News

Leaders from several Atlantic Northeast Conferences send letter of concern

February 27, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

Leaders from Franconia, Franklin, Lancaster, New York, and Virginia Conferences of Mennonite Church USA provided a letter of counsel and concern to the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board in light of recent decisions by Eastern Mennonite University and Mountain States Mennonite Conference regarding employment and pastoral credentialing of persons in same sex relationships. Franconia Conference is providing access to this letter to delegates as a follow up of full disclosure. The letter was sent with intent to be processed at the most recent meeting of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board in Harrisonburg, VA on February 13-15.

The letter can be downloaded here.

Outcomes from the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board meeting are linked here.

March 3, 2014 edit: The attached letter has been updated to the most recent version, which includes the conference minister of Franklin Conference as a signatory.

MC USA director booked for Conference town hall meetings

February 27, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

Ervin Stutzman, Mennonite Church USA Executive Director, will be the featured guest for two town-hall meetings in April. These meetings will be a time for members of Franconia Conference congregations to engage with Stutzman around recent developments in Mennonite Church USA and to ask questions about the denomination’s future.

These meetings are open to anyone from Franconia Conference communities and are scheduled for Thursday, April 10, 7-9 pm at Swamp Mennonite Church (2125 Rosedale Road, Quakertown, PA) and Friday, April 11, 9:30-11:30 am at Salford Mennonite Church (480 Groff’s Mill Road, Harleysville, PA).

This will also be an opportunity to hear and converse directly with Stutzman regarding the Executive Board’s response to Eastern Mennonite University’s listening process around the review of hiring policies toward individuals in same-sex relationships, and to Mountain States Mennonite Conference’s licensing of a pastor who is in a covenanted same-sex relationship.

Franconia Conference members who live over 60 miles from either of these locations can join the conversation live by streaming either meeting online and submitting questions and comments through email and social media. Those who plan to participate from a distance must RSVP by April 9 by emailing eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org.

Comments and questions for clarity should be submitted to congregational pastors and forwarded to Franconia Conferences offices by Friday, April 4.

Local churches to offer hospitality for 2015 MWC Assembly

February 26, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

Mennonite World Conference Staff

Gahira sat on the street, resting from her one-mile walk into the city.

Cheryl (United States) had met Gahira on the plane into Axum, Ethiopia. After using gestures and drawings to get to know one another, Gahira made it clear that she wanted to serve Cheryl coffee, an Ethiopian act of hospitality.

When they had parted at the airport, Cheryl wasn’t sure if she would ever see the Ethiopian woman again. But here Gahira was, a woven basket of injera and a carafe of coffee in hand. Cheryl gathered coffee cups from the hotel and sat on the patio with Gahira and her son, an interpreter, and the other members of Cheryl’s touring party.

“Together we celebrated our presence in this place,” Cheryl reflected later. “This place made holy by the warm, loving gesture of Gahira.” (read the full story)

Cheryl and her companions were just some of the hundreds who participated in Assembly Scattered in 2003, where they encountered the people, ministries, and stories of Anabaptist churches in an urban area or community while traveling to or from the Mennonite World Conference Assembly Gathered in Zimbabwe.

In 2015, Assembly Scattered will take place in communities across North America immediately before and after the Assembly Gathered in Harrisburg, PA, USA on July 21-26, 2015. These visits provide opportunities for Anabaptist brothers and sisters from around the world to get a taste of the church in North America and for hosts to experience the wonderful diversity of the global family of faith.

“After 20-some hours on planes, with my body clock six hours off, I finally arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe, eager for rest and sleep,” remembers Daniel (United States). It was dark when he arrived at his hosts’ home, but the evening meal was ready. “[Canaan and Listei] had me sit down in the living room in front of a coffee table arrayed with food.”

Listei washed his hands in a Zimbabwean gesture of welcome. “She apologized that she couldn’t kneel before me because her knees were stiff,” says Daniel. “We older people understand each other on a subject like this.” (read the full story)

The 2015 Assembly Scattered will open doors for building new relationships with Anabaptists from around the world. Each location will include partnerships among local congregations and ministries to introduce participants to a specific context of Anabaptism in North America. Although the participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements and paying for their own lodging and food for the 1-3 day trip, local communities are encouraged to offer hospitality.

“Despite the additional work involved, it was a great privilege to serve borscht [soup] to so many visitors,” says the main cook at the KM 81 Mennonite Leprosy Hospital in Paraguay, which hosted an Assembly Scattered group in 2009. “I dare say that most enjoyed the food and showed their appreciation by singing beautiful hymns.” (read the full story)

Groups of North American churches are invited to submit applications to host an Assembly Scattered in their community. Go online at www.mwc-cmm.org/pa2015 and click on “Assembly Scattered” for more information and registration forms.

“I’m looking forward to working with North American churches that are eager to extend hospitality to guests in their communities,” says Evanna Hess, the newly appointed Assembly Scattered coordinator from central Pennsylvania. “It will be exciting to see the friendships that develop as a result of their hospitality.”

The deadline for submitting proposals is June 1, 2014.

