Mosaic Mennonites

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Vermont congregation severs ties

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Stephen Kriss skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

vt.jpgAfter decades of partnership, both formal and informal, Andover (Vt.) Community Church and Franconia Mennonite Conference have disengaged. Most recently, the Andover congregation had been considered a Partner in Mission through the credentialing of the congregation’s pastors, Dan and Christine Chapman. After the termination of the Chapman’s leadership of the congregation and upon further consultation, the relationship effectively ended in November of 2007.

Andover’s historic ties to Franconia Conference go back to its beginning as families with connections to conference congregations in Pennsylvania settled in Vermont in the 1960s. In recent years, the relationship had become more tenuous. Now, suggesting that the direction of the Mennonite Church USA was not in alignment with the congregation’s future, congregational members have sought to distance themselves further from the larger bodies that include the conference and the denomination. According to Donella M. Clemens, who serves as Franconia Conference’s liaison to congregations and ministries in Vermont, “In the seven years that I have related to the group at Andover we have enjoyed times of wonderful fellowship together. We wish them the grace and blessing of God as they tell of the good news of Jesus Christ through their congregational life and worship and in their witness to the Andover community.”

Franconia Conference ministries continue in Vermont with the Bethany (Bridgewater Corrners) and Taftsville congregations, Bethany Birches Camp and an emerging congregation in the Gass area.

“While it’s always sad and difficult to see a congregation move in a different direction,” says Franconia Conference Executive Minister Noel Santiago, “We recognize that they are pursuing what is God’s call to them at this point in time. Into the future, we are committed to deepening partnerships and ministries in Vermont. We celebrate the many persons have been faithful throughout the years in the work of Andover Community Church and we are grateful to God and each one.”

MMA Welcomes Three New Board Members

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mma-logo.jpgJennifer Landis of Souderton has begun a four-year term as a board member of Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA).

MMA recently announced that Landis, along Larry Nikkel and D. Duane Oswald had all been appointed to its board of directors. They joined the twelve-member board in January.

Landis is a senior accountant, Baum, Smith & Clemens. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Delaware Valley College and is a certified public accountant. Landis and her husband Christopher are members of Franconia Mennonite Church (Telford, Pa).

Larry Nikkel, Hillsboro, Kan., recently finished his tenure as president of Tabor College where he served since 1998. He is a former president and CEO of Mennonite Health Services. Nikkel holds a bachelor’s degree from Tabor and a master’s from the University of North Carolina. He and his wife Elaine are members of Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church.

D. Duane Oswald, Fresno, Calif., is president and CEO of Avante Health. His career has focused on health care administration, and over the past 15 years, in the insurance sector of health care. He is a past moderator of Mennonite Church USA and currently serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fresno County. Oswald holds a bachelor’s degree from Goshen College and a master’s from George Washington University. He and his wife Kathi are members of Mennonite Community Church.

MMA offers financial and insurance services, as well as stewardship resources, to Anabaptist congregations and individuals. It is based in Goshen, In. and works regionally through offices in Telford, Pa, Lancaster, Pa and Harrisonburg, Va.

Annual Junior High Lock-in set for Dock High School

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lock.jpgFranconia and Eastern District conferences are teaming up to again host a lock-in for youth in grades six through eight to be held at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale, Pa, on March 14-15, from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The speaker for this year’s gathering is Scott Roth, who is youth leader at New Eden Fellowship in Schwenksville, Pa. Nate Stucky, a student at Princeton Theological Seminary and former youth pastor from Holly Grove Mennonite Church in Westover, Md, will lead music.

The theme is “Be a bucket filler!” and will encourage attendees to fill the buckets of others–and their own–by saying and doing good things for other people.

The schedule for the evening includes everything from karaoke to dodgeball to giant Dutch Blitz. The event will close with breakfast and worship.

Pizza and breakfast foods will be provided.

kids.jpgSixth- and seventh-graders should bring a snack; eight-graders are asked to bring a bring a two-liter bottle of soda or other drink. Coordinators are also asking that each youth bring children’s vitamins to donate to the MAMA Project in Honduras.

Everyone should bring tennis shoes to use on the gym floor, and table games are welcome. Youth who want to sleep should also bring a sleeping bag. Separate sleeping rooms will be available for boys and girls.

Click here for registration, schedule, and medical release forms. The deadline for registration is February 29 and cost is $15 per person, including youth leaders.

Mennonite Mission Network and Franconia Conference collaborate with summer Youth Venture

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Lora Steiner
lsteiner@mosaicmennonites.org

youth-venture.jpg ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network and Franconia Conference) — Last year, Mennonite Mission Network and Franconia Mennonite Conference collaborated on the first Youth Venture experience in Israel.

This summer, Franconia Conference will again partner with Mission Network to offer another Youth Venture learning experience in Nazareth, Israel, and will add a new location: Mexico City, Mexico. Both trips will take place in July 2008.
“This is a relevant collaboration because it brings Mission Network’s skills and Franconia conference’s relationships together,” said Steve Kriss, director of communication and leadership cultivation for Franconia Conference.

village.jpgThe Israel experience will be led by David Landis, Franconia conference associate for communication and leadership development, who also led last year’s trip. The group will begin its time in Nazareth volunteering at Nazareth Village, a first-century recreation of life during the time of Jesus.

