Mosaic Mennonites

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What Can I Learn From a Zoom Conference?

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Reflections of Eastern Mennonite Seminary School for Leadership Training

Mosaic Conference was represented by a number of pastors at the annual Eastern Mennonite Seminary School for Leadership Training, held January 11-15 via Zoom. 

The virtual platform had its pros and cons. Ken Burkholder, pastor of Deep Run East (Perkasie, PA), debated whether to participate in a virtual conference, but did, despite missing connecting in person with friends and colleagues. 

Rodger Schmell, pastor of Deep Run West (Perkasie, PA), liked the virtual format because “[it] allowed me to participate without the hassle of travel and COVID precautions.” However, Schmell agreed with Burkholder, “There is a greater depth of interaction and energy with a speaker when meeting face to face.” 

Sandy Drescher-Lehman, pastor of Methacton (Norristown, PA) Mennonite, and Wayne Nitzsche, pastor of Perkasie (PA) Mennonite, reported that they were more easily distracted with home or church life interruptions, making it harder to stay attentive and connected. Overall, all of us agreed that the overall theme, speakers, and topics exceeded our expectations, despite the drawbacks.

Dr. Meghan Larissa Good was the keynote speaker for this year’s School of Leadership Training through Eastern Mennonite Seminary.  

The theme of the week was “From Surviving to Thriving…God Breathes Fresh Hope.” Meghan Larissa Good, teaching pastor of Trinity Mennonite (Glendale, AZ), presented the  keynote titled, “Leadership in Desert Places: Stories from the Wilderness.”  

Good recounted Moses’ response to God’s call in Exodus 3.  Moses wasn’t sure he was up for the challenge of leading the people saying, “Who Am I?”  But, God assures Moses by saying, “I Am…” affirming the presence and power of God in the moment and in God’s past guidance and actions.  

Burkholder related Good’s reflections to the current challenge of leading during this time of uncertainty observing, “This was a timely word of grace and encouragement to me.” Drescher-Lehman added, “Maybe the wilderness for the Israelites was about learning to trust God so they would be ready, eventually, to build God’s kingdom.” She wondered whether we are using the wilderness of COVID-19 to build our trust in God and discern God’s call. 

Schmell appreciated Good’s seminar, Introducing Communities to the Work of the Spirit. Good’s challenge, “You can’t live a Christ-centered life without the Spirit and you can’t live a Spirit-filled life without Jesus,” inspired Rodger to preach a sermon series on the Spirit.  

Schmell was also challenged in a seminar on anger and reconciliation by Michael Gulker, President of the Colossians Forum. As a person who does not enjoy conflict, Schmell was nudged to see conflict as a “gift rather than a wedge.” Gulker encouraged, “What if we could harness the energy around conflict and use it as combustion for God’s people?”

Wayne Nitzsche appreciated the input of David Fitch, Pastor of Life on the Vine Christian Community in Chicago.  Fitch explained that our personal beliefs lock us into positions. In those locked positions, we no longer hear each other or can be in a relationship because we don’t share the same beliefs. Rather than debate and try to convince others of our point of view, we do well to listen and focus on building relationships. 

Drescher-Lehman appreciated, Ministry in a Post-COVID World, led by Amy Gingrich and Joe Hackman, both of Menno Media. The pandemic has accelerated the shifts and trends already impacting the church. Some of these shifts include intergenerational education, cooperation with other churches, partnerships with organizations that are doing their one thing well, welcoming occasional or online-only people rather than assuming everyone will stay so we can count them in our membership. Drescher-Lehman was encouraged that Methacton is already making changes to live into this next phase of Christendom.  

Just Put One Foot in Front of the Other

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Reflections from the Mosaic Conference Board

To say we have experienced change in the past year is a tremendous understatement. It was a year that brought change globally, nationally, locally, and personally. Some changes were welcomed and celebrated; others were lamented. Whether positive or negative, change is disorienting and often requires adjustments.

