Mosaic Mennonites

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Stumbling Toward the Cross

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I have crosses in every room of my house.  I didn’t grow up with this tradition, but I remember the dramatic crucifix in the living room of my Catholic aunt and uncle.  It was uncomfortable to my Protestant eyes, a graphic symbol of Christ’s bloody execution, hung above the sofa where I first watched MTV videos in the 1980s.  Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, your familiar form of the cross marks your identity as Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox.  I was never particularly comfortable with the crucifix.

A former nuclear scientist, Parush Parushev, a Bulgarian, tells how a crucifix changed him.  While working in Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe, he traveled to Poland where he met a scientist who had a crucifix in his home.  Parushev said the symbol troubled him and somehow began his journey of openness to the story of Jesus’ life and death that eventually led to his own conversion.  He is now a Baptist seminary professor and theologian.

Image by Robert Allmann from Pixabay

I’m still a bit discomforted by the bloodied Jesus on a cross, even though I am fully aware that the cross and the tomb are empty.  The crucifix is a stark reminder of the horror of Christ’s death. 

There’s something worthwhile about paying attention to the suffering Christ and holding on, even just for a while, to Jesus’ painful, humiliating death that opens the path for our own redemption.  Author James Cone does important work on connecting the idea of the cross with the African American experience of lynching in the United States.  There is much that we can learn yet often try to avoid by looking away.

This year as we emerge, slowly and wobbly, from a pandemic and persevere through a socio-political situation fraught with crisis after crisis, we might need the reminder of Christ’s presence with us in suffering.  The Ghanian song, “In Your Sickness,” minds us that “in your sickness, your suffering, your trials and pain, he is with you all the time.  Persecution, temptations, and loneliness, he is with you all the time” (Hymnal: A Worship Book #585).  From our food distributions, to our open community centers, to our Zoom worship, and stressful work situations, God has indeed been with us. 

Over the next few days, as we remember the Last supper and footwashing, and journey toward the cross, let us hold onto the solemnity of Holy Saturday and lean in toward the surprise of resurrection. I want to be alert to things that might break open my mind toward a fresh understanding, even through familiar words and symbols.  I’m paying attention to God who is with us in the midst of all that is distraught while also anticipating the possibilities of resurrection, new life, and healing.  I wonder where we might be renewed this Holy Week.

I want to remember Christ present in struggle, when things are not yet fully transformed or illuminated.  I also want to trust that God is still working, even in my impatience and striving, and the Spirit can use even the most difficult realities to be turned toward new life. 

Long winters can mean bright springs.   Even when nights and days seem long, resurrection is still coming,  still waiting to surprise us and re-awaken our hearts, souls, and minds toward deepened faith, hope, and love.   

The Kingdom of God, Politics, and Citizenship: Interview No. 2 with César García

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Publicado en: PROTESTANTE DIGITAL – Kairós y Cronos – El Reino de Dios, política y ciudadanía. Entrevista con César García (II)

Translated to English by Andres Castillo.

César García during a conference in Harrisburg in 2015. Photo by Mennonite World Conference.

We continue the conversation with César García, General Secretary of Mennonite World Conference, about his book What Is God’s Kingdom and What Does Citizenship Look Like? (Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 2021). MWC is not only formed by Mennonite churches, but also includes other Anabaptist communities.

Q: César, based on what you said in the first part of our conversation, would you say that the Gospel has economic dimensions?

A: The word “Mammon” comes from Aramaic, transliterated to Greek in the New Testament and only used four times by Jesus to mean wealth, money, or riches. By analyzing what Jesus says about Mammon in Matthew 6, we can come to understand how the economy of Mammon is different and even contrary to the Kingdom of God. “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Let’s start with a look at how Jesus talked about money. By creating this character, he warns us of the possibility that God competes with another master in our lives: material possessions. Possessions can enslave us, creating confusion about our purpose, source of happiness, and safety.

Q: What you’ve told me reminds me of anabaptist theologian Ronald Sider’s Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity. How do the teachings of Jesus about not giving in to Mammon come together for Mennonites and Anabaptists?

