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Junior High Youth Have Late Night Blast

March 26, 2015 by Conference Office

by John Stoltzfus, Franconia Conference Youth Minister

Whose job description includes this clause: Must be willing to have face covered in shaving cream and decorated with cheese curls? If you answered, “Junior high youth sponsor,” you are correct! Junior high youth sponsors are some of the bravest people in ministry.

At junior high youth events, helmets are sometimes necessary... — At junior high youth events, helmets are sometimes necessary…

If you were at the Late Night Blast on March 13, you would have witnessed such a scene and a lot more crazy fun. Close to 150 junior high youth and adult sponsors representing 18 churches gathered for this annual event sponsored by Franconia Conference and Eastern District Conference. It was hosted by Christopher Dock Mennonite High School.

Last year, the event was an all-night lock-in; this year it morphed into a “Late Night Blast,” ending at 11:15 p.m. While some youth lamented the loss of staying up all night, most responses to the evening were still very enthusiastic.

Part of the purpose of this annual event is to give our youth a positive and memorable experience of worshipping together, playing hard, and catching a glimpse of the larger body of Christ that makes up our conference churches. This event also gives a wonderful opportunity for our youth workers to partner together in ministry.

The evening started off with some mixer gamers led by staff from Spruce Lake and by Brent Camilleri from Deep Run East Mennonite Church. Justin Hange and a band from Calvary Church in Souderton then turned up the noise for the evening and led in a spirited time of singing and worship.

“That was awesome!” remarked one youth following the singing.

Scott Roth, pastor at Perkiomenville Mennonite Church, kept the energy flowing as he shared stories of how he sees God at work in his life and his community bringing hope and healing. He challenged the youth to bring together a knowledge of God’s Word with an active obedience to God’s Word in everyday life.

The rest of the night was full of fun activities to choose from: soccer, basketball, dodge ball, human Dutch Blitz, Wally ball, Gaga Pit ball, Nerf blasters, and more. One of the popular new games introduced this year was Human Hungry Hippos. It’s the classic board game with a much needed upgrade. One of the perks of being a junior high youth sponsor is the freedom to experiment with wild and crazy games. Of course, the policy is always safety first, and helmets were required.

The evening ended with a shower of giveaways from Mennonite colleges and camps. Thank you to everyone that helped to plan and carry out all the activities and a special thank you to all the youth leaders that commit themselves to serving with their youth. Their commitment was exemplified by one sponsor giving up her shoes to a youth who needed more appropriate athletic shoes to participate in the games.

A Call to Trust, to Lead, to be Collegial, to Seek the Spirit: A Response to the Mennonite Church USA Survey

March 26, 2015 by Conference Office

by James M. Lapp

On March 14, 2015, about 40 Franconia Mennonite Conference leaders gathered to discuss the response of credentialed leaders in our conference to the Mennonite Church USA survey on issues related to people in same-gender relationship in the church. Conrad Kanagy, a sociologist and pastor from Elizabethtown, Pennyslvania, who compiled the results of the survey, provided interpretation of the results with particular reference to its meaning for our conference.

In a nutshell, we learned the credentialed leaders in Franconia Conference (and six other Mennonite Church USA conferences) are fairly evenly divided in their response to people with same-gender attraction. Perhaps that is not a surprise to most people. Kanagy observed that these responses offer a “proxy” for deeper themes that contribute to our current tensions. In other words, when we discuss our different responses to homosexuality, there are other themes that feed these differences, like how we understand Scripture, Jesus, mission and the church.

We are left with the question of what we do with our differences. As Kanagy reported, these convictions run deep and are not easily changed; for a variety of reasons, we will likely always disagree on this and other important questions. Is that unlike the New Testament church where Paul addressed questions on which they strongly disagreed? Of course our issues always seems different and more serious than their issues—but are our disagreements more substantial than Acts 15 and the inclusion or exclusion of Gentiles in a Jewish church?

We hear reports of those who think they must break ties with the Mennonite Church USA over this issue of same-gender relationships. That is a common response when we disagree–to separate and form a new alliance of like-minded people on this issue. The body of Christ, including Mennonites, reflects a great assortment of people who claim to follow Jesus but disagree on some point of doctrine or practice. To divide reinforces our sense of faithfulness and purity, but does it honor Christ and the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17?