Take, for example, a scene from the movie, Santa Claus is Coming to Town. In the movie, a character known as the Winter Warlock is transformed by a gesture of love from Kris Kringle. The Warlock’s frozen demeanor is melted away into a gentle, loving grandfather-figure who asks to be called, “Winter.” 

Winter Warlock and Kris Kringle from Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Bass, J. & Rankin, A. (directors), 1970). No copyright infringement is intended.

After experiencing change, and, in this case, a really positive one, “Winter” wonders how to navigate forward. Kris Kringle simply responds, “Just put one foot in front of the other.” Though disoriented by the change, “Winter” learns to walk in this new identity, stumbling a little at first, but moving forward nonetheless. 

I was reminded of the words of the psalmist, “The Lord makes firm the steps of the ones who delight in him; though we may stumble, we will not fall, for the Lord upholds us with his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24, NIV). This seems like a helpful posture for us all as we consider the changes we have experienced and what it means to move forward together. 

We had many changes in the creation of our new Mosaic Conference. This was a positive change worth celebrating to be sure, yet it will still create some aspects of change that may be disorienting. 

As a Board we recently wrestled through one of these changes. We considered what Conference Assemblies will look like moving forward. What is the best way to meet as a conference with members so geographically dispersed? What role does technology play? At what level can technology assist in providing meaningful, sustainable, and cost-effective gatherings? 

These are not questions that will be answered overnight. In fact, they are more likely to be discovered as we keep our focus where it belongs: delighting together in Christ, focusing our eyes on Him, and then placing one foot in front of the other. We are sure to stumble from time to time but when we do, the LORD will uphold us with his hand and keep us moving forward.

Transforming My Limited Perspective

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Besides being one of my favorite movies, White Man Can’t Jump accurately describes my reality.  Throughout my life, I have known what it is to be leaping-impaired. When I see people who can leap, hang, and glide, as if floating in air, I certainly know their reality is far different than my own. 

In a similar way, I have learned that others who do not share my skin color often experience a different reality than me in school, work, faith community, and the world at large.  

Might from the Margins Cover © Herald Press

In his book, Might from the Margins, Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards invites people of all races to embrace the gospel’s power to transform humanity.  From the very first page, Edwards shares openly about his experience of being marginalized and treated unjustly, yet prophetically proclaims that God’s power is made known out of such experiences.   

In some ways, Jesus began his life as a marginalized person born to unimpressive parents, who identified with people under the yoke of Roman oppression, hung out and ate with social outcasts, and died at the hands of the keepers of societal status quo.  Yet the movement Jesus began, with marginalized people and a unique understanding of power, transformed an empire.  

Edwards rightly calls all people to live this robust Gospel as a way to both experience and share the salvation given in Jesus.  There is no need to wait for permission or support.  Jesus has already commanded and empowered his followers to hunger and thirst for righteousness.  

Edwards’ chapter on the power of anger was especially insightful. I was raised in what I would consider a rather typical white evangelical home. While I am forever grateful for this upbringing, I learned a strong bias against the idea of anger having any redeemable qualities. Christians should control their emotions at all times. Doubt, fear, and especially anger were tools of the devil. People who expressed anger in any way were discounted as being less-than-Christian and certainly not worthy of us listening to their concerns.  

When it came to questions of justice, I found it easy, due to my training, to dismiss people whose tone had any sense of anger. It took years of unlearning and gaining a realistic understanding of Jesus’ own anger before I could see how anger can fuel an appropriate Christian response.  The apostle Paul certainly teaches and models this very approach.  

Although each chapter in Edwards’ book is worthwhile, the chapter on the power of worship is especially valuable. Edwards articulates a needed correction to the goal and purpose of worship.  He proclaims that worship is a way of life, not an event.  Based on Romans 12, Edwards declares, “Worship is about following Jesus in order to understand and practice love for God and love for other people” (p. 133).  It is only when we see worship as a way of life, and not an event, that we begin to allow the Gospel to penetrate our entire being.  

