Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

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Iglesia Menonita del Cordero: Historic Witness in South Texas

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by Javier Márquez

Editor’s Note: Iglesia Menonita del Cordero was approved by Mosaic Conference’s board as a member congregation and will be welcomed at Mosaic’s 2025 Fall Delegate Assembly. 

Iglesia Menonita del Cordero (Mennonite Church of the Lamb) is a faith community with deep roots in Christian witness and service in the city of Brownsville, Texas. It is the oldest Mennonite church in South Texas. 

It was established in 1974 by Brother Conrado Hinojosa, his wife Ester, and their family, who, after experiencing a conversion in Ohio, returned to Brownsville with a desire to share the gospel. With support from Mennonite churches in the northern United States, the young congregation acquired their current property and built their own facilities—marking the beginning of a communal life committed to faith, work, and service. 

Gathered for worship.

From the beginning, the church has been made up of hardworking Hispanic families and has maintained a strong connection with the local community. Most of its members are Texans of Mexican descent. Over the years, the church has actively participated in housing construction and improvement projects, as well as various community support initiatives. 

Currently, Iglesia Menonita del Cordero is composed primarily of second-generation Christians, with some founding members still present as a living testimony of the church’s legacy. Although its identity is Hispanic, the congregation carries out a bilingual ministry, especially directed toward the younger generations, reflecting the cultural and linguistic reality of a city where more than 65% of the population is Hispanic. 

The community gathered after worship on a recent Sunday. Photo by Marta Castillo.

After the pandemic, the church renewed its commitment to worship, teaching, and community service. Its congregational life includes: 

  • Sundays: Sunday School and Worship Service
  • Tuesdays: Online Bible Study
  • Wednesdays: Children’s Ministry, focused on the community and as a continuation of Vacation Bible School
  • Thursdays: Prayer Service
  • Fridays: Youth gathering with their sponsors 

The women of the church are organized into an active group that supports congregational activities and promotes spaces for spiritual formation and service. In addition, the church maintains connections with other faith communities through the Evangelical Ministerial Alliance of Brownsville, strengthening collaboration and Christian witness. 

The congregation offers a summer Vacation Bible School.

The mission of Iglesia Menonita del Cordero is: “To live in such a way that we impact the Brownsville community so that the Lord adds to those who are being saved.” 

Pastor Rigoberto and his wife Sonia were invited to pastor the church when it was seeking new leadership. They are from Puerto Rico and come from the Puerto Rican Mennonite Church. They have served this congregation for approximately 20 years. During this time, they have developed a significant ministry, sharing the principles of peace, justice, community service, and accompaniment of immigrants. 

The pastor’s vision is for the church to clearly reflect the message of peace, justice, and love of Jesus Christ. 

As a congregation, they are inspired by Philippians 2:3–8, seeking to follow Christ’s example of humility and service as the foundation of their unity, testimony, and hope. 

The church previously belonged to the South Central Conference. During a time of change and division within that conference, Iglesia del Cordero decided to apply for affiliation with Mosaic Conference, along with two other churches. Since 2023 or 2024, Mosaic has welcomed them, and Pastor Rigoberto is currently in the process of transferring his ministerial credentials. The church is expected to be officially received as a Mosaic member at the November assembly. 

Pastor Rigoberto Negron and his wife Sonia (center) celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Rigoberto and Sonia have expressed that they feel comfortable, blessed, and supported by Mosaic. They believe it was the best choice for their church at this time and wish to maintain a long-term relationship with the conference. They have also taken seriously their responsibility to participate actively, understanding their connection with Mosaic as a mutually beneficial relationship. 

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. 

Mosaic Delegates Engage in Fall 2025 Preparation Meetings

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As Mosaic Mennonite Conference prepares for the Fall Delegate Assembly on November 1, which includes a vote on whether to discontinue membership with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) and cultivate healthy mutual partnerships with MC USA, Mennonite World Conference and other Anabaptist communities, the Mosaic board and staff hosted a series of eight delegate preparation meetings in late September and early October 2025.  

These gatherings, held in person in Pennsylvania and California and on Zoom, in English, Spanish, and with Indonesian interpretation, offered space for information sharing, reflection, clarification, and feedback for over 130 participants, representing the diverse body of Mosaic congregations. 

In line with Mosaic’s commitment to two-way communication, we thank delegates for their thoughtful engagement. This article highlights key themes, shared insights, and questions that arose during the sessions. 

Overview of the Delegate Sessions 

The sessions each began with a prayer and a reflection on the Fall Delegate Assembly theme text, Acts 1:6-8, followed by presentations from Mosaic Conference board and staff. These presentations (see accompanying slides in English) reviewed the timeline of the affiliation discernment process and outlined the rationale for the recommended discontinuation of membership in MC USA. 

Mosaic board members shared frustrations with MC USA’s lack of acknowledgement and responsiveness to concerns around polity, intercultural practices, and global partnerships. They also referenced the use of power dynamics, communication gaps, and inconsistent dynamics between private and public discourse. The board shared updates that have transpired since the board was tasked with implementing the recommendation to seek partnership, rather than membership, with MC USA, including MC USA’s unanimous denial—with minimal explanation—of Mosaic’s proposal to become a program entity within the denomination, and MC USA leadership’s unwillingness to meet in August or September to discuss next steps.  

Delegates were reminded that this recommendation does not seek to sever relationships but seeks new forms of partnership. 

The sessions also introduced the ballot process, including the meaning of abstentions and the use of colored ballots, with attention to ensuring clarity for non-English speakers. 

Mosaic staff also introduced the Centering Document, which helps articulate the Conference’s “centered-set” relational posture, with Jesus as our center.   

Delegate Feedback and Reflections 

The tone of the eight meetings varied significantly. Some gatherings were marked by grief over the potential shift in long-standing denominational ties. Others were marked by affirmation, with few questions or concerns raised. Others focused on practical questions of implementation.  

Overall, delegates expressed trust in Mosaic leadership and an appreciation of honesty, even as tensions persist around identity, inclusion, and future direction. 

Regina Valensia, a member of Philadelphia (PA) Praise Center and of the Pathway Steering Team, reflected on the diversity of voices during the Oct. 5 meeting. “I shared insights into the communication struggles we had with MC USA throughout the Pathway process that persist until today.” 

She continued, “Experiencing each other’s emotions, convictions, and doubts sparked new perspectives. When we come together to discuss difficult topics and can coexist with love, it is a sign that the Holy Spirit is with us.” 

Jordan Luther, a pastor at Methacton Mennonite (Eaglesville, PA), reflected on the palpable tension in the room at the Sept. 30 in-person meeting, saying, “Many delegates shared concerns with the Board’s recommendation to discontinue membership with MC USA and the anticipated consequences. It is hard to know how to hold the impasse between the leadership of MC USA and Mosaic as a delegate and the uncertainty following Assembly, whatever the delegates decide.” 

He shared a challenge that has emerged for him, “What does faith that seeks understanding look like in this context? How can I both respect church leadership while also prophetically holding space for those who are often marginalized by our U.S. church systems—immigrants, queer and trans folk, non-English speakers, and the poor?” 

Tomás Ramírez, pastor of Iglesia Menonita Luz y Vida (Orlando, FL), expressed affirmation for the Sept. 25 meeting’s clarity and vision. “The board is giving us a clear idea of who we want to be as a Conference. The meeting felt productive because it helped put us on the same page and gave us a space to imagine the future of Mosaic.”  

Regarding affiliation, Ramírez added, “The Pathways Team was clear in their recommendation. Working beyond a U.S.-based denomination, with a broader global reach, looks more promising.”  

He continued, “The challenge of Mosaic is that it is trying to unite people of many perspectives and colors. We still need to organize together. The MWC Shared Convictions can be our guide. Mosaic will grow, we will have challenges, and we may fail. But we must allow the Spirit to guide us. God will help us.” 

Questions Raised  

Delegates asked a range of thoughtful and challenging questions, such as: 

  • How does the Centering Document interact with existing theological and policy documents?
  • How will Mosaic maintain theological and structural coherence in a “centered set” model?
  • Does Mosaic intend to clarify its stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion?
  • What resources (financial, relational, institutional) would Mosaic lose by discontinuing MC USA membership?
  • Has MC USA already left Mosaic in spirit?
  • If the vote fails, what happens next? (answer: Mosaic remains a member conference of MC USA)
  • Could Mosaic operate as a “parallel entity” to MC USA?
  • What would mutual partnership with MC USA look like in practice? 

In response to some of the most-asked questions, Mosaic created a FAQ Document for 2025. Articles in Mosaic News also continue to address some of these questions and concerns.  

As the November 1 Delegate Assembly approaches, Mosaic delegates have an important responsibility to discern the way forward for Mosaic in relating to MC USA and its broader identity as a global Anabaptist community. 

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

What to Expect at Fall Delegate Assembly 2025

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On Saturday, November 1, delegates and credentialed leaders from across the country, will gather in Souderton, PA for the 2025 Mosaic Mennonite Conference Fall Delegate Assembly. Around 300 delegates and guests are expected in person, with around 30 delegates participating virtually who are unable to travel at this time.  

Guided by this year’s theme, “Be My Witnesses,” and the text Acts 1:6-8, we will worship and pray together, break bread and fellowship, and have engaged conversations on the future of Mosaic including denominational affiliation and how to live faithfully centered on Jesus.

The day will begin with worship, which is open to all, though we ask that all guests RSVP by Monday, Oct. 27.

It will also be live streamed for those not attending in person. There will be lively music and a sermon from Dr. Meghan Larissa Good, who will cast a vision for renewed Anabaptist witness now and for the future. 

Don’t miss our newest Learning Mosaic Podcast episode featuring Dr. Meghan Larissa Good as one of the guests. Listen here!

During worship, three new member congregations (Iglesia Menonita del Cordero [Brownsville, TX]; Iglesia Menonita Fuente de Agua Viva [Los Fresnos, TX]; and Redemption Church of Bristol [PA]) will be welcomed. We will also recognize newly credentialed leaders, honor those among us who have died, and remember those who have left Mosaic in the past year.  

The morning delegate session will follow worship, and each delegate will be seated at a table group with a table leader. All table participants will be asked to commit to Mosaic’s Respectful Communication Guidelines. There will be times of singing praise and sharing communion. 

There will be an opportunity to discuss the board’s recommendation: “to discontinue membership in Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) and cultivate healthy mutual partnerships with MC USA, MWC, and other Anabaptist communities,” followed by a vote (utilizing green, yellow, and red colors). (The ballot text is available in the docket, and more information is available on the FAQ document).  

There will also be an opportunity to reflect in diverse table groups on Mosaic Conference’s new Centering Document (see: A Mosaic Identity: Clarifying our Center).  

Due to space limitations and to maintain a quiet working space for delegates, all non-delegate guests will be seated in chairs rather than at tables and asked to be quiet observers. For guests who wish to talk to others during the session, the delegate sessions will also be livestreamed in the sanctuary.

Makinto, Associate Pastor of LA (CA) Faith Chapel and Co-Director of Conference-Related Ministry Amahoro International, will again lead us in a peacebuilding drumming ritual. Please bring a handheld rhythm instrument, such as a djembe, bongos, shaker, or a bucket and drumsticks, for the peacemaking and drumming time during our afternoon session. If you don’t bring something, your hands work great too! 

There will be an extended period for lunch and relationship building, including time to visit the Exhibit Hall, to visit Mosaic Conference-Related Ministries and other agencies. This space will be open prior to worship and throughout the lunch period for visiting before or after eating. At 2 p.m., the Exhibit Hall will close.  

There will be prayer room available for reflection, located off of the sanctuary and main foyer.

Intercessory Prayer for Mosaic Assembly

Join us on Tuesday, October 28 at 7:00 PM (ET) / 4:00 PM (PT) for a virtual time of prayer for Mosaic delegates and all who wish to lift up the upcoming Assembly.

Join via Zoom

Beyond the Saturday Assembly is a weekend of equipping and being community together. On Friday evening, the “Witness Together” equipping event at Zion Mennonite (Souderton, PA) will offer worship, equipping on Mosaic’s priorities of formational, missional, and intercultural transformation, and deepening intercultural relationships, and will include a workshop with Dr. Meghan Larissa Good. Sunday will include some pulpit swaps and visits by guest pastors.

We look forward to seeing you at Mosaic’s Assembly on November 1. For further information, please see Mosaic’s Assembly webpage.    

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

My Experience of Faithful Dissent

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by Beth Yoder

When I accepted the request to officiate the wedding of two beloved men in the Mosaic Conference congregation I was pastoring at the time, I anticipated that I would be required to go through the conference Giving and Receiving Counsel process. I did not anticipate the full force of the overflowing joy and love and sense of community that I and many others experienced at that wedding. Nor did I expect that the credential review process would be, for me, a deeply meaningful experience of “church.” 

I continue to ponder that experience. On the one hand, it was profoundly moving to bring my voice into the circle of discernment, meeting with brothers and sisters in the church whose experiences and convictions differ from mine and to be listened to well.   

I spoke from my heart, and I sensed that those around the table listened with their hearts as well. Together, we felt we were standing on holy ground. They listened with respect and care to my experience of “faithful dissent.” 

On the other hand, this very process—reviewing a pastor’s credentials for extending pastoral care in this way, to faithful, God-honoring followers of Jesus—is another example of how the church continues to bring harm to LGBTQ+ people. 

Over the more than 40 years before officiating this wedding, as I lived, studied, and served in the church, I witnessed the church exercising exclusionary policies and actions, insisting that human health and wholeness are only possible in heterosexuality. These practices have caused harm: to queer people’s sense of personhood and belovedness by God, to their faith in God, to their trust in the church, and to their desire to be a part of it.

I have seen this as a pastor and as a mother, watching our young son grow up in the church, be formed by it, and then receive the message from much of the church that there was no place for him in it. 

I cannot square the harm that I have witnessed with the loving, life-giving way of Jesus. Nor does it square with an important message I heard from the Mennonite Church in 1985, when a study on human sexuality was commissioned and sent out to the whole church for use. In that study, a key statement has stayed with me for all these years, “If the church should err, let it be on the side of love for a group of people who have been much persecuted by society.”  

My conversations with several Mosaic Conference committees during the review process felt like an experience of the church living into part of its calling: listening together, hearing one from the other, offering and receiving different ways of understanding how God’s Spirit is moving in our midst—our different pieces of the mosaic which forms this larger church.   

I am grateful to have my credentials fully reaffirmed, and I am grateful to have experienced church in the hard work of speaking and listening to each other. But the deep hurt and sorrow in my heart remain. I continue to grieve the harm done to so many for so many years, and I fervently pray that there will increasingly be space where our LGBTQ+ siblings may also experience good church among us.  

Without them we cannot become fully who we, as a church, are meant to be. 

Beth Yoder

Beth Yoder has been a credentialed pastor in the Mosaic/Franconia conferences for more than 30 years. She continues as a member of the Salford congregation and also continues her ministry as a spiritual director.

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 Courage to Faithfully Dissent

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by Marta Castillo

Have you ever had a phrase or word leap out at you—from Scripture, a sermon, a conversation, or a song—and the Holy Spirit keeps you stuck on it, pondering its meaning? 

One such moment came for me when I heard the phrase “faithful dissent.” I remember exactly where I was: in a hard, brave, and sacred space as the Giving and Receiving Counsel listening committee heard Beth Yoder share her 30+ year journey of how God had worked in her life leading her to what she described as an act of “faithful dissent” from the conference’s understanding that pastors should not officiate same-sex weddings. 

As part of my role in Mosaic Mennonite Conference, I participate in Giving and Receiving Counsel, a process of discernment for credentialed leaders alleged to be acting at variance with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.  

The power of this process lies in the discernment and conversations—between the Leadership Member and credentialed leader and with the Review Committee (made of selected members from our credentialing and ministerial committees). The recommendation on how to proceed with the leader’s credentials should come from a careful time of listening, conferring, and prayer. 

