Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Articles

Walking by Faith, Constantly Tripping!

by

Jaye Lindo’s Ordination Service, August 30, 2025

By Noel Santiago 

“My help comes from the Lord! The one who began a good work will complete it.” (Psalm 121:2, CEB; Philippians 1:6) 

On a radiant summer afternoon in District Heights, MD, the art studio pulsed with life. But it wasn’t the usual buzz of brushes, canvases, or customers. It was something far more powerful: the joyful, Spirit-filled sounds of believers gathering to celebrate the ordination of Pastor Jaye Lindo. 

Lindo’s son-in-love Dominick Washington and his mom Ramona Pickett, with two two bushels of crabs in the background and a host of happy friends.

Surrounded by vibrant, colorful artwork, the gathering itself became a masterpiece, an expression of Lindo’s remarkable journey with God. Family, friends, colleagues, and the wider faith community encircled her with love and affirmation, testifying to the ways they had witnessed and nurtured God’s calling in her life. 

Pastor Lindo’s story is not one of ease, but of resilience and relentless faith. A descendant of enslaved people who toiled endlessly, she carries forward a legacy of perseverance, courage, and a deep-rooted hope.  

Ramona Pickett, Charlene “Charlie” Benjamin, Jaye Lindo, and Carla Garder: the Ladies of 7 Ways!

Her life has been a living example of everyday Anabaptism, of walking by faith, constantly tripping, as she and her husband reminded everyone through the T-shirts they wore at the celebration, yet always rising again with resilience and grace. 

From administration to youth ministry, from women’s ministry to launching the dynamic 7 Ways Home Fellowship with her ever-supportive husband, Brother Robert, Lindo has consistently stepped into new challenges with faith and openness. 

She fondly recalls Rev. Dr. Nelson Okanya as one of the first to recognize God’s pastoral call upon her life. At the ordination service, Dr. Okanya drew from Lindo’s cherished scriptures, Psalm 121 and Philippians 1:6, to frame her journey. 

From left: Jaye Lindo, Pastor Noah Kaye, Carla Garder, and Rev. Dr. Nelson Okanya, who were part of Lindo’s pastoral discernment team since the beginning of 7 Ways Home Fellowship in 2019.

The psalmist lifts his eyes and asks: “Where does my help come from?” The reply thunders: “My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.” Dr. Okanya affirmed that Pastor Lindo has lived and ministered from this bedrock conviction: her help has always come from the Lord. 

Linking this to Philippians 1:6, he declared that just as Paul encouraged the Philippians, so too can we affirm over Lindo: the God who began this good work in her will not stop halfway. God will bring it to glorious completion in Christ Jesus!

The service culminated in a powerful moment as the community gathered around Pastor Jaye and Brother Robert, laying hands, praying fervently, and rejoicing in God’s Spirit moving among them. It was holy. It was inspiring. It was unforgettable. 

The community gathers around Pastor Jaye and Brother Robert to lay hands and pray.

And then, as only God’s people can do, the celebration spilled over into laughter, storytelling, and a feast worthy of the occasion: crabs, fried fish, Chesapeake chicken, mac and cheese; a table of abundance shared in joy. 

We bless and commission Pastor Jaye Lindo, Brother Robert, and the 7 Ways Home Fellowship to continue creating safe, Spirit-filled spaces where people encounter the living Christ. The journey is not without trips and stumbles, but it is always guided by the Lord, who gives help and who will surely complete God’s good work. 

Mosaic Conference is a global, intercultural community, blessed with many credentialed female ministers including some of African and African Caribbean backgrounds. Within this diversity, we celebrate that Pastor Lindo is the second African American female minister to be credentialed in Mosaic. 

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.

Cooking for Palestine

by

by Jacob Curtis

Do you know Sam and Jehan Kuttab? When I ask Philadelphia-area Mennonites that question, I’m always surprised by how many of them say enthusiastically, “Yes! I know the Kuttabs! They had me over to their house in Wyncote.” 

And then their eyes light up as they try to describe it. How mouth-wateringly delicious Jehan’s Palestinian cooking was. How the entire house was filled with the aroma of cardamom, sumac, and za’atar. How they felt when they tasted her perfectly spiced musakhan—tender chicken falling off the bone beneath a blanket of caramelized onions, all of it fragrant with allspice and turmeric. How they savored her mahshi—stuffed vegetables bursting with the warmth of cinnamon and the brightness of fresh mint. How the meal was a feast for the senses and a love letter to Palestine. 