They will then travel to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, where they will live with Palestinian families in the West Bank.

Landis hopes this year’s trip will be more educational and experiential and allow participants to meet with Israelis, Palestinians, Christians, Muslims and Jews.

An orientation will be held in the Philadelphia area.

The Mexico experience will be led by Franconia Conference staffer Lora Steiner, and will be hosted by Mexico Mennonite Conference, one of the Franconia’s partners in mission.

The first part of the trip will be spent in Mexico City, participating in service projects with local Mennonite churches and living with families from the churches.

The group will then travel to Oaxaca to explore some of Mexico’s past and current context, visiting Mayan ruins, a coffee plantation, and exploring the city.

Mennonite Mission Network works to partner with area conferences, congregations, and other groups in order to promote collaboration and networking.

“This partnership [between Franconia and Mission Network] allows us both to bring our vision and passions together and to work on these trips collaboratively instead of each trying to do something alone. It’s been a wonderful way to bring all of our unique gifts together,” said Arloa Bontrager, Mission Network Youth Venture director.

western-wall.jpgBoth trips will focus on building relationships and understanding the complex issues and perspectives that affect people in both regions.“These experiences are an important way to cultivate young leaders by giving them the opportunity to be out in the world and not only to serve, but to experience and learn as well,” said Kriss.

Youth Venture offers young adults age 14-20 the opportunity to join with other teens for one-to-four weeks of service in July or August. Youth Venture recruits a team leader and invites participants into groups that will live and work together in various North American and international mission projects, pray, and study the Bible together.

“We want youth and young adults to come away with a vision for a lifetime of service and mission, whatever that may look like for them,” said Bontrager, “Hopefully their understanding of the world and how God is working can be shaped and expanded through these experiences.”

For more information visit Service.MennoniteMission.net

View article at http://mennonitemission.net/Resources/News/story.asp?ID=1218

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Third Thursdays Pastors' Breakfast Features Questions around Leadership and Authority

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breakfast.jpg

On February, 21, 2008, Franconia Conference’s Faith and Life Advisory Council (FLAC) will lead an interactive conversation on claiming and exercising authority as pastors and leaders in our congregations. The breakfast conversation will be held at the Mennonite Conference Center, 771 Route 113, Souderton, Pa.

In a recent Growing Leaders article, “A nervous embrace…Cultivating Leadership and Authority,” Long-time church leader and FLAC chariperson James Lapp, states, “During the past ten years, more than a dozen congregations in Franconia Conference have experienced a significant crisis in their life together. In nearly all cases, the themes of leadership and authority were important challenges that needed to be addressed in order for the body to be restored to health. In general, the role of the pastor, the organizational structures of the congregation, and patterns of decision-making needed to be revisited and clarified.”

Lapp goes one to ask, “What is happening that leadership and authority so often appear as front-burner agenda for the church?” Lapp, along with fellow FLAC members, Blaine Dewiler, Beth Styer, Micheal King, and Sharon Wyse Miller hope to provide a time for reflection and conversation over the challenges that are present on congregational leadership.

The breakfast will begin at 8:00 am. Please register for the breakfast by Saturday, February 16, 2008 to Jessica Walter at jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org

View flyer for more details

Top photo by Timoyer
Bottom photo by kreg Ulery

Philly pastor reflects on Dr. King's dangerous calling at Eastern Mennonite University

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by Jim Bishop

HARRISONBURG, Va. – An Eastern Mennonite University alumnus who moved from the world of finance to “laying up” spiritual treasures in heaven spent several days at EMU as a visiting pastor and as a resource for Martin Luther King Day observances.

news1.jpgLeonard Dow, a 1987 graduate and former banker in Souderton, Pa., joined the Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia in 1990 and grew into leadership roles there. He was called to pastor the growing, multi-ethnic congregation in 1998. Oxford Circle congregation is a Partner in Mission with Franconia Conference.

Dow spoke several times on campus on the overall theme, “The Dangerous
Calling of the Gospel.” He reflected on the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader in a session Monday, Jan. 21, Martin Luther King Jr. Day – in the Campus Center Greeting Hall.

Speaking on “A Clear and Present Danger,” Dow expressed concern that Martin Luther King Day “is becoming just another sentimental, commercialized event with many people having a day off work.”

But, he said, “it’s the responsibility of places like EMU not only to honor Dr. King,” but even more, “to move beyond the dream to emphasize what he preached, lived and died for – that people be united as one in Christ.”

Holding up a copy of the EMU mission statement – that includes a call to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God – Dow told his audience that “if you apply this fully to your life, you will be ‘a clear and present danger’ in this world. People may hate you because of your faithfulness and obedience.

news2.jpg“Martin Luther King was killed not because of what he said, but because he lived out what he said and believed,” Dow declared.

“We are called as a church to become, as Dr. King said, a beloved community that brings together the marginalized of society, that views diversity as a gift and equality not as sameness but as value.”