Multimedia

Assembly Scattered 2012: How do we discern together?

October 25, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

On October 16, Executive Minister Ertell Whigham and LEADership Minister Jenifer Eriksen Morales led a training for conference delegates. Delegates discussed methods for corporate discernment in their congregations, how to prepare themselves and their congregations for Conference Assembly, and the role and responsibilities of conference delegates.

Another training will be held on October 27, 9-11am, at Dock Woods Community (Fischer Auditorium) in Lansdale, Pa. We hope you will be able to join us in person as we interact with one another around topics of discernment. If you have a scheduling conflict, however, the video from the October 16th training is now available.

CA Scattered handout

A Franconia Conference Summer

September 27, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

We asked for stories from summer activities from around the Conference and got this jewel from Kim Moyer, Blooming Glen congregation:

The theme for our Summer Bible School was “Be Bold! God is with You!” The children learned through songs, dramas, stories, crafts, and games, that God is with them, even when they are scared.

One mother told me a story about her 5 year old son who has always been afraid to go into the basement of their home by himself. The week after SBS, he asked his mom to go with him to the basement so that he could get his blanket. His mom couldn’t go with him at the moment, so he decided he would try to go by himself. When he returned to his mom with his blanket, he told her, “I was able to go down in the basement because I kept telling myself, God is always with us, God is always with us.”

A piece of SBS that caused a lot of excitement among the children was an offering project competition between the girls and the boys. The children were raising money for a Mennonite Mission Network project, which sends children in South Africa to Bethany Bible School, a camp that teaches the children about Jesus. It costs $20 to send one child to the camp, and the boys and girls at SBS were competing against each other to send the most children to camp. If the boys won, then the Children’s Ministry Director (me) would get a pie in her face, and if the girl’s won, then the Lead Pastor would get the pie in his face.

The children took this competition seriously and were bringing in their piggy banks, doing extra chores to raise money, and asking grandparents to write out checks. By the end of the week, the 70 children at SBS collectively raised $1,162.53, sending 58 children to Bethany Bible School! Although the boys won, and I got a pie in the face, it was decided that the real winners were the 58 children that would now be able to attend the Bible Camp.

Thanks, Kim, and everyone else who shared their photos and stories this summer! And if you haven’t already read them, check out these stories about Peace Camps, Bethany’s anniversary celebration, a special service at Plains, Salford’s listening project, Kingdom Builders construction in Philly, Germantown Historic Trust’s painting project … and this is just some of what has been happening in our Conference this summer.

Enjoy these fun photos that were taken at camps, picnics, outdoor services, Bible Schools, and more. If you’d like to add photos from your congregation’s summer to this gallery, send them to Emily with captions and photo credits.

View the photo album

Welcoming ex-offenders: Pastors Breakfast with Liberty Ministries

July 19, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Jonathan Lewis and Charlie Ness — Charlie Ness, pastor of Perkiomenville congregation, and Jonathan Lewis, director of the residential program at Liberty Ministries, share about their experiences with post-prison ministry.

Liberty Ministries exists to serve offenders in prison and ex-offenders in the community by showing God’s love, providing practical assistance, and supporting Biblical standards of justice. At Wednesday morning’s breakfast, Bob Thompson, executive director, Jonathan Lewis, director of the residential program, and Charlie Ness, pastor of Perkiomenville congregation and one of the ministry’s founders, shared from their experiences of walking with ex-offenders who are moving beyond their past in the healing community of the church.

Listen to the podcast

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Liberty Pastors Breakfast (July 18).mp3[/podcast]

Watch the video

Forum #2: Who are we now?

June 27, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Forum with Eastern District — Mike Derstine, Plains, and Edie Landis, Zion, participate in table conversations at the second Forum between Eastern District and Franconia Conferences.

On May 24, leaders from Eastern District Conference and Franconia Conference met together to continue conversations about partnering in the future. Eastern District conference minister Warren Tyson and Franconia Executive Minister Ertell Whigham shared ways that the two conferences are already working together as well as suggestions of future possibilities.

After table conversations, the gathered leaders reflected back to the larger group some of their affirmations, concerns, or questions.

Listen to the whole Forum:

[podcast]http://mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Forum 2 (May 2012).mp3[/podcast]

Watch the video:

Business as Mission

June 19, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Steve Hackman from One Village Coffee and Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger, missionaries in Nepal and proprietors of Top of the World Coffee, spoke at the June 14th Pastors and Conference Related Ministry Leaders Breakfast at the Conference Center in Harleysville.

All three have a passion for using business to reach others for Christ and to bring development to impoverished communities. Read about the Nafziger’s work in Nepal here or listen to Steve’s presentation in our podcast–at the end, you’ll also hear a little about a new coffee ministry beginning in Quakertown, Pa.

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Business as Mission (Steve Hackman).mp3[/podcast]

Spring Training 2012

May 1, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Franconia Conference credentialed leaders from up and down the east coast met on Saturday, April 21, at Towamencin Mennonite Church for the first annual Spring Training, a time of equipping planned by the conference as part of a commitment to continuing education.

The day focused on interculturalism and included times of worship, table conversation, resourcing, and, of course, food!

[tab:Podcast]

Morning Session #1 (1:02:37)

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Spring Training Session 1 (low).mp3[/podcast]

Morning Session #2 (43:29)

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Spring Training Session 2 (low).mp3[/podcast]

Afternoon Session #3 (57:37)

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Spring Training Session 3 (low).mp3[/podcast]

[tab:Photo Gallery]

View the photo gallery

[tab:Video]

Does Mennonite Matter?

April 24, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

By John Stoltzfus, Franconia Conference Youth Minister

Does it matter being Mennonite? According to Dale Schrag, “It depends.”