MC USA Executive Board releases statement, approves resolution

February 20, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

MC USA EB Feb 2014 — Members of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board pray with MennoMedia staff. Photo by Hannah Heinzekehr.

HARRISONBURG, Va. (Mennonite Church USA)—In the midst of a winter storm, members of the Executive Board (EB) of Mennonite Church USA met Feb. 13–15 to prayerfully discern a way forward on a number of issues facing the broader church.

Together they affirmed the passage of a revised churchwide statement on immigration justice and a resolution that puts in place a task force to review the decision of Mountain States Mennonite Conference to license a pastor in a committed same-sex relationship. They also met with staff from MennoMedia to affirm a new strategic direction for the agency.

Thirteen members of the EB met with Ervin Stutzman, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, and other EB staff members at Park View Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va. Weather prevented five board members from coming to the meetings in Harrisonburg, but they joined the board’s executive sessions via conference call.

The majority of the board’s time together was spent discerning a response to calls from across the church to respond to conversations around inclusion of LGBTQ members of Mennonite Church USA in leadership roles across the church. The board’s conversation focused primarily on two recent events: the decision by Mountain States Mennonite Conference to license Theda Good, a pastor who is in a committed same-sex relationship, for ministry at First Mennonite Church in Denver; and the announcement of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg to begin a listening process to review its policy of hiring faculty and staff in committed same-sex relationships.

Moderator Elizabeth Soto Albrecht of Lancaster, Pa., opened the meeting by exhorting the Executive Board to be communities of grace to one another.

“Mennonite Church USA is not a perfect church; it is a messy church,” she said. “We are a bunch of people trying to make sense of God’s grace. This weekend we must listen, listen and listen to one another and to members across Mennonite Church USA.”

EB members modeled their work together on principles of discernment suggested by Ruth Haley Barton: preparing and gathering information; putting themselves in a position to listen for God’s guidance; and discerning God’s will together. They were also joined by a facilitator, David Brubaker from EMU, who helped guide the conversations.

The board began by sharing their personal perspectives on the actions taken by Mountain States Mennonite Conference and EMU. The opinions stated spanned a broad spectrum. Some board members expressed disappointment that the board and staff did not process these decisions with the area conference and university before they were announced. The EB also read and listened to the words of individuals across the church who sent letters and e-mails urging the board to take action in response to the recent decisions by Mountain States Mennonite Conference and EMU. The letters also represented a wide range of opinions on the issue.

“What does it mean to come as a board member representing the whole—a whole that includes a broad diversity of opinions?” said Dick Thomas, past moderator and current board member from Lancaster, Pa. “We need to trust the Lord to help us make changes we need to make in time to be relevant and in a way that allows us to get there together.”

The Executive Committee of the board then presented a proposed statement for the board members to consider, encouraging them to take the statement with them overnight and to spend time in prayer discerning God’s leading. Over the course of the next two days, board members offered feedback and counsel to the Executive Committee. The statement underwent three revisions before the board approved a final version. While the statement had broad support across the EB, it did not pass unanimously.

As a whole, the board wrestled with the difficult task of responding to concerns expressed by LGBTQ brothers and sisters, while also tending to relationships with all parts of the church as expressed in written covenants of mutual accountability.

“We need to own all the tears and the anger that have gone into these conversations and honor them,” said Soto Albrecht. “We are called to represent the whole of Mennonite Church USA, and that’s not easy.”

The final statement calls for the creation of a listening task force to review the process by which Mountain States Mennonite Conference decided to license Theda Good, and to examine the ways these actions interface with the existing membership guidelines and polity documents of Mennonite Church USA. The task force will consist of Moderator-elect Patricia Shelly of Newton, Kan. (chair); David Boshart, Executive Committee member; and two to three members of the Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) (to be named). After receiving counsel from the CLC at its next meeting in March 2014, the task force will conduct a review and bring a recommendation for next steps to the EB at its June 2014 meeting. The full text of the statement, which includes instructions for contacting the task force, is available online.

The board also met with Loren Swartzendruber, president of EMU, and Carlos Romero, executive director of Mennonite Education Agency (MEA), to learn more about EMU’s listening process regarding the hiring of faculty and staff members who are in committed same-sex relationships. Swartzendruber said that after listening to voices from across the church, he and the EMU cabinet will bring a recommendation to EMU’s board. The EB urged Swartzendruber to stay in close consultation with Romero and MEA as the process moves forward.

During the meeting, the board also affirmed the release of a revised statement on immigration justice, which delegates called for at the Phoenix convention in July 2013. The statement reads in part, “We renounce the indifference to and mistreatment of undocumented and documented immigrants that has occurred and continues to occur in our congregations, our communities and this country. We are committed to joining God’s reconciling mission and to live and act as sisters and brothers in Christ regardless of our legal status.”

The statement also includes a list of resources for congregations and individuals to use in learning more about and engaging immigration issues. Iris de León-Hartshorn, director of transformative peacemaking for Mennonite Church USA, is also working on the development of a six-week curriculum, Radical Hospitality: Responding to Issues of Immigration, for use in Sunday school and small group settings.