A: From an Anabaptist perspective, the uncontrollable desire to possess things drives us to sin, but the Spirit of God frees us to practice helping mutually. What I’ve described here as the economy of God requires a significant change in our paradigms. Getting to the point where we limit ourselves for the common good is a miracle, but that’s exactly what our world needs. Nations search desperately for alternatives to consumerism due to the harm it’s causing to our planet. Economists today propose strategies of political control if we want to survive as human beings. There is more consciousness of the need to restrict our insatiable way of life to recuperate the health of the planet. Curiously, Anabaptists have been teaching this for centuries, what we simply call “a way of life” due to spiritual discipline. That spiritual discipline teaches us, among other things, to: 

  • Choose things based on their function rather than the social status they might reward us with. 
  • Reject anything that causes addiction.
  • Enjoy things without owning them.
  • Avoid using credit as much as possible. 
  • Refuse things that are the product of the oppression of others. 
  • Appreciate and take care of God’s creation.
  • Practice generosity.

Q: Changing the subject a bit, what can Christians do to influence society?

A: As Christians know, the church is called to carry the message of reconciliation with God and among human beings. However, the way the message is told has not always been consistent with the results we are looking for. When we analyze the history of the church, we can identify various ways in which the church has responded to this responsibility, various forms in which the church has played a role understood as a people of reconciliation facing society.

The first focus can be called conversionist. It has to do with the belief that the only thing we have to do in order to transform society is put a few Christians in positions of power.

The second option, which can be called transformationalist, seeks to transform society by changing power structures with the implementation of Christian values. 

A third option, the separatist impulse, has to do with distancing oneself from society while rejecting any possibility of fundamental societal transformation.

I’d like to suggest here that, from an Anabaptist perspective, there is another possibility. This possibility seeks to encourage societal transformation through the promotion of healthy understandings of religious freedom from the margins of society.

Q: Would you please explain this other possibility?

A: In the Anabaptist tradition, the nature itself of the church requires the separation of church and state. Given that faith cannot be forced, religious freedom is necessary to guarantee the possibility that the faith springs up. The voluntary decision to follow Christ is evident through baptism, the point of entry to the church. That implies that the church is formed by believers that have decided to voluntarily form a new community—that of the Kingdom of God. This way of understanding the Christian faith and the church demands liberty to choose our own beliefs, values, and ethics. It also implies that there will be people who will choose to not follow Christ. The possibility of saying no to the faith and to Christian values must exist in order to assure that there is an alternative community to that of this world. 

Q: Religious freedom, therefore, is not a synonym of using the power of the state to “christianize” society. What is it?

A: Religious freedom avoids the temptation to depend on human governments to promote the faith, values, or ways of life of Christians. Seeking ways to obtain legal privileges for our own religious group that are higher than those of others is fundamentally incompatible with this perspective. Religious freedom implies the possibility to choose between different beliefs or none, between Christian ethics and others. The policies and values of the Kingdom of God must only be accepted voluntarily by a society through a process of genuine interaction that includes people of other religions as well as those without faith. Christian ethics must present themselves convincingly, with arguments so persuasive that communities of people of different beliefs implement them as a response to their own beliefs, not by force. Laws that reflect Christian values must be determined through dialogue, negotiation, and consensus among people who don’t share the same faith. 

From this comes the conclusion that one of the first ways in which the Christian community influences the society that surrounds it has to do with letting all voices be heard, even those that oppose it. Followers of Christ must stand up for the inclusion of people of other religions and people without faith in the establishment of rules for society. Governments govern for all, not only for Christians. God isn’t interested in coercing people into behaving in ways that aren’t the results of beliefs. Christian ethics—a life that reflects the transforming gift of the grace of God in a Christian disciple—is not for Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, or those without faith; but rather, for the followers of Christ. 

Q: Today in Latin America, there is a growing temptation to be imposing, to believe that it is necessary to make laws that punish those who don’t follow the rules they consider to be Christian. What do you think of this?

A: Influencing within our society in ways that don’t respect religious freedom, that don’t allow people to choose their own lifestyle, will side us with those who throw stones. It will make us oppressors instead of oppressed. It will make us act in a way that will paralyze others with fear.