In our “third way” church, might there not a third way response on this issue? What if our focus shifted from boundary maintenance to the “center” we all claim to have in Jesus Christ? How might that focus cast our disagreements in a different light? Might the tone of the conversation soften and we discover more grace for one another? We can still debate and argue and exhort one another on our understanding of Scripture, while still extending to one another the respect and love in keeping with the first and greatest commandment incumbent on us all. What holds the body together is our common allegiance to Jesus, not theories of inspiration, atonement, details on being peacemakers, or our views on same-gender people. Must our disagreements break relationships in the body of Christ?

God seems to have created us to be different. Paul makes clear in I Corinthians 12 that our diversity is not an accident, but God’s design for the church. It becomes our laboratory for learning to love even when we disagree. The New Testament letters repeatedly urge, indeed command us to love one another, extend kindness and grace toward each other, forgive quickly, and respect our brothers and sisters with our different personalities, convictions, and styles of living out our discipleship.

Some years ago I recall reading a statement by John Esau, a sage in the field of pastoral leadership, who said that churches do not leave conferences. Pastors lead congregations away from their conference or denominational connections. The way congregations respond in this season of high tension and stress will often reflect the tone and character of us as pastoral leaders. Does our own anxiety spread to those we serve? Do we plant seeds that undermine trust in relationships or do we engender hope and generosity? Do we emphasize boundaries and who is in and who is out, or do we call the people to a magnanimous love and grace toward others, as Conrad Kanagy invited us to exhibit, when discussing contentious topics like sexuality? Leaders make a powerful difference in the direction a church takes.

We need not minimize the importance of sexuality. But neither dare we abdicate our leadership role in providing pastoral direction on these hard questions that often quickly become polarized. The Holy Spirit of God has come to provide inner clarity and wisdom to leaders (John 16:12-13). May we be attentive to the Spirit and not allow the forces of society and the strong voices around us to determine our direction.

This survey was only a tool to greater awareness. Let’s allow these survey results serve as the impetus for collegially reaching out to each other as pastors in mutual support as we seek to discern and carry out the will of Jesus, the Lord of the church, on this and other important challenges we face.

James M. Lapp serves with his wife Miriam Book as interim pastors at Zion Mennonite Church in Souderton, Pennsylvania. He is a credentialed pastoral leader in Franconia Conference.

Credentialed Leaders Gather to Discuss MCUSA Survey

March 26, 2015 by Conference Office

by Lisa Rand, Bally Mennonite Church

Last year, Mennonite Church USA surveyed credentialed leaders on a variety of issues and questions, covering demographics, conferences, the denomination, and the currently difficult issue of attitudes toward homosexuality and the status in the church of individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ). The research, led by Last year, Mennonite Church USA surveyed credentialed leaders on a variety of issues and questions … Conrad Kanagy of Elizabethtown College, offered a glimpse into the perspectives of leaders from coast to coast.

Franconia Conference contracted with Kanagy to provide additional analysis of his material for our conference community. On Saturday, March 14, Kanagy delved more deeply into the data with about three dozen conference pastors at Covenant Community Fellowship in Lansdale.

The morning’s work began with prayerful worship, with music led by Marilyn Bender (of Ripple Allentown) and Samantha Lioi (Whitehall congregation). John Bender, interim associate pastor at Franconia Mennonite Church, led a guiding reflection. He referred to Romans 14:3, where followers of Jesus are advised not to pass judgment on the servant of another: “Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them.” Bender asked leaders to consider what might result from a daily prayer for oneness, and a concerted effort to see each person as a sister or brother in Christ.

To begin his presentation, Conrad Kanagy invited leaders to consider the wisdom of Paul in Colossians 3:1-15, highlighting Paul’s emphasis on magnanimity, charity, and generosity in relationship with one another. These spiritual values were lifted up throughout the presentation.

“This morning is about understanding what has shaped our differences, the implications of those differences, and where we can go in the future,” said Kanagy. With frankness, he said he was “not even suggesting we can keep living together,” but asserting that we can be kind and gracious.

Leaders recognized this conversation as a beginning, an opening. Even while thanking Kanagy for his time and effort on data analysis, several leaders suggested it might be helpful to invite additional interpretations of the data.

“Surveys are imperfect,” Kanagy acknowledged, “but they bring us around the table together.”

Conference board member Jim Laverty expressed gratitude for Kanagy’s honesty about the cultural differences that separate us.