Dale, who is campus pastor and director of church relations at Bethel College, spoke to this question at a seminar for youth and adults at Salford Mennonite Church on April 11. He elaborated by saying that it depends on what we mean by being Mennonite.

Schrag quoted Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches who said, “Mennonite is a beautiful adjective but an idolatrous noun.” We need to understand being Mennonite as an adjective description of Christian. In addition, in the Mennonite tradition it is essential to understand the Anabaptist theological distinctiveness of our tradition.

He named four central markers of Anabaptist theology from Harold S Bender’s Anabaptist Vision of 1944:

A distinctive reading of the Bible that is centered in Christ
A distinctive approach to discipleship, following the teachings of Jesus
A distinctive understanding of community
A distinctive commitment to nonresistance in the reconciling love of God

Dale concluded by emphasizing that being Mennonite matters because of what we have to offer to a world that needs Jesus. Our particular understanding of the gospel of shalom (peace) and of how Jesus calls us to live is a gift to offer to our broken world.

Some questions to consider as we continue to unpack the question identified in this seminar.

How can we engage our children and youth in talking about what it means and why it matters to be a Mennonite Christian in today’s world?
How does this distinctiveness make a difference in how we practice our faith?
What difference does it make in how we read the Bible, live as community, relate to our neighbors, and engage in mission in our world?
How does being Mennonite help us to be faithful in following in the way of Christ?
What testimony do we have to share?
How can we hold these convictions with an open hand in a way that is inviting and winsome and good news to our neighbors and to a hurting and broken world?

Watch the full presentation:

Walking together on the road to Easter

April 18, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

It’s a familiar story, especially for those who have grown up in the church. So how do we retell the story of Jesus’ passion and resurrection year after year in ways that open us up, once again, to the pain, the beauty, and the wonder of Jesus’ sacrifice and victory over death?

dove scripture picture — Members at Souderton congregation contributed artwork made of scripture. Photo provided.

The season of Lent, celebrated for the forty days leading up to Easter, marks Christ’s journey to Jerusalem. It invites those who follow Jesus to walk with him by remembering his life, practicing disciplines of fasting and sacrifice, and engaging in deeper commitment to their brothers and sisters in the church.

Souderton (Pa.) congregation began Lent by diving deeper into Mennonite Church USA’s “Year of the Bible” with an art project. Members of the congregation were invited to choose a word or phrase from scripture on which they wanted to meditate and to write it over and over on a panel using colors to create images. These panels became banners that hung in the front of their sanctuary during the Lenten season.

Souderton wasn’t the only congregation to celebrate the imaginative Spirit. Swamp (Quakertown, Pa.) spent Lent exploring God as creator, “littering” the steps of their platform with items created by members of the congregation, symbols of God’s unique creative work in them. Their children memorized Psalm 139, which they recited on Palm Sunday after leading the entire congregation in a procession, joyfully waving palm branches.

Plains maps — Plains congregation used maps to illustrate their prayers for their region, country, and world. Photo by Dawn Ranck.

Palm Sunday marked the beginning of Holy Week and was the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem to the adoration of the crowds. The week soon turned more somber, however, as Jesus ate his final meal with his disciples, washing their feet, and predicting his betrayal. These events are remembered on Maundy Thursday.

Conference congregations reenacted Christ’s humility with their own experiences of footwashing. Traditionally, Mennonites have practiced footwashing in groups divided by gender. At Perkiomenville (Pa.) congregation this year, footwashing was one of several stations that members could visit, which, for the first time, allowed married couples or family members to wash each other’s feet.

Franconia Conference members joined Christians from all over the Philadelphia region for a Good Friday vigil outside a gun shop. Photo by Jim McIntire.

In addition to footwashing, Plains (Hatfield, Pa.) congregation acted out Christ’s care and humility by setting up prayer stations with large maps of the world, the country, and their region. Members could pray for and mark areas on each map with a dot or a heart.

Compassion for the community continued to spread into Good Friday, the day when followers of Jesus remember his death on the cross. Members of churches all over the Philadelphia region gathered outside a gun shop in the city for a Good Friday vigil. As these believers stood against violence in the city, others gathered in Good Friday services to remember that Jesus’ death made peace and reconciliation with God, and one another, possible.

Salford power outage — Salford congregation spent part of its Good Friday service in the dark, thanks to an unexpected power outage. Photo by Emily Ralph

Just when Good Friday seemed like it couldn’t get any darker, Salford (Harleysville, Pa.) congregation’s evening service was suddenly interrupted by a power outage. For just a few, brief moments the congregation was surprised by the darkness and powerless to do anything but sit in the shadow of the cross.

There was a hush in Franconia Conference on the Saturday of Holy Week, as though the Church was holding its breath, waiting for the joy they knew was coming on Easter morning.

And the joy did come—in colors and flowers, in song and story, in food and hope and promise. Crosses were draped in white and lilies and hyacinths and forsythia decorated sanctuaries. Congregations met as the sun rose, around breakfast tables, and in their morning services to celebrate an empty tomb.

Philadelphia Praise Center viewed a video in which church members took to the city streets to ask people about the significance of Easter. Blooming Glen (Pa.) congregation acted out the resurrection story in a chilly sunrise service and a member at Deep Run East (Perkasie, Pa.) built a custom tomb to display on Easter morning. In Vermont, members of Bethany congregation participated in an ecumenical sunrise service on the side of Mt Killington and then, after brunch, were led in worship by a new generation of storytellers–their children.

It’s a familiar story, and yet it’s born fresh each year as we once again walk with Jesus through Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter season. In this story, we recognize what theologian H.S. Bender once wrote: we live on the resurrection side of the cross. May we continue to celebrate Christ’s resurrection by living our lives as a resurrected people.

He is risen: He is risen indeed!

View the photo gallery

Multimedia

Footer