Conference Response to Allegations of Misconduct at Dock Academy

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Mosaic Conference leadership has been informed of an allegation of inappropriate conduct by Martin Wiens, high school principal of Dock Mennonite Academy in Lansdale, PA.  Wiens has been placed on administrative leave and Dock has contracted with D. Stafford & Associates to conduct an administrative investigation.

As Conference leadership, we have been in conversation with both Dock Academy and the Mennonite Education Agency to discuss how we can provide support and accountability to Dock as they engage with this process.  Martin Wiens is not a credentialed leader in Mosaic Conference.  We will be exploring next steps in the coming weeks as more information becomes available. Additionally, the Conference is working with Dove’s Nest to provide resources for individuals, youth groups, and congregations.

Mosaic Conference remains mindful of the intersecting relationships within our Conference congregations, Conference Related Ministries, pastors, and communities.

Some alumni from Dock Academy may be questioning their own experiences or feeling confused about how they should be responding.  For those who are sharing your stories and concerns, we care about your pain and we believe you.

Family and friends of current students may be worried about their own children.  For those who are angry, uncertain, or fearful, we care about your pain and we hear you.

We care deeply about Dock’s students, staff, and board, many of whom are members of Conference congregations, and the extended Dock community.  We care about your pain and we see you.   We are working carefully with member congregations of those directly involved to ensure they are receiving care. We invite you to join us in prayer for everyone whom this case affects.

Mennonite Central Committee has a helpful resource on talking with children about their experiences of abuse, found here.  If you need to process your thoughts and feelings, we encourage you to talk with your youth leader, pastor, or Conference leadership minister.  Additionally, trained professionals are available for virtual counseling at Penn Foundation, a Mosaic Conference Related Ministry.

Mosaic Conference takes allegations of abuse or misconduct seriously.  If you feel you’ve experienced misconduct or inappropriate behavior at Dock or witnessed it firsthand, contact the Montgomery County District Attorney Detective’s Bureau to make a report (Detective Kate Kelly: 610-278-3582 or kkelly3@montcopa.org).  For more information about Mosaic Conference’s Child Protection policies, please contact Associate Executive Minister Mary Nitzsche.

If you have any information to share about whether school policies and/or federal educational or civil rights laws have been violated, you can contact Stafford & Associates at investigations@dstaffordandassociates.com.  Please provide your name, email address, telephone number, and the reason for your communication; investigators will follow up with you.

If you have information about an instance of child abuse in another ministry context, please report it by calling the child abuse hotline for your state:

Read Dock Mennonite Academy’s statements: March 24, March 25.

Calling All Leaders!

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“We are looking for a new pastor.” These are words I have heard too often in the past several years. During a pastoral transition, there is often heightened anxiety because change is on the horizon. This is a great time for churches to look inwardly for ways they can become a place that is best suited for a new pastor. 

Yet most of the emphasis in the interim is usually placed on who the new pastor will be. Search committees are formed, opinions are expressed regarding desired pastoral qualities, and pastoral fit is discerned. Ultimately, congregations create a pastoral mold that defines what the perfect pastor will look like. Sometimes I wonder if Jesus would be a viable candidate for the open position. 

It is important that the candidate has certain abilities and attributes. But if we exclude persons from our searches who do not have all the gifts on our checklist – highly educated, challenging preacher (just not too challenging), and administratively efficient – we could miss out on the most important gift necessary for a church to thrive in our culture today: leadership.

Leaders do not fit any one mold. They have many gifts, just not usually the same as pastoral gifts. In fact, true leaders often find pastoral positions unattractive because they do not thrive in places that have fixed boundaries of expectations. 

Leaders may have a gift of prophecy rather than preaching excellence. They may lack the pastoral educational requirements but may bring a wealth of workplace knowledge and experience. They may have a clear vision of outreach that may push against the congregation’s long-standing means of evangelism. In fact, many characteristics of a leader are outside of our pastoral expectations.  Consequently, leaders are quickly dismissed from our pastoral search. 