“He helped me to better appreciate the different worldviews represented in the survey results so that I might better appreciate just how profound these cultural differences are. I felt, overall, that the meeting drew together credentialed leaders from across the spectrum of worldviews and that as we met around round tables that we genuinely desired to listen and understand each other. I was grateful that at my table I could express my concern about how these differences will impact local congregations and how we choose to use or not use our power and influence as leaders to sway the opinion of others,” said Laverty.

Though no specific solutions were proposed, many leaders wondered about Conrad Kanagy’s questions: “What if the Holy Spirit is dismantling the church? What if the structures we have put in place are getting in the way? How can we work with the Holy Spirit?”

Despite the differences among conference leaders, there is critical common ground in the belief that God is active present is in our midst, even in the turmoil caused by feelings of disunity. As we move forward, Laverty suggested “that we equip and train our conference staff especially as they walk with churches who represent a diversity of perspectives. I would also suggest that despite our differences we explore ways to continue to collaborate on our call as a people to participate in God’s mission in the world.”

Franconia Conference & Eastern District Women Gather

March 19, 2015 by Conference Office

by Doris Diener

On the morning of Saturday, March 7, approximately fifty women joined together at Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation to “set the day apart” for worship, learning, and fellowship. The theme of the day was “Shattering Our Mirrors,” releasing the false image we see and embracing the image God sees when our Creator looks at us. Sandra Dresher-Lehman shared that God’s creativity in His creation of women may not always fit the mold the community has prepared for us and encouraged each to be authentic followers of Jesus. Christine Waanders challenged each to own her personality and to see positive possibilities in what may considered our downsides.

Other speakers included Kristi Wile, Donna Merow, and Ana Giron. Thanks to Marta Castillo and Karisa Barlow who translated, everyone was able to understand. During the time together, the women learned to know new friends, made origami boats, sang, discussed, prayed, looked inside themselves and were challenged on their journeys of faith, washed hands together, and blessed each other. The women enjoyed a delicious lunch, provided by the congregation, over lots of chatter and laughter. What a refreshing, insightful, delightful day!

The conference Sistering Committee is made up of Anne Yoder (chairperson), Donna Merow, Bobby Smisko, Kristi Wile, and Doris Diener. This event was the fourth Franconia/Eastern District Conference Women’s gathering since the 2012 Sister Care event.

Taking LEAD to the next level: Conference ministry as discernment rooted in vision, mission, prayer

March 19, 2015 by Conference Office

by Noel Santiago and Sharon Williams

Do you know what your congregation’s vision is? What does it mean? How do you pray for your congregation? How do we understand what God wants?

If you are a leader in your congregation, how does your congregation’s vision and mission impact how you lead? How do you pray for the other leaders?

Several years ago, Franconia Conference initiated a new phase of connectivity with congregations for the mentoring and resourcing of pastors. Our LEADership ministers, carefully chosen to offer a wide breadth of skills and expertise, are assigned to specific congregations, but also available to any congregation needing specific assistance for a season. This model calls for a proactive posture of oversight that is vision-oriented.

Much has been learned from this fluid way of walking alongside of pastors. Noel Santiago is implementing an upgraded process he’s framed as LEAD 2.0.

The primary focus of LEAD 2.0 is preparing all leaders to define, embrace, and lead God’s vision and mission for their congregation.

LEAD 2.0 starts with a 24-hour retreat for pastors and elders. As they focus on the congregation’s vision and mission, they also give significant time to a ministry of prayer with each congregational leader. Particular attention is given to listening for what God is saying.

Noel, along with congregational pastors and elders each share about their experiences in the following Sunday’s worship. This helps to create a sense of ownership and accountability between the leaders and the congregation.

The new dimension of LEAD 2.0 is for the church council, worship leaders, Christian education leaders, youth leaders and others to experience a similar but shorter process. An elder, pastor and Noel facilitate a session with each group of leaders.

The congregation’s vision and mission is front and center. Each leader shares about how she or he understands it and carries out the vision in their respective ministry area. Leaders interact around these understandings. During a time of prayer, the group offers words of appreciation for each leader and asking in prayer what each leader needs to know.

“Watch, look, listen; when you see me working, join in” is an invitation from God that the Salem congregation has been attentive to for several years. LEAD 2.0 has given a new way to focus the congregation’s vision and mission with all the leaders. “It is waking us up to what God wants for us as part of God’s ‘church of Quakertown,’” says Bruce Eglinton-Woods, the congregation’s lead pastor. “This process has raised our awareness of the need to work together with other churches to share Jesus’ ministry of love and hope with our neighbors.”

