Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Articles

How Shall We Gather?

by

by Sue Conrad Howes, West Swamp congregation

Lynne Rush (center), music director at West Swamp Mennonite (Quakertown, PA), leads music during the June 14 drive-in service in the church’s parking lot. Pastor Michael Howes (left) and sound tech Tim Scheetz (right) stand with masks on, at least six feet away. 

In March 2020, many churches were struggling with the need to close their doors for Sunday worship due to COVID-19. Now, three months later, some churches are struggling again: When and how do we begin to gather for corporate worship while still caring for the physical health of our congregation?  Churches throughout the conference are trying a variety of approaches. 

Some, typically smaller, congregations have begun worshiping in their church buildings while taking precautions. Wellspring Church of Skippack (PA) is gathering in person, but with written instructions to participants encouraging physical distancing and other guidelines. Offering is collected in plates at the exits, bulletin announcements are sent via email so there are no handouts, and hand sanitizer and masks are available to all. Persons who use the restrooms are asked to wipe down the surfaces after each use.  

Mennonite Bible Fellowship (Morris, PA), has been meeting together since May 17. Congregants sit in every other pew, wear masks, and don’t shake hands. Pastor John Brodnicki commented that the “most inconvenient part of this arrangement is singing. It’s difficult to sing with a mask on.” They continue to monitor the number of COVID-19 cases in the area (their county has had relatively few). “If COVID cases were to spike, we may reconsider meeting together until the spike subsides,” Brodnicki added. 

Since June 7, Franconia (Telford, PA) congregation has been gathering in its parking lot for worship. Using an outdoor sound system,  FM transmitter, and a large LED screen to display the worship leader, musicians, and preacher (who are inside the church sanctuary), congregants sit in socially-distanced lawn chairs or in their cars.  “The outdoor service,” according to Pastor Mark Wenger, “has been a great experience.  This is the first step of gathering in person.” 

Franconia has also utilized the rental of the LED screen to show family-friendly movies on the weekend, including many movie attendees who were not from the congregation. As a result, the church plans to continue offering movies periodically in the future as an opportunity for outreach. 

Congregants attend drive-in church at West Swamp (Quakertown, PA) via their vehicles. The worship service was available on car stereos via an FM transmitter. 

Pastor Beny Krisbianto shared how his congregation, Nations Worship (Philadelphia, PA), held worship in the park on June 14. When 40 people showed up for worship, church leaders decided to divide the group into two, as area restrictions limited gatherings to 25 people. Congregants wore masks and practiced social distancing while older members were encouraged to stay at home and participate virtually. 

Some congregations are holding two services to limit the numbers in attendance. Perkiomenville (PA) congregation set up chairs in the worship space for appropriate distancing. They implemented a limit of 80 people per service and masks are expected for all who attend. 

Meanwhile, Methacton congregation (Norristown, PA) has decided to wait until their county goes “green” before even considering meeting in person in any form. According to Pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman, “We don’t have a plan yet for how to re-open since so much changes all the time.” Meanwhile, Methacton’s worship services are emailed to the congregation on Saturday afternoons, inviting people to worship on their own time. For Methacton, the question now is, “How much do we need to gather?” says Drescher-Lehman. “We’re still the church,” she reflects. “Sunday mornings are a great celebration that everyone will be happy to have again when the time is right, but I don’t think anyone is drying up spiritually.”

Jesus Love and Sourdough

by

by Dawn Moore, Souderton congregation

Dawn Moore, Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church board chair, with a loaf of imperfect, but tasty, sourdough bread and a blob of bubbly starter.
Photo provided by Dawn Moore

There’s been a shortage of yeast across the USA during this pandemic. Like some people hoarded toilet paper, bakers bought up this key ingredient. Without yeast on hand, I called my friend, Tyler Kratz, to ask for a bit of his sourdough starter.  Tyler gladly handed over the blob, but was quite cryptic about what I should do.  “Feed it” in a few hours, he said, and then asked if I owned a kitchen scale. Huh?

The naturally-occuring yeast in sourdough starter eats ordinary flour like nobody’s business, yielding exponential growth that demands immediate baking.  It’s as ravenous as it is limitless.  Tyler gave me that first blob eight weeks ago. I have yet to master the art of sourdough baking, but have done well enough.  I’ve also given away bits of starter, with the same cryptic questions: Do you have a kitchen scale? Do you understand how to feed this blob?

