by Angela Moyer Walter
Mosaic Mennonite Conference turns five on February 1, 2025. It’s hard to believe that five years have passed since Mosaic Conference began. Looking back, I see how faithful God has been in our shared journey. We have:
- supported one another through the COVID pandemic and social and political unrest
- held our first two Mosaic Assemblies virtually
- expanded our trust and relational networks both in person and over zoom
- created a name, vision, and mission, and have been living into them
- credentialed over 40 women and men
- launched the intercultural and Conference-Related Ministry committees and expanded the breadth and depth of all our committees to reflect our mosaic
- created a strategic plan
- discerned altering our relationship with MC USA
- celebrated and lamented the comings and goings of several congregations
- launched Mosaic Institute and then the Vibrant Mosaic cohorts
We could go on…God is at work among us. Life in Mosaic Conference has been challenging, often wildly surprising, and deeply meaningful.
The delegates at the November 2019 Assembly voted unanimously to reconcile. On February 1, 2020, Eastern District Conference and Franconia Conference began to operate as one, reconciled conference. Shortly thereafter, the COVID pandemic hit.
For four months, MennoniteConferenceX was the URL for our website before our new name was announced at our virtual Pentecost worship on May 31, 2020. The name “Mosaic” was a clear favorite that emerged out of a year-long process that included two rounds of focus groups. It was recognized then as it is now that the name is both descriptive and visionary; we recognize the ongoing work needed to represent it authentically.
Then, and now, we ask: What does it mean to be God’s mosaic together? We are all called to “embody the reconciling love of Jesus in our beautiful and broken world” (Mosaic’s vision statement). Jesus is our center. We are working now to articulate this more fully through a centered-set perspective, focusing on Jesus as our center more than our boundaries and individual expressions of faith.
Our formational, intercultural, and missional priorities keep us focused and moving forward in our mission to be the church together in our communities and the world. Our antiracism and intercultural work keep us honest about our biases and the inequities and power dynamics among us. The transformative power of the Holy Spirit has been at work in it all.
By being in relationship—eating, praying, singing, serving, and loving together—we have been mutually transformed. We are not the same as when we started five years ago. To God be the glory for shaping us into the people God has called us to be.
I’m reminded of the diversity of Jesus’ disciples—fishermen, zealots, tax collectors, among others—each with differing views of God’s Kingdom. Though they disagreed and went separate ways, the church still grew and flourished.
The disciples never had it all figured out. Peter denied Jesus during Jesus’ trial and yet was reinstated to “feed my sheep” (John 21). I’m curious if all the disciples agreed with Jesus on that decision. But agreeing on everything was never Jesus’ goal. His goal was for them to believe that he was the Messiah and for them to know that God’s Kingdom had come.
And so it is for us in Mosaic. We have never, nor will we ever, agree on everything about Jesus and scripture, and yet, we have experienced the Spirit’s transformative power. We acknowledge our differences and recognize that Jesus calls us to love one another—not only our loved ones but also our enemies. Jesus’ reconciling love unites us.
In this new year, let’s be curious, listen well, seek understanding rather than uniformity, and create space for the Spirit to do its surprising work. This is part of our missional work, seeking to become the church that the world longs for.
To celebrate our five years, I warmly invite you to join a Mosaic prayer group, join a Conference committee, share a meal, sit in silence with God, and worship together. Watch for ways to contribute to the upcoming cookbook, listen to an upcoming podcast, participate in a peace circle, learn about transforming conflicts, join a Vibrant Mosaic cohort, and, of course, read your Mosaic News! Happy fifth birthday, Mosaic Mennonites!
Angela Moyer Walter
Angela Moyer Walter is Moderator of Mosaic Conference, Co-pastor at Ripple Church in Allentown, PA, and an occupational therapist at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation. She enjoys long summer evenings with family and friends and watching the Philadelphia Phillies.
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.
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)