Photo by Mike Clemmer

But I believe that leaders are exactly what our churches today need. Leaders usually have relational skills, adaptability, and a sense of humility that can only come from being called by God. Leaders also work at change organically by influencing and encouraging people to move towards God’s agenda and purposes. They see where God is already at work and lead people to those places. These attributes cannot be defined by a set list of pastoral characteristics but are vital to the health of the church. Unfortunately, people who have great pastoral gifting often do not have leadership gifting. 

Valuing leadership gifting over pastoral gifting will probably cause the walls of many of our churches to quake a bit and make for a bumpy ride for a while. However, a good leader navigates the bumps in the road by adapting to the environment and modeling the vision, thus encouraging the congregation to come alongside and be partners in God’s mission. 

You may be asking, “Where are these leaders to be found?” Good news! They are already in our midst. They are found in businesses, classrooms, medical services, and farms – just look around. They are already in our churches, waiting to be tapped on the shoulder. They may not even be aware of it yet – they need to be called out. God is raising up leaders – let’s call them out!

How Will You Measure ‘Success’ as a Pastor?

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How will you measure “success” as a pastor? This question was posed to me by Jim Lapp in my pastoral credentialing interview sixteen years ago.  It was a poignant, thought-provoking question – one that I’ve continued to reflect on numerous times since then.

In reading James Lapp’s recent memoir, Remember Who You Are: Reflections on Identity, Leadership, and Faith, this question, again, bubbled to the surface for me.  Lapp’s story gives testimony to several ingredients of “success” in life, as well as pastoral ministry, including:

Remember Who You Are: Reflections on Identity, Leadership, and Faith
  • Taking “Long-View” of Christian Faith – Lapp looks back in reflecting on the numerous influences that have helped to shape his Christian faith, and sense of call to pastoral ministry – including his family-of-origin, church community, schools, and life experiences.  Lapp also looks forward in expressing his hope that faith in Christ continues to shape and guide future generations.
  • Wisdom – The depth of Lapp’s wisdom and insight is evident throughout the book in the way he offers keen reflections on marriage, pastoral ministry and identity, leadership, conflict, change, grief, etc.  I particularly appreciated his chapter, “Saving the Mennonite Church” – wise words for us, today!

  • Humility – While Lapp has held various significant roles in the Mennonite Church, he describes these leadership positions in a spirit of humility.   I also appreciate his humility in his willingness to honestly admit mistakes and name regrets.  He devotes three chapters under the title, “Faux Pas.”  Lapp’s humility is evident, as well, in how he highlights ways that his faith has grown and evolved over the years.  In the chapter, “Theological Trajectories,” he helpfully articulates eight themes where he’s experienced movement in his faith perspectives. 
  • Humor – While this would not be the first word I’d use to describe Lapp, the book gives witness to his sense of humor, and “playful spirit.”  From childhood pranks (e.g. rubbing alcohol in a water pistol with matches), to disguising as an FBI officer in a phone call with his father, to “overlaps,” to his “flattop rebellion” .. there are lots of entertaining stories in this book!
  • Gratitude – There is an authentic spirit of gratitude to God for the gift of life and all that life offers throughout the book.  In fact, many of the chapters end with prayers highlighting the words, “Thanks be to God for…”
  • Passion for Justice – Lapp articulates this passion in a number of areas, generously giving credit to ways that his family members have helped to fuel these passions in him.
  • Well-Rounded Life – I learned of the vast-array of interests Lapp has, including: cooking and baking, traveling (e.g. a fascinating trip around the world), walking faithfully and briskly every day, biking, singing, and paragliding with his granddaughter when Lapp turned 70!  
  • Love God/Love Others – Undergirding the broad sweep of this book is Lapp’s deep love for God, his family, friends, the church, and God’s creation.  I found the chapters, “A Tribute to Nancy,” and “Falling in Love Again!” to be particularly heartfelt and moving.

I am grateful to Jim Lapp for sharing the gift of these engaging, humorous, honest, and insightful reflections – giving testimony, in a spirit of grace and humility, to what “success” truly looks like in pastoral ministry and life!

Editor’s Note: To purchase a copy of Lapp’s memoir, Remember Who You Are, send a check (payable to Jim Lapp) for $18 ($15 plus $3 for mailing) with your mailing address to Jim Lapp, 1001 East Oregon Road, Lititz, PA 17543. Orders or questions can be directed to Mim Book at miriamfbook@gmail.com. 