The EB met with MennoMedia staff members to learn about their strategic planning process for the next five years. They plan to explore new print-on-demand technologies; to continue expanding the marketing and availability of Herald Press books; and to gear up for the launch of a new Sunday school curriculum, Shine, in the summer of 2014. Together the board prayed for Menno Media’s staff and board, and blessed their work.

The EB also said farewell to and blessed Marty Lehman, associate executive director for churchwide operations for Mennonite Church USA, who will be leaving her position in April 2014; and Nancy Heisey, who resigned her EB term early..

The CLC will meet March 20–22 in Newton, Kan. The EB’s next meeting will be June 26–28 in Chicago.

See also:

Executive Board statement: Moving Forward
Letter to Mennonite Church USA from Moderator Elizabeth Soto Albrecht

MCC U.S. Summer Service Program going strong

February 18, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

Summer Service worker Mya Ray demonstrates to Joanne Dietzel, conference coordinator for Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA, a way of weaving as done by Burmese women. Ray, who immigrated to the U.S. from Thailand after fleeing Myanmar, the southeast Asian nation also known as Burma, served with her home congregation, Habecker Mennonite Church in Lancaster, in 2011 and 2012. (MCC photo/Kim Dyer) — Summer Service worker Mya Ray demonstrates to Joanne Dietzel, conference coordinator for Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite Conference, a way of weaving as done by Burmese women. Ray, who immigrated to the U.S. from Thailand after fleeing Myanmar, the southeast Asian nation also known as Burma, served with her home congregation, Habecker Mennonite Church in Lancaster, in 2011 and 2012. (MCC photo/Kim Dyer)

by Ed Nyce, Mennonite Central Committee

AKRON, Pa. – For years Keshia Kay Littlebear of Billings, Mont., was certain where her path would take her when she was older and the summers rolled around. She was going to be an MCC U.S. Summer Service worker.

From 2002 to 2005 she was just that – spending 10 weeks of her summers serving at White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church in Busby, Mont. She worked with recreational activities and as youth ministry coordinator.

Eventually she supervised the church’s Summer Service program while honing leadership skills that, she said, she uses to this day as a board member of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Central States and other service in her church and denomination.

The Summer Service program is a short-term MCC U.S. initiative that supports young people of color in their development of leadership skills through working with their local churches or communities. The program partners with churches that are members of MCC U.S.’ supporting denominations and related organizations. Since the program’s 1982 inception, 1,387 people have participated. (Franconia Conference’s Philadelphia Praise Center has been a participating congregation on more than one occasion.)

A 2013 review of the Summer Service program led by MCC U.S. Anti-oppression Coordinator Ewuare Osayande elicited feedback from participant churches, former and current Summer Service workers, and MCC staff and board members.

Danilo Sanchez, seen here leading worship at Franconia’s 2008 Conference Assembly, will begin work as the MCC Summer Service national coordinator in late February.

Survey participants consistently affirmed the program for providing service and leadership development opportunities for youth of color. As a result, the U.S. board increased funding for the program and expanded the position of national coordinator to half time. Danilo Sanchez, Whitehall congregation, will start in that position in late February.

Sarah Thompson was a Summer Service worker for nearly three months in 2004 at Prairie Street Mennonite Church, Elkhart, Ind., where she is a member. She worked with children’s programs and as a community organizer.

“I had just taken a community organizing course at Spelman College,” said Thompson. “Meanwhile, MCC Summer Service was about developing leadership in home communities. So it was a perfect fit.

“Prairie Street created my Summer Service position because of a pressing need in the community to organize to resist city hall’s decision to destroy a local school building rather than renovate it,” said Thompson. Since the decision was made without the input of local residents, Thompson’s job empowered her to canvass the neighborhood and discover what the community wanted. At the end of the summer the community reported the findings to city hall, which “initially halted the wrecking ball,” she said.

The work catalyzed the next few years of community organizing that made it possible for the building to be saved; it is now on the state historical register. In addition, the project brought together members of the community from diverse backgrounds to work collaboratively, she said. Today the building serves as housing and an active community center.

As a college student, working with her home church and community in the summer helped her to stay grounded even during the school year, she said. That connection continues today for Thompson, who has stayed involved with MCC in numerous ways since Summer Service and was recently appointed executive director of Christian Peacemaker Teams. She lives in Chicago.

Last year, Hannah Nursalim, of Los Angeles, served with her church, Maranatha Christian Fellowship, in Northridge, Calif., and with Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles (CLA-LA), based in Inglewood. At church, she performed support tasks related to worship and a fundraising event. Nursalim studies at University of Washington in Seattle.

Seeing CLA-LA colleagues assist people needing legal advice on immigration, crime-related matters and more “definitely made me want to pursue a career in helping people,” she said.

Lani Prunés was a Summer Service worker for three summers at Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association (OCCCDA) in Philadelphia, a ministry of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church, her home congregation. Prunés is a senior at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Prunés was co-director in 2009 and 2010 and sole director in 2011 of OCCCDA’s Summer Art and Enrichment Program, a day camp for children. She supervised campers and counselors, assisted in hiring and facilitated conflