Articles

Tending Intentionally to Congregations in Transition

November 5, 2015 by Conference Office

Tending Intentionally to Congregations in Transition: Intentional Interim Pastor Training

by Noel Santiago

“Intentional Interim Training is a specialized ministry intended to help congregations take fuller advantage of the time between long term pastors.”

Thus begun our orientation to this training event held at the Towamencin Mennonite Church on October 26-30, 2015.

With a dozen participants from varied Anabaptist Conferences from the east coast plus one Canadian Pastor, we engaged with each other around the material, stories, resources and toolkit that would equip us for Intentional Interim work.

We learned there are five developmental tasks of this work which really focus on five points:

“The real work of the intentional interim minister is to facilitate and coach, guide and support the members and leaders of the congregation as they engage in the focus points.” (John Keydel)

“But a second task for interims today is a new one. It is to help congregations understand the seismic shifts in American culture that I and others describe as ‘the ending of North American Christendom’ and ‘the waning of modernity.” (Anthony B. Robinson)

Such were the realities we delved into during our week together. Looking at case studies provided us the opportunity to practice thinking about what we were learning. How should you address a situation where a long term pastor who has retired or stepped down from their role but wants to remain in the congregation? What happens if people still want their former pastor to do a wedding, funeral or baptism? What if there is a family or a person in the congregation that is holding all the power where no decision can be implemented unless they approve? What if there has been a wounded history of pain that no one really talks about but continues to affect our interactions together? How does one address these dynamics in ways that are healthy even if difficult? These and many other scenarios were presented for engagement.

Intentional Interim training is offered bi-annually and is jointly sponsored by Franconia, EDC, ACC and Lancaster Conferences. One of the strengths of this training is the variety of trainers. Topics are presented by seasoned Intentional Interim Ministers and Conference Ministers who offer keen insights, share from their experiences, and offer practical ideas and resources.

At the end of our time together there was a time of certification and prayer over each of those who had finished the training. We were sent forth into God’s mission as temporary shepherds over a given congregation with a renewed sense of empowerment and hope that with God, all things are possible!

Conference and Living Hope Farm Share Faith through Relationships

October 22, 2015 by Conference Office

by Colin Ingram

Franconia Mennonite Conference is known for working with ministries and churches “in engaging the world through witness and relationships” with “Christ as the center of shared and individual vision.” One of the ministries the conference does this with is Living Hope Farm (LHF), a tenant of the conference for the past six years.

The conference acquired the land known as Indian Creek Road Farm in 1955 with the vision of utilizing it for mission work in the community. In the early 2000s, the conference was faced with the possibility of selling the land to housing developers, but instead sought out a tenant that would use the land for ministry and connect to the conference mission of “equipping leaders, to empower others, to embrace God’s mission.”

Henry Rosenberger, board chair of Living Hope Farm (LHF), says, “Living Hope Farm grew out of a renewed sense that the ‘earth is the Lord’s.”

Living Hope Farm is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in Harleysville located off Indian Creek Road. Beyond growing food, the farm seeks community between farmers, CSA members, market buyers, foodbanks, and the underserved. By growing food organically and inviting members to participate, LHF is engaging the world through relationship.

According to Sheldon Good, writer of an Intersections article about the newly launched LHF in 2010, the farm is “a chance to rediscover values of corporate faith, local food, and loving community.”

LHF also impartially connects with persons of various financial situations and abilities with its mission to serve the disadvantaged. Donating the first and best of the crops to food banks and low-income programs may not be a face-to-face way to build relationships, but it connects with the conference’s mission of witness by relationship.

Franconia Conference and LHF meet on mission, sprouting with food as the platform, and reaping loving community where people are empowered to follow God.

Stop by the Living Hope Farm Indoor Market on Tuesdays and Friday between 2:00 and 7:00 pm or pick up some Fall Ornamentals available daily at the roadside stand from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Pastors Gather to Confer and Offer Counsel

October 22, 2015 by Conference Office

On October 15, 2015, over 50 Franconia Conference pastors joined the conference board and staff at Towamencin Mennonite Church to confer around the Church Together Statements and offer counsel to the Church Together Statements Committee.

This summer the board of Franconia Conference announced that they would be accepting Church Together Statements from the conference members and conference-related ministries that would facilitate discernment, educate the conference, build unity, provide the conference understanding while acknowledging dissenting voices, and provide a foundation for member advocacy/witness to government and society. The board formed the Church Together Statements Committee that included a cross section of individuals from
around the conference to oversee this process.

