Mosaic Mennonites

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Register Now for Assembly and Delegate Preparation Meetings 

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Mosaic Mennonite Conference Assembly

Saturday, November 4, 2023

(Registration and Exhibits Open 9:00-9:30 AM)
9:30 AM – 4 PM ET
Souderton Mennonite Church (map)
(in person – there is no virtual option this year)

Register your attendance!

Why should I register?  Your church or CRM may have reported to Mosaic that you are a delegate, but now we need you to REGISTER your attendance.  All attendees – delegates and guests – should register their attendance, to help us plan and prepare.

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 please register and attend at least one meeting on a date & location that best suits them. 

Register for a delegate preparation meeting

* Find important Mosaic Conference documents HERE
* Delegate Assembly Policy & Delegate Ministry Description: pages 8-10 HERE
* Mosaic News – our weekly e-newsletter: see past issues HERE
(new delegates will begin to receive Mosaic News next week!)

The 2023 Docket will be released in a few weeks … watch your email!

(5/11) Powerful Kindness, Faithful Truth – Conference Assembly Theme

Visit MosaicMennonites.org/assembly 
or check your email for important information, documents
& details as they become available! 

register now!

Living in the Why

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Photo by Ann H from Pexels

I am often asked, “What does a pastor do?” The question is meant to probe into what my job entails outside of the three hours I am on duty Sunday mornings. I don’t begrudge the person for asking the question; in today’s world, employees need to justify their time at work, and pastors are often seen as employees of the church.

So, when answering the “what” question, I am often tempted to prove my worth and tell them every detail of my weekly schedule. My duties range from visiting the sick or homebound members, counseling folks, and planning worship and sermons, to setting up tables and chairs and other janitorial duties.

But instead, my answer is usually a snarky, “Not a whole lot. It is a great job that only requires me to work one day a week!” That comment usually ends with an awkward silence followed by some laughter.

Last month, I was in line at a grocery store, talking with the person in front of me. When the person asked the “what” question of me after I said I was a pastor, another person behind me in line, who was listening in, followed up by asking simply, “Why?”

Somewhat startled, I asked, “Why what?” The person said that she wanted to know why anyone would want to be a pastor. Then she shared that her spouse was a former pastor who had been deeply hurt by people’s mistrust, harsh words, unmet expectations, and insinuations. Not only had this pastor left the ministry, but he also left his faith behind in the wake of all his pain and hurt. After I heard about this couple’s experience, the “why” question to me was completely appropriate.

In that moment, I wondered how or even if I should respond to the “why” question. I have gone through times of disappointment and discouragement in ministry. I have experienced failures, challenges, and made many mistakes. An honest answer may have been to tell the woman that I often wonder “why” I am doing this as well.

Yet, my response to the “why” question was simply that I felt called by God to the pastoral office. And that feeling of call makes all the difference as other pastors and l live into our ministry communities and react to the struggles and pressures that our churches are experiencing today.

I cannot help but recall the years that I spent on the Credential Committee of Mosaic Conference. Whenever we interviewed new pastoral candidates, the first question we asked them was about their call to ministry. The candidates answered the “why” question with a passionate sense of God’s call on their lives to serve the church.

Photo by Timon Studler

Perhaps we have simply forgotten that God has called our pastors. God has given them a purpose and passion for ministry. Pastors are not perfect. Pastors have families, personal struggles, and emotional issues that affect their lives and their ministries. And pastors certainly do not have all the gifts necessary to lead and guide their churches by themselves.

But that is why we are called to serve in the church with many other members and gifts. If we allow our pastors to focus on their call to serve rather than on all the tasks and expectations that many put on them, their ministry will be fulfilling, inspiring, and life-changing to everyone. Let’s pray that our pastors will experience a renewed sense of God’s call on their lives and that the congregations will allow them to minister and live in the “why” with passion, love, and humility.

Get Ready for Assembly

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Mosaic’s Annual Assembly is just a little over 2 months away!  While many of us still feel like summer isn’t over, now is the time to start planning for Assembly.  Here are a few things to know: 

When? Saturday, November 4, 2023; 9:30 AM-4:00 PM (Registration is from 9-9:30 AM) 

Where? Souderton Mennonite Church, 105 W Chestnut St., Souderton, PA 18964 (Everything is in-person this year) 

What is the theme? “Emet”, the Hebrew word meaning powerful kindness, faithful truth, based on Psalms 116 & 117 

What should I do now to prepare for Assembly? 

  1. If your church or Conference Related Ministry (CRM) has not yet submitted your delegates’ names for the Assembly, please contact your Leadership Minister as soon as possible. CRMs should contact Margaret Zook as soon as possible.
  2. Watch your email and Mosaic’s weekly Newsletter, Mosaic News, for important updates and information about Assembly in the coming weeks. 
  3. Plan now to attend an Assembly Delegate Preparation Meeting.  All delegates are strongly encouraged to attend one.  Registration will open on September 5 for these meetings, but mark your calendar now.  
  4. Registration for Assembly will open on September 5. Everyone (delegates and guests) who is planning to attend Assembly must register, even if your church has already named you as a delegate. We need to hear from you to complete your registration. (All named delegates will receive an email with registration details on September 5.)  
  5. If you are attending Assembly as a guest (not as a delegate), you are most welcome. We just need to know you are coming, so please register when registration opens on September 5.  
  6. If you are coming from a distance, plan your travel and arrange for your lodging.  If you need assistance with lodging, please click here for information. 
  7. Pray for the Assembly, Mosaic’s Board, the Pathways Steering Committee, delegates, Mosaic staff planning it, those attending, and God’s leading in the process.

The Not-So-Easy Leadership Adjustment

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“If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace” (Exodus 18:23, NLT).

We find this text situated in the story of Jethro’s visit with Moses after the liberation of the people of Israel from Egypt. Hearing all that God had done for the people of Israel in rescuing them from the Egyptians, Jethro proclaims, “I know now that the Lord is greater than all other gods” (Exod. 18:11) and offers a sacrifice to the God of Israel. 

After celebrating the mighty works of God the day before, Jethro goes out the next day to see what Moses is doing and discovers that Moses is doing everything as the leader of the Israelites: serving as an arbitrator, coordinating decisions, communicating God’s instructions to the people.  Jethro tells Moses, “You’re going to wear yourself out – and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself” (Exod. 18:18, NLT). Jethro continues, giving Moses some advice on how to delegate the work by finding reliable colleagues and empowering others, emphasizing, “If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace” (Exod. 18:23).  

While the people of Israel were still in Egypt, Moses was used to doing everything under the direction of God. However, the context has now changed. They are no longer in Egypt, yet Moses’ leadership style remains the same. Jethro’s wise counsel identifies the reality of the context change and the leadership style required for this new reality. 

Today, we are undergoing significant context changes as well. What are the leadership adjustments required for the context we find ourselves in? What conversations are needed? What questions need to be asked and wrestled with? Whom do we need to empower to help us lead? 

The text notes that Moses listened to Jethro’s counsel and did what he advised. He made leadership adjustments that empowered others to help carry the load. This is not always an easy thing for leaders to do, especially if we want things done a certain way.  

What allowed Moses to make the adjustment? Numbers 12:3 gives us a clue: “Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.” It would seem that leadership adjustments require humility.  

How might we cultivate humility in times of change? Who needs to be empowered to help carry the load? How might we extend grace and truth in love as we struggle to lead in a context that has changed and will continue to change for the foreseeable future? What leadership adjustments might you need to make? 

When No One is Pleased

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Editor’s Note: Associate Executive Minister, Marta Castillo, wrote the following article, reflecting on the work of Mosaic Conference over the past 17 months in response to the March 2022 allegations of misconduct at Dock Mennonite Academy, a Conference Related Ministry. 

What happens when we go through a misconduct investigation process, and no one is pleased?  What happens when a decision is reached, and everyone loses in one way or another?   

  • Victims are hurt, traumatized, and not satisfied. 
  • Prophets are disgusted and disappointed.
  • Defendants are bruised and angry. 
  • Participants, processors, and decision-makers are weary and disillusioned.  
  • Cracks in our system have been exposed.  
  • Transparency and communication have been compromised.  
  • Relationships need healing because we are broken and uncomfortable on all sides. 

Where do we go from here?    
What do we hold on to and what do we let go?    
What do we lament?  What are we thankful to God for?  
How do we move forward in God’s grace and righteousness? 

I wrote the above reflection over a year ago.  When, after hours of prayer, conversation, and discernment, the best intentions of those involved “seemed” to come up empty for a peaceful and satisfactory outcome.  No one was pleased.   

Since then, we at Mosaic Conference have continued to invest hours of discernment and conversation with the Ministerial Committee, Conference Board and staff, Conference Related Ministries (CRMs), invested persons from our conference, and professionals around the above questions.  

The following is an incomplete yet important list of what we have learned about ourselves as Mosaic Conference, what we lament, what we are thankful for, and what steps we might take to move forward in God’s grace and righteousness:   

We learned that our Lead Minister system has weaknesses, especially in churches with multiple credentialed leaders, as we focus on lead pastors.  We learned the Lead Ministers are unequipped for following up in these situations.   

We commit to training Lead Ministers on how to communicate with credentialed leaders and the community in situations where abuse allegations have been made and how to accompany a leader who has been accused.   

We learned that the Conference process was riddled with overlapping relationships and roles which resulted in conflict of interest.   

We commit to identifying and acknowledging conflicts of interest within our system and to limit the influence of conflicting loyalties on our board, committee, and staff decisions. 

We learned that silence in communication creates anxiety for the community (especially persons who have already been traumatized by abuse).  

We commit to the best practices of keeping communication open by: 

  • Sharing resources and articles on abuse prevention and healing when there is alleged abuse. 
  • Sharing frequent updates, even simply saying there is no update, if that is the case.
  • Being transparent in sharing facts: Why don’t we have the information, why we aren’t charging, etc.
  • Creating space for survivors to provide feedback and give input into what our best practices can be moving forward. 

We learned that the process of investigating credentialed leaders who are licensed by the Conference and work for another institution or Conference Related Ministry is complex. This is because our commitment to a Conference Related Ministry is a looser organizational connection and our relationship with credentialed leaders is one of accountability and authority.   

We commit to a new level of accountability and cooperation with Mosaic credentialed leaders who are employed by an organization or Conference Related Ministry by signing a memo of understanding.  We seek an agreement to keep communication open and commit to an integrated process that acknowledges Mosaic’s role as licensing entity.  This policy has been created and is waiting for board approval once logistics are clarified with the denomination. 

We commit to strengthening the already functioning Addressing Abuse Committee (a sub-committee of the Ministerial Committee) by adding new members and meeting twice a year to review and revise our existing policies and practices. 

We are thankful to everyone who has questioned us and challenged us, so that we can better support the people among us who have experienced abuse.  We are thankful to everyone who has supported us and walked with us even if you were not pleased.   

To the God who cares for the brokenhearted, to the God of justice, to the God who can bring healing and wholeness, we pray.  Lord, forgive us.  Transform us.  Lead us on.  Amen. 

Quaker Thoughts on Simplicity 

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Photo by Jeffrey Czum

Mennonites and Friends (Quakers) are different groups with different cultural and theological histories. Yet these groups have some shared concerns: a peace testimony, a refusal to swear oaths, a history of persecution and flight, and an understanding of plainness and simplicity. As a member of the Religious Society of Friends, I offer a few reflections on simplicity from a traditional Quaker perspective. 

Simplicity begins on the inside. As followers of Christ, we have been commanded to seek first the Kingdom of God. Simplicity is setting aside anything that gets in the way of seeking the Kingdom. The Book of Discipline of my yearly meeting (a yearly meeting is equivalent to a Mennonite conference or convention) states: “The call … is to abandon those things that clutter [our lives] and to press toward the goal unhampered. This is true simplicity.” Simplicity can mean having fewer possessions, but also means surrender to God.  

Simplicity is not the same as frugality. My Lutheran grandparents lived through the Great Depression. As a result, they crimped the toothpaste tube to get out every last bit of paste—and I recall that my grandmother even once cut off the end so that she could scrape the inside of the tube with her brush. My grandfather told stories of eating pretzel soup for breakfast during the 1920s and 1930s. This was, well, crushed pretzels soaked in water. Circumstances forced my grandparents to be frugal. But their continued sense of carefulness with resources does not strike me as a form of simplicity, but rather a survival technique born of economic trauma.  

Simplicity will look different for different people. Some Friends choose against television in their homes, and some plant gardens as a spiritual practice. Still others feel called to plain or simple dress. Not everyone feels called to do this. My yearly meeting acknowledges in the section of the Discipline that “Simplicity does not mean all conform to uniform standards.” Margaret Fell Fox, an early Friend and the wife of George Fox, mentioned in 1700 that requiring everyone to be “in one dress and one color” was a “silly poor Gospel.” This means that some Friends come to worship in long dresses and suspenders.  Others come to worship wearing jeans.  This is okay. 

Simplicity can also unite us. Friends’ practice of waiting in silence began during a time of religious and political turmoil. They felt the only way to find God in the turmoil was to strip away the structured worship services. As a result of waiting, listening, and speaking only when God prompted, Friends encountered a special unity in worship. Even today, I will sometimes be praying silently, and someone stands and speaks the very thing I am praying about. 

Following God’s call to simplicity can be a form of witness. John Woolman, an American Friend and storekeeper, felt that slavery was impeding his ability to seek first the Kingdom of God. He began to speak and act against slavery before Friends in the Philadelphia area prohibited the practice. He began wearing undyed clothing because dye was made by the labor of enslaved persons. For Woolman, stripping away distracting things meant looking different from the rest of his religious community. 

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

In keeping with the Quakerly character of this writing, I offer some questions for examination and spiritual growth for us all to consider: 

  • Is something blocking my search for the Kingdom of God? 
  • How has following a call to simplicity enriched my walk with God and my community? 

A longer version of this article originally appeared in Anabaptist World. This abbreviated version is used by permission. 

From Pre-Med to Youth Ministry

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In 2022, Pastors, Beny Krisbianto and Angelia Susanto, of Nations Worship Center in Philadelphia, PA were concerned for the youth at their church. The married couple invited Graciella Odelia, a member of Nations Worship Center and college student, to dinner.  Pastor Beny and Pastor Angelia shared their concern for the youth of the church with Odelia and told her that they sensed that God was calling Odelia to take up this work.   

When this dinner occurred, Graciella Odelia was a biochemistry major at Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, VA) and intended to go to medical school. But God had other plans.  

After the dinner with her pastors, Odelia prayed for guidance and felt a clear sense to accept and pursue the call to youth ministry. Odelia thought she was training to become a doctor. God called her to be a youth minister instead. 

Meanwhile, Pastor Beny and his family visited the revival at Asbury University in Kentucky in February 2023. He came away with a strong concern to encourage and equip the younger generation, since these youth will be the future leaders and shapers of the church. As a result, Nations Worship Center (NWC) decided to create a special service for the youth. NWC applied for and received funds from a Mosaic Missions Operational Grant1 to support the youth ministry. 

The special youth service, which is conducted in English, takes place on Saturday afternoons after worship practice. The youth service includes games, worship, a sermon, and fun, informal times of eating and conversation. Odelia and Pastor Beny take turns leading worship and presenting God’s word in a sermon.  

About 20 young people, who range from ages 10 to 20, attend. Some are from Nations Worship Center; others come from other Indonesian congregations, such Philadelphia Praise Center (PA). A few have no church home.  The service is designed to meet the needs of youth who feel they have outgrown Sunday School. The youth have also done service projects, such as helping to pack food for needy families Philadelphia. 

Nations Worship Center youth hang out at an ice cream place after youth service. Photo provided by Graciella Odelia.

As Odelia served NWC’s youth, she enrolled in a certificate program in Christian Studies at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. She found the courses in biblical studies, theology, and spiritual formation helpful.  

“I felt that a single year of seminary education wasn’t sufficient,” Odelia explained. “I lacked the necessary skills to effectively guide the youth in their spiritual journeys.” This fall, she will begin studies in the seminary’s Master of Arts in Christian Leadership program, with an emphasis in youth ministry. 

The youth from Nations Worship Center organized an Easter egg hunt event at the park this past spring. Photo provided by Graciella Odelia.

Odelia has discovered other opportunities and skills in her journey as a youth minister. To advertise for the youth service, she learned how to design flyers. She is also learning more about website design and video editing for NWC. “Exploring unfamiliar territories and learning new things have been an exhilarating journey,” Odelia said. “It was challenging, but I grew.” 

Even though leading youth ministry was not her original plan, Odelia feels closer to God because of it. “This calling pulled me back to God,” she said. She is grateful for a deeper walk with God and is thankful for where she sees God at work in her life and in the lives of the youth. We pray for God’s special blessing on this ministry. 

1Missional Operations Grants (MOGs) are available to all Mosaic congregations for creative partnerships and new possibilities for missional engagement both in the surrounding community and farther away. The ministries and projects that have been funded by Missional Operations Grants are those building on the Mennonite tradition of faith and are trying new and creative initiatives to engage their own communities or people around the globe. To apply for a Mission Operations Grant, talk with your Leadership Minister. 

Prepare a Way

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It was my first-time visiting Vermont as an adult, and I wasn’t disappointed. Boulder-strewn streams meandered through lush forests, surrounding open meadows, and backed by hazy mountains.  As I visited Bethany congregation (Bridgewater Corners, VT), I spent the weekend eating outdoors and sitting in congregational meetings where I could feel breezes through open windows or sitting circled in the shade of established trees. I enjoyed the beauty of nature as well as the beauty of new friendships and deepening connections. 

All this beauty was linked by a network of windy roads—some of which were cracked and crumbling.  Vermont has been enduring a series of floods that have stretched its aging infrastructure to the limits.  After the first flood this summer, crews worked quickly to rebuild destroyed roads while residents worked just as hard to clear out muddy basements, repair impassable driveways, and replant gardens.  And then it rained again. And again. And again. 

I heard the fatigue in our Mosaic siblings as they talked about what has felt like an exhausting cycle of rain and repair this summer.  They’re self-sufficient and determined, but they wonder when the rainy season will end. This is unprecedented.  No one seems to know. 

As I drove home through the picturesque countryside on Sunday afternoon, skirting construction cones and passing crumpled bridges, I resonated with their weariness. 

I feel like my summer has been crumbling around me.  Unreliable childcare has framed weeks when one crisis bleeds into the next. Every time I put out one fire, I turn around to learn a congregation has left the conference or my computer has crashed or my daughter’s camp is canceled or someone is angry about something else.  We’re patching the roads, but everywhere I turn, they keep crumbling around me.  How many times have I caught myself crying out, “Can’t I catch a break?” 

I thought about the long-time residents of Vermont explaining what it would take to flood-proof the roads— a significant change in infrastructure or even relocating the roads entirely.  It feels impossible.  As I drove past detour signs and washed-out streets, I found myself crying out to God: Is this all there is? For Vermont, for my family, for the conference? 

Something stirred in my heart: Do I trust the Holy Spirit to go ahead of me, preparing a way? 

I would like to say I experienced a rush of peace at the thought, but instead I felt my insides breaking open. I knew the turmoil of the father who fell at Jesus’ feet and said, “Ï believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) 

Do I truly believe the Holy Spirit is going ahead of me in my life, ahead of us as a conference, ahead of our communities in Vermont, and preparing a path before us? I can’t see a way right now, yet the deepest part of me yearns to trust that God’s Spirit is leading us by the hand around the ruts, patching up the crumbled lanes, even building a new road in the wilderness, one beyond the reach of life’s flooding (Isaiah 43:2, 14). 

I believe; help my unbelief! 

For the last couple of weeks, my prayer has been simple and heartfelt: “Prepare the way! Holy Spirit, come.  Prepare a way.” We don’t see how.  We don’t know what kind of journey it will be.  Just prepare a way before us.  Please. 

Editor’s note: Through Bethany Church and Bethany Birches Camp in Vermont, our Mosaic community is actively involved in assessing and providing for the essential needs of families impacted by the storms, flooding, and ongoing rains mentioned in this article. Bethany Church is working directly with a family with 3 children who lost their home and all their belongings. The congregation is providing funds for clothing, books, toys, and building supplies with the limited means available. If you would like to join in this work of caring for those in need in Vermont, especially this family and the surrounding community, please send donations to Mosaic Mennonite Conference (designate for Bethany Birches Flood relief) at 1000 Forty Foot Rd., Suite 100, Lansdale, PA 19446.