leaders from our nearly 30 conference-related ministries.

As we gather, let us receive one another with the spirit of Bonhoeffer’s invitation to welcome “whoever God gives us.” Our life together is not something we have designed or can control. It is something we receive: the people, communities, relationships, and possibilities God brings among us.

We are setting out on the next stretch of this journey, continuing to seek ways to walk with others as we embody the reconciling love of Jesus. May God be glorified as we gather, talk, eat, sing, pray, listen, and discern together this weekend in Souderton.