Mosaic Mennonites

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Reflections on Hospitality Ministry in Calais, France

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Editor’s Note: Mennonite Mission Network has issued an urgent call for winter volunteers at the St. Maria Skobtsova House in Calais, France. Learn more about this hospitality ministry from Mosaic Partner in Ministry Peaceful Borders, and from a former volunteer who is part of a Mosaic congregation. 

Building Community in a Calais, France Suburb 

By Simon Jones 

Surrounded by a high wall and secure gate is a liminal place between hardship and home that offers the hope of respite and refuge. Up to fourteen women and children at any one time live there. 

The well-appointed house is filled with the carefree laughter of preschoolers, its kitchen alive with the smells of cooking, as women, starved of the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families, now cook and gossip and share food with everyone in the house. 

This is La Maison St. Maria Skobtsova (MSH), opened a decade ago to provide a place of safety and rest for displaced people from across North Africa and the Middle East. Over that time, it has been home to Eritrean men, volunteers working across the city, and now to women and their children. It has occupied two sites, moving to this present one in the summer of 2025. 

For the last three years, the house has been overseen by Mennonite Mission Network workers, Joseph and Rachel Givens, who moved to Calais with their two boys in 2022. They work with a group of volunteers overseen by a management committee, to ensure the smooth running of the house and to accompany the guests throughout their stay. 

Gathered around the kitchen table. Photo by Joyce Hunsberger.

Volunteers come from across the world, though mainly Europe; they serve for a few weeks to three months or more. Some come only once, but others come for a term, return home and come back once they have refreshed their bodies and bank balances. Volunteers share the running of the house and the serving of the guests. The work is joyous and demanding–from cleaning bathrooms to accompanying guests to medical appointments, playing with children, shopping for supplies, and most importantly, joining the daily prayers of the house community. MSH exists to be a prayerful presence among the displaced in Calais. 

Life in the house is rich and complex. One of the volunteers, a retired French nun, says, everyone in the house is always on the point of leaving. Leaving is a constant that everyone lives with. She adds that “the community is a dynamic place, full of life, hope and energy, full of young people keen to make something of their lives.” These people make the community what it is. 

The house is full of difference—different countries and continents, different life experiences, different religious understandings and denominations. It works because Givens and the volunteers help these different people to get along, form community, and support one another. 

You can get more information about the house from me at simon@peacefulborders.org.

A Month of Hospitality in Calais 

by Joyce Hunsberger

The Mennonite Mission Network SOOP assignment in Calais, France, offers the chance to be a caring presence in the Maria Skobtsova House. Named for a Russian Orthodox saint who cared for refugees, migrants, the unhoused, and Jews in Paris during the second world war, the house is a refuge for women and children who have fled their home countries and hope to cross the English Channel to seek asylum in England. Smugglers charge high fees for dangerous crossings in overcrowded inflatable boats; drownings occur each month. One guest I met had already tried to cross six times. 

I spent a month living with 13 guests from Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, Libya, and Sudan. Volunteers came from across Europe, and together with guests we shared daily chores. Since my stay in 2024, the community has moved to a beautifully renovated building with more space, including a large new kitchen. The days follow a gentle rhythm of Taizé songs and prayers, plus occasional outings to the beach, a café, or the canal. Arabic was the most common language in the house, though I enjoyed speaking French in town and even used some German with an Eritrean family who had lived their for a time. Google Translate helped us bridge the rest. 

The author at work in the kitchen. Photo courtesy of Joyce Hunsberger.

The main “qualification” for being here is simply to treat residents as siblings, children of the same Father. It is not hard to do! Guests are grateful for a safe home. I offered English lessons, and they participated eagerly. Each evening the whole household shared dinner; Berbere (a favorite Eritrean spice) and fresh injera (a spongy sourdough bread) filled the kitchen daily. Donations of French bread were always on hand, along with Cheerios for breakfast. 

Other organizations support refugees in Calais, and the house collaborates closely with them. The men live in a camp outside town, which authorities dismantle every 48 hours, though the men return the next day. One day we chopped wood for them to use for cooking and warmth. 

