Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Blog

A New Normal, With Thanks

by

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (I Thes. 5:18, ESV)

During this 2020 Thanksgiving week, the Apostle Paul challenges us to, “Give thanks in all circumstances!” I confess that I have not always had a very thankful spirit or attitude this year. In fact, with the pandemic, heightened political tensions, and disagreements within the church as to how we can gather safely, my focus has often been far from thanksgiving. Instead, it has been side-tracked to focus on self-preservation, complaining, and trying desperately to hold on to what I once knew as normal.  Balancing church and faith, and life in general, have felt far from normal this year.

In past years, my ability to give thanks in all circumstances seemed to be easier than it is now. Indeed, my Thanksgiving Day celebration was simple. It was a once-a-year acknowledgment of God’s blessings, blessings that I fully expected to receive from God for me and my family for our faithfulness. 

The day of celebration included family as well as special foods, like oyster filling and pumpkin pie, and always started with a time for everyone around the table to share what they were thankful for. It was beautiful, it was simple, and it was predictable. Playing out the script of the day gave me the feeling that I was blessed. And it felt normal. 

But Thanksgiving is not about me feeling blessed. It is about being thankful to God, in all circumstances. In reflection, the normalcy of my Thanksgiving has always been changing. 

My parents and my sister who were always integral parts of the table celebration have gone home to be with the Lord. My siblings now have their own times of celebration with their families. My children have grown up and are not always able to be present at our gathering. Even those who once contributed the oyster filling and the pumpkin pies are no longer able to be with us. The table and the people around it has always been changing, and that is ok. I have realized that my perfect, scripted Thanksgiving has actually never been normal.

Although it has taken me many years to see this clearly, this realization is even more of a reason to give thanks. I now see that the portrait of the perfect Thanksgiving Day that I have painted in my mind is really a work in progress; it is never finished. 

I also see now that God has always been present and working in my life (and in the world around me) in spite of circumstances and changes, and that is something to really be thankful for. Although family and traditions help make Thanksgiving enjoyable, the importance of understanding that we are nothing and have nothing without God is what is central. Whatever the circumstances, God is with us and should be the center of our thanks.

Due to COVID-19, my family will not be together for Thanksgiving this year.  I know that this is true for many people. We call it a “new normal,” but perhaps it is just normal, like each one of the years before this one. What is the same is that we are all called to give thanks to God. 

Perhaps with this attitude of thankfulness, we will also be able to see and appreciate that thanksgiving is not just a yearly occurrence, but an everyday experience. 

Photo provided by Mike Clemmer

Be Ye Kind One to Another

by

Margaret Zook (second from the right), her siblings, and her mother. Photo provided by Margaret Zook.

From the front seat of the car, my mother would turn to face us.  The commotion from the children in the back seat was too loud for too long. Mother would smile and say, “Be Ye Kind One to Another.”  

From the backseat of our 50’s Chevy, my siblings and I would mutter loud enough for the grown-ups in the front seat to hear, “I’d be kind if (s)he is kind first!” The squabbling from the back seat fell several degrees softer, if only for a few miles. 

What did, “Be kind,” mean to us then? We knew that being kind often entailed sacrifice, putting others’ needs first, and recognizing that we’re all on this road trip together.          

The use of scripture to direct our lives was used frequently in our home. As children, we knew scripture meant what it said. These were timeless biblical teachings that directed our lives then.  And can be so today.   

What does “Be kind” mean today?     

Waiting in line at a roadside truck stop for that first cup of morning coffee seemed unbearable. My lack-of-caffeine headache had long ago set in and we still had miles to go.  Miraculously, a kind person turned, eyes smiling. Sensing my pain, she gestured, “Hey, you can go ahead of me.” With this simple act of kindness, the line at Starbucks, the road ahead, and perhaps life in general, became more bearable.   

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” -Dalai Lama

Maybe the future of humankind isn’t exclusively in the hands of politicians or leaders.  Maybe the future is, most of all, in our hands. We, who recognize ourselves as part of a much larger “us” on this path, all need each other.

“Kindness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women.”  -Pope Francis 

How interesting to put kindness and courage together!  We don’t often pair these words, let alone ponder how they complement each other. Do we have the courage to be kind?  

Together, let’s choose kindness.  

God, please help us speak the language of Kindness to those both near and far. Remind us that kindness isn’t weak, but requires great courage. Being kind to others may be one of the strongest and bravest things we can do each day. Amen.

When Seeking Opportunity Leads to Chaos and Desolation

by

At all times in human history, people have moved to countries where there is work and economic security. Today, many Africans are going to Italy and Spain. Arabs are moving to France and Germany. South Americans and Arabs are fleeing to the United States.