Life as a whole felt quite cryptic when Montgomery County, PA abruptly went under stay-at-home orders on March 13. We at Souderton Mennonite Church had no idea what was ahead. Two things seemed certain: the crisis was just beginning and needs in our community could grow exponentially. Our response must be effective and sustainable for the long haul. We needed to learn how to “feed” our community of needs with little preparation or expertise.

A brainstorming group was formed under the direction of Pastor Jenifer Eriksen-Morales. Any idea for extending “Jesus Love” was fair game.  Immediately, some purchased and delivered food to families in need. We also donated funds and assisted in packing food for families with our friends at Emmanuel Lutheran and Zion Mennonite.  Meanwhile a thoughtful church member organized online tutoring to help frazzled parents who were now educating children at home. 

A “Little Free Pantry” was born under our carport, allowing neighbors to anonymously “give what you can and take what you need.” This place of Jesus Love is used daily, often hourly, as neighbors tangibly care for one another.  One recipient recently shared, “I prayed on my way here that I would find baby supplies. I’m so glad they are stocked as I didn’t know what I would do. Thank you!”  

The Little Free Pantry is a self-sustaining initiative located under the carport at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. Photo credit: Dawn Moore

As I learned how to care for and share my sourdough starter, our congregation also shared their ingredients of love, compassion, desire, and care with our broader community. We have been amazed at the way our starters have multiplied, creating more than we ever imagined. 

We also saw a need in caring for frontline workers, such as the ER doctor who has lived in a hotel to protect his family from COVID-19,  the hospice nurse who lovingly accompanies patients in their final holy moments without beloved family members, or the high school student who delivers food trays to residents in a local care facility, offering a kind word to these isolated seniors. How might we show appreciation for their sacrifices? The idea we settled on, Pay-it-Forward Frontline, has the added advantage of supporting our local economy. 

A loaf of finished sourdough bread from the novice baker. Photo credit: Dawn moore

Pay-It-Forward Frontline invites you to donate funds in any amount to local restaurants to be used as “thank you meals” for frontline workers. SMC has seeded four Souderton/Telford area establishments, with the hope that others will join locally and in other communities. 

I’ve learned to keep my sourdough in the fridge for longer stretches, bringing it to life only when time allows.  What would happen if we allowed the sourdough of Jesus Love to grow unhindered, sharing it lavishly, and growing it exponentially in our communities and beyond?

Click here to read more about the Pay it Forward frontline campaign.

A Village Boy was Chosen

by

by Pastor Joshua Daichor So, San Francisco (CA) Chinese Mennonite Church

I am very thankful to have the opportunity to write my call to ministry story again after 55 years.  It sounds like I should already be retired by now but God still gives me the grace to be part of His story.  I also appreciate the Conference giving me this chance to share.  It was 1965 when I was first asked to write my call to ministry story as part of my entry application to study at The Hong Kong Alliance Bible Seminary.  How can I not be thankful?

I was born in a remote village in Mainland China and was raised in an idol worshiping family.  As the Bible said, “God knits me together in my mother’s womb and I am chosen!”  God had a plan for me!

Our family moved to Hong Kong when I was around 11 years old.  We lived very close to a church and with my curiosity, I stopped in and attended their Sunday school class with my neighbors’ kids for the first time.  From that time on, I became a regular Sunday school attender.  Listening to the Bible stories was always the highlight of each Sunday.  But most of all, receiving awards from the teachers was powerfully motivating to me. 

I accepted Jesus during Sunday school one week and gradually joined a small group.  With my diligent and optimistic character, I was selected to be on the staff of the small group and also serve as a Sunday school teacher.  I was amazed to find blessings and joy from serving the Lord in those roles. Besides attending the small group and Sunday school, I also attended the worship service regularly. The senior pastor, the minister, Sunday school teachers, and brothers and sisters were very proud of me and set me as a role model to other worshippers.  I was also blessed with ample opportunities to serve the Lord at church.