Conference Related Ministries (CRM) Profile: Crossroads Community Center

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Children and youth enjoy lunch and socialization at Crossroads Community Center in Philadelphia. Photo provided by Crossroads Community Center.

Since 1965, Crossroads Community Center has been a light to the Fairhill Community of North Philadelphia, PA. In 2020, the Center was nominated as a “Zone of Peace” by the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia.   

The Fairhill neighborhood, with a poverty rate of over 61% and child poverty rate of 75%, is one of the poorest areas in the city of Philadelphia. This neighborhood also has the 4th highest crime rate in Philadelphia.  Few churches remain in the region, jobs are scarce, drugs abundant, and school dropouts frequent.   

Pastor Juan Marrero, Executive Director of Crossroads Community Center, and his wife, Sandra, a social worker, grew up and live in Fairhill.  With their calling and love, Crossroads Community Center keeps its lights on.   

At the heart of Crossroads’ ministries are children and youth. For four generations, Crossroads has provided a safe place for recreation, socializing, and Bible teaching.  Like many families in 2020, Crossroads’ youth have experienced virtual learning throughout the year. For most families in the Fairhill neighborhood, many of whom are Latino and immigrants with English as a second language, virtual learning is one more level of complication for the children and youth.

With virtual learning, Crossroads serves as a “Learning Pod” for students during the school day. Photo provided by Crossroads Community Center.

In response to virtual learning needs, Crossroads has provided a Learning Pod in the center of the neighborhood. The Learning Pod is a safe, well-organized, and well-managed environment for students, providing a setting for an enhanced learning experience.  Offering two meals a day along with nutritious snacks, The Pod provides the community youth with an environment for learning, Christian mentorship, and possibilities for a full future. “Crossroads kids” have found a home. Specific programs such as The Pod require financial support and donations are welcome.

Crossroads’ continues their mission to evangelize, disciple, and demonstrate the gospel in word and deed, with the help of a generous and involved larger community.  A vision for a focus on a youth summer program is also on our agenda. The Center also celebrates volunteers who offer their gifts of time and skills to assist in our ministry. 

The Center invites Mosaic Conference youth groups to visit and experience what God is doing in the Fairhill community.   

Saying “Yes”

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Where did my call to ministry begin? Was it when I invited Jesus into my heart in secret at the age of four? Was it when my parents read me missionary biographies, and I proclaimed that I too wanted to be a missionary? Or when I decided to be baptized at 12? Was it when I asked my grandfather to teach me Greek at age 15? Or during my five months in Chile with Eastern Mennonite Missions’s YES program and learned that overseas missions is not my calling yet I can participate in God’s mission anywhere?

I’m not sure when the call began, but I remember the moments when I began to say “yes” to God’s call to pastoring. 

Michelle Curtis, co-pastor of Ambler (PA) Mennonite Church. Photo provided by Michelle Curtis.

I said “yes” the summer I finally realized my childhood dream of becoming a camp counselor at Spruce Lake Wilderness Camp. I had just finished my first year at Messiah College, majoring in Bible. I loved planning Bible studies for each age group. I delighted in engaging my campers’ questions and sharing what I had learned. When I wrote to my pastor, Sandy Drescher-Lehman, to tell her all about it, she responded, “You’re doing ministry!” I was not convinced. But I kept pondering her words. Maybe, just maybe, my love for teaching the Bible had something to do with ministry. 

I said “yes” two summers later in an internship at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. I did not want to be a pastor. But I did want to go to seminary, so following  Pastor Sandy around for ten hours a week didn’t seem like a bad idea. 

Pastor Sandy sent me to the Friendship Sunday School class, a self-described group of women ages 70+. They embraced me as an earnest 21 year-old, and gave me the honor of teaching them. I soon realized that teaching meant I got to ask all the questions and then soak in their wisdom – wisdom that came from decades of reading the Bible as their beloved friend. Their “yes” to me helped me keep saying “yes” to becoming a teacher of the Bible.

I said “yes” when I went to Anabaptist Biblical Mennonite Seminary (AMBS), dreaming of future Ph.D. work and teaching. But I discovered I was far more interested in taking “electives” like Foundations of Worship and Preaching. I agonized over whether to switch M.Div. concentrations from an academic track to a pastoral one. 

Michelle Curtis with her husband, Jacob. Photo provided by Michelle Curtis.

I remember the day Jewel Gingerich Longenecker, Dean of Lifelong Learning at AMBS, told me that my deep, theological mind was not only acceptable for a pastor but a gift to the church. I would not have to stop thinking and reading and dabbling in the academic world to be a pastor! In that light, pastoring began to seem possible.

I said “yes” on a Tuesday in March when the first crocuses had just bloomed. After a full day of leading worship in chapel and then communion in class, something was shifting inside me. As I walked home, the sun shone on my face and joy bubbled up inside. I heard the Holy Spirit whispering in me, “I am a pastor. I am a pastor!” Eventually I heard the specific call to pastoring. Finally, I accepted, “Yes, I am a pastor.” Then I breathed, “Thank you.” And, “Help!” 

Those “yeses” paved the way for many more yeses that have led me to the joy of co-pastoring with my husband, Jacob, at Ambler (PA) Mennonite Church, where we continue to say, “Thank you Holy Spirit for leading us here!” And, “Help us serve you faithfully!”

Recruit. Equip. Deploy. Support. (Repeat)

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Years and years ago, when I was in seminary, my mission professor said, “If everything is mission, then nothing is mission.” Mission, according to the late South African missiologist, David Bosch, is “crossing frontiers in the form of a servant.”  As Leadership Minister in California, I am often asked, how can the Conference be more missional?

My answer, to be honest, may be difficult to accept.  Mosaic Conference is not particularly missional.  The congregations of the Mosaic Conference are not overly missional.  It falls to disciples – followers of Jesus Christ – to be fully missional.  

Disciples are not just folks who have aced the church membership class.  Disciples are people who have found a grateful heart because of the God who has redeemed them in Christ and who live with both a stubborn loyalty to Christian community and an unfettered love for their neighbors.  They worship God with exuberance and lead with big hearts and sometimes big mouths. They challenge one another to do justice in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.  

So how can Mosaic Conference engage in missional behavior?

First, recruit.  The primary missional environment of any church group is to be a talent scout for leaders, now and for the future.  Engage with people in our churches to see if they have a craving for the Reign of God. As a Leadership Minister, I am called to encourage – a “Barnabas” – credentialed servants of my assigned churches, but I am also on the lookout for women and men with an appetite for disciple making.  

Second, equip. Providing learning environments for disciple making is central to the life of a conference.  Formal settings, such as schools, and informal settings, like mentoring, are important dimensions to this equipping process.   Setting up internships that explore the possibility of call and taking risks on persons from the margins, who might otherwise not hear God’s call on their life, is critical.  

Once upon a time, a smart-aleck teenage son of an alcoholic, less than a year into his walk with Jesus, was given an opportunity to serve in the small, urban church where he first met Christ.  At first, he did not do what was assigned to him very well, but this small congregation championed his spiritual growth, and provided resources at every turn.  Forty-six years later, my life has been a terrific privilege of walking with God and serving the church.  

Third, deploy.  This is a possibly controversial step, but it is also incredibly important.  Disciple-making does not just fall from the sky.  We must invite people to enter spaces where they can thrive.  In the post-COVID, post-Christendom church that is emerging, women will be critical carriers of the gospel and important disciple makers.  They don’t need to fight the battles of my generation:  should a woman “lead?”  They need to be deployed into environments where their gifts, skills, and calling to make disciples flourish.  Yes, that means the Conference might become more directive.  Is that such a bad thing?

Fourth, support.  Support is not just financial, but also includes undergirding disciple makers with spiritual habits and practices that incarnate courage to make disciples.  Support is the encouragement that says, “Yes. You should!  Yes. You can!  Yes.  You will!”  

One important caveat:  support is not protecting from failure.  To allow people to experience the powerful pedagogy of failing…and trying again…is one of the best ways to support people.

Recruit. Equip. Deploy. Support.  This is how Mosaic Conference acts in missional ways in the environment of this new season.