Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Articles

Roaring Spring Mennonite Church Closes

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by Eileen Kinch 

In January 2023, Roaring Spring Mennonite Church closed its doors after over 120 years of ministry. Pastor Elsie Gonsman, who served the congregation since 2002, also retired. 

Roaring Spring Mennonite Church began in the small town of Roaring Spring in western Pennsylvania. Abraham Snyder was the first minister. In 1898, the congregation purchased a church building from the Methodists and began to hold services as a mission church. Abraham Snyder’s sons also started four other congregations in western Pennsylvania: Smith’s Corner, Napier, Zion at Mann’s Choice, and the Altoona mission. 

Roaring Spring was initially affiliated with the (Old) Mennonite Church conference; it joined the Eastern District Conference in 1912, with the other small Mennonite congregations started by the Snyder family following suit. Roaring Spring became part of Mosaic in 2020, when Eastern District and Franconia Conferences reconciled. Roaring Spring is the last of those five former Eastern District congregations in western Pennsylvania. The other congregations have either closed or are no longer affiliated with a Mennonite conference. 

Pastor Elsie heard about Roaring Spring’s pastoral vacancy when a worker at her house asked how she got saved. The worker went to Roaring Spring and told her that his church was looking for a pastor. Pastor Elsie, who was licensed by the United Church of Christ, expressed interest, and Roaring Spring invited her to preach for one Sunday. Then the congregation invited her to stay six months. She ended up staying for twenty years. 

Located in a town of less than 3000, Roaring Spring Mennonite Church was a small, but active, congregation. It supported missionaries and sent donations to the Christian Appalachian Project. When people in Cuba experienced a shortage of medicine bottles, Roaring Spring collected empty pill bottles to send their way. The congregation had a youth group and held Vacation Bible School, and the Ladies Aid Society planned mother-daughter banquets and Christmas programs.  Roaring Spring also gathered hats and gloves for the needy, collected food for the hungry, and hosted a hymn sing once a month. 

Roaring Spring had a special way of singing together. After the death of the organist and pianist, the congregation found a creative way to continue singing old favorites. Pastor Elsie’s nephew programmed many songs into their digital piano, allowing the congregation to sing with digital accompaniment. A reader would introduce each song with a short history of its origin. Some favorites were “Bringing in the Sheaves” and “Count Your Blessings.” At one point, the congregation compiled its own hymnal. 

Pastor Elsie was 65 years old when she became pastor of Roaring Spring Mennonite Church, and she served until her retirement at 85. In addition to her congregational duties, Pastor Elsie belonged to the local ministerium, participated in joint community church services, and conducted baccalaureate services at the high school. Sometimes she filled in when no other pastor was available to officiate at a funeral or wedding. “I kept busy,” she said. “I enjoyed it.”  

Mosaic Conference is grateful for the ministry and faithfulness of Pastor Elsie and the Roaring Spring congregation. May the blessings of their faithfulness continue.

Eileen Kinch

Eileen Kinch is a writer and editor for the Mosaic communication team. She holds a Master of Divinity degree, with an emphasis in the Ministry of Writing, from Earlham School of Religion. She and her husband, Joel Nofziger, who serves as director of the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, live near Tylersport, PA. They attend Methacton Mennonite Church. Eileen is also a member of Keystone Fellowship Friends Meeting in Lancaster County.

Makmur Halim’s Call Story: The Grace of God

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by Makmur Halim

I was born into a Buddhist family. My parents didn’t know Jesus. In my childhood, my parents took me to the Baptist school in South Sumatra where I was born. I began to learn about Jesus at this Christian school, through reading the Bible and going to the church. At home, however, I also worshipped my ancestor’s spirit, which is idolatry, and I went along with my parents to the Buddhist temple.  

During my final year at high school in November 1980, I met a pastor who convinced me to follow Christ and leave my syncretistic belief. I was baptized in January 1981; I received God’s calling in the same year and went to Bethel Seminary in Jakarta. 

I was involved in ministry in Bethel Church of Indonesia until I graduated in 1986. In 1988, God opened the way to send me to Portland Bible College, and in 1990 I went to Multnomah Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Later, in 1992, I was accepted by Fuller Seminary for my doctoral degree and graduated in 1998.  

