Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Congregational Profiles

Introducing Nueva Vida Norristown New Life

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Nueva Vida Norristown New Life

Nueva Vida Norristown New Life Mennonite Church is located in Norristown, Pa., on the corner of Marshall and Swede streets, about a block from the Montgomery County Courthouse.

The intercultural, multilingual, urban Mennonite church that exists today was formed by God in 1990 through the joining together of three Mennonite congregations in Norristown—one Latino, one African American, and one Anglo and African American. The vision of God’s healing work of restoration, reconciliation, and transformation brought us together to become a living house of prayer for all peoples.

Nueva Vida Norristown New Life has three associate pastors: Ertell Whigham, Angel Tamayo, and Marta Castillo. The three associate pastors—there is no senior pastor—serve on a leadership team that represents the diversity of the congregation.

The calling of Norristown New Life is to be a diverse body of believers who

  • Worship the Lord in unity
  • Experience the transforming and gifting power of the Holy Spirit
  • Proclaim the Gospel of reconciliation through Jesus Christ in word and deed

Our witness to the gospel of Christ includes but is not limited to: bilingual services twice a month; outdoor services and picnics once a month in the summer; an internet café; voter ID clinics; translation services; The Benefit Bank (which connects people to social services and tax prep); Backyard Bible School; small group activities; and more.

Introducing Providence Mennonite Church

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ProvidenceProvidence Mennonite Church is located in Collegeville, PA along Route 29 and Mennonite Road, in a very fast growing community.  We have been in existence for almost 200 years; the building that we are in now was built in 1959, with a few renovations since then.

Gary Lloyd is our Pastor, and Vernon Hunsberger and Rodney Landes are our elders.  We have our worship service on Sunday mornings at 10:15 am, with Sunday School at 9:00 am.  We love to sing hymns in worship & praise to God.  We also have a Wednesday night Bible study at 7:00, except for the third Wednesday when we have a service at Sanatoga Manor at 7:00

We have a group called Maturing Pilgrims, that meets the second Tuesday of every month from noon to 3:00, which is open to seniors of other churches and the community.  Once a year we provide and deliver a meal to Ripple in Allentown.  We also have an annual pancake breakfast  that’s open to the community, with proceeds going to local and global missions.

We are an older congregation with loving hearts and a giving spirit, that likes to give & support missions at home and abroad.  We love to have visitors come to our church, so please come and join us for worship!

Introducing Alpha Mennonite Church

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Alpha Mennonite ChurchAlpha Mennonite Church began as a church plant in 1975 by Henry Swartley.  We are located in the quiet little community of Alpha, NJ.

Since the beginning, our congregation has been a mixture of people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and theologies who have gathered together in our common love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  We are a small congregation with a family feel who welcomes all who God brings through our doors.  In this spirit, we seek to experience the full richness of Christ’s body in our life and ministry with everyone who freely desires to join us in our Christian walk.  We look forward to the future, hopeful of what God has in store for us as individuals and a church body.

Our leadership is composed of a Congregational Ministry Team consisting of Worship, Mission and Outreach, Discipleship and Nurture, Stewardship and Administration.  You can read more about Alpha on our webpage at www.alphamenno.com or on Facebook.  We invite you to join us to worship God in our welcoming fellowship.

Introducing Souderton Mennonite Church

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SoudertonAs a visible expression of Jesus Christ’s body, Souderton Mennonite Church has been meeting at the corner of Chestnut Street and Wile Avenue for more than 133 years.

Our mission is to develop a thriving network of ministries that multiply Christ’s love. We do this by drawing persons to Christ, helping them to grow as followers of Jesus, and sending them to follow their calling across the Indian Valley and around the world.

We are a Jesus-centered, caring community of people who are excited about sharing the love, hope, and joy we have found in a relationship with God. Our prayer is that we continue to be a church that follows Jesus’ example of providing a safe space for all who experience challenges and struggles in life. We want to offer grace and healing through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord to all children, women, and men.

Introducing Salford Mennonite Church

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Salford Mennonite ChurchSalford Mennonite Church, located in Harleysville, Pa., was founded in 1717.  An agrarian congregation throughout its history, the past 50 years has seen a transition to a suburban and professional lifestyle for its members.

Church leadership consists of a pastoral team of four (lead pastor Joe Hackman and three associate pastors, Maribeth Benner, Ben Wideman and Beth Yoder) with additional support staff, and a church board made up of nine members.  Present membership is 450, with an average Sunday morning attendance of 300.

Our mission statement declares our desire to be “A joyful, learning community eager to live and share the peaceable way of Jesus.”  We have a sister church relationship with Dios Con Nosotros in Mexico City, and a local neighbor relationship with Advent Lutheran Church of Harleysville.

Salford Mennonite ChurchWe have a garden ministry shared with Advent Lutheran, regularly participate in Mennonite Disaster Service trips, Chosen 300 Meal Ministry feeding the hungry in Philadelphia, and an active Justice and Peace ministry.  Our facility is active during the week with Salford Mennonite Child Care Centers (campuses at Salford and Dock Woods community).

