Mosaic Mennonites

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Eriksen Morales named Franconia Conference Minister of Transitional Ministries

by

Sheldon Good
scgood@mosaicmennonites.org

Congregations often go through transitions and shifts in leadership and churches reimagine their visions. Franconia Mennonite Conference has recognized this ebb-and-flow, inviting Jenifer Eriksen Morales has to join the conference ministry as the Minister of Transitional Ministries, a forward-leaning position for a conference that has recently revised its mission.

Eriksen Morales will help church leaders develop practices that enable congregations to cope in the midst of shifts and contextual changes. As the Minister of Transitional Ministries, Eriksen Morales will be responsible for serving on the conference ministry team as a resource and support person for congregations in transition. She will also develop practices that enable congregations to cope in the midst of change and serve as a interim minister as needed with these congregations.

Noel Santiago, Executive Conference Minister, is encouraged by her passion and thankful that she has answered the call to ministry. “Jenifer is both a fulfillment and a beginning; she is a fulfillment in the sense of the vision Conference Minister Donella Clemens moved us toward by calling us to bring on staff another female Conference Minister,” Santiago said. “She is a beginning in the sense of her now being available, along with all the other staff, as a tremendous gift.”

Eriksen Morales is already inspired by the stories she has heard of Jesus’ presence in area congregations. “I look forward to ministering with and in the congregations of Franconia Conference because I sense a dedication to both following God’s call and the continual process of learning and growth along with the vision, passion, grace, and courage required to do so,” said the conference’s newest staff member. “I am attracted to Franconia’s rich history, ever-increasing diversity, commitment to cultivating young leaders and the mission to ‘equip leaders to empower others to embrace God’s mission.’”

A Phillipsburg, NJ, native who grew up worshiping at the Alpha (NJ) Mennonite congregation, Eriksen Morales is at home in Franconia Conference. In an upcoming article to be published the conference´s Intersections, she wrote: “Because I was blessed to be raised in a home dedicated to the Christian faith and a Mennonite church, my journey in life and faith are interrelated.”

Through years of serving a Lehigh Valley interfaith organization through a process of transition, which culminated in program growth, Eriksen Morales is equipped with experience and an understanding of ministerial leadership.

Eriksen Morales developed her leadership skills while working as the Coordinator of Language and Literacy Programs at ProJeCt for People, Easton, PA. “I found the process of visioning, developing, and implementing mission-driven practices, and continual evaluation, which led to targeted professional and program development, to be challenging and exciting work,” she said. ProJeCt for People is a grassroots, interfaith organization whose mission is a holistic approach to helping adults and families along the path to self-sufficiency by providing emergency services as well as educational opportunities through adult basic education, ESL, GED, family literacy, parenting, and pre-school learning opportunities.


Eriksen Morales graduated from Eastern Mennonite University with a major in History and Social Science and minors in Mission and Teaching English as a Second Language. She most recently completed her Masters of Divinity at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in May 2007. Erisken Morales was able to balance her roles of wife and mother while being a full-time student, as she received AMBS’s Church Leadership Award, an annual scholarship given to two students who enroll in a Master’s program. Eriksen Morales is married to Victor Morales and mother of two young boys, Nicolas and Jonathan, who are being raised bilingually.

Photos provided by Jenifer Eriksen Morales

"Feed Me!"

by

Gay Brunt Miller

I love watching birds, especially in the spring when they build nests, lay eggs, hatch, and then care for their young. I am particularly fascinated by watching babies who have fledged but continue to follow their parents around, mouths wide open, waiting to be fed.

bird.jpgAt some point, however, I begin to wonder when they will be mature enough to feed themselves. Even when they appear the same size as their parents, they hop behind their parents, loudly chirping, “Feed me! Feed me!” They appear big enough to get their own food, which is right at their feet, yet they expect their parents to drop the food into their gaping mouths.