Might from the Margins is an invitation to discipleship. With a strong biblical foundation and a breadth of personal wisdom, Dr. Edwards shares his pastoral heart for all people to more closely follow Jesus Christ. With rich historical context and examples from lesser-known writers, this book exposed this limited white man to many more things than just my poor leaping ability … all while extending an invitation to a fuller, more hopeful future. For this, I am incredibly grateful.   

Editor’s Note: There is a study guide, published by Herald Press, that accompanies Might from the Margins, available for free. 

Profile: Mennonite Central Committee

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Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a worldwide ministry of Anabaptist churches, shares God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice. MCC envisions worldwide communities in right relationship with God, one another, and creation.

Staff and volunteers of Heart2Heart in southern Florida sort MCC humanitarian aid supplies for distribution to older adults.
(Heart2Heart photo/Stefany Gallo)

Our work is built on the foundational support of the church. Over the decades and still today, MCC gathers people across differences to work together to share God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ. Some have been MCC volunteers internationally, some have been active in MCC relief sales, some have volunteered at MCC Material Resources Centers and MCC Thrift shops, some have made financial gifts to MCC’s work.

As we read in 1 Corinthians 12:4, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.” That variety of gifts in the church has been blessing communities around the world in the name of Christ through MCC’s ministries for more than 100 years. And those gifts have life breathed into them by God’s Spirit—the one Spirit which binds all of God’s children together.

Whether in Miami or India, the desire of God’s heart is that all may experience the abundant life which Jesus claimed as his reason for coming—so that all of God’s children may live lives of dignity in thriving communities.

MCC’s partner Institute of Social Action and Research Activities (ISARA) installed a spring water harvest system in communities in Odisha state in 2014. (ISARA photo/Jajati Pandit)

Thank you for following God’s call on your life to bless a hurting world in partnership with MCC. Thank you for being part of MCC’s century-old story and part of the MCC family.

Prayer Requests

  • Pray for MCC representatives Derrick and Rebekah Good Charles and local church partners in Honduras and Nicaragua who continue to offer support after two devastating hurricanes in November 2020.
  • Give thanks for MCC supporters who have demonstrated amazing creativity, tenacity, and passion in finding ways to continue to bless the world in partnership with MCC. 
  • Pray for God’s wisdom as MCC discerns the most appropriate ways forward in MCC spaces where people gather during the time of COVID-19, including Material Resources Centers, Thrift shops and relief sales.
  • Give thanks for MCC’s Peace Clubs, started by Issa Ebombolo in 2006. The model has expanded to curriculum implemented in churches, schools, prisons and refugee camps on three continents.
  • Please pray for MCC peacebuilding work in the U.S., Canada, and internationally, which includes facilitating interfaith dialogue and relationship-building across cultural, racial, and ethnic divides.

Healthy Niños of Honduras Shares Food and Mattresses with Victims of Storms of Dread ETA and IOTA

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This article is translated to English by Andrés Castillo. Original article appears in Mosaic News En Español: Healthy Niños de Honduras Comparte su Comida y Colchones a Afectados Por Las Tormentas de Espanto ETA y IOTA por Javier Marquez

A few months ago I spoke with Herman Sagastume of the project Healthy Niños (“Healthy Children”). Along with getting to know about Healthy Niños, we discussed the Shalom Fund created by Mosaic Conference to deal with money shortages in communities in Honduras with which it works, in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Photo from the official Healthy Niños Facebook Page

A Small Sprout of Light

This time I spoke with him to ask about a similar topic: the situation of these communities after Honduras received two hurricanes, ETA and IOTA, in November. The outlook is not always uplifting; but in the gloom, it has always been possible to see a small sprout of light. 