Though the experience was challenging, volunteers were well supported. Whatever gifts you bring are enough. I came home changed, and from Pennsylvania I still whisper prayers for the house in Calais, a place filled with courage, welcome, and hope. 

Simon Jones

Simon Jones is a writer, activist, theologian, and Baptist minister. He co-founded Peaceful Borders in 2016 to support community formation in the Calais Jungle. He also co-founded the safe house in Calais in 2016. He is the author of 10 books on New Testament themes and ecclesiology.

Joyce Hunsberger

Raised in New England, Joyce Hunsberger moved to PA to teach French. Her two daughters were raised at Perkasie (PA) Mennonite, where she continues to be an active member. She has been happily living at Souderton Mennonite Homes for the past seven years.

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.   

We Won’t Stop till Homelessness Drops

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by Joe Paparone

Editor’s note: Originally published on November 24, 2025, in Anabaptist World, and reprinted with permission.    

I was helping at a drive-through food distribution. Before the line started, the Catholic Sister who coordinated things called all the volunteers together to thank them and pray. As she spoke encouragement, I thought, “It is good that we’re doing this. It’s infuriating that we have to.” 

I find this contradiction in every charity and service space, whether it’s the community breakfast where our Homeless Union organizes or in line with people signing up for Thanksgiving meal baskets: “I’m so glad you’re here. Isn’t it outrageous that we have to do this?” 

In the United States, we live in the wealthiest nation to ever exist, yet one of the most unequal societies on the planet. The people who maintain and benefit from these wealth disparities go to great lengths to obscure the underlying causes. 

The winter holiday season in particular is a space of contradiction. On the one hand, we are inundated with appeals for charity and care for those who suffer under this economic system. At the same time, the engine of commerce shifts into overdrive as firms seek to grow their profits by the end of the year and paint a positive financial picture for their shareholders. 

Into this confusing narrative, the National Union of the Homeless seeks to bring clarity through a “Winter Offensive.” Between Thanksgiving and Martin Luther King Day, Homeless Union chapters challenge these distorted narratives and assumptions through public action and political education. 

We seek to unveil the truth and level a moral indictment: It is outrageous that anyone should sleep on the street when there is more vacant housing than unhoused people. Any system that creates and maintains such levels of inequality must be abolished. 

When in the Homeless Unions we say “Power, Not Pity” and “Homeless, Not Helpless,” we provide a counternarrative: The poor are not objects to be manipulated but subjects of history and agents of change. 

We challenge a civic religiosity that would worship a homeless man on Sunday but step over one on Monday. When we interrogate the Gospel stories, we see Jesus, Mary and Joseph as refugees fleeing persecution, who could not afford adequate housing. 

Mary’s Magnificat, far from being merely a song of praise and worship, is a revolutionary call for a fundamental transformation of society, sorely needed now as much as in Mary’s day. Inspired by this, the leadership and collective action of the poor dispels surface narratives, and gives life and direction to a movement for dramatic social change. 

The Winter Offensive provides clarity, even in the name. We call it an offensive because in our economy, ruled as it is by the ultrawealthy, poor and working-class people are continually on the defensive. The ruling class controls not only the economic and political terrain but the mental terrain as well. Amid millions of poor people scrambling to survive, the misleading narratives promoted during this season represent an attack. Despite the good intentions of many who seek to be caring and compassionate toward their neighbors, the charitable acts promoted in this season, when divorced from action against the root causes of poverty, are a diversion. They are a safety valve for the system, relieving some of the economic pressure the system creates while easing mental pressure by enabling people to feel like they’ve done something. 

But this time of year is also when ruling-class narratives are most vulnerable. As more and more people are thrust into the ranks of the poor, the season’s saccharine-sweet, Hallmark-movie narratives will sour and turn to ashes in our mouths. 

When we are desperate for hope in confusing and dangerous times, we must follow the leadership of the organized poor, those who have the least to lose from ending the present system and the most to gain from its transformation. 