We went through the whole process with Beth. We listened to her story of growth as a pastor and a parent. We heard about the young man in her congregation who asked her to officiate his wedding to his partner, and how Beth did not make that decision lightly. She entered into careful discernment with trusted friends, colleagues, and family. She counted the cost: the risk of losing her credentials, the opinions others would form, the pain and alienation she would feel in the presence of the conference community. Still, her faith called her to dissent.  

Faithful dissent is the act of remaining loyal and steadfast even when your convictions are at variance from those that are commonly, officially, or historically held. 

It is not new. An example of faithful dissent is found in Acts 10, Peter receives a vision from God and chooses to visit Cornelius, a Gentile, despite Jewish law. When Peter sees how the Holy Spirit falls on the whole household, he proclaims that God does not have favorites. When he is criticized for his actions in Jerusalem, he tells his story. When the believers hear it, they have no further objections and praise God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18) 

I am not asking you to agree or disagree with my sister Beth’s act of what she’s named as “faithful dissent.” I know that may be your first instinct upon reading this article.

I am asking you to look at a Jesus who faithfully dissented by healing people on the Sabbath, eating with sinners, teaching and talking with women, scolding the religious leaders, and laying down his life rather than claiming earthly power.   

Writing this article has made me ask myself, where do I need to faithfully dissent? Where do I need to choose faithfulness to God over faithfulness to church or religious institutions? As polarization deepens in the church and world, faithful dissent will become a necessary act of obedience to live like Jesus.  

So, I leave you with this: 

Where do we need to choose a different path than one that was previously, commonly, or officially held, even if it may cost us something?

How can our communities help us discern what is faithful versus what may be rebellion or reaction? May God’s Spirit teach us, help us, and guide us! 

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference.

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

Pathways of Partnership in a Global Anabaptist Community

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by Stephen Kriss

For over 20 years, Franconia Conference’s and now Mosaic’s structure has included a category for partnerships (called Partners in Mission) in addition to membership. These partnerships are based in mutuality and vary in depth and duration. Some involve a specific collaborative project; others are built on historic relationships; and others serve as transitional relationships for congregations exploring full membership.

At the heart of these connections is a balance of mutuality and autonomy. Rather than enforcing uniformity, we seek shared understanding, allowing relationships to evolve over time.   

This long-standing framework shaped our approach to redefining our relationship with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). Recognizing significant changes in both Mosaic and MC USA over the last decade, our Pathways Team recommended exploring new possibilities for how to relate. We believed that MC USA was open to this and moved accordingly after conversations with key MC USA leaders.   

For most of its existence, Franconia Conference worked in partnership with the denomination rather than as a member. We had a degree of autonomy and leaned in to work together in various areas. When Mennonite Church USA formed, Eastern District, Franconia, and Southeast Conferences were all member communities. Mosaic’s initial formation carried this organizational alignment, yet the partnership orientation that existed for generations from Franconia is in our DNA.

The Pathways Team’s desire to establish partnership sought to offer a way of relating rather than emphasizing separation. In May 2025, Mosaic Conference presented a proposal to MC USA to become a program entity/ministry partner. The proposal offered that Mosaic would provide services in areas of Mosaic’s strength and capacity, including intercultural ministry, next-generation formation, and church planting. We intended to commit staff time and resources that would be shared across the denomination.   

Though our proposal was rejected unanimously by the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board (and we have yet to fully learn why it was found to be problematic after negotiating together with MC USA leaders to bring the proposal forward), the posture to share and engage with our sibling communities remains. In the months since, we have been in conversation with other conferences in MC USA, exploring future partnerships that could include shared staff, joint initiatives, and dual affiliations.  

Should the board recommendation be affirmed by the delegates, Mosaic would move away from U.S.-centric affiliation and toward membership in Mennonite World Conference (MWC). This reflects our increasingly globally-influenced Anabaptism (as evidenced in our new Centering document).

As part of joining MWC, we have already agreed to a mediated conversation, facilitated by MWC, to address any ongoing issues with Mennonite Church USA. MWC General Secretary César García, in a recent visit with our staff, described this as “a separation, not a division.”

We still anticipate working alongside MC USA conferences and the denomination in some ways, particularly around Spanish-speaking leadership development—an area where collaboration has already borne fruit through shared staff like Marco Güete. 

Mosaic continues to explore partnerships that may strengthen ongoing Anabaptist vision. This includes historic partnership with groups like LMC (formerly Lancaster Conference), and new connections with the Anabaptist-minded Jesus Collective. Our global partnerships with emerging and established Anabaptist communities in the UK, Mexico, and Indonesia also continue to shape us.   

Our conversations with Mennonite Church Eastern Canada have opened possibilities for cross-border witness and shared leadership development, particularly among French-speaking communities. Mosaic’s orientation toward a healthy, global Anabaptism will continue to require both nimble, humble, and patient risk-taking and open-handed conversation. 

Just this week, we hosted leaders from the Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia—the largest Mennonite body in the world—in our Lansdale, PA offices, to explore ways to support leadership development in their rapidly-growing community. 

Mosaic is not an Anabaptist island unto itself. These conversations and connections are important in ongoing ways, with the understanding that “to whom much is given, much is required.” We seek to work alongside the Spirit in considering the pathways ahead.  

Stephen Kriss

Stephen Kriss is the Executive Minister of Mosaic Mennonite Conference.

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

Rediscovering the Center, Together

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by Michelle Curtis

Lately in Mosaic Conference circles, people have been talking a lot about becoming a “centered set” community. It’s an exciting idea, but one I struggle to picture clearly. What would living as a centered-set church look like in practice? We say Jesus is our center, but how much do we agree on what we mean by that? 

Dr. Meghan Larissa Good’s Divine Gravity: Sparking a Movement to Recover a Better Christian Story fleshes out this center. Through eight “rediscoveries,” Good articulates the Jesus-centered story found in Scripture, offering both critique and hope for the church. 

MennoMedia

The first resonates deeply with us Anabaptists: God looks like Jesus and Jesus is the key to understanding the Bible. The second rediscovery examines what we mean by “Jesus saves”; salvation includes God setting everything right “on earth as it is in heaven.” The third is simple: “Jesus is Lord” and he leads us in a whole new way of living. With each concept, Good beautifully describes ways the church has gone wrong and calls us back to the center in Jesus.

The fourth rediscovery made my heart soar and ache in the same breath. Good’s sketch of “a better Christian story” and her vision for how the church might embody it connects to my own deep yearnings for the church. She writes, “God is throwing down the gauntlet with the unseen rulers and powers, saying, ‘You big posers think you’re so clever in the ways you divide. Well, get a load of my church: they belong to every culture, nation, personality, and philosophy; they don’t have a blessed thing in common. But look at how I can make enemies into siblings.’” (114)

This is the church I long for, and in many ways, I’ve experienced this vision in Mosaic Conference. I’ve experienced it at our women’s gatherings, where three languages swirl together and sisters in Christ pray for one another whether or not we understand each other’s languages or theology. I feel it during Mosaic Assembly worship, where it feels like a Revelation vision—“every tribe, tongue, and nation”—is coming to life. I love Mosaic Conference and what the Spirit is doing among us.

And yet, my heart also breaks as a half-dozen congregations have left Mosaic over the last few years, including the one I grew up in. Mosaic’s leadership is recommending discontinuing membership in Mennonite Church USA, the denomination that educated me as a pastor (at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary), and I don’t know how to make sense of this possible separation. And still somehow it seems that God’s Spirit is doing something new and beautiful in Mosaic Conference, even as we fallible humans keep stumbling.

Rediscovery five reminds us that we are ambassadors of God’s reconciliation, sent into the world with a mission. Rediscovery six centers the work of the Holy Spirit in that mission (often overlooked in some Mennonite circles). Good’s personal stories in this chapter are especially powerful. Rediscovery seven overturns the myth of redemptive violence, reminding us that evil is overcome by the power of sacrificial love. The cross was the shape of God’s power and calls us to reject violence and power-over too. 

Good’s final rediscovery is, “the unity of the church is secured by the center it orbits” (209). This one leaves me praying that God will do what only God can do for the big, messy, beautiful global church.  

