At the Mosaic Conference Assembly in November, the delegates were asked to vote on the following ballot: “To affirm, with gratitude, the work and recommendation of the Pathway Steering Team to establish a robust partnership with Mennonite Church USA, and to bring recommended bylaw amendments for delegate discernment at the 2025 Mosaic Conference Assembly.” The vote passed with 71% affirmation, which means that Mosaic Conference leadership will be working toward defining a relationship of partnership with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA).
Following Assembly, the leadership of three Mosaic Conference congregations sought to discern their own relationship with Mosaic and Mennonite Church USA. Perkiomenville (PA), Swamp (Quakertown, PA) and Vincent (Spring City, PA) all had congregation votes related to affiliation with Mosaic Conference between November 10 and December 8.
Perkiomenville
“When Mosaic announced a two-year Pathway plan at Assembly in 2022, Perk Church agreed to wait for the results of that process,” shared Mike Spinelli, Lead Pastor of Perkiomenville. “Church leadership understood that the 2024 recommendation from the Board did not result in a clear break from MC USA and asked for another year of processing.”
Perkiomenville’s leadership called for a congregational meeting prior to the 2024 Assembly to give delegates guidance for voting. At that meeting, a member of the congregation moved for a resolution to disaffiliate with the Mosaic Conference since the vote this year was not a clear move toward leaving MC USA.
This resolution was voted on at Perkiomenville’s annual business meeting two weeks later. “Discussion around the resolution included voices asking that the congregation not pass it and give Mosaic Conference one more year. This resulted in a vote that fell below our 67% threshold for major church decisions,” Spinelli shared. “As such, Perk Church will be a member of Mosaic through this year and will reconsider its ties to Mosaic when the new proposal is made in 2025.”
Swamp
Following the 2024 Assembly, Swamp’s Assembly delegates unanimously recommended to the Church Board that Swamp would leave Mosaic Mennonite Conference and shared this with the congregation. At Swamp’s member meeting a few weeks later, the Church Board shared a proposal, which had their unanimous recommendation, to “end Swamp Mennonite Church’s affiliation with Mosaic Mennonite Conference.”
The text of the proposal indicates Swamp’s desire not to be an independent church and recognizes that a decision about future affiliation with a different conference will take time.
The proposal also stated that during this transition period, “the congregation and its leaders may still partner with Mosaic for the sake of holding pastoral credentials, participating in the health insurance plan, and gaining counsel from the assigned Mosaic Leadership Minister.”
The vote passed by 92 percent. Details about the timing of Swamp’s departure from Mosaic Conference are still to be determined.
“This is an especially difficult decision. We love Mosaic,” shared Lead Pastor Nathan Good in an email to Mosaic leadership. “We have invested time, energy, and resources, especially over the last decade. We have many important relationships within Mosaic. And the reality is that we agree with the Mosaic body on most things. There were many tears at our congregational meeting and at our Board meeting [prior to the vote].”
Vincent
On December 8, Vincent congregation moved toward disaffiliation with Mosaic, with a vote passing by 77 percent. It was initiated after a recommendation from the congregation’s elders stating ongoing disagreements with Mosaic Mennonite Conference. The ballot suggested that bylaws would be adjusted in January and that the congregation would move toward exploring new conference affiliations in 2025. The full disaffiliation would be recognized by Mosaic after the bylaw change is affirmed.
“We recognize that some historic Mosaic congregations feel discomfort maintaining any connection to Mennonite Church USA. There is some tension around ongoing discernment about human sexuality within our Conference as well,” commented Stephen Kriss, Executive Minister. “I appreciate that these congregations remained in relationship with Mosaic while the Pathway process moved over the last two years. We honor their decisions and discernment. And we regret the potential loss of long-time member communities.”
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.