Last year, the first public action of the Albany Homeless Union was on Dec. 21, Homeless Memorial Day. On the longest night of the year, in biting wind and cold, at the front steps of the New York State Capitol Building, we built a memorial to people who’ve died due to poverty. Our leaders, most of whom had never spoken publicly before, shared their stories, struggles, poetry and demands that their rights to housing and healthcare be upheld. We committed to the struggle to end this unjust system. 

One leader brought a new chant: “We won’t stop till homelessness drops.” 

Joe Paparone

Joe Paparone is an organizer with the Nonviolent Medicaid Army, National Union of the Homeless, and the New York State Poor People’s Campaign. He is a credentialed leader in Mosaic Mennonite Conference and a member of Bethany Mennonite (Bridgewater, VT).

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.   

Anabaptism at 500: Remembering the Story, Renewing the Call

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by Noel Santiago

On Sunday afternoon, September 14, 2025, the sanctuary of Towamencin (PA) Mennonite filled with voices, stories, and song as we gathered to mark an extraordinary milestone: 500 years since the baptism that launched the Anabaptist movement. 

The service was simple yet rich, woven together with the themes of: Remember, Rejoice, Reckon/Reconcile, and Recommit. It was a journey that carried us across history, through joy and lament, and into fresh hope for the future. 

After a warm welcome from Charlie Ness, pastor of Towamencin Mennonite, and the first notes of congregational singing led by Michael Bishop, associate pastor of Blooming Glen Mennonite (PA), we began by looking back.  

Joel Horst Nofziger, Executive Director of Conference-Related Ministry Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania (MHEP of Harleysville, PA) helped us remember the religious landscape of the early 1500s. He reviewed the heavy hand of church and empire, the stirrings of reform, and the courageous decision of a small band of believers on January 21, 1525, to be baptized upon confession of faith. Their act of trust and defiance set in motion a movement that would spread like wildfire, often at great cost. 

From there, Pastor Milson Ndlovu of Silverdale Brethren in Christ Church invited us to rejoice in what God has done through those seeds of faith. He spoke of how the Anabaptist vision of adult baptism and discipleship traveled across Europe and, in time, across continents, shaping communities of believers worldwide. Hearing the scope of that growth reminded us that the story of 1525 was not the end but only the beginning of God’s work through ordinary people who longed to follow Jesus. 

But we did not only celebrate. Together, we also reckoned with the shadows of our past. Ness named moments when our spiritual ancestors failed to embody the fullness of the gospel they proclaimed, times when brokenness, division, and violence contradicted the vision of peace. Yet even here, hope rose. We heard stories of recent acts of reconciliation, where Anabaptists, Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed Christians have sought healing and forgiveness. It was a tender reminder that God continues to make all things new. 

Photo provided by Noel Santiago.

Finally, I led us in a time to recommit. With prayers of surrender, we invited the Spirit to breathe afresh, asking for courage and renewal in our own day. Just as water was first poured out on those believers five centuries ago, so we too are invited to receive afresh God’s outpouring, to live as faithful witnesses of Jesus, here and now, with humility and boldness. 

Throughout the service, songs lifted our voices and hearts. They became more than music; they became prayers of remembrance, joy, confession, and hope. The afternoon concluded with Mennonite historian and pastor John Ruth (Salford [PA] Mennonite) offering a final word of remembrance, encouragement, and blessing, sending us out with gratitude, courage, and renewed vision. 

Though Towamencin left Mosaic Conference in 2023, they continue to partner with the MHEP. Where there is a shared mission and purpose, we are glad to collaborate and walk together in ministry.  

The gathering was more than a commemoration of history. It was a living testimony of God’s faithfulness across the centuries, and an invitation to continue walking the path of discipleship together. As we left Towamencin that day, many carried with them both a sense of awe at the story behind us and deep hope for the story still unfolding. 

Noel Santiago

Noel Santiago is the Leadership Minister for Missional Transformation for Mosaic Conference.

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To contact Noel Santiago, please email nsantiago@mosaicmennonites.org.