Storm of Dread

Chaos is inexplicable. First it was ETA, which, coming from the south, reached Honduras with less fury than when it passed through neighboring countries. Either way, it produced losses and grave complications like floods and minor landslides. After the never-ending rain, during the days where people had time to readjust and repair the damages, IOTA arrived as a storm of dread. It painted the landscapes with images of plains where there used to be houses, lakes where there used to be fields of crops, lines of people seeking refuge, roofs of houses floating like canoes, paths crossed by fallen tree trunks, and trees crushed by the weight of the rain or destroyed by the strong winds.

With IOTA, it is estimated that the injury count surpasses 2 million

The northern part of Honduras was the most affected, and what makes this situation worse is that the country depends on the productivity of this area for between some 60-65% of its economy. A few months ago, we narrated the difficulties which, in these countries, took the form of a sanitary crisis during the pandemic due to their shortcomings in the health system and of the distribution of money. In the same way today, complications for this hurricane arise due to the unstable infrastructure that the country possesses. 

Herman explained all of this for the knowledge of all the churches of Mosaic Conference. He has lived many years in the state of Virginia, is Honduran, and his work with Healthy Niños is objectively focused on his country of origin. He tells us that he has never before seen so much destruction in Honduras, including when hurricane Mitch passed through the country in 1998. With IOTA, it is estimated that the number of affected persons surpasses 2 million. 

The poor are the most affected

In Arepo, an area where Healthy Niños does its work with basic education and malnutrition, given that people who live there are too poor and have seen themselves forced to construct their houses in places with high risk, the danger reaches critical levels for the project.

Who Will Be A Witness: Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love and Deliverance

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Two exciting new events are coming from the Mosaic Intercultural Team!

Mosaic Conference Webinar Interview with author, Dr. Drew Hart

Thursday January 28th at 3 PM EST / 12 PM PST

Dr. Drew Hart’s newest book project is entitled Who Will Be a Witness?: Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love, and Deliverance and was published September 1, 2020.

Who Will Be a Witness? offers a vision for communities of faith to organize for deliverance and justice in their neighborhoods, states, and nation as an essential part of living out the call of Jesus.  How can Mosaic Conference churches and leaders act and answer the call?

Join us as we talk with Dr. Drew Hart about this important topic and find ways each of us can live out the call of Jesus. 

Dr. Hart was the recipient of bcmPEACE’s 2017 Peacemaker Award and was honored locally with the 2019 W.E.B. Du Bois Award in recognition of his commitment and work for justice locally and nationally. He was chosen as Elizabethtown College’s 2019 Peace Fellow. Dr. Hart and his family live in Harrisburg, PA and attend Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren.

Book Study Groups (via Zoom) for Mosaic Pastors & Leaders

Develop a vision for your community of faith to live as witnesses and agents of God’s deliverance and justice as an essential part of living out the call of Jesus.

Pastors and leaders are invited to register and join the conference intercultural team (Hendy, Marta, Danilo, and Jaye) for a book study group.  Groups will read and discuss the book, Who Will be a Witness?, by Dr. Drew Hart, over five monthly sessions using the study guide by Terrance Hawkins.  

Two options, both staring Thursday, February 18: 

  • 3rd Thursday evening of the month, 7 pm EST/4 pm PST 
  • 3rd Thursday morning of the month, 11 am EST/8 am PST

Gems and Birds and Good News

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Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches”

Matthew 13:31-32, NIV

The ancient rabbis used to say that Scripture is like a gem with 70 faces – every time you turn it, the light refracts differently, and you see something you’d missed before. Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed has always been a personal favorite, a challenging and inspiring story about how we think about size and power in God’s Kingdom.  Recently, however, God’s Light has revealed a new element to the story that I’d missed until now.  

For years when I read this story, I always understood the last line about birds perching in the branches of the mustard tree to be another indication of size: a seed that started so small eventually grows to the point that even a bird can perch in its branches.  