My parents came to know Christ in 1991. I married my wife, Manishati Dachi, in 1993, and God gave us two children. I also pastored an Indonesian Church in Downey, California, did mission work in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and traveled for ministry to Europe. After returning home to Indonesia in 1999, I spent time directing the graduate program in a Bible School in East Java, teaching at seminaries in both Indonesia and Australia, and writing two books.  

Photo provided by Makmur Halim

In 2004, I returned to the United States, with a plan to pursue my Ph.D. but discontinued it for many reasons. In 2007, I began pastoring with Indonesian Community Christian Fellowship in San Bernardino, CA, and I also teach part time at Union University of California (Westminster, CA) and Union University International (Westminster, CA). It is only by the grace of God and journeying through the ministry with my family that all of this is possible.  

Closing the Gap 

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by Randy Heacock

Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash

Many of our conference churches struggle with declining attendance, which mirrors the national trends: From large to small and among all denominations, churches are shrinking.  I heard recently that 85 percent of American churches are either maintaining or declining; 14 percent are growing due to transfers from other churches; and only one percent are growing due to new people choosing to follow Jesus. While we’ve been losing young people for many years, the pandemic has led to all generations walking out the church doors.

As I sit with church leaders lamenting this trend, the obvious burning question is, “Why are people leaving the church?”  Sadly, I must admit I have no solid answers.  But what I do know is that even I, a pastor of more than 35 years, am tempted to join those walking out the church doors.  It is not because of the people, for church people are some of the best people around.  Neither is it the theology, worship style, newness of building, or lack of programs.  No. For me it is the gap between what we say and what we do that eats away at my soul.

The two aspects of our professed life I find most disjointed are the value of community and meaningful accountability.  From what I observe, we are as individual and independent-minded as those who say, “Live free or die.”  We are good at asking God to do our bidding, but rarely invite God to direct our path. Even more rare are requests for communal discernment regarding a job change, house purchase, or family/relational challenges.   

Regarding accountability, many make vows to give and receive counsel as they join our churches, yet this is distinctly challenging in practice, particularly when long-time members are involved.  One member justified another’s poor behavior this way: “That’s just the way they are—we put up with them. Why can’t you?” 

At the conference level, we see a similar pattern. Congregations pull away from their Mosaic affiliation, without checking in with other congregations who may hold a different perspective.  When I first came to Doylestown Mennonite Church 22 years ago, I quickly discerned the fierce independence of our conference churches. Where I hoped to find cooperative relational patterns, I instead noted competition.  I believe this has improved somewhat over the years.

Mosaic also likes its independence.  As a response to the most recent resolutions passed by Mennonite Church USA, we named our independence by declaring such resolutions nonbinding.  Yet, Mosaic also struggles to practice accountability.  While we claim our Grace and Truth statement as foundational, we struggled recently to find a healthy response when it was violated.  And a few years ago, when an abuse allegation was reported in one of our institutions, we vowed to create a survivor-friendly process.  I wonder how survivors would grade us on our efforts on this matter. 

Photo by Lubo Minar on Unsplash

For me these gaps are increasingly painful.  Yet, I remain committed to the church.  The flickering flame of hope rests in Solomon’s prayer recorded at the temple dedication: “If my people who belong to me will humbly pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). No matter what our perspectives on the cause or size of “the gap,” it is my hope that we can agree that God always gives healing and transformation when God’s people humble themselves as Solomon described.    

May we seek God’s perspective on our independent nature as we consider the gap between what we say and what we do.

Randy Heacock

Randy Heacock serves as a Leadership Minister for Mosaic Conference while continuing in his role as pastor of Doylestown Mennonite Church.

Mary Jane Hershey: Stewarding History as an Act of Justice

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by Eileen Kinch

Mary Jane Lederach Hershey’s interest in history runs deep. She was born in Trooper, PA, and grew up with a library and an archive in her house. Jacob Mensch, Hershey’s great-grandfather, collected books from previous generations. When his son Abe Mensch came to live with Mary Jane and her parents, who were workers at the Mennonite Gospel Mission in Norristown, so did the books.