Anabaptism at 500: What Anabaptism Means to Me – December 2025

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As Mosaic Mennonite Conference commemorates the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism in 2025, here is the final installation of a variety of Mosaic voices reflecting on the question, “What does Anabaptism mean to me?” 


Submission from

Pastor Ertell Whigham, Mosaic Conference Leadership Minister

As a Christian who was a Marine combat veteran, focusing on what it means to be Anabaptist demands serious reflection on both the call (designation) and conviction.  

I am moved to think deeply about both peace and nonresistance. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I have a responsibility to examine my views on Just War theology. 

Aside from the most obvious values of Anabaptism such as community, discipleship, service, and my personal challenge for deeper, transformative intercultural connection, being Anabaptist convicts me to surrender to the teachings of Jesus.  

Despite what I’ve lived and experienced in various battlegrounds of bias and cultural exclusion within the Anabaptist community, the tenets of Anabaptism continue to influence and encourage me to reflect on the life of Jesus and what he calls and enables me to be. 
 
In the simplest terms, Anabaptism calls and convicts me for peace and nonresistance no matter the battleground. It invites the Holy Spirit to help me be authentic in my expression that Jesus is indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life. 


Submission from

Pastora Dania Hernández, Peña de Horeb (Philadelphia, PA) 

En mis propias palabras, el anbautismo significa amor rotundo. Rebautizados era como se llamaba aquellos cristianos que durante la Reforma rechazaron el bautizo de niños. Demostraron valentía y amor hacia el Evangelio porque sabían que tendrían que pagar con sus propias vidas y familias. También creemos en un solo Dios, Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. Creemos que la salvación es por gracia y que podemos aprender de los demás si somos amables y tratamos de seguir a Jesús. Para mí, el anabaptismo es el amor que practicamos. Amo esta comunidad de fe, como Jesús es el centro de nuestra vida. Esta comunidad me abrió los ojos hacia otras culturas, razas e idiomas. Hoy, como anabaptista, me siento comprometida a seguir honrando a Dios y a todos nuestros mártires. 

English translation: In my own words Anabaptism means absolute love. Rebaptized was what the Christians were called who during the Reformation rejected baptizing children. It showed courage and a love of the Gospel because they knew they would have to pay with their own lives and family. We also believe in one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that salvation is by grace, and that we can learn from others as we are kind try to follow Jesus. For me Anabaptism is love that we practice. I love this community of faith with Jesus is the center of our life. This community opened my eyes to other cultures, races, and languages. Today as an Anabaptist I feel committed to continue honoring God and all our martyrs.  


Submission from

Steve Lindsey, CEO of Garden Spot Communities, affiliated with Conference-Related Ministry Frederick Living (Zieglerville, PA). 

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.   

Honoring the Trailblazing Women in Ministry

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by Donna Merow

When I saw the announcement about the Women in Ministry presentation at the Mosaic Conference-Related Ministry Mennonite Heritage Center (Harleysville, PA), I rearranged my schedule to be there. 

Mary Nitzsche introduced the oral history project she and Beth Yoder began in 2022. As their ministerial careers were winding down, they had the time and recognized the need to gather and preserve the stories of women in the former Franconia and Eastern District Conferences, now in their 70s and 80s, who “plowed the ground” for women in leadership. Several of these trailblazing women had already passed, so they wasted no time in formulating questions, scheduling visits, and conducting interviews. 

During the event, Yoder and Charlotte Rosenberger shared the history of what became the Franconia Women’s Council on Leadership. The movement began in April 1987, when a group of women began gathering monthly on Saturday mornings at Souderton (PA) Mennonite to share their stories and gifts, to support one another, and to challenge existing limits. They were mothers, teachers, professors, social workers, students, writers, counselors and those in ministry. Together, they wrestled with finding a name, claiming an identity and defining their purpose.  

Drawing from meeting minutes, journal entries, and sermons, Yoder and Rosenberger captured the spirit of that era, when issues such as the head covering were debated in various venues. 