In mid-September, the committee had received nine Church Together Statements that ranged in focus. Four addressed the topic of how to live out forbearance within the conference context. The committee requested some revisions and that a few statements be combined with others that were similar. What remained were six Church Together Statements that were brought before the pastors, board, and staff on October 15^th.

The time was divided into two discussion periods. The first period was spent discussing four of the six statements, including a statement on Israel Palestine, one addressing abuse, one on going to the margins, and one on kingdom missional strategy. The pastors were then encouraged to fill out comment cards for each of the statements.

The second discussion period was spent on two statements addressing forbearance. After time in table group discussion, there was a time for open mic comments where it was noted that there were similar themes in both statements, and that people found things they could appreciate in both even if they did not entirely agree with them.

Before the meeting closed, John Ruth, a former conference overseer and local conference historian, offered insight to the history of conferring within the conference. He noted the importance of pastors meeting together and engaging in dialogue about issues of the day.

Comment cards on all six statements were collected and compiled for the Church Together Statements Committee to consider. There was a clear sense that the conference remains divided on the issue of forbearance and human sexuality, yet there is a desire to stay united where possible. There was also a call to more often study scripture together.

After meeting earlier this week, the committee has put forward a recommendation to the board that includes which statements they believe should go before the delegates at conference assembly and which should be voted on. The board will be meeting this evening (October 22, 2015) to make the final determination.

As discernment begins this weekend at conference assembly scattered meetings, this year’s assembly is not to be missed. If you have not yet done so, be sure to register for conference assembly HERE.

MDS Monitors Flooding in the Carolinas

October 8, 2015 by Conference Office

(Statement From Mennonite Disaster Service)

“As the disaster continues to unfold in the Carolinas and surrounding states, our thoughts and prayers are with the people in the midst of flooding from drenching rains. MDS representatives are in touch with churches and our contacts in the area and other faith-based organizations. We are watching and gathering information and taking appropriate steps to determine where and when we might respond. More information will be posted [HERE] when available.”

Contributions are being accepted and designated as “Carolina Floods”.

While the rains may have stopped, South Carolina still faces a host of concerns, including cresting rivers and failing dams. Though it is still an evolving situation, our prayers and assistance are clearly needed. Few service opportunities are as memorable, humbling and impactful as working on a disaster relief site. Anyone can volunteer! Those skilled in construction and/or leadership are essential, but they can use and train any adult volunteer, regardless of skill. Volunteers need to be willing to reach out to people in need, risk becoming a part of a new experience and serve with a positive and Christ-like heart. While projects in the Carolinas are yet to be organized, there are currently numerous short and long term opportunities with MDS.

Relationships at the Forefront

October 7, 2015 by Conference Office

by Naveen Singh, Whitehall Mennonite Church

I vividly remember when we as a congregation met Samantha for the first time. After having enjoyed a nice potluck meal, we spent an evening together in the church fellowship hall. This was a time to get to know her, so we all took turns asking questions (silly and also important ones). This journey started back in 2010, along the way meaningful relationships developed as we fellowshipped, learned, served and struggled together.

On September 13, 2015 we gathered around Samantha for a significant milestone, to give her charge and to present her to be set apart for ministry in God’s beloved community.

Growing up in India in a very small church, I wasn’t exposed to big words like commissioning or ordaining someone in the church. Besides, when I think about a person being set apart for serving/leading and taking care of God’s flock – the thought is quite overwhelming. It was only after moving to the United States that I started to realize that these were essential processes that are required in a church, but I saw it as a formality that the conference leaders had to come and perform. In recent years I have found this process more meaningful as I have witnessed the commissioning and ordaining of friends that I have come to know personally.

Being at Samantha’s ordination service was especially humbling – to be able to see so many faithful and committed friends come by her side as a community to encourage, support and bless her. It was visibly evident that community and relationships were at the center as Samantha was being ordained. God has made us for relationship and it always excites me when I see relationships at the forefront of mission. The beauty there is that the body of Christ was reflected in so many ways throughout the ordination service – each person coming and offering words of encouragement and reminders of what to carry with her into the good work that lies ahead, each were uniquely personal and richly diverse. The singing, the message and prayers were all weaved into a beautiful and meaningful time of worshipping God. The children’s time led by Angela Moyer, a pastor at Ripple, was another element that was particularly memorable from my perspective. The beautiful sight of children sitting around Samantha, laying their hands on her as they prayed. Formation takes place at every stage of life; encouraging participation of our children in these essential elements of our faith, is an important step towards keeping them engaged.

Samantha’s interest in stories of people young and old, near and far, especially stories of people who have been unjustly hurt, her interest in understanding the bigger picture of how injustice has entangled many in hopeless situations and her willingness to give them voice and be an advocate for them is a powerful testimony of God’s ongoing healing and restoration work through her. Living more simply and having more time for relationships is something I have learned from her. Samantha became a part of us (the Whitehall Mennonite Church community) in a very short time and I am very hopeful for the future, having experienced the fresh energy which she brings as a part of this new generation of leadership.

Every Ordination is Miraculous

September 24, 2015 by Conference Office

By Steve Kriss, Director of Leadership Cultivation & Congregational Resourcing

oil lamp 9-24-15 — To order a Dancing Flame Oil Lamp handcrafted by June Keener Wink please call 413-258-4243 or e-mail junewink@gmail.com.

The year 2015 has been a year of ordinations in Franconia Conference. We’ve been celebrating and marking commitments and calling nearly every six weeks . . . Mike Ford at Blooming Glen, Joe Hackman at Salford, Donna Merow at Ambler, Angela Moyer at Ripple, Kris Wint at Finland, Josh Meyer at Franconia, Samantha Lioi at Whitehall and Ubaldo Rodriguez at New Hope Fellowship in Baltimore for mission work in the Philippines.

Ordination is an ancient process of setting apart leaders for public ministry in the way of Jesus. Within Franconia Conference, we follow a set of procedures that seek to honor both the individual and the community while respecting the work of the Spirit within both settings. There is coursework for completion, interviews, paperwork that intends to keep our communities both safe and accountable, mental wellness assessments, varieties of continuing education and varying levels of mentoring. Some of our pastors breeze through the process at a steady and assured pace in the two year minimum waiting and working period of licensing. Others take much longer to plumb the depths of call both personally and communally and to wrestle it out. Personal disclosure, it took me six years of working, waiting and wondering in Allegheny Conference before I could wrap my head around the commitments and calling that ordination entails.

We take this process seriously yet the days of ordination have a more celebratory tone. There are few times in our lives when we make commitments that will shape our life like ordination. In front of a gathered congregation at the request and affirmation of a particular Christian community, we make commitments to serve, lead, pray, study, turn from evil and live into the role of Christian leadership as long as God sustains.

Many of us wrestle with the meaning of ordination. I’ve found this human and historic process of calling, recognizing, working and wrestling and receiving becomes quite holy. Somewhere in the wrestling and symbols, the questions and the mundane of the paperwork, the Spirit unfailingly shows up.

In this flurry of ordinations in the midst of a turbulent time, I am confident that the Spirit is still at work with us, trying to bring life. Each person who says yes to the invitation of God and the community strengthens the possibilities of future “yes” responses into the next generation. This round of ordinations represents our first millennial generation ordained ministers, our first Italian American woman, our first ordination for mission work in the Philippines. We’ve called at some of our most historic congregations and our newest. The churches are rural, suburban and urban. We’re recognizing the sons and daughters of historic Franconia Conference families, as well as persons who were drawn to Mennonite congregations by conviction, relationships and call. We’ve held events in Episcopal and Lutheran facilities and even at a Lancaster Conference church in Baltimore. (Interesting side note, a Lancaster Conference African congregation recently used the Towamencin meetinghouse for an ordination worship).

It’s definitely a different time. The ordination process isn’t what it used to be. There’s no somber ceremony with Bibles or hymnals and a slip of paper as in Mennonite history. But the holy moments remain, those wonderful spaces where community and Spirit commingle to cultivate surprising invitations toward ordination and wonderfully amazing continued responses of “yes I am willing.” Every time we ordain, it’s a sign that the church will go on. And in these days of turbulence and questions both in the church and in the culture around us, every yes somehow feels miraculous. And I’m grateful to get to witness it as the Good News still breaks upon us. . . this year about every six weeks.

Building Bridges Across Cultures and Continents

September 24, 2015 by Conference Office

An Interview with Ubaldo Rodriguez and Kirk Hanger
on the Occasion of Ubaldo’s Ordination – September 9, 2015

by Noel Santiago

On August 2, 2015, I had the privilege and honor of officiating at the ordination service of Campo Ubaldo Rodriguez at Iglesia Nueva Esperanza that meets at Wilkens Avenue Mennonite Church located in Baltimore, Maryland. Ubaldo Rodriguez, originally from Colombia, educated at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, who is now serving with SEND International in Manila, the Philippines returned home for his ordination as he continues to build bridges between cultures and continents.

Iglesia Nueva Esperanza is a church plant initiative of Pastor Kirk Hanger. Pastor Kirk is the pastor of New Hope Fellowship in Alexandria, VA a partner congregation with Franconia Mennonite Church. Pastor Kirk has been a mentor to Ubaldo over the years, as Ubaldo began pastoring at Iglesia Nueva Esperanza in 2011 and did so there for 2 years before moving to the Philippines, the home country of his wife, Joy, as a missionary with SEND International.

Following Ubaldo’s ordination, I had the opportunity to ask both Ubaldo as well as Kirk Hanger, mentor to Ubaldo, a few questions about embracing God’s call and life in the Philippines.

What has this ordination meant for you?

Ubaldo: The recognition of my calling and ministry by the Franconia Conference gives me encouragement and I feel the support of the Mennonite community even though I am in the Philippines.

Ubaldo, what is it you and Joy do in the Philippines?

Ubaldo: We promote missions awareness, training Filipino missionaries to send others into the world to reach those who have never heard of Jesus and the Good News. We help churches to fulfill the Great Commission by doing missions training for them. We intentionally disciple people for them to disciple others (2 Timothy 2:2).

Who is SEND?

Ubaldo: SEND is an international mission organization based in Michigan that sends missionaries to do church planting among the least reached peoples in about 20 countries. Currently, SEND has about 550 missionaries in the world.

As their website states, “About 1/3 of the world’s population lives outside the reach of the local church—they have no opportunity to hear the gospel. SEND International, an interdenominational mission, mobilizes missionaries to engage them with the gospel and establish reproducing churches.”

What brings you the greatest joy?Ubaldo: It brings me great joy to see people come to Christ and see their transformation as disciples for the Kingdom of God.

Kirk, what has been your relationship with Ubaldo over the years?

Kirk: I first met Ubaldo at a Church Planter’s Retreat at Highland Retreat in Virginia some years ago as he was finishing his studies at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. We later met at the Atlantic Northeast Conferences (ANEC) Regional Church planters gathering. Soon after that, Ubaldo called me to see if I might have a place where he could serve. At that point, I was looking for someone to lead Nueva Esperanza in Baltimore meeting at Wilkens Avenue Mennonite Church. Ubaldo came and pastored the church for about two years. I’ve been a mentor and pastor to Ubaldo since then. I had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines two years ago to preach at Ubaldo and Joy’s wedding.

What have you appreciated about Ubaldo?

Kirk: Ubaldo is a man of deep faith, humility and integrity. Ubaldo is a prayer warrior and spends much time in intercession. I appreciate his intercession for me, especially when I travel. His is also a gifted pastor and teacher and now along with Joy is making the church more aware of the importance of reaching the least reached in the world and mobilizing people for missions.

What has the partnership between Nueva Esperanza and Wilkens Avenue Mennonite Church been like?

Kirk: Wilkens Avenue Mennonite Church is part of Lancaster Mennonite Conference. While Nueva Esperanza has grown out of New Hope Fellowship in Alexandria and through me connects with Franconia Conference, Wilkens Avenue shares the vision of a Spanish speaking church in the community. Wilkens Avenue provides a free space for the church to meet and occasional financial support for Nueva Esperanza. A couple of times a year Wilkens Avenue and Nueva Esperanza have a joint, bilingual outdoor evangelistic service. When Ubaldo lived in Baltimore, he related closely to the Wilkens Avenue congregation.

Ubaldo has bridged cultures and conferences, he has also play a role in RIMI (Red de Iglesias Misioneras Internacional/International Network of Missionary Churches), what will his ongoing relationship be with RIMI and you?

Kirk: RIMI is a network of churches in eight countries that work together in church multiplication, leadership development and missionary mobilization. Ubaldo was instrumental in helping RIMI expand in South America. He and I visited his home church in Bogota, Columbia where I met Ubaldo’s pastor, Islandes and the co-pastor Eduardo. That visit began their relationship with RIMI. Recently, Pastor Eduardo was sent out to start a daughter church in Bogota and last year they hosted Generacion Sana / Healthy Generation, RIMI’s annual international youth event.

Ubaldo also helped RIMI expand into Quito, Ecuador. Pastor Dairo Rubio had been pastor of Ubaldo’s church before Pastor Islandes many years ago. Pastor Dairo went to Quito to work with Trans-World Radio and while there started two churches. Dairo stays in close contact with the church in Colombia. Through Ubaldo, we met Dairo and he is now part of RIMI. Dairo is an excellent teacher and his experience in radio has helped RIMI’s radio ministry in Mexico expand.

RIMI has an international network of intercessors and Ubaldo is one of the intercessors of the network. RIMI has a coordinator in Mexico who sends out prayer requests to intercessors in several countries who together pray for needs from around the globe.

Ubaldo, Joy and I are developing a plan for young adults from Latin American to go to the Philippines to learn English and be equipped in the region for missions in Southeast Asia and beyond. We have people in Latin America interested in going and are praying for funding for this project. The goal is that some would commit to long term missions among the least reached.

It seems that God’s purposes for Ubaldo and I meeting were much larger than Baltimore as Ubaldo has helped make important connections with Colombia, Ecuador and now South East Asia that we pray will result in the multiplication and training of many followers of Jesus.

Franconia Mennonite Conference is delighted to have Ubaldo as one of our credentialed leaders as he continues to connect the body of Christ across cutlutres and continents.

For more information or to send words of encouragement you can reach Ubaldo at: ubaldor@pscsend.org. To support Ubaldo and Joy’s ministry you can send checks payable to SEND International at this mailing address: 36216 Freedom Road, Farmington, MI USA 48332, or setup direct deposit by calling 800-SEND808 or 1-248-4774210.

Our Brothers and Sisters Are Wandering, What Will We Do?

September 10, 2015 by Conference Office

By Barbie Fischer

“Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love…”

Psalm 107: 4-8 (ESV)

Over the last several weeks the news has been overwhelmed with stories of people dying as they wander the land looking for a city to dwell in, a city of hope, free from fear of war, persecution and death. These stories can often be overwhelming and easily dismissed. I have even found myself avoiding the news in the last two weeks, especially after three year old Aylan Kurdi’s lifeless body washed up on a Turkish shore. His parents had tried to join relatives in Canada, but were denied. Their boat capsized as they fled the war in Syria and Aylan, his five year old brother, and 35 year old mother lost their lives. His father had been coping with the loss of their home and possessions to the war in Syria, now he has lost his wife and children as well. It reminded me of the story of Job.

What is being called the “European Migrant Crisis” has brought to mind many Bible Stories of people forced from their homes because of conflict, persecution, or natural disaster. Even Jesus as a child was forced from his home with his Mother and Father, taking refuge in Egypt from political persecution.

The news stories of refugees dying in a quest for a place of peace and my own mixed reactions to them have lead me to a time of contemplation and two questions keep coming to mind: How are we as Christians responding to this crisis? What do we see when we look at the faces of those fleeing?

In August it seemed most of the people entering Europe were fleeing from Libya, Nigeria, and other conflict ridden countries in Africa. More recently reports are saying the majority of those fleeing are doing so from Syria. The crisis in Syria has been raging for almost five years now and it is one that hits close to home.

As the “Arab Spring” began in the fall of 2010, I had just begun classes at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University. One of my classmates is my brother Mohammed, who had left his family, the comforts of home and his job as a professor at the University of Damascus to study peacebuilding in a foreign land. Mohammed towers over me, with his height, yet has one of the kindest spirits I have ever encountered. We came to find we share many of the same values, including family, faith and peace. Over the past five years I have watched Mohammed put his own life at risk to help bring attention to the plight of the Syrian people, his brothers and sisters. He has gone days without sleep, and has given close to everything to seek peace for his home land. We do not share a native tongue or home country, yet I count Mohammed as my brother.

Scripture is clear that we are all created by God (Colossians 1:16), and whether we recognize that or not that makes us all brothers and sisters. Mohammed is my brother and in the people I see on the television or my computer screen climbing through barbed wire barricades on the Hungarian border, crying and clutching their loved ones as they climb the shores of Greece, and those detained in “migrant camps” which function as prisons, they too are my brothers and sisters.

I have one biological sister, she is older than me, and very protective of me. I can remember getting hurt as a child and she would run to my aid. Is that our response to the current crisis we see in Europe? Do we see our brothers and sisters in the people fleeing the violence in their homelands? Do we see Christ in them?

Matthew 25:34-40, Jesus speaks of those who will enter the Kingdom of God as those who have fed him when he was hungry, gave him drink when he was thirsty, invited him in when he was a stranger, clothed him, looked after him as he was sick, and visited him in prison. He says in verse 40, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.”

There are stories of people clothing and feeding the refugees, thousands left shoes at a Hungarian train station for refugees; those reaching Munich are being greeted with food and teddy bears; a family has used their own money and time to operate the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, patrolling the waters helping migrants make it to land safely; people around the world are taking a stand saying refugees are welcome here. Yet, I still wonder, how many refugees would our churches take in? How many would you take in? After all they are our brothers and sisters.

While I hope we will do anything and everything we can for our family, one thing we can do is pray for their safety, for God’s guidance in how we can respond, pray for peace. Beyond that may we also act on their behalf, advocating for peace in their countries and giving as we can to agencies working on the ground offering support such as Mennonite Central Committee’s Syria and Iraq Crisis Response.

Romans 15:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” No matter what I do, how I respond, right now I mourn. I mourn with the refugees, my brothers and sisters.

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