As I remember, I was asked to be the moderator of the Sunday worship when I was only a middle schooler.  I accepted that offer without hesitation.  I strongly believed that serving the Lord is what is pleasing to the Lord and a blessing! I was also in charge of a Sunday evening outreach.

My youth group leader encouraged me to pursue seminary after high school in my last year of middle school.  Even though I was quiet at that time, the Holy Spirit already began to mold me.  Our senior pastor couldn’t be at church regularly and our minister left to further his studies in the US. This left no one in charge of the church.  In my heart, I sensed the urge from the Holy Spirit.  

One day at a school worship service, the preacher invited the audience to accept Jesus’s invitation by using Isaiah 6:8, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?”  I replied, “Here am I, send me!”  After I finished my high school in 1966, I attended Hong Kong Alliance Bible Seminary and graduated in 1970.  This year marks 50 years since I first graduated. 

God called me from Hong Kong to Los Angeles in 1975 and a year later to San Francisco. There I completed a BA in Sociology, an M.Div (Sociology major) at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary, and finished a D. Min (Cross Cultural Study major) at San Francisco Theological Seminary, with God’s grace. I will continue to serve the Chinese in the San Francisco area with my wife (Anita) and daughter (Sharon).  Praise the Lord!

A Call to Lament, Repentance, and Action

by

We are the newly named “Mosaic” and find ourselves immediately facing a challenge to this new picture of “us” together.  Can the pieces of the “mosaic” lament, repent, intercede, and act together in a way that reflects the whole body of Christ?

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:24-26)

We must remember the radical Anabaptist history and origin that we claim as Mennonites. This legacy is grounded in a costly and visible resistance to both the State and Church of that day, who sought to maintain the rule of “law and order” through domination. Anabaptists were ready to resist to the point of death so that the law of love and the way of Jesus would be amplified and accessible to all people.

To those within our conference who identify as Black, African American, Afro-Latinx,  Caribbean American, of African descent or part of the African Diaspora. First, we want to emphatically affirm that your lives matter and that you are made in the image of the Divine. Your pain is our pain, we will mourn when you mourn and laugh when you laugh. You are not alone and we commit to stand by and with you—following your lead and taking responsibility for our part in dismantling the evil forces of racism, white supremacy, and anti-blackness that seek to harm and hurt you.

To those who are People of the Global Majority, with an identity other than Black. We also see your pain and struggle to not to be crushed by the systems of white supremacy. It is critical to find new ways not to segregate nor assimilate with the white dominant culture. Our goal is mutual transformation, but in order to get to that, the evil spirit that is at work must be identified. Siding with the dominant culture without awareness will not only make People of the Global Majority lose their identity but also part of the problem. Also—it is crucial to find ways to be in solidarity with Black people, sharing in the struggle, knowing that any beliefs that say that Black Lives don’t matter also applies to other minoritized groups. Because when Black lives matter, all lives will matter.

To those who are white within our conference. Choose to commit to your own work of repentance by educating yourselves about our shared, complex, and painful history of race in this nation, which has resulted in the inequities, injustice, and disparities of today.  Examine yourself in the light of Scripture and the Spirit of truth, written and spoken work of people of color, and the numerous resources that are available on the topics of equity and social justice. Have ears to ear and a heart to understand and move to lament and repentance for the ways whiteness and white supremacy have lived in our hearts and in our churches.  Act for racial justice.

Below is a list of resources we have compiled to support you in this critical time of resistance in our shared history as Anabaptists in the U.S. Please know that the Mosaic Intercultural Team is available for continued support and as a resource as well. 

Resources:

 

Recursos para hablar sobre Racismo

 

From Mennonite Church USA

Articles

Podcasts and Videos

Irresistible Podcast, a podcast with interviews, practices and resources for healing justice work.

White Women’s Toxic Tears – Lisa Sharon Harper conversation with Jen Hatmaker.

https://www.facebook.com/lisasharonharper.page/videos/252787745783037/

13th,  is a 2016 American documentary by director Ava DuVernay. The film explores the “intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States;” it is titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1865, which abolished slavery throughout the United States and ended involuntary servitude except as a punishment for conviction of a crime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8

Just Mercy– a movie about the work of Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative (free movie rent on YouTube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7MxXxFu6fI

Additional list of Intercultural Resources from http://mosaicmennonites.org/intercultural/

 

The Work of Mourning and Speaking

by

by Steve Kriss, Executive Minister

“Blessed are those who mourn …
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice.”
—Jesus, Sermon on the Mount

“We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
—Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

I was horrified watching the video of the arrest and killing of George Floyd from Minneapolis last week.