And when they’re done talking about the food, they talk about all the people they were introduced to—this warm, welcoming Palestinian clan of parents, children, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, all making them feel like they belonged. 

If you’ve had this experience yourself, you’re already nodding along. And if you haven’t, you should. At the end of this article, I’m going to tell you how you can learn to cook Palestinian-style from Jehan herself … while helping to raise money for peace in Palestine. But before I get there, a little background:

Sam’s parents, George and Frocina, moved to the United States when Sam was 11 years old. While they were still in Palestine, the family had connected with Mennonites who were working for peace and justice there. So when they arrived in Philadelphia, they went looking for a church home among the Mennonites. First, they landed at Diamond Street Mennonite. When they moved to Wyncote, they transferred to the little Mennonite church in Ambler where my wife Michelle and I are now pastors. They stayed, they settled in, and the congregation fell in love with them. People at our church still smile when they talk about the Kuttabs.

Eventually, Sam and Jehan started attending Oxford Circle Mennonite, where they’re still active members. And even though they’ve lived away from Palestine for decades now, they stay connected with folks back home. They’ve heard how friends and family have been threatened, harassed and denied basic civil rights under the Israeli occupation. When Hamas launched an attack into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,000 Israelis and taking 250 more as hostages, the Kuttabs were sad and scared. And since that day, their grief and fear have only increased as Israel has bombarded and besieged Gaza, killing over 78,000 Palestinians, and leaving those who remain homeless, traumatized, maimed, and starving. 

What would you do if your people were being massacred? Sam’s response to this horror has been to turn to the teachings of Jesus. “Love your enemies,” Jesus said. Sam has tried to do that. In the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, he connected with Justin Marshall, a young Jewish man who is also passionate about peace and justice in Palestine. Together, they founded the Prayers for Peace Alliance, a group of Philadelphia-area Palestinians and Jews determined to show that their two people don’t have to be enemies. Together, they’ve been visiting local Christian churches with a simple message: “Pray for us. Pray for peace in Palestine.” 

Things have only gotten worse in Gaza. But Sam and Justin and their friends continue to do their work—building relationships, raising support, organizing, protesting, teaching, persuading, and praying. Which brings us full circle—to cooking for Palestine. This fall, you have a chance to learn from Jehan while raising money to support the work of Prayers for Peace. 

On Saturday, October 4, Ambler Mennonite has invited Jehan to teach Palestinian cooking classes in our building (90 E Mt Pleasant Ave, Ambler, PA). Anyone who’s interested can come at 1pm, 3pm, or 5pm for a 1½ hour class. There will be Palestinian music playing, Palestinian decorations, and, of course, you’ll leave with the delicious cuisine you now know how to make yourself!

We’re asking participants to register in advance here. The cost is $40 (though more is welcome). All of the proceeds will go to Prayers for Peace Alliance. And when you’re done cooking, you can stick around to talk to representatives of Prayers for Peace and Mennonite Action about how to support peace in Palestine. We hope to see you there! 

Visit AmblerMennoniteChurch.com/CookingClass

Jacob Curtis

Jacob Curtis is co-pastor of Ambler (PA) Mennonite Church with his wife, Michelle.

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.   

Join Us in Prayer for a Detained Mosaic Leader

by

by Javier Márquez

With great concern, we share the difficult situation our brother Hensley Ducasse is currently facing. Hensley, 24 years old, was a Mosaic Conference Ambassador at Homestead (FL) Mennonite. Approximately four weeks ago, he was detained by ICE and is currently being held in an immigration detention center. 

During the summer, as an Ambassador, Hensley stood out for his passionate faith and dedication to serving the community. “What motivated me to become an Ambassador was my passion for Jesus Christ,” he once shared. That passion was evident in every step he took, with a genuine commitment to sowing hope and transformation in Homestead. 

One of his most notable goals was opening of a food bank to bless families in the community. His vision was that this ministry would provide physical nourishment and allow many to experience the love of God. He also organized sports and recreational events for children and youth, creating spaces of joy, community, and spiritual growth. 

In all of this, Hensley sought to embody the values of the Kingdom of God: the love, grace, empathy, and compassion of Christ. “I’ve learned to lead by listening and to lead by example,” he reflected, following the model of Jesus as a humble and loving guide. 

His service has been interrupted by this situation that affects both him and the Homestead congregation. Marta Castillo, Mosaic Associate Executive Minister, along with church members, are working to visit him and advocate for him. 