Isaiah 25:1-9  25:8 Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. Photo by Marco Güete.

More than three thousand years ago Elimelech, driven by famine, went with his wife, Naomi, to live in Moab for more than ten years. In Moab, Elimelech and his three sons died, leaving three widowed women full of anguish, doubt, and death. The survivors’ lives were full of desolation and chaos.

Now, in the United States, millions of people are living the same experiences of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law. Many are living the same experiences of Jews in Germany and almost all of Europe under Nazi persecution in the 1940s. Some are living the same experiences of the persecution of blacks by white supremacy in the United States in the sixties.

Migration is a universal right. The freedom to migrate appears as a right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This international document was adopted in 1948. It contains descriptions of fundamental individual rights and the most basic freedoms that correspond to all human beings, including the request for asylum in other countries. The right to seek asylum is also an integral part of US law.

Every human being persecuted and threatened in their country has the right to migrate, yet the majority prefer to stay at home. For those who do leave, they are abandoning their roots, family, culture, and their food. They are being expelled and separated from what they love.

Crying Giant, 2002, Tom Otterness,  The Hague, Netherlands photo provided by Marco Güete.

History repeats itself and the powerful persecute the disadvantaged. The invisible, or those who do not have legal documents to stay in this great country, are constantly under threat of major raids by the government, detaining fathers and mothers, separating them from their children and deporting them. Children are terrified of going to school. Parents are terrified to go to work. It is a life of panic, chaos, and desolation. 

Thousands, if not millions, of the invisible ones are members of churches and many are from our Mennonite Church. In the story of Elimelech, Naomi, and Ruth, there was redemption through Boaz, whom God used as God’s instrument. The church today is the instrument of God, and the church is all those who participate in it.

It Tasted Good

by

Last night, I made tuna casserole for dinner.

It’s a dish I associate with my midwestern, working-class upbringing: noodles mixed with canned tuna and cream of mushroom soup, topped with cheddar cheese, and peas on the side but better mixed in.  It was a staple when I was growing up, alongside its simpler cousin—boxed mac and cheese with a can of tuna thrown in for protein and flavor.

We didn’t have many foods that we would consider to be ours, just those we thought were everyone’s: lasagna, tacos, pizza, meat and potatoes.  Those were the days before we were exposed to authentic food from other cultures, when the extent of “ethnic food” in our household was stir-fry in a teriyaki sauce with fried rice.

Last night, I made tuna casserole for dinner and I grieved what whiteness has stolen from me.

When my ancestors immigrated to the United States in the 1700s and 1800s and 1900s, they were “encouraged” to assimilate to “American” culture: to speak English, to change their dress, to adapt their traditions and foods.  By the time I was born in the 1980s, we no longer spoke any German, Swedish, or Gaelic.  We didn’t have any recipes passed down from generation to generation, no holiday traditions, no sweet names for our grandparents or aunts, no homestead to return to.  We were rootless.

Last night, I made tuna casserole for dinner and I found God in my grief.

I can’t be transformed by the cultures that surround me until I expose the harm that whiteness has caused them and me.  I must grieve and peel back the layers of whitewashing that have hidden my identity and blinded me to the culture that my family has built, the culture that makes me who I am.  I must heal.

Last night, I made tuna casserole for dinner … from scratch: with gluten free noodles and homemade cream of mushroom soup, freshly grated cheese, and my own onion and breadcrumb topping.

I remembered the times that money was tight for my parents, for my grandparents, for my great-grandparents. I thought about how they worked the land to produce food and preserved its bounty for their family and friends.

Last night, I made tuna casserole for dinner.  I served it with home-canned green beans and carrots and peaches, lovingly carried up from my basement shelves.

I thought about the stories I would tell my daughters about my growing up years, about my family’s history, both the proud moments and the shameful ones.  I’m going to cook them the rice pudding my grandmother made—hot and sweet and soupy—even though she didn’t like it, because she knew it was our favorite. I’m going to teach them the phrase “I can smell the barn,” put on Mario Lanza’s Christmas album while we open our stockings on Christmas morning, and sing to them while we swing in our backyard.

Together, we’re going to recover identity and rebuild culture, out from the shadows of whiteness.  Together, we’ll relearn who we are, reclaim our own uniqueness, and reject the tendency of whiteness to define “normal.”  And we will meet God there.

Last night, I made tuna casserole for dinner and it tasted good.

Engaging Our Workplace with Our Love for Jesus

by

by Scott Roth, Leadership Minister

There is a gap that happens with people as we transition from our Sunday to our Monday.  Recently I read Discipleship with Monday in Mind, by Skye Jethani and Luke Bobo, which explores faith and vocation and how to make them more of a focus in church ministries.