Many visitors would stop by Hershey’s childhood home in Trooper, and later when her family moved to Lederach, PA, to view the books. These volumes were also storage spaces for fraktur. Her mother would open the books and handle the unique fraktur pages very carefully. “From my teenage years I knew that fraktur was really special, and was important to this community,” Hershey said. 

Fraktur is a folk art form with European roots that Pennsylvania Germans created between 1740 and 1860. It features hand lettering in a German script and is characterized by decorative motifs, such as flowers and birds, as well as special calligraphy. Pennsylvania German Lutherans and Reformed used fraktur to make birth and baptismal certificates. Since Pennsylvania German Mennonites did not practice infant baptism, they created fraktur in educational settings. Christopher Dock, a schoolteacher who taught in Skippack and Salford, often rewarded his students with a special fraktur. Students also made fraktur to practice penmanship, a practice that continues today in some Mennonite schools. 

Mary Jane Lederach Hershey was the first director of the Mennonite Heritage Center. Her book on fraktur was published in 2003. Photo provided by Eileen Kinch.

In the 1960s and 1970s, many Mennonites in southeastern Pennsylvania sold their farms. Often family treasures, such as fraktur, were put up for sale at estate auctions. Hershey was troubled when she saw non-Mennonite antiques dealers and shops purchasing these items, so she and her husband, Hiram Hershey, began to buy as much fraktur as they could. She tried to become involved with the Franconia Mennonite Historical Society, but the group, which consisted entirely of men, did not know how to welcome her. 

Wanting a Mennonite historical organization that was more inclusive, Hershey and others started their own in 1974. Hershey served as the first director of Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania (MHEP). She wrote regular reports in the organization’s newsletter, often listing acquisitions and donors. “Our heritage is not a bondage, but is a beautiful gift from God from which we can learn,” she wrote in 1976. Hershey later served on the board of MHEP and now serves as a volunteer in the library and archives. 

“The theme of my life is to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God,” Hershey said. Creating a historical organization that was open to women was a justice issue. So was finding a place for Mennonite family treasures that were being dispersed. Instead of selling or giving their history away, Mennonites should be collecting and interpreting it. A member of Salford Mennonite Church (Harleysville, PA), Hershey’s desire for justice has also led her to take part in other protests and demonstrations. 

This 1768 fraktur was donated by Mary Jane Hershey to the Mennonite Heritage Center. The fraktur was probably made in the Salford school. Photo provided by Mennonite Heritage Center.

Hershey published This Teaching I Present in 2003, a book that she had been working on for many years. This Teaching I Present focuses on fraktur created specifically in the Skippack and Salford meetinghouse schools. Hershey also has an interest in textiles and wrote her master’s thesis on dress in Franconia Conference. The thesis, her journal articles, and her book on fraktur are all available in the library at the Mennonite Heritage Center (Harleysville, PA). The Mennonite Heritage Center archives also houses the books and papers collected by Hershey’s great-grandfather, Jacob Mensch. Her family’s careful stewarding of Mennonite heritage shaped the course of Hershey’s work. Her love of heritage can now shape ours. 

Eileen Kinch

Eileen Kinch is a writer and editor for the Mosaic communication team. She holds a Master of Divinity degree, with an emphasis in the Ministry of Writing, from Earlham School of Religion. She and her husband, Joel Nofziger, who serves as director of the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, live near Tylersport, PA. They attend Methacton Mennonite Church. Eileen is also a member of Keystone Fellowship Friends Meeting in Lancaster County.

Board reorganizes, sets budget and affirms new positions at January meeting

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BOARD UPDATES

Mosaic Conference Board met on January 30 in a hybrid session with members joining from the Lansdale (PA) offices as well as on Zoom from Vermont, Florida and California. The first meeting of the new year often includes some elements of reorganization. The board meets on a bi-monthly basis usually in a hybrid format with some members on Zoom while others are present together. 

This was the first board meeting for Emmanuel Mwaipopo from Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation, who now serves as the Intercultural Committee chairperson. Angela Moyer Walter (Ripple congregation, Allentown, PA) began her term as moderator following Ken Burkholder’s term (Souderton congregation). Roy Williams (College Hill congregation, Tampa, FL) moved from his role as intercultural committee chair to assistant moderator. Moyer Walter and Williams were both affirmed in their roles at the Mosaic Annual Assembly in November 2022.   