We wholeheartedly invite you to join in fervent prayer for Hensley: that the Lord would grant him strength, peace, and hope in the midst of this difficult time; that paths of justice and mercy would open, allowing him to return home; and that the Homestead community would continue to be a living testimony of Christ’s love in action. 

We trust that God, who hears the prayers of God’s people, will sustain us and work in our brother’s life. We ask that every Mosaic congregation lift up their voices in intercession for Hensley and his family, believing in the promise that the Lord never abandons His children. 

“Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.”

– James 5:16, CEB 

Javier Márquez

Javier Márquez is Associate for Communication and Community Engagement for Colombia. He is an Anabaptist Colombian pacifist and poet. He is based in Bogota, Colombia.

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

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

by

As Mosaic Mennonite Conference commemorates the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism in 2025, each month we will share a variety of Mosaic voices reflecting on the question, “What does Anabaptism mean to me?”  

Submission from

Wendy Kwong, Souderton (PA) Mennonite

My husband and I were baptized in 1994 at a Chinese Mennonite church in Philadelphia, marking my conversion from a polytheist who revered ancestors and nature spirits to a monotheistic faith centered on Jesus. After immigrating from Hong Kong to the U.S., we settled in a suburban community with a strong Mennonite heritage, and our sons were educated at a Mennonite school. I was mentored by a Mennonite health care provider during my last school years. All these encounters shaped my spiritual formation.  

Over the past three decades, I have encountered a wide range of sometimes fascinating comments on Mennonites from Christians and non-Christians: “I have never heard of Mennonites before.” “Are Mennonites the same as Mormons?” “Mennonites discourage street dancing.” “Mennonites don’t use cellphones,” and “Mennonites shouldn’t refuse military service.” 

I have come to deeply appreciate the simple lifestyle, nonviolence, baptism by faith, caring for creation, and the mission of reconciliation of Mennonites. As a new believer, I struggled to practice peacemaking, but through prayer and reading Scripture, I received peace from the Lord and trusting in Him alone.   

I am deeply grateful for the pastors and leaders in my congregation who have organized events to help us to deepen our root as part of Anabaptists during this year commemorating 500 years of Anabaptism. As I reflect on this legacy, I add to my personal Mennonite convictions: justice witnessing, intercultural humility, sacrificial love, courageous discipleship, and innovative pedagogy. I may not fully live out every tradition, yet I entrust the journey to the power of the Holy Spirit.  

Submission from

Jacob Curtis, Co-Pastor of Ambler (PA) Mennonite

I’m a missionary kid. My Mennonite parents moved from the US to Ireland before I was born. So, growing up, Ireland was home. None of the other kids at school knew what Mennonites were. But I was proud to be one. It made me special. For me, Mennonites were the Christians who took Jesus seriously. We were the ones who actually tried to love our enemies, who’d die for them rather than kill them. The Mennonites I knew were all missionaries who’d left their homes to follow Jesus into the unknown. I wanted to be like them when I grew up. 

When I left Ireland at 18, I moved to Goshen, Indiana, to go to college. There, I met more Mennonites. And I learned that being Mennonite meant different things to different people. Sometimes, it was reduced to taking one side or the other in the American culture wars. Mennonites in conservative places could become obsessed with conservative family values. Mennonites in progressive places could talk a lot about social justice and not a lot about Jesus. 

But there were Mennonites in both places who still believed that to be a Mennonite was to be something special. It was a way of being Christian that took Jesus seriously all the time, not just when he aligned with a political agenda. It didn’t mean trying to recruit Jesus onto our side. It meant being on Jesus’ side and following him all the way to the cross. 

Submission from

Pastor Emmanuel Villatoro, Whitehall (PA) Mennonite

Anabaptismo, es un llamado a seguir a Jesús de forma auténtica, incluso 500 años después de su surgimiento donde el anabaptismo promovía la fe voluntaria, la comunidad fraternal y el rechazo a la violencia. Esos valores siguen vivos, especialmente entre nuestras comunidades que buscan una vida sencilla, pacífica y centrada en Cristo en medio de un mundo cada vez más complejo, materialista y acelerado. 

Ser menonita en este tiempo moderno es vivir con una conciencia profunda de la justicia, la paz y el servicio al prójimo. La vida sencilla no significa necesariamente vivir sin tecnología, sino más bien usarla con propósito, priorizando relaciones humanas y valores espirituales. Anabaptismo significa elegir caminos que promuevan la humildad, la comunidad y la reconciliación en un mundo donde la individualidad y la autoafirmación dominan. El anabaptismo nos invita a vivir una fe activa y comunitaria, centrada en el amor de Cristo y en la construcción del Reino de Dios. 

Anabaptism is a call to follow Jesus authentically, even 500 years after its emergence, when it promoted voluntary faith, fraternal community, and the rejection of violence. These values remain alive today, especially among our communities that seek a simple, peaceful, Christ-centered life amid an increasingly complex, materialistic, and fast-paced world. 

To be Mennonite in this modern age is to live with a deep awareness of justice, peace, and service to others. A simple life doesn’t necessarily mean living without technology, but rather using it purposefully, prioritizing human relationships and spiritual values. Anabaptism means choosing paths that promote humility, community, and reconciliation in a world where individuality and self-assertion prevail. Anabaptism invites us to live an active, communal faith centered on the love of Christ and the building of God’s Kingdom. 

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.   

Get Ready for Mosaic Mennonite Conference Fall Delegate Assembly

by

Saturday, November 1, 2025: 9 AM-4:30 PM   
Registration for delegates will take place from 8:30-9 AM 
at Souderton Mennonite Church (map)  
105 W Chestnut St., Souderton, PA 18964

Delegate Registration

All delegates named by their congregations should have received an email on September 2, 2025, explaining the day-of registration process for delegates and a link to confirm their participation as a delegate. 

If you are coming to Assembly as an attendee (all non-delegates), you are most welcome. To help us plan and prepare, please let us know by signing up here.

If you are coming from a distance, plan your travel and arrange for your lodging. For more information about lodging and transportation, please click here.  

Friday Night Equipping Event

Everyone (delegates and non-delegates) is invited to join us on Friday, October 31 from 4-8pm at Zion Mennonite (Souderton, PA). These sessions will focus on Mosaic’s three priorities: Formational, Missional, and Intercultural Transformation. Dinner is provided.

Delegates should RSVP using the same delegate form they completed to confirm their participation for Assembly. All others (non-delegates) should RSVP using the attendee form, which can be used to register for this event, Assembly, or both. 

Delegate Preparation Meetings

What are Assembly Delegate Preparation Meetings?

Mosaic Conference holds a series of delegate preparation meetings in the weeks leading up to our gathered Assembly. The purpose of these meetings is to help delegates understand the important commitment and specific duties they are responsible for, to prepare them with the latest information on the issues that will be discussed, and to give an opportunity to give feedback and ask questions.  

Delegates are asked to attend one meeting on a date & location that best suits them. Let us know what meeting you are attending so we can plan. 

Please pray for Assembly, Mosaic’s Board, delegates, the Mosaic staff planning it, those attending, and God’s leading in the process.  

The staff team for planning Fall Assembly is Stacey Mansfield (Administrative & Hospitality Collaborator), Jaye Lindo (Hospitality Coordinator), Cindy Angela (Director of Communication), and Sue Conrad Howes (Registrar). The Fall Assembly taskforce also includes Maati Yvonne (Executive Committee), Danilo Sanchez (Leadership Minister for Intercultural Transformation), Stephen Kriss (Executive Minister), Makinto (LA Faith Chapel), and Joel Horst Nofziger (Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania). 

Other Supplemental Documents: 

The 2025 Docket will be released in early October and emailed to delegates. Visit MosaicMennonites.org/assembly for more information.

Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship Dedicates Accessibility Ramp

by

by Steve McCloskey

A version of this article was originally published on January 6, 2025, for the Anabaptist Disabilities Network, and reprinted with permission.    

In May 2022, delegates at a Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) assembly in Kansas City affirmed several resolutions; one of which was the MC USA resolution regarding accessibility (which can be read here). 

Although our congregation, Taftsville (VT) Chapel Mennonite Fellowship, did not have any delegates at this assembly the resolution provoked a question: how accessible are churches, worship services, and gatherings to full participation of people with disabilities and different abilities? 

As a pastor, I was confronted with a series of specific questions: if a person who is blind attended our services, do we have hymnals that they could use? If a person who is deaf attended, who would translate what others say? 

The resolution provoked our congregation to consider the ways that people’s human bodies might encounter barriers to participation in the Church body. 

We have an elevator in our building; so, as the able-bodied pastor, I assume we accommodate persons using wheelchairs. But a sister in our church, Mary, pointed out that she can’t use the elevator without the assistance of someone inside the building to operate the elevator; simply having an elevator doesn’t necessarily solve accessibility complications. 

The resolution from 2022 compelled me, as a pastor, to be more reflective on my theology of abilities and disabilities. Author Amy Kenny is a disabled scholar and theologian, and a committed Christian who loves and thanks God for her wheelchair. Her book My Body is Not a Prayer Request draws attention to ways that she is treated as an inconvenience to churches and other Christians. Many see her as a person who needs healing. She is suggesting that they need healing. 

Kenny, in her abilities and disabilities, can see things that I, with an able body, don’t see. She notices that the resurrected body of Jesus is disabled. That Christ, even after death, even after the transformation of resurrection, carries wounds and holes in his body. 

Kenny has heard pastors preach that we will all have perfect bodies in heaven and she challenges this notion of perfection. She notices that in heaven, the throne of grace, the throne of God, is a wheelchair. As it says in Daniel 7:9, NRSV: 

And the Ancient of Days was seated; 
His garment was white as snow, 
And the hair of His head was like pure wool. 
His throne was a fiery flame, 
Its wheels a burning fire. 

Holy smokes! God’s throne has hot wheels! I never noticed that it was a wheelchair. But it was there in the Bible all along–and Amy Kenny helped me to see this. 

What if people of various abilities and disabilities, colors and sizes, are all part of this multitude that the last book of the Bible describes worshiping before God? 

What if God is perfect in our weakness? Moses thought his speech impediment was an impediment to his calling, but in Exodus 4:11, the Lord said to him, 

Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 

Hearing from the disabled voices among us inspired our congregation to consider ways that we could make our worship gatherings more accessible and inclusive. We pursued grant money with the Anabaptist Disabilities Network and were awarded a Barrier Free Grant to help us make structural changes. 

We began a handful of initiatives that included: adding handrails to the bathroom on the first floor of our building, ordering a large print version of the Voices Together hymnal, and more ambitiously, we wanted to make our church yard and gardens (which are situated on an elevated slope) more accessible to folks with mobility limitations. 

After considering a few options, we decided on an accessibility pathway that allows people who use a wheelchair or other mobility assistance tools to have more convenient access up the hill and through the path. Our congregation holds worship services, picnics, and other events in the yard. It is also a community garden that offers space for rest, prayer, and contemplation near the peace pole we planted in 2022. 

Breaking ground on the accessible sidewalk.
The completed ramp provides access to outdoor meeting spaces.

Shortly after our trustees used equipment to create a slope and place hard-pack stone to create a path, we held a dedication ceremony with a prayer that our grounds can continue to be a place of hospitality to visitors and newcomers for future generations to come. 

Cutting the ribbon at the dedication for the accessible ramp.

Steve McCloskey

Steve McCloskey (M. Div, MPA) serves as the Pastor of Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship in Vermont. Steve is a volunteer firefighter, recurring columnist for the Vermont Standard, a recovering sinner and disciple of Jesus, and father of Jacob and Silas. Steve enjoys hiking, praying, and exploring the hills of New England and occasionally playing Nintendo Switch with his kids and their friends.

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.   

“Don’t be helpful. Be curious.”

by

by Gary Alloway

“Don’t be helpful. Be curious.” When I first read those words in a book by Tim Soerens, they immediately annoyed me. After all, what could be wrong with being helpful? 

Two years ago, Tony moved to my block and Tony was a mess. He and his wife would get in blowout screaming matches on the sidewalk. He would sit in his car at 2 am, blasting his music. He was prone to outbursts at his kids, who are the same age as our kids. My attempts to fix, intervene, and correct all went poorly. Until one day, I decided to take a cold beverage over to Tony’s house and kick it.   

I found out that Tony had grown up in a very under-resourced neighborhood in Philadelphia and gotten pulled into violence as a teenager. Bristol was his way out. I found out he sat in his car at 2 am as an escape, and was blissfully unaware of how loud his music was. I found out he wanted nothing more than a quiet life–to work, to raise his kids well, and to have his home be a place of peace. 

And after that conversation, things changed. Whatever help we offered was no longer in order to fix Tony or to be his social worker. Now we were neighbors, friends, and parents just trying to raise our kids well. We were in it together. And Tony started showing his generous side. He cut our grass. He dropped off food. He gave me a pair of shoes. And I helped him plant flowers on his front porch for the first time in his life. We walk Tony’s kids to school every morning. We sneak them as much healthy food as we can. 

It’s not so much that being helpful is wrong. But when it’s our first instinct, it usually leads to standing over the other person, rather than standing next to them. They become our client or our project, rather than our brother or sister. Not only does this belittle the other person, but we also miss out on unlikely friendships that have a way of changing us deeply.  