It turns out there’s something more going on here.  At the time, there was a common saying among the Hebrew people: “When God rules the world, it will be like eagles perching in the branches of cedar trees.” That’s how people thought about the reign of God: the biggest, most powerful trees imaginable with the most powerful and majestic of all birds, eagles.  

Photo by nanka-photo at depositphotos.com

When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, though, he challenges that perception.  He takes a well-known image and offers an alternative picture: the Kingdom of God isn’t like huge cedars with eagles; it’s like a mustard plant with birds.    

And the word he uses for “birds” is a very specific word.   It’s the Greek word peteinon, which doesn’t just mean “birds” – it means “wild birds.”  These are not the mighty eagles that dwell in huge trees.  There’s a different word for that.  Instead, the word Jesus uses describes the wild, often dirty, detestable birds that people tried to get rid of.  These are the kinds of birds that ate animal carcasses and that farmers erected scarecrows to keep away.  They were unwanted, undesirable animals.  

And yet when Jesus describes the Kingdom of God, he says that even the unwanted and undesirable will find a home … 

… even those animals, and those people, who don’t feel worthy – they’ll have a place in the Kingdom of God.  

… even those people who have been told all the many reasons why they don’t measure up – they’ll have a place in the Kingdom of God.  

… even those people who have been through experiences that make them feel broken and beat up and like damaged goods – they’ll have a place in the Kingdom of God.         

In other words, Jesus makes clear that God’s Kingdom, God’s mercy, God’s grace is for everyone, including and especially for those on the margins, those on the outside, those who wonder whether their lives really matter.  

If you’re reading this post and find yourself wondering whether God could really love someone like you, forgive someone like you, and welcome someone like you – the answer is a resounding YES!  The Kingdom of God is for everyone, no exceptions.  No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve been through, the Good News at the heart of our faith is that God’s welcome is for all people.  

May our churches be places where this Good News is both known and proclaimed.      

Conference Related Ministries (CRM) Profile: Quakertown Christian School

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Quakertown (PA) Christian School (QCS) was established in 1951 to provide students in grades K-12 with a quality academic education integrated with a Christian view of God and the world. The ongoing mission of QCS is to equip students to be leaders through an exceptional education within a culture emphasizing Christ-like love, peacemaking, and service. 

Quakertown Christian School serves students in grades K-12. Photo provided by Quakertown Christian School.

We believe each child is created in the image of God, gifted with unique talents and abilities; we offer them a safe place to explore those gifts. By helping them understand their value in Jesus Christ, we encourage them to use their gifts and abilities to uniquely further God’s Kingdom work, both here and around the world. 

QCS is dually-accredited by Mennonite Education Agency and AdvanceEd. These accreditations demonstrate our commitment to quality education, our communication, and our QCS community.

Besides the very important work of educating our students to be prepared for their futures, we also recognize that some of these students, and their families, may not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We realize that we are a school, but also a mission field, where the gospel is taught and modeled on a daily basis. We are excited to see God moving and doing wonderful things through our staff and faculty as they interact with the students and their families each day! 

Children at Quakertown Christian School, a CRM. Photo provided by Quakertown Christian School.

Because it is our intention that any family who values Christian education should not be excluded from our school due to financial limitations, we have been able to provide 70% of our families with over $400,000 in need-based tuition for the 2020-21 school year. These monies come from our Tuition Assistance Program, which receives funding from generous individual donors, businesses, families, and our own fundraising efforts. We welcome anyone who feels led to contribute to this fund to contact our office at (215) 536-6970.

Prayer requests for Quakertown Christian School:

Needs:

  • The continued health & safety of our students, families, staff, & faculty
  • The upcoming science fair and the virtual component that will be implemented
  • Our Board of Directors and Leadership Team as they make decisions regarding the 21-22 school year

Praises:

  • Our teachers and staff were able to add COVID protocols into an already busy work schedule
  • The new families God has led to join us this year