Our congregational focus for the next few years is “Learning to Listen: across the generations, in our personal lives, and in our local community.”  See our website and our photoblog for more glimpses of life and ministry at Salford.

Introducing Boyertown Mennonite Church

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Boyertown Mennontie ChurchOur congregation was a “church plant” from the Bally congregation and began worshiping in Colebrookdale Township of Berks county in the year 1780. For many years these two faith communities continued to share pastors and many other aspects of church life. It wasn’t until the late 1940’s that Boyertown became completely separate with its own pastor and leadership. Our first buildings were located at the center of Boyertown, but in 1969 we built the present facility on a hill outside the borough of Boyertown.

Al Detweiler served the congregation for about 25 years until 1993. In 1995 the present pastor, Nelson Shenk, began serving upon Al’s retirement. The Leadership Team is made up of the pastor, two elders, and two deaconesses who serve the spiritual needs. The administrative body is the Church Council which is composed of the chair persons of various ministries within the congregation.

Our mission statement is: “We strive to be a Christian community of healing and growth.” We have become a faith community that ministers to a wide variety of needs within the Boyertown area and have attracted folks with addictions, background of abuse, poverty, etc. Folks have found this to be a place of safety and acceptance. As a result we are very diverse in every way possible.

We have been doing several annual events that expose us to our community and provide ministry to those who participate. These include Red Cross blood drives, a community yard sale, a pig roast, a Christmas bazaar, and a Christmas Eve service.

We are a very informal, blue collar congregation who has become known for how open we are to many different kinds of people. We pull together to minister to all of the needs of the folks that God has placed in our care.

Introducing Towamencin Mennonite Church

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TowamencinTowamencin Mennonite Church is located on Sumneytown Pike in Kulpsville, adjacent to the Lansdale exit of the PA Turnpike. The church has been around since 1713.

Towamencin can be described as a family-friendly, traditional, Anabaptist congregation that is evolving in its diversity and mission. Families from Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Ghana now call Towamencin their home and we are struggling together to embrace our missional identity. Our mission statement calls us to extend God’s healing, hope, and forgiveness to all through the power of the Holy Spirit, yet we are finding that in practice, this can be a difficult task. So with God’s help, we are on a journey of learning.

Our leadership structure includes a team of four elders, a deacon, and two deaconesses along with our pastor. We also have a church council which gives a voice to persons in the pews.

The location of the church affords us opportunities for ministry. In fact, thousands of commuters drive by our building each day. Our inspirational sign with weekly thought-provoking messages provides both words of encouragement and challenge to these commuters. Some of the commuters use our parking lot for carpooling.  We serve breakfast cake and coffee to these folks several days a year in attempt to get to know them better.

Twice a year, we hold a yard sale which brings many persons to the church. We have found that many of these folks are in need of prayer and a listening ear. Our prayer tent has been a great tool for ministering to these folks. One of our largest ministries at Towamencin is Vacation Bible School.  Each year, 80% of the kids that come to VBS are from the community. This has provided a way for us to connect in direct ways with persons from the community.

Introducing Methacton Mennonite Church

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Methacton

Methacton Mennonite Church has been connecting people to Jesus since 1739.  The land on which the meetinghouse is located was deeded to the Dutch Anabaptist Society–Mennonite/Anabaptist families moving north from Germantown up Germantown Pike–for 5 shillings. The first meetinghouse was built prior to 1771 although the exact date is unknown. A second meetinghouse was erected of stone in 1805 and used as a community school and place of worship. The third and present meetinghouse was erected in 1873.

As Mennonite families moved further north towards Souderton/ Franconia in the following centuries, Methacton congregation found itself moving to the fringes of the larger Mennonite community.  This is its gift and its challenge. Without “ethnic Mennonites” (people of Swiss-German descent who grew up in the Mennonite Church) in the community, this church has always needed to draw people from the local community, from the Worcester/Collegeville area, to continue to exist.

We saw this need to turn to our community in the 1940s, when, after dropping to only one member in 1943, a large Summer Bible School program was begun with the help of several families from the Plains congregation. Thus began a new era in the church’s existence. Through this vigorous Summer Bible School outreach into the ‘50s and through the preschool (begun in 1958), community people were drawn into the church and preschool ministry. The preschool continues to the present day.

Methacton has never been a large Mennonite church; it has never been a congregation that could continue to exist on its past, or its own strength of numbers. It has to exist because of a mission and God’s purpose for placing us in our specific context. As we look to the future, we’re trying to reorient ourselves to our local community of Worcester, Norristown, and Collegeville.

We have a diverse membership representing various ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. The common bond is a faith committed to a disciplined life, which is both meaningful and evident in daily living. Our vision statement is “Connecting People to Jesus;” we love connecting, we love people, and we love Jesus.