Churches in the Quakertown area have organized a code blue homeless shelter, and are seeking ways to reach out to 50-60 homeless teenagers in their school district. Weed whacking in the town’s cemetery has become a way to build relationships with the community and with at-risk teens who join them to do required community service. They are looking for concrete ways to reach people struggling with related issues of addiction, human trafficking and poverty. The Salem congregation is an integral part of these ministries.

Salem is taking LEAD 2.0 one step further by offering a day for listening, discernment and prayer for everyone in the congregation. It will be a “review of the future,” not the past. As they pray and encourage each other, participants will watch, look, and listen for what God is doing and how they might be called to join in God’s work.

God is using LEAD 2.0 to stir a passion at Salem for people who do not know Jesus and need to be part of a faith community. “How can our hearts not be broken? Homeless kids should be able to turn to the church; they should know they can do that. We are also learning how to love one another and that we have love to share. It’s fun,” says Bruce.

LEAD 2.0 is still pretty new. But congregations are already experiencing positive interactions of encouragement, support, ownership and accountability happening between the various leadership groups. Lay leaders are more mindful of and empowered to speak into the vision. Together, they are “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead . . . press[ing] on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 NRSV).

Noel Santiago is Franconia’s LEAD Minister for Spiritual Transformation. Sharon K. Williams is a musician, editor and congregational/non-profit consultant. She serves the Lord with the Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation as minister of worship.

Biblical interpretation event to be held April 18

March 18, 2015 by Conference Office

“The Bible through Anabaptist Eyes: Christ at the Center,” a seminar on biblical interpretation, will be held on Saturday, April 18 at Penn View Christian School in Souderton, Pennsylvania.

The event features three Anabaptist scholars, who will be giving presentations and leading discussion around the following questions: How does Anabaptist theology and biblical interpretation speak to the challenges proclaiming the gospel in the 21^st century? Where do we Anabaptists find ourselves in the midst of rapid change, theological shifts, and increasing interaction with other faith traditions?

This free training will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is open to members and attendees of Franconia Conference congregations. Credentialed leaders are especially encouraged to participate. Registration is required and available on the conference website.

Speakers include:

Laura Brenneman, who will present an Anabaptist overview of the Bible. She teaches at Eastern Mennonite University and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, as well as the University of Illinois, including a program in a men’s prison.

Dennis Edwards, who will speak on Anabaptism and the New Testament. He serves as senior pastor with the Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Terry Brensinger, who will address Anabaptism and the Old Testament. He is vice president of Fresno Pacific University, dean of the Biblical Seminary and professor of pastoral ministries.

Peace Farm: A new experiment in Christian discipleship takes root

March 12, 2015 by Conference Office

by Janie Beck Kreider

Peace Farm, a new voluntary service program born out of a collaborative effort between Quakers and Mennonites in Bally, Pennsylvania, will begin its inaugural season in May 2015. This six-month apprenticeship brings together the practical work of farming and an exploration of connections between peace, food justice and faith.

Farmers Krista and Tim Showalter Ehst are excited to see their dream for Peace Farm become a reality. Tim and Krista operate Valley Run CSA (community-supported agriculture), a diversified, sustainable farm in the Butter Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania, about an hour outside of Philadelphia. Along with other local farmers, they will host Peace Farm apprentices for the daily work of cultivating organic vegetables, raising pastured animals and helping with various other agricultural tasks. As part of the hands-on apprenticeships, the Showalter Ehsts will also facilitate ongoing reflections with participants about what it means to approach agriculture and land cultivation through the lens of faith. Themes within the Peace Farm curriculum address scarcity and abundance, food deserts, migrant farm labor, sustainable living and rest, and agricultural practices as a form of peacemaking.

The Showalter Ehsts are not your average Mennonite farmers. Their journey toward this vocation and lifestyle began at Goshen College, where they studied theology and began learning about food production and distribution in the United States and abroad. Neither of them grew up farming, although Krista was raised in a 200-year-old farmhouse on 80 acres of Pennsylvania farmland, and Tim grew up in rural Virginia, outside of Harrisonburg. While at Goshen College and reading authors such as Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan, Vandana Shiva, and the like, the two decided to pursue a farming apprenticeship in Kentucky upon graduation. They’ve been interested in this type of work ever since.