I often hear people in the church talking about “being fed.” It’s the reason people frequently give for leaving a congregation or not liking a pastor. “I’m just not being fed.” This brings to mind the image of those full-sized babies crying “Feed me!”

Are we like those baby birds? Do we expect to be fed for the rest of our lives? Or do we, at some point, become the feeders?

As we and our congregations move from passively accepting our status as “the quiet in the land” to opening our hearts and our congregations to engage the world around us with God’s mission, I contend that more of us will need to become “feeders” rather than crying to “be fed.”

Many people around us need and are looking for the Good News that God is inviting us to share. Church is not just about us, and the Good News is not just for us. It is intended to be Good News for a world that is desperately looking for Good News. And many of those searching do not have a foundation on which to build. They need milk and are not ready for the meaty teaching for which those who are more mature in Christ may long (1 Corinthians 3:3, 1 Corinthians 9:7, Hebrews 5:13).

So how do we nurture those who are new to the journey without losing our own souls? Where do we get our solid food? I don’t have all the answers, but I believe that part of the answer is that more of us who have been on the journey for a while will need to step up and become the feeders. We can’t expect to continue to be fed. In assuming the responsibility to feed others, I believe we will also learn to feed ourselves (Hebrews 5:12 …though by this time you ought to be teachers…).

Are we ready for solid food? Are we ready to become part of the solution? Or will we continue to say, “Feed me!”?

Emerging Franconia Conference leaders engage through Mennonite seminary initiatives

by

Sheldon Good
scgood@mosaicmennonites.org

Six Franconia Conference young adults plan to participate in leadership development programs this summer. Four high school students will take part in Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary’s (AMBS) !Explore program, while two young adults will engage through Eastern Mennonite University’s (EMU) LEAP initiative traveling to Guatemala for two weeks.

Christopher Dock Mennonite High School students Brenden Derstine (Franconia congregation in Telford, PA), Lauren Derstine (Blooming Glen (PA) congregtion), Emily Graber (Methacton congregation in Norristown, PA), and Larissa Landis (Souderton (PA) congregation) have all been accepted into !Explore, a theological program for high school youth that provides juniors and seniors with “an experience designed to encourage the development of their gifts in leadership, expose them to the world of theological ideas, and foster in them a call to vocation in the church.” The students will participate in an 18-day immersion, with six days being spent exploring urban ministry and six days learning about theology and Anabaptist history on the AMBS campus. Brenden Derstine’s group lasted June 11-28, while the second group will begin July 9.

Lauren Derstine is especially interested in translating what she learns in !Explore to experiences at her home congregation. “My hope is to come out with a broader understanding of the Mennonite church as I explore different aspects of Blooming Glenn,” Derstine said.

Franconia Conference Associate for Communication and Leadership Cultivation Jessica Walter and Philadelphia Praise Center’s Bobby Wibowo will spend part of July in Guatemela through the LEAP program, in order to gain a better understanding of the global church and God’s overall work around the world. LEAP, which stands for “Learning, Exploring, and Participating,” provides young adults with an opportunity to “explore how they can use their gifts to serve the church.” Walter and Wibowo will begin their orientation on July 18 at EMU before flying to Guatemala on July 28.

Franconia Conference Youth Minister Marlene Frankenfield supports these young adults in their decision to engage in these faith-based exploration programs. “I am excited to see that they have an opportunity to be with other young adults from all over the U.S. and Canada, and to build lifelong relationships as they discern their passions and gifts for future leadership in the church,” Frankenfield said. “They will be gifts to their congregations as they share from this experience of personal spiritual growth and bring back new insights for the church.”

Both programs are oriented for youth to gain a better understanding of Anabaptist/Mennonite history and theology as they each personally reflect on their personal call from God to be young leaders in the church.

Visit the following websites for more information:
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary — www.ambs.edu
Eastern Mennonite University — www.emu.edu
Christopher Dock Mennonite High School — www.dockhs.org