The board affirmed the addition of Rose Bender Cook from Whitehall congregation in Allentown, PA to the Ministerial Committee. 

The board approved a budget of over $1.084 million for 2023-24, balancing increased contributions from properties, partners, and individual donors with decreased congregational giving. Staff adjustments include increased time for the pathway process and for Spanish language capacity, along with young adult leadership formation initiatives. This represents a slight increase from the $1.070 million budgeted for 2022-23.

The board acknowledged the decision of Mennonite Bible Fellowship of Morris, PA to suspend membership in Mennonite Church USA while remaining a full member of Mosaic Conference. 

Mosaic Annual Assembly was set for November 4, 2023, at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church.  More details will be available soon, including theme and speaker for our annual gathering time together.   

The next board meeting is set for March 20, 2023. 

What Really Matters

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by Margaret Zook

What does the Lord require of you? 

We could use more of Mr. Rogers in this world. “It’s not so much what we have in this life that matters,” he said. “It’s what we do with what we have. The alphabet is fine, but it’s what we do with it that matters more. Making words like friend and love. That’s what really matters.” 

Here is an example from a story that may be familiar to us. One evening, a boy on a beach was picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. A passerby asked, “Why do you do this?” 

“The starfish would die if left until the morning sun,” the boy said. 

“But the beach is miles long, and there are millions of starfish. How can your efforts make any difference?” 

“It makes a difference to this one.” And the boy threw the next starfish into the sea—far beyond the breaking point of the waves. 

In Micah 6:8, we learn what God requires of us: He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God. 

Walking humbly with God is knowing that we may not have very much. Embracing faithful love is doing our best with what we have, even if it is only one starfish at a time. 

Find the courage to choose what really matters. The Love of God transcends and transforms what the world imposes. 

Let’s imagine at the same beach, a group was throwing starfish back into the sea. “Why do you do this?” asked a puzzled beach walker. 

“Because we’re a faith-based, not-for-profit organization. Our mission is to do as Jesus did,” the group said. 

“But surely you have some requirements of these starfish. Maybe they need to believe the same as you. Do they need to pay you? Must they go to your church?” 

“If you are a starfish on this beach, the only question we ask is, can we help you?” And the group threw the next starfish carefully back into the sea. 

Find the courage to love and do as Jesus did. 

This is the story of Mosaic Conference Related Ministries. It is a story of groups who looked around them, saw a need, and transformed their communities with hope, health, healing, education, and places of safety. Praise be to the Lord. A complete list of Conference Related Ministries and their stories can be found here. 

The love of God transcends and transforms, and transformed people transform the world. 

Margaret Zook

Margaret Zook is the Director of Collaborative Ministries for Mosaic Conference. She and husband, Wib, are members of Salford Mennonite Church and live in Harleysville, PA.

Pathway Steering Team and Consulting Firm Announced

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As part of the Pathway Process that was affirmed by a majority of delegates at the November 2022 Assembly, the Mosaic Board continues to move ahead with the plan the Board developed following Assembly, including naming the Pathway Steering Team.  

The proposed process included naming a Pathway Steering Team made up of 6-12 members, including a mix of Board, staff, and Mosaic Conference members who bring a strong commitment to Mosaic’s missional, formational, and intercultural priorities and our shared vision.  Nominations were invited and gathered from across the Conference in December and January.  

The Mosaic Board has affirmed the following Pathway Steering Team members: 

  • Aldo Colon (Iglesia Luz y Vida, Orlando, FL)1
  • Brandon Bergey (Bethany Birches Camp, Plymouth, VT and Bethany Mennonite Church, Bridgewater Corners, VT)
  • Brent Camilleri (Deep Run East Mennonite Church, Perkasie, PA)
  • Bronwyn Histand (Blooming Glen [PA] Mennonite Church)
  • Cherokee Webb (Faith Chapel, Los Angeles, CA)
  • Danilo Sanchez (Mosaic staff; Whitehall Mennonite Church and Ripple, Allentown, PA)
  • Jenny Fujita (Upper Milford Mennonite Church, Zionsville, PA)
  • Jim Musselman (Mosaic Board member; Zion Mennonite Church, Souderton, PA)
  • Kiron Mateti (Mosaic Board member; Plains Mennonite Church, Hatfield, PA)
  • Mark Reiff (Doylestown (PA) Mennonite Church)
  • Marta Castillo (Mosaic staff; Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life Mennonite Church)
  • Regina Valensia (Philadelphia (PA) Praise Center)

To read more detailed information about each Pathway Steering Team member, please click here (updated in May 2024). 

“I’m amazed and grateful for the breadth and depth of skills and giftings in this group,” said Mosaic Moderator Angela Moyer Walter. “I’m grateful for their love and dedication for the Church and their willingness to say ‘yes’ to this work when they could share their gifts in many other places.  I’m eager to see the wisdom that emerges from this group and this process.” 

The Steering Team will contribute to the strategic planning process outlined by the Board within the two-year Pathway timeline, along with an outside consulting firm. Since December, the Board received proposals from numerous consulting options who fit Mosaic’s specific needs of experience. After reviewing these proposals and interviews, the Board has agreed on partnering with Grovider, a consulting firm based in Center City Philadelphia. 

Executive Minister Stephen Kriss worked at cultivating and receiving proposals from possible partners for the Pathway process. “We solicited proposals from consultants across the country, receiving several strong proposals,” said Kriss. “We had stipulations that consultants have experience working with communities of faith and a capacity to work with the diversity of our Conference. Grovider impressed us with their capacity, congeniality, commitments and professionalism.” 

Since 2017, the Grovider firm has partnered closely with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions to design learning agendas and provide data-informed strategic support.  A strength that the Grovider team offers Mosaic is their focus on diverse social identities and unique experiences. Their approach to data collection “invite[s] voices from a range of positionalities—seeking to use data as a means to tell stories, unearth needs, reveal complexities, and determine the pathway to more significant impact.” Grovider received strong affirmation from their previous work with faith-based institutions in the Philadelphia region. 

The Board, Steering Team, and consulting firm will at times be working independently, but also together, within the two-year timeline proposed in the Pathway Document. The Steering Team will be working diligently in the next eight months to bring their first presentation of their activity to 2023 Annual Assembly to be held on November 4 at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. 

  1. As of May 2024, Haroldo Nunes (Seguidores de Cristo, Sarasota, FL) has replaced Aldo Colon on the Pathway Steering Team. ↩︎

New Wine Mennonite Church: A Mosaic Church Plant in Florida

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By Javier Márquez

Members of Iglesia Seguidores de Cristo, a Mosaic church in Sarasota, FL, are embarking on the challenge of starting a new ministry in Bradenton, FL.

Pastor Jimmy Henriquez, a 62-year-old Honduran, arrived with his wife and two children in the US a little over two years ago. Pastor Juan José Rivera, and the followers of Iglesia Seguidores de Cristo have supported the Henriquez family during this time of transition.  

Pastor Jimmy is now leading this new ministry initiative in Bradenton, FL, which begins like almost every new work: with very few things in hand, an empty trunk filled mostly with hopes and dreams, and the image of a large expansive area waiting to be seeded. 

The motivation for Pastor Jimmy to leave his home country, where he had many years of ministerial experience, was, “To take on new ministerial challenges.” And without fail, that is what he is doing. There is no better word to describe the project of a new church than challenging. Since Pastor Jimmy and his family arrived, they have had a mix of challenges, but have continued to be faithful to their call.  

Pastor Jimmy Henriquez and his family.

Although not yet officially birthed, though breathing and crawling, the new ministry already has a name: New Wine Mennonite Church.  Why New Wine? Because, Pastor Jimmy said, “God will do new things.” For now, the church is already seeking a meeting space and have set times of prayer and Bible study to be held on Wednesday nights, which they call Growth Groups. 

“Bradenton is a town of workers and there is a significant Hispanic population,” explained Pastor Jimmy. “It’s where the cars start from in the morning and where they return to in the evening when they come from Sarasota.”  

The mission is to bring the Kingdom of God closer to those who are working with their hands to build a future. Our prayers and best wishes for this immense project that is already in the heart of Jesus. 

Pastor Jimmy Henriquez and his wife.