Each chapter closes with discussion questions, making Divine Gravity ideal for small groups. One question lingers with me and may be valuable for all of us: “Do you think you can be in close relationship with someone who is wrong about something important without being complicit in their wrongs? Explain your answer in light of Jesus” (221).  

I’m delighted that Meghan Larissa Good will be our speaker at Mosaic Fall Delegate Assembly on Oct. 31 (for the Formation equipping session) and Nov. 1 (during worship). Her book puts flesh on this idea of “centered set church” and what it might look like in practice. If you’re curious about that, Divine Gravity is a must-read—or a must-listen (Good narrates the audiobook herself, and I can confirm she makes a good companion for driving or doing the dishes).  

The first 50 participants at the Friday Night Equipping Event on Oct. 31 to stop by the table will receive a complementary copy of Divine Gravity: Sparking a Movement to Recover a Better Christian Story.

Michelle Curtis

Michelle Christian Curtis is co-pastor of Ambler (PA) Mennonite Church with her husband, Jacob.

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.   

Building Jesus-Shaped Community in Bristol, PA

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by Gary Alloway

Editor’s Note: Redemption Church of Bristol was approved by Mosaic Conference’s board as a member congregation and will be welcomed at Mosaic’s 2025 Fall Delegate Assembly. 

Redemption Church of Bristol (PA) was founded in 2009 with a mission to breathe new life into Bristol Borough. Bristol is a historic riverfront community with a history beginning in 1681. By 2009, Bristol had emptied out, with chronic poverty issues and a main street that was 50% vacant.  Redemption was founded not only to create a new church community, but also to be the presence of Christ in the neighborhood and help all of Bristol to flourish again. 

Easter brunch with the Redemption crew. Photo by Susan Alloway.

 
After 16 years, God has done amazing things in Bristol! We have been able to help start a coffee shop and a street festival. We have rebuilt houses and helped church communities come back to life. We have walked with neighbors through trials and celebrated over Little League victories.  

We call ourselves a community of sinners and skeptics and have always tried to make spaces for those on the margins, both economically and spiritually. We have created everything from a tea shop philosophy group (PhilosTea) to a bakery bible study (Donuts & Devotions). Our goal is to build a Jesus-shaped community, where all people can rest and grow in the love of God. 

Easter Sunrise Service on the Delaware River in Bristol. Photo by Gary Alloway.
Fred and Augie share in communion together. Photo by Gary Alloway.

Redemption began moving towards Mosaic in 2021. While we had always had relational connections to other churches, during the pandemic, we began to long for something more formal to belong to. We have always structured ourselves as an Anabaptist community, but during those tumultuous years, the historic foundations of the Mennonite church seemed all the more valuable.   

We also wanted to have relationships with churches and leaders that were different from us. We have learned so much from both the historic congregations of Mosaic and the younger immigrant communities. We appreciate the history, vibrancy, and relational depth of Mosaic Conference. We have loved having a community that is bigger than ourselves.

Scotty leads our Ash Wednesday service at Naked Brewery. Photo by Gary Alloway.
Planting new trees at our meeting space in Bristol. Photo by Gary Alloway.

We covet your prayers as we formally enter into the Conference as a member. Redemption has never been a community that is afraid of risk-taking or missional adventures, and we hope we can share the fruits of these endeavors with the larger Mosaic community.   

We also pray for stability and long-term growth that can help Redemption be grounded for the future. And we hope these two goals never crush each other. What does it mean to follow the Spirit out in new ways, but also build something that can last? We would love your prayers in this tension.  

We long to always uphold the core Anabaptist value of keeping Jesus at the center of all things. We aim to be the aroma of Christ, or as we like to say, “We aim to stink like Jesus together!”  Please pray that we can keep Jesus at the center of all that we do. And pray we can live out our mission to build a Jesus-shaped community, where all people can rest and grow in the love of God. 

Gary Alloway

Gary Alloway is a pastor and church planter of Redemption Church of Bristol (PA), and also serves as a Leadership Minister with Mosaic Conference.

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.