This topic has stirred me as a pastor and organizational leader. How do we create environments that help us to engage our workplace and our love for Jesus?  

The woman at the well (John 4) is a reminder of Jesus showing up in daily living. We also see this with the calling of the disciples as they are fishing (Matthew 4:18-22). Time and time again we see Jesus engaging people where they are.  

In their book, Jethani and Bobo explain how early church clergy would be on the church property on Sunday. Then, during the week, clergy would head out to the countryside and the villages to engage their people where they lived and worked. Wow!  Now, many churches expect the pastor to be at the church during the week, in the office, being on call and in a waiting posture. What if pastors were out of the church building and engaging the workplace?

Recently I have started this process. I invited Laurie to come to my workplace, not the church office, but to Bike and Sol, the non-profit bicycle shop where I serve as director.  We sat in the shop area as I fixed a bike.  We engaged on a variety of topics involving her life and Jesus.  People would stroll in and out and we would interact with them as well.  It was such an uplifting time.  We got to be the church to a few folks and the Kingdom was present.

Later I visited Scott, one of the owners of Bolton’s Farms, at his workplace. Not only did I get to see Scott in a different environment, but I was able to fly his drone and tour the farm. Through questions and observations, I began to understand what they did and how it operated.  I learned that at Thanksgiving, they provide meals to 5000 feasts!  This was a reality check that one of our church families was affecting 5000 homes every Thanksgiving. What does that mean for me as a pastor?  As a church?  As the Kingdom of God? 

In the book, Discipleship with Monday in Mind, we are reminded that in Genesis humans were built to work and relate. God needed to rest after creating the world. Work is not a curse. It is a part of us to live.

I want to encourage you to engage your faith with your work.  No matter what stage of life we are in, can we engage Jesus where we are?  I am not talking about making a sign for your desk or wearing the latest t-shirt to work. Instead, can we find ways for the relationships that we have in our church to also be those that happen during the week? Are we able to invite our church family to engage our work family?  Do they need to be separate?  

May you find ways this week to see Jesus in your day to day.  May you see God moving throughout your work and vocation.

Finding Church in our Community

by

by Jennifer Svetlik, Salford Congregation

“I love working with churches and helping them to reach the unique potential of who they are,” explains Leadership Minister Scott Roth. “Some churches wish they were more like they used to be, but I encourage them to take time to pray and ask, ‘Where is God calling us now?’”

As a young adult, Scott didn’t intend to become a pastor or conference leader. He graduated from Messiah College with a degree in business information systems and then worked in technology-related jobs. In 2002, some difficult life changes shifted Scott’s life’s direction. “In those challenging times, church felt more like an institution than a mission. It helped me to see how we could do church better,” Scott reflects.

He began attending New Eden Fellowship (Schwenksville. PA)  and eventually began to pastor there. A few years later, after a devastating suicide by a local student, Scott felt moved to do something. “This kid had been in church. Why had this happened?” Scott recalls. “We as a church need to see our community as our church and stop creating walls.”

In 2012, Scott helped to open a community center in partnership with the school district. The center offered after-school programs and community development work. When the town built a bigger community center, Scott helped open Bike and Sol in East Greenville, PA which teaches kids how to fix bicycles and provides a welcoming space for kids who are facing challenges at school or with the law. “Fixing and riding bikes is a freeing way to explore who you are, how you’re made, what God can do with you,” shares Scott.

Scott currently serves as the interim pastor at Line Lexington congregation (PA) and is a Young Life missionary in the Upper Perk Valley. “I have a passion for the whole church, not just Mennonites,” Scott explains.

Scott served as the Conference Minister for Eastern District Conference, beginning in 2017, and joined the staff of the reconciled conference as a Leadership Minister in 2020. Previously he had been a credentialed leader in both Eastern District and Franconia Conferences. In 2015, when Eastern District’s conference minister was retiring, Scott offered to lead a revisioning process for the conference.  As part of the revisioning process, Eastern District began to engage more fully with Franconia. This path eventually led to the reconciliation work between the two conferences.

Scott grew up in Quakertown, PA. His dad was a realtor and his mom was a bus driver; they both knew a lot of people in town. From them, he gained an understanding that “my world is not my church – the center of my world is my community, and the church is part of that community.” This passion has continued to his work as a Leadership Minister. “I am excited to work with churches that really want to be a light in the darkness and that care about their neighbors,” reflects Scott.

He and his wife have two young children and two basset hounds. He loves bacon, board games, video games, building things, fishing, and boating. “Friends call me a cultural design expert,” he says. “I love creating communities, getting people connected to each other to do something.”