I mourn the loss of Mr. Floyd’s life. I lament that his death is part of the 400-year legacy of violence against Black people and African Americans in the United States. I cannot simply look away from the history or the current reality. I extend my sympathies to the family and community that knew and loved him.

Over the last week, I have reflected on the story of when Jesus turned over the tables at the temple. Jesus was also angry about injustices that denied the image of God imprinted on all people. I want to seek justice and move toward holy anger like Jesus. In today’s context, this means moving toward understanding the anger of others who carry the fear and consequences of generations of white supremacy and racial injustice. This means moving toward seeking racial justice that allows the full flourishing of all people and all places as God intends.

I acknowledge the pain, frustration and fear of my friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors who are Black and African American. My silence betrays my friendships, my commitments, and my understanding of God’s call in my own life and within my role as Executive Minister in our Conference. Silence becomes complicity in systemic violence against Black and Brown people. As a white male Christian, I want to continue to find ways to name and dismantle white supremacy in all the ways that it manifests both personally and corporately. I have to do my own work of addressing power, privilege, and responsibility. This means learning to share power, to openly share resources, and to actively resist narratives that seek to dehumanize or devalue the lives of Black and Brown people.

I feel particularly raw these days as my own city of Philadelphia has erupted in protest and disruption. I am currently writing while we are under curfew. I hear and feel the weighty concern and frustration of colleagues.

I am committed to our work together of intercultural transformation and racial justice. Part of that work means sharing the struggle of Black and African American members, neighbors, colleagues, family, and friends. This means bearing witness to anger, fear, and frustration. Mutual transformation can be long and uncomfortable work but it can also be hopeful and joy-filled. This means to be changed in relationships and through what I am learning about us as a mosaic of people with different backgrounds and experiences—Black, Brown, White, Asian, Latinx and even more specifically as African, Indonesian, Slavic, Colombian, Vietnamese, Mexican, Germanic, Indian, Jamaican, Haitian, and Chinese.

I am committed to continuing to lead us in ongoing repentance, mutual transformation, and dismantling the framework of white supremacy. I am committed to acting in ways that exhibit and proclaim that Black lives matter. We cannot embrace silent complicity while embracing our new Mosaic Conference identity. God is calling us into something new that means leaving some things behind, including our history as the Quiet in the Land.

One of our legacies as Mennonites in Philadelphia was to be part of the first public protest from white folks against slavery in this hemisphere. I want to lead in ways that help us recover the well of spiritual depth that empowered our Mennonite forebearers to speak out against injustice and inhumanity. Those of us who are white Mennonites have lost some of that spiritual fire and capacity in our relative comfort. Jesus did not hesitate to speak truth and to bear witness to both religious and civil authorities. Neither can we.

In our newness as Mosaic Conference, in the midst of social upheaval, in the midst of a pandemic, I still believe that the Spirit is upon us with power to be witnesses. These days, that witness includes underscoring the value of Black lives. It means crying not only for peace but also for justice. It means mourning together and seeking justice together knowing that Jesus promises we will both be comforted and satisfied.

The work lies ahead of us, within us, all around us.  And I know for sure that God is in it with us.

A New Name on Pentecost Comes with Power and Possibilities

by

Eastern District & Franconia Conference has become Mosaic Mennonite Conference, a change that was announced during a conference-wide virtual worship service on Pentecost Sunday.

“As the reconciled Eastern District & Franconia Conference, we are excited about the future that God is calling us into,” conference moderator Ken Burkholder (Deep Run East congregation, Perkasie, PA) said in the announcement video on May 31. “We believe it is appropriate to mark this transition in our collective history with a new name.”

