Franconia Conference is set to gather for worship, discernment and equipping at Salford Mennonite Church in Harleysville, PA on November 10-11. This year’s conference will explore the theme, “Centered in Christ, Empowering Others.” The gathering will be translated for the first time into all of the conference’s worshipping languages: Indonesian, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Along with Conference Assembly this year, there will be 24-hours of worship lead by groups from across the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 24-hours of worship commences at 6pm on Friday, November 10th led by a multicultural and multilingual team from Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life and Philadelphia Praise Center congregations. Opening assembly worship at 7pm will celebrate new and past ministries within the congregations and ministries of the Conference that spread from Philadelphia to Vermont.
Business sessions on Saturday morning will explore new directions for the conference’s vision and financial plan; a look at the emerging plan for Christ-centered Mennonite education in Bucks and Montgomery counties of Pennsylvania and discernment of leadership processes.
The assembly will conclude with equipping sessions and lunch. Equipping sessions will be lead by local and churchwide leaders including:
- James Schrag, Mennonite Church USA
- Gay Brunt Miller, Franconia Conference
- Dr. Stanley Green, Mennonite Mission Network
- Dr. James Lapp, Franconia Conference
- Dr. Laura Brenneman, Bluffton University
- Sheldon Good, Goshen College/Salford congregation
- Felicia Moore, Indiana University of Pennsylvania/New Beginnings congregation
Conference Assembly Schedule
Friday
6:00 24-Hour Worship begins
Pentecost (Nueva Vida Norristown/New Life) and Philadelphia Praise Center
7:00 Conference Assembly Worship
Pentecost (Nueva Vida Norristown/New Life) and Philadelphia Praise Center
Led by Ertell Whigham with stories from Philadelphia Urban Ministry Partnership, “Empowering Othersâ€
- Praying with and for those newly credentialed
- Brent Camillieri, Mark Derstine, Angela Moyer, Joy Sawatzky, Angel Tamayo (licensed)
- Michael Bishop, Bill Kull, Don McDonough (ordained)
- Recognizing the ministries of ministers who have gone before us
- Alvin Detweiler, Leroy Godshall, Nelson Reinford, Harold Weaver
- Celebrating the membership of Philadelphia Praise Center
- Honoring the ending of ministry
- Spruce Lake Fellowship (Canadensis, PA)
- Shalom Mennonite Church (Pennsburg, PA)
- Blessing the Vision and Financial Plan Team
- Greg Bowman, Ken Burkholder, Chris Chapman, Blaine Detweiler, Leonard Dow, Joe Hackman, Brent Kolb, Steve Kriss, Karen Moyer, Charlotte Graber Rosenberger, Ertell Whigham
Translation available in Franconia congregation worshipping languages: Indonesian, Spanish, Vietnamese
Terjemahan akan tersedia pada hari Jumat/ 10 November dari jam 7pm-9pm dan Sabtu 11 November jam 9-12pm, menyadari bahwa Tuhan mengundang banyak jiwa dari berbagai bangsa,suku dan bahasa dalam kekuasaanNYA.
Por lo tanto para todos aquellas personas que hablan español, habrá traducción el dÃÂa viernes, 10 de noviembre desde las 7 hasta las 9 de la tarde. También el sábado, 11 de noviembre desde las 9 hasta las 12 del medio dÃÂa. Sabemos que Dios esta invitando a todas las naciones, tribus y lenguas a unirse al reino de Dios.
Vay, se co thong ngon dich qua tieng Viet tai hoi dong toi Thu Sau, ngay 10 thang 11 tu 7g den 9 g, va sang Thu Bay, ngay 11 thang 11, tu 9g den 12 g trua, vi biet Chua dang moi that ca cac quoc gia, chung toc, dan toc va ngon ngu vao su tri vi cua Duc Chua Troi.
9:00pm Worship continues overnight
Saturday
9:00 Conferring and Discerning
- Vision and Financial Plan considerations for our shared future
- GPS 2012 update on Christ-Centered Mennonite education
- Consideration of new bylaws for service and leadership
- Updating a plan to recreate nominating processes
- Conferring and considering new leaders
- Affirming our nonviolent faith
12:00 Lunch provided by Salford Mennonite Church
Workshop 1 and 2
Worship continues
1:00 Lunch provided by Salford Mennonite Church
Workshop 3 and 4
Worship continues
2:00 All workshops (1-4)
3:00 Conference Assembly ends, 24-Hour worship continues
6:00 24-Hour worship ends
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.