Although Scott is known as a people-person in ministry, he has another side to him. “It may surprise people that my favorite time is actually by myself,” shares Scott. “I also enjoy being with another person on a boat, fishing rod in hand, but not talking. I adore sitting in silence with another person.”

What I’m Reading During the Pandemic

by

by Josh Meyer, Leadership Minister

Like many other pastors, much of my mental focus in the last several weeks has centered on what a pastoral, practical, prayerful response to the coronavirus crisis might entail.

To that end, here are some of the most helpful things I’m reading right now.  The first three recommendations are geared toward pastors and leaders; the last three are geared more broadly to all people seeking a faithful response during these unprecedented times.

Andy Crouch: Love In The Time of Coronavirus 

Andy is one of my favorite thinkers.  He is thoughtful and thorough, rooted in his faith, and well-versed in a wide variety of disciplines.  This essay, intended as a guide for Christian leaders, captures the best of what I’ve come to appreciate about his work.  This is one of the best articles I have read about a Christian response to COVID-19. He addresses four questions: What is happening?  What should we communicate?  What decisions should we make?  What can we hope for?  It’s a lengthy piece, but well worth your time.

J.R. Briggs: Becoming a Distributed Church: Why it’s Worth the Shift 

JR Briggs leads a resourcing event, February 2019

For years, J.R. has been asking pastors and leaders a hypothetical question: “If your church were unable to gather in groups larger than 50, or even 10, what would your church look like? And how would it shape the way you think about how your church joins God’s mission?”  These are no longer hypothetical questions. This article is full of probing questions, thoughtful challenges, practical ideas, and helpful resources as we seek to become “distributed churches.”

Eileen R. Campbell-Reed: 10 guidelines for pastoral care during the coronavirus outbreak

Pastors are called to be torchbearers of hope and optimism.  And yet, we’re also called to accompany people through the valleys of anxiety, fear, and death.  This is always a delicate balance, but especially now. That’s why I found Eileen Campbell-Reed’s guidelines so helpful.  A must-read for all leaders seeking to provide emotional, relational, and spiritual care during this time.

René Breuel: In Italy, I’ve Rediscovered the Power of Three Types of Prayer 

How does our prayer life change when faced with a global pandemic?  Rene Breuel brings us inside a nation reeling from one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in the world and reflects on how prayer is transformed by tragedy.

Scott Berinato: That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief

Since reading it last week, I’ve passed this article on to more family, friends, and colleagues than any other.  While not written from an explicitly Christian perspective, it offers massively insightful perspectives on how to name and manage the grief brought on by COVID-19.  The author interviews David Kessler, the world’s foremost expert on grief. Kessler discusses the importance of acknowledging grief, how to manage it, and – most importantly – how we might find meaning in it.

Linford Detweiler: Love in The Time of Corona

I’ll confess: I’m more of a prose guy than a poetry guy.  But I was immediately captured by the cadence and essence of this poem: “Breathe.  Go on and live your unexpected life. Inhale love. Exhale surrender. Trust: all that’s in between.”  The reminder to breathe is particularly powerful when we recall that the Old Testament word for Spirit can also be translated breath.  The idea that God is as close to us as our own breath is uniquely comforting during a time like this.

So, friends – read well.  And remember to breathe.

Estos son tiempos y días extraños

by

Por Marco Güete, Ministro de Liderazgo de Florida

“Si no puedes volar, corre. Si no puedes correr, camina. Si no puedes caminar, gatea. Sin importar lo que hagas, sigue avanzado hacia adelante.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Estos son tiempos y días extraños. No hay otra manera de calificar lo que está pasando en el mundo. Nuestra libertad se ha limitado, en realidad no tenemos libertad para ir donde más nos gusta ir o donde la necesidad nos pide que vayamos. Si lo hacemos tenemos que tomar precauciones extremas. Este es el momento de ver el lado positivo de la situación, considerando el contexto geográfico, de salud y económico de otras personas y el mío mismo.

Aprender a cocinar con mi hija, Vanessa, y mi esposa, Sandra

El “Coronavirus” nos está haciendo experimentar algo nuevo, raro, desconcertante. Nos entristece, nos hace enojar. No lo podemos negar ni tampoco podemos culpar a nadie.  Aquí está y no se ha ido. Me inspiran las palabras de Martin Luther King Jr. “Sin importar lo que hagas, sigue avanzando hacía adelante.” Yo agregaría: o lo que pase. Es hora de hacer cosas nuevas y diferentes, soñemos de nuevo. “He aquí, yo hago nuevas todas las cosas” (Apocalipsis 21:5)