This new name, Mosaic Mennonite Conference, was affirmed by the conference board in February 2020 after a year-long process that included two rounds of focus groups over four months.  The Naming Task Force received suggestions of nearly fifty names; “Mosaic” was a clear favorite in the focus group testing, popular across the conference’s cultures and geographies, and translates well into the conference’s other five worshiping languages: 匯聚愛門諾區會 (Chinese), Konfwanz Menonit Mozayik (Haitian Creole), Mosaic Konferensi Mennonite (Indonesian), Conferencia Menonita Mosaico (Spanish), and Giáo hội Mennonite Đa chủng tộc (Vietnamese).

This creation of something new out of many parts was central to the choice of the new name.  “We’re different people—we’re allowed to experience Jesus in different ways,” reflected Danilo Sanchez, Conference Youth Formation Pastor.  “Each piece in this new mosaic that we’re forming has the ability to shine and be bright and to feel like they have value and worth.”

The name “Mosaic” also captures the “celebration of lots of things coming together in explosive and creative ways,” observed conference board member Yvonne Platts (Nueva Vida Norristown [PA] New Life congregation).  “I go back to an African proverb that we’ve been using lately that ‘I am because we are.’”

Mosaic Mennonite Conference was formed by the reconciliation of Eastern District Conference and Franconia Conference in 2019 and the transfer of congregations in California and Florida from Pacific Southwest and Southeast Conferences in 2017 and 2020.  The new conference is now one of the largest and most diverse in Mennonite Church USA.

Pentecost was chosen as the day for stepping into a new name and a new identity because it’s about transformation, Executive Minister Steve Kriss said in his Pentecost message.  “The times when names of people are changed in the biblical story represent a turn.  We are turning in the midst of a crisis,” he said, referring to the COVID-19 quarantine, the economic downturn, and the waves of #BlackLives Matter protests around the country.  “We did not plan this time.  This is God’s time for us to gain a new name.  To receive power.  To recognize our gifts.”

Steve Kriss brought a live message via Zoom during the Pentecost worship service.

Part of the transformation the new conference was experiencing, Kriss acknowledged, was to move away from an identity of “The Quiet in the Land.” To be true to the conference’s missional, intercultural, and formational commitments, Mosaic Mennonites will be a people who speak boldly and express the justice of God. “It’s a vulnerable time,” he said.  But “the Spirit has given each of us unique gifts that are held together ‘for the common good’ [1 Corinthians 12:7, NIV].  We recognize that it is time, also, to raise our voice.”

The fire of the Spirit is “not only upon us, not only around us, but deeply inside of us, individually and together,” Kriss reflected.  “May our new name, on these most strange days of Pentecost, shape new possibilities: for us, for our neighbors, and for the whole world.”

Watch the video announcement or the Pentecost Worship service.  Learn more about Mosaic Mennonite Conference at MosaicMennonites.org.

Bicycles, Fishing, and Bacon – But Mostly Bikes

by

by Scott Roth, Leadership Minister

Many of you know I have a passion for bicycles, fishing, and bacon.  These have always been little hobbies of mine and throughout them I have put Jesus at the center.  I know it sounds silly to say bacon and Jesus, but there has been fruitful ministry with bacon over the years.

There is an old phrase that I love, “When life gives you lemons…make bacon.”  Well it seems this phrase has been rewritten during this season of COVID-19 to be, “When life hands you a pandemic…go ride a bicycle!”

There is a bicycle revolution happening right now in the United States.  Bicycle shop sales are up 71% and inventory of new bicycles is scarce.  People are out riding bikes in record numbers!  We have not seen this transportation trend in our culture since the car revolution.

Bicycling ministry has been a passion of mine over the past five years.  As the director of Bike & Sol and a pastor, I have been afforded so many opportunities to enter into people’s lives in deep meaningful ways.  Bicycles can make someone very approachable when riding around. When someone rides a bike, they may be enjoying the natural high that happens when endorphins run through our body, letting us know we are having a good time.

Why do I promote bicycles so much? The answer: Church. If you want a really, really, really easy way to be missional and get to know people in your neighborhood, go ride a bike.  Ride around and say hi to your neighbors.  Find others that want to ride and go connect.  Riding is such a safe and easy way to social distance and get around.

You can ride on trails, roads, or wherever makes sense to ride.  This is a really low hanging fruit way of doing relational ministries.  It’s really simple.  You pedal and talk about your life and ask questions about the people’s lives around you.  How was your week? What was work like? How’s the family?  Listen and engage.  Bicycles create such a neutral ground for us to interact.

What about discipleship ministry?  Just as you can reach out missionally, you can also reach those who are within your own faith community.  Pray for someone that God may be calling you to mentor and disciple and ask them to go for a ride.  Just ride and talk and enjoy the nature around you.  Maybe a peer of yours needs some time with you, or maybe there is someone in your congregation who needs an invitation to ride.

There are so many opportunities that are available right NOW for being Christ-like in a healthy, positive way with a bicycle. But what happens after the pandemic?  We hope that we can keep this momentum going and keep on pedaling with our neighbors and folks in our communities at large.

However you choose to use them, bicycles are an opportunity.  With our bicycles, there are simple ways that we as the church can be relevant and relational in our neighborhoods and our faith communities.  If you have questions or thoughts or want ideas on riding ministries, please contact me directly at scott@bikeandsol.com

Considerations for Community Gathering During a Pandemic

by

Many churches are turning to the question of re-gathering in person for worship. How does re-opening, re-gathering, or refraining from gathering express our love of God?

by Steve Kriss, Executive Minister

Two months ago, I wrote an article about why we might postpone, cancel, or shift to online meetings. Now, many of us are approaching months of physical distancing and social/spiritual solidarity.  For most, the time has felt long. We have been challenged in ways we couldn’t have predicted.

Many of us are turning to the question of re-gathering in person.  Throughout this time as a Conference, we have emphasized the “Jesus Creed” of love of God and neighbor.   As we consider possibilities, I suggest several postures while keeping these questions at the center of our discernment:

  • How does our re-opening, re-gathering, or refraining from gathering express our love of God?
  • In our in-person or dispersed acts of community, how do we embody and extend our love for our neighbors?

Posture 1: Consider the vulnerable.

Paul reminds us that, as one body, we honor those who are vulnerable with a heightened sense of care.  Does our gathering together increase our risk?  Yes, inevitably it does.  But how can we release more vulnerable persons from responsibilities in ways that also honor their desire to be in community?

Ripple Community Inc, in Allentown, PA, did this well by introducing new precautions and by shifting staff members who are over the age of 60, to more behind-the-scenes roles. Younger staff remained in forward facing/interactive roles.

Considerations for persons over 65, immuno-compromised, and/or caregivers for vulnerable persons must be in our minds as we think about what it means to gather together again. Jesus promises that he’s present when just two or three of us are together.  How can we create environments that are welcoming, hospitable, and minimize the negatives of risk?

Posture 2: Consider guidance from local public health and government leaders.

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where Conference offices are located, had requested that religious communities not gather in person. I appreciated that this was a request not a mandate. We are reminded in our gathering of our witness as salt and light in our communities. While we understand the laws of the land do not establish our moral compass, we encourage communities to cooperate with local public health directives and government requests regarding in-person gathering. This means keeping up to date and aware of changing contexts and situations in our local communities.

Posture 3: Consider responsibilities over rights.

Sometimes in the United States, our go-to response is to point to the Bill of Rights.  We have the right to assemble and the privilege of religious freedom.  But as Christians, we know that freedom in Christ also comes with significant responsibility. For some of our congregations, this has meant using our meetinghouses to provide food for neighbors or opening our spaces for blood drives. We have the freedom to not be overcome by fear, but we have the responsibility to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.  We live in tension between seeking the common good and individual conscience.  We recognize that others might make different decisions in discernment of how to live our responsibilities as a witness of Christ’s healing and hope in our communities.

Posture 4: Consider new possibilities.

The pandemic has been an interruption in our regular lives and schedules.  It has indeed been stressful.  However it has also opened new possibilities. Some of us have moved to online worship.  Some of us have planted gardens.  Some of our churches report new faces in worship. There have been new opportunities for witness.  How do we not too quickly jump back to “what was” out of familiarity?  How might the Spirit be inviting us to change and respond?

We believe in a God who sustains, redeems, and brings transformation in the midst of struggle. As we consider how to creatively extend Christ’s peace, we have opportunity to bear witness of God’s love and care for one another, both nearby and around the world.