“Coming off of studying theology and then moving right into learning about farming made both of us keen to find intersections between our faith commitment to Anabaptist-Mennonite theology and this work of tending to the land,” reflected Krista, who also pastors Alpha Mennonite Church in Alpha, New Jersey, a Franconia Mennonite Conference congregation. “We soon realized that our commitment to a lived discipleship found natural expression in the daily tasks of cultivating food in ways that respected the goodness of God’s creation and the interdependence of healthy human communities with healthy landscapes.”

Krista earned a Master of Divinity at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, while Tim helped start Oakleaf Mennonite Farm, a diverse urban farm on the six-acre property of Berea Mennonite Church, also in Atlanta. After getting the farm off to a good start, Tim took a position as interim director for DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) Atlanta, which is affiliated with Mennonite Mission Network. It was while Tim was at DOOR, working closely with young adult volunteers, that the dream for a faith- and farm-based voluntary experience began to take root.

“We knew that there were lots of experiences for young adults to spend a year in a faith-based voluntary service program, and we also knew that there were tons of farming internship opportunities,” says Tim. “But there weren’t many opportunities for young people to learn about sustainable agriculture through the lens of faith.”

It wasn’t long before this dream began to germinate. After moving back to Krista’s family farm in Pennsylvania and starting up a successful CSA (a cooperative farm where members help with start-up and operating costs in exchange for food), they began to brainstorm with Christina Repoley, one of Krista’s seminary friends who also directs Quaker Voluntary Service. Then Glenn Balzer, director of DOOR, joined the conversation. Quaker Voluntary Service and the DOOR program have signed on as program partners. The Showalter Ehsts also received a grant from the Fund for Theological Education that helped finance the development of the program.

“We began to imagine what it would look like for these peace churches to develop a program that centered on sustainable agriculture and food justice,” says Krista.

The inaugural season of Peace Farm will begin in May 2015. The experience is based on the rhythms of the farming year, so while most voluntary service programs start in August or September, Peace Farm will begin in late May. By the time they leave at the end of November, apprentices will have experienced not only the ins and outs of a sustainable farm, but will have engaged in essential conversations about how spirituality and faith commitments can inform a healthier relationship with the land.

This piece originally appeared as part of Mennonite Church USA’s #WeAreMenno series. Reprinted with permission.

Preparing for transition

March 10, 2015 by Conference Office

by Gay Brunt Miller

As I prepare to transition from my fifteen-year tenure with Franconia Conference, I find myself living in rather unusual space. These have been perhaps my 15 most productive years in life, at least thus far. I’ve been blessed to many times experience my call to ministry here as being “for such a time as this.”

It’s been a time of helping to discern and follow God’s vision for Franconia Mennonite Conference—trying to live into it, to live it out, and to encourage others to live it out, too. Franconia Conference’s own commitment to the Great Commission, before the term “missional” eventually blossomed into the mission statement of “Equipping leaders to empower others to embrace God’s mission” enhanced by incorporating strategic values of being missional, formational, and intercultural.

I’ve been part of more hours of meetings—locally, regionally, and nationally—than I ever could or would want to count. I’ve helped to plan and execute a myriad of gatherings, both large and small. I’ve been the keeper of the bylaws and the author of untold numbers of minutes. I’ve treasured many friendships formed across the conference and across the national church. I’ve learned so much. I’ve been at times both profoundly frustrated and profoundly blessed.

After full emersion and engagement in a vision and with a people, how does one begin to get things in order, to transition to the next leader and the next generation to steward into the future?

Times change. Values shift. New generations of leaders need to shape what God asks them to carry out, for the sake of God’s reign here on earth. Who is God preparing to grasp the baton from me? What will Franconia Conference and Mennonite Church USA look like in the future? What kind of leadership will be needed for the next leg of this race of life?

In this time of transition, I am seeking to be available as needed but to hold direction and outcomes even more lightly than in the past, knowing that I will not be here to carry out plans that are being laid. I’m seeking to stand in a place of “holy indifference”—a place where I trust that God’s purposes will be worked out through those whom God is calling. And I’m trusting that all things will work together for good…for me and for all those of you who love God and who are called according to God’s purposes (Romans 8:28). May it be so.

Gay Brunt Miller has served Franconia Mennonite Conference for 15 years, in various capacities. She will be leaving her position in April.

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