I can’t fix Tony. But being his friend is pretty fun. Curiosity opens the way to friendship. And curiosity opens space for the true healer of his soul to work. Not me, but Jesus.   

So that’s my commission to you. Let that little phrase annoy you. “Don’t be helpful.  Be curious.” 

Let it change your posture. Let it create space for God to work. You just might end up friends with Tony. 

Gary Alloway

Gary Alloway is a Leadership Minister for Mosaic Conference. Gary is also a pastor and church planter of Redemption Church of Bristol (PA), which is a Mosaic Partner in Ministry and was founded in 2009. Gary serves with his wife, Susan, and his children, Augie (9) and Rosey (7), who deeply love pretzel dogs from the Bristol Amish Market. Gary has a passion for Philadelphia sports, crossword puzzles, and for seeing broken people connect to the amazing love of God. 

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

Not Afraid to Think: Finding Faith in the Questions

by

by Sharon K. Williams

Lareta (Reta) Halteman Finger grew up in a Mennonite family that was deeply committed to following Christ and serving the church. They regularly attended the Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA) congregation. Reta’s 8th-grade-educated father was a thinker and constant Bible reader. But this did not prevent humor from pervading Sunday dinners. A beef roast at the table meant two things: a tasty meal and a not-so-shy roasting of the preacher’s sermon!  

One of the older preachers filled out many sentences with the phrase, “You might say…”   

“The sermons could have used some help,” Halteman Finger recalls. 

For church meetings or other formal events, her family observed the traditional dress code for Franconia Conference Mennonites: a “plain coat” without a tie for men and a cape dress for women. Once baptized, all girls and women wore a prayer covering over long hair braided or pinned up. The concern, enforced by bishops and ministers, was modesty in dress, not being captivated by fashion, and that women should follow Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthian 11:2–16. The Haltemans observed these practices, but more as a tradition than out of deep conviction. 

These expectations were practiced to varying degrees in Franconia Conference congregations until the 1960s or later. Clothes, movies, television, and car tires with white walls were the cause of much angst within Mennonite churches and families. Dress code issues had predated and contributed to the 1847 split in the Franconia Mennonite Conference.  

But the Halteman family experienced a different reality. A Moyer family of “new Mennonites” (a nickname for Eastern District Conference congregations) were the Haltemans’ closest neighbors and dearest friends. Although “old Mennonites” might have considered the Moyers as worldly for not dressing plain, “we loved them, and they loved us!” Halteman Finger recalls. 

Her goal in high school was to be a good Mennonite girl—”but not too good!” While a student at Dock Mennonite Academy, a friendly rival invited her to a student-led prayer meeting. She went reluctantly. The students prayed to Jesus conversationally; they were speaking to a real person in the room! The experience was so liberating and joyful—unlike the “group conviction” she had experienced at the 1950s Brunk revival tent meetings. “It was like being born again!” she recalls.  

Photo by Carolyn Rothwell

After graduating from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) with a degree in elementary education, Halteman Finger served at Eastern Mennonite High School as dean of girls. The school had many rules, including cape dresses for women employees. To comply, Halteman Finger’s mother sewed three dresses—with snap-on capes. Compliance without conviction was hard. 

Halteman Finger yearned for more biblical study, so she spent a year at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. Nothing sharpens one’s Anabaptist theology like immersing in a different theological tradition! The covering and cape dresses were gone for good. Her father did not complain. 

When the Finger family moved to Chicago in 1976, Reta worked for and then became editor of Daughters of Sarah, a periodical about Christian feminism. Upon turning 50, she took a leap of faith to study at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with Dr. Robert Jewett, a Pauline scholar. Although the apostle Paul was not popular with feminist women in the 1990s, Halteman Finger took a deep dive with Dr. Jewett into the multi-cultural realities and challenges of the early church. This revolutionized her view of Paul. 

In 1995, Halteman Finger began a 14-year calling to teach New Testament at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. After retiring, she returned to EMU and Seminary as an adjunct professor to teach New Testament, with a specialty in First Corinthians. She is the author or co-author of four books, including Creating a Scene in Corinth: A Simulation (Herald Press, 2013, 2nd edition) and was a regular contributor to Sojourners magazine.  

Several of Reta’s faith stories are included in A Church Divided: A Study of 1 Corinthians, the Spring 2025 Salt & Light Bible study curriculum (MennoMedia). 

Sharon K. Williams

Sharon K. Williams serves as the minister of worship with the Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life Mennonite congregation.

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.