Following their presentation, three women in leadership offered first person accounts: Marty Kolb-Wyckoff (the first women ordained by Franconia Conference); Donella Clemens (who moved from local church ministry to positions in the conference and denomination); and Charlene Smalls (the first African American woman ordained by Mosaic Conference who serves at Ripple Church [Allentown, PA] and Alpha [NJ] Mennonite). Each woman brought a distinct voice to the morning.  

Marty Kolb-Wyckoff speaks to those gathered. Photo by James Mast.

After two painful failed candidacy experiences, Kolb-Wyckoff was called as pastor at Taftsville (VT) Chapel Mennonite Fellowship in 1987 and ordained in 1990. Clemens, an inquisitive child, fondly remembered asking her farmer father theological questions while they tended cows together. Smalls shared how her baptism was delayed 20 years because of a hole in the baptismal pool. She credited her three grandmothers for shaping her into the woman of faith standing before us. 

Certain themes also wove these stories together. Supportive men were named, such as Willard Swartley, Richard Detweiler, Duane Kauffman, and Merlin Hendrick. Other pioneer women were also mentioned, like Polly Ann Brown, Barbara Shisler, Helen Lapp, Mary Jane Hershey, and Dawn Ruth Nelson.  

Themes of doubt and disappointment, patience and perseverance, and a willingness to experiment, explore, take risks, and change course were recurrent. Several women expressed the tension they felt between their deep commitment to motherhood and a restlessness of spirit often prompted by others’ observations and questions. 

I wasn’t the only one in the audience who has been a direct beneficiary of the groundbreaking efforts of these courageous women. Hearing their stories was an inspiring reminder of the faith, hope and love of our foremothers, which continues to shape us today. 

Donna Merow

Donna became a Mennonite when she was rebaptized at Methacton (PA) Mennonite in 1979. She began attending Ambler (PA) Mennonite while teaching at Germantown Academy and was called as pastor there in 2009.  She left in 2018 for a chaplain residency program at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. At the conclusion of her residency, she served as director of pastoral care at Conference-Related Ministry Living Branches. She returned to Danville in 2022 to accept a pediatric chaplain position and regularly interacts with fellow Anabaptists (Amish, Old Order and other Mennos, German Baptist Brethren).  She maintains her membership at Methacton Mennonite.

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.   

The Lamb in the Briar: A Soul Journey to Zurich

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by James Mast

Editor’s Note: This reflection was originally published in Conference-Related Ministry Dock Mennonite Academy’s The Lamplighter in Fall 2025 and reprinted with permission.  

Why did I go to Zurich?

In some ways, my reasons were probably like the 4,000 other Anabaptists from around the world who made the journey: I wanted to be in the place where our story began. And perhaps, like many of them, I wanted to find myself within that story.

I care deeply about stories. They don’t just describe life—they shape it. The stories we tell—about ourselves, about the world, about God—are the golden road to meaning. And meaning matters. It answers the why of our lives—not just the how or what, but the why.

In the months leading up to my trip, I began to wonder: What is the fundamental Anabaptist story? Is there such a thing? And if so, how can I better understand it—not just for myself, but for my community?

Because if there’s a shared story, then perhaps there’s also a shared psyche—a collective inner-world shaped by that story. And what does that story say about how we face suffering, evil, and death?

Some of us have looked to the Gospels. Others to church history. As a psychotherapist, I brought one more lens: psychoanalysis.

That’s why I spent part of my time in Zurich meeting with Jungian analysts—to explore whether the Anabaptist story could be approached through the deep language of symbol and psyche. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who founded this school of thought, took the idea of God more seriously than any other branch of psychology I’ve encountered. One of Jung’s key insights is that symbols are not just created by people—they emerge from people. They carry numinous meaning.

I began asking fellow Mennonites: what images or stories come to mind when you think of our people? Two symbols stood out to me—symbols that I believe speak deeply to the Mennonite soul.

The first is the lamb caught in the briar. The lamb suggests: Innocence, Goodness, Life, Sacrifice, Jesus himself. And the briar? Pain, Entrapment, Helplessness, The inescapability of suffering. 

This image feels essential. That which is innocent is caught in something painful. It’s a visual parable of the human condition. No matter how faithfully we live, suffering still finds us. No one is immune to illness, grief, injustice, or betrayal. The question becomes: how do we respond to the thorns?

For Anabaptists, that question isn’t theoretical. The early Anabaptists in Zurich were tortured, drowned, and burned at the stake. The persecution was so thorough that when thousands of us returned to Zurich this year, many residents had never even heard of the Anabaptists. 

Out of that trauma emerged another symbol: the Martyrs Mirror. It’s more than a book—it’s a memory vault. A soul-map of suffering and faith. Many people I spoke with named it as one of the defining artifacts of our tradition.

While visiting historic sites—places of exile, execution, and outlawed baptisms—I also met with Dr. Renate Daniel, a Jungian analyst who specializes in interpreting mythic stories. Naturally, we discussed Dirk Willems.

You know the story: Dirk escapes prison across the ice. His pursuer falls through. Dirk turns back to save him—only to be captured again and executed.

When I shared the story, Dr. Daniel paused and said, “Isn’t this also a story of evil triumphing? A good man died.”

That stopped me. 

Because yes—it is a story of love and courage. But also… a good man died. Joel Nofziger, director of the Conference-Related Ministry the Mennonite Heritage Center (Harleysville, PA), reminded me that even among the brutal stories in the Martyrs Mirror, Dirk’s story stands out as particularly gruesome. 

So, which is it? Evil triumphing, or love triumphing?

The answer, I think, is: both. And perhaps that’s what makes it a true symbol. It doesn’t resolve neatly. It holds paradox.

Fast forward to May 29. Roughly 1,200 Anabaptists gathered in the Grossmünster—the very church where our ancestors were once condemned. 

It was emotional. I don’t know if you watched it online, but being there was something else entirely. What moved me most were the acts of reconciliation. 

Leaders from the Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic Churches joined us. Also in attendance were representatives of the local Swiss government. These were the very institutions that once oversaw our people’s deaths. And yet there we were. Together. Praying. Singing. Blessing.

It struck me: 500 years is not that long ago. And like many communities who have suffered atrocities, we haven’t forgotten. But that day wasn’t fueled by resentment. It was fueled by grace.

And maybe—just maybe—that grace is precisely what our symbols have been preparing us for. 

The lamb in the briar teaches us that suffering is not proof of failure, nor a reason for vengeance. The Martyrs Mirror tells us that love may cost everything, but it still passes something forward.

These are not just stories of the past. They are the soul-shaping symbols of a people who, even in the face of death, chose peace.

So perhaps it should not surprise us that when we entered the Grossmünster, we did not demand retribution. We offered blessings. Not because we forgot, but because we remembered who we are.

That day, the Grossmünster became a strange, holy place. A glimpse of an upside-down kingdom—the kind of world Jesus imagined. Where peacemaking isn’t weakness, but wisdom. Where history doesn’t trap us but opens us. 

James Mast

James Mast is member of Methacton Mennonite Church and an alum of Dock Mennonite Academy (05). His therapy practice is located in Lederach, PA. 

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.   

Rev. Joshua So, A Faithful Servant Remembered

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Rev. Dr. Joshua So’s life and ministry left a lasting impact on many who walked alongside him in faith. As a pastor, mentor, and friend, he nurtured both individuals and the broader church community with humility, wisdom, and unwavering devotion to God. 

Wendy Kwong, a Mosaic Conference representative and member of Souderton Mennonite Church, worked closely with Rev. So and San Francisco Chinese Mennonite Church (SFCMC) after they joined the conference in 2019. “Rev. So was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather—and a faithful servant of the Lord,” she shared. “I remember how, during the pandemic, he stepped out of his comfort zone at age 74 to learn how to lead online worship and Bible study, with help from his daughter. His devotion moved me deeply.” She added that she continues to attend the weekly Chinese Bible study that Rev. So began, describing it as a spiritual blessing she never expected to experience. 

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants.” (Psalm 116:15 NIV) 

Rev. So’s Memorial Service. Photo by Hendy Matahelemual.

David Pang, deacon’s chair at SFCMC, first met Rev. So in 1993 and was shaped by his support and mentorship over three decades. “He was shepherd who dedicated his life to advancing God’s Kingdom, teaching through both word and deed,” Pang said. “His passion for the gospel was evident as he led the congregation to nursing homes and senior centers to evangelize. In 2016, I joined SFCMC at his sincere invitation, and through his trust and support, I grew in creativity, confidence, and spiritual maturity while serving the Lord.”  

Pang recalled that Rev. So preached one final time at SFCMC just weeks before his passing. “Though we grieve, we rejoice knowing he now rests in the Lord’s embrace. His legacy lives on, and the fruit of his labor will endure.” 

Lucy Xiao, a former deacon at SFCMC, remembered Rev. So’s compassion and the personal support he offered during her time of grief after immigrating to San Francisco. “He truly lived out ‘weep with those who weep,’” she said. “He was a bridge—especially during the pandemic—connecting people across churches and regions through online Bible study. His heart for the elderly, the isolated, and the spiritually hungry was evident in everything he did.” 

Hendy Matahelemual, Wendy Kwong, John Goshow, Kam Wong, Jeff Wright, Stephen Kriss, Joshua So, Anita So. Photo courtesy of Hendy Matahelemual.

“I am grateful for the ministry and friendship of Rev. Dr. Joshua So. His commitment to the church was unwavering,” reflected Mosaic Conference Executive Minister Stephen Kriss. 

“His life was committed to serving, leading, learning, and caring for people. I am grateful for his and Anita’s hospitality that helped me to learn to love San Francisco and embrace the possibilities and struggles for ministry there in the way of Christ’s peace.”    

Rev. So cared deeply about the lives, families, and spiritual needs of his congregation. He was always willing to help, no matter the hour, and when beyond his ability, he sought support through his network to ensure others received the care they needed. Many believers have said they chose SFCMC because it feels like home. Rev. So was a pastor we deeply respect. 

Below is Rev. So’s obituary:  

Rev. Joshua So, a faithful servant of God, has entered the glorious rest of the Lord

The founding pastor of San Francisco Chinese Mennonite Church, Rev. Dr. Joshua So was called home to be with the Lord on the afternoon of October 1, 2025, having sojourned on this earth for 79 years. 

Rev. So was born in 1946 in the rural village in the outskirts of Guangzhou, China. He was the oldest of four siblings and the first in his family to follow Christ. As a young man, he moved to Hong Kong with his grandfather and a younger cousin, hoping to immigrate to Canada. Life in Hong Kong was tough for him, yet by God’s grace, he came to faith in Jesus and remained steadfast in attending Sunday worship. Even when he returned home to an empty table, his devotion never wavered. But God had other plans-plans that led him to a lifelong calling in ministry. 

In 1966, he began seminary training at Alliance Bible Seminary in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong and Chung Chi College, Chinese University of Hong Kong. After graduation, while he was serving at a local church, a generous donor sponsored him with $1,000 USD, enabling him to come to America as a foreign exchange student to continue his theological and social work studies. He studied at Azusa Pacific University, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and San Francisco Theological Seminary. 

In 1980, Rev. So faithfully founded San Francisco Chinese Mennonite Church. Over the decades, he pastored many churches across the Bay Area and actively partnered with Chinese Christian organizations. His willingness to help others with no reservations led him to touch the lives of many people. Rev. So was always available to help—day or night. He didn’t believe in “business hours” when it came to serving others. His phone was always nearby, ready to answer the call of someone in need. Even after retiring from full-time ministry in 2023, he continued to serve as a hospice chaplain, lead Bible studies, and preach on Sundays. Hours before the Lord called him home, he had messaged many brothers and sisters saying he was ready for God to continue to use him. 

Rev. So was a loving husband and father, loyal friend, and a fervent and faithful servant to the Lord. Though his passing was sudden to us, we trust that nothing is ever a surprise to God. In His perfect timing, our gracious Heavenly Father saw that Rev. So had finished his work on earth and called him Home. Rev. So now stands joyfully before the throne of God, praising, “To God be the glory.” We give thanks to God from the depths of our hearts, for he has received the crown of life in the presence of the Lord. As Scripture reads, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34, ESV) 

May the Lord Himself bring comfort to his wife, Mrs. Anita So; daughter Sharon; son-in-law Josiah; and granddaughter Emi. May we continue to remember them in our prayers. 

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.   

Introducing the Mosaic Priorities Guide: Living Our Intercultural, Formational, and Missional Priorities

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Hard copies of the Priorities Guide were distributed during the Friday night equipping session at the 2025 Conference Assembly.

At Mosaic Conference, our three core priorities—Intercultural, Formational, and Missional Transformation—guide how we grow as communities of faith. The Mosaic Priorities Guide: A Bible Study to Reflect on Our Shared Identity was created to help congregations, leaders, Conference-Related Ministries (CRMs), and Partners in Ministry (PIMs) move beyond simply naming these priorities to truly living them out in their unique contexts. 

The guide includes seven interactive lessons with a biblical story, discussion questions, and activities and spiritual practices in which those gathered can engage. Facilitators have access to outlines, resources, and handouts to make leading easier. The appendix provides sermon starters and additional activities.  

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND INDONESIAN at mosaicmennonites.org/leadersresources/ 

Why the Guide Exists 

Resources for reflection, growth, and shared discernment 

The guide was created to make space for listening to God, to one another, and to the diverse communities in which we serve. It is not an instructional manual, but offers invitations to slow down, notice God’s presence, and reflect together on how the Spirit is at work. Designed to be flexible, the guide allows formation and mission to emerge naturally from relationships, dialogue, and shared discernment. It can be used in a small group, Bible study, or as a sermon series.  

Intercultural Priority 

Loving with the eyes and heart of Jesus 

The Intercultural Priority helps communities grow in seeing and valuing people as God sees them. The guide encourages participants to love with the eyes and heart of Jesus, noticing the gifts, experiences, and perspectives of others with compassion and humility. By practicing empathy and attentive love, congregations, leaders, CRMs, and ministry partners create spaces where God’s Spirit shapes us together, fostering understanding, connection, and mutual care. 

One of the Spiritual Practice for the Intercultural Lesson: How to Create an Intercultural Community.

Formational Priority 

Knowing Christ and Growing in Christ 

One of the Spiritual Practice for the Formational Lesson: The Vineyard Coloring and Journaling Sheet

The Formational Priority focuses on how God is shaping us as followers of Jesus. The guide invites participants to know Christ and grow in Christ, using Scripture, reflections, spiritual practices, and conversation questions. This priority emphasizes personal and communal transformation, helping participants embody Jesus’ love and wisdom in everyday life, while encouraging mutual growth through shared experience. 

Missional Priority 

Living like Jesus: Sent to Connect and Share 

The Missional Priority explores what it means to live as people who are sent into the world in everyday life. Mission is not only about going somewhere far away, but about noticing God’s movement in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and daily relationships. The guide encourages communities to act with openness and compassion, living like Jesus through connecting with others and sharing God’s love, fostering mutual transformation as God’s work unfolds among us. 

One of the Spiritual Practice for the Missional Lesson: The Missional Lanes

Using the Guides 

Flexible tools for congregations, leaders, CRMs, and ministry partners 

The guides can be used in congregations, ministry teams, small groups, or intergenerational gatherings. They work best when participants share experiences, listen deeply, and notice the transformation happening in the process. 

The Mosaic Priority Guides are available on the Mosaic website. We invite communities to engage with them in ways that fit their language, culture, and rhythm of life. As we journey together, may we continue to be formed as communities for God’s mission, carried by the Spirit, and sent with the good news of Jesus, right where we are. 

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND INDONESIAN at mosaicmennonites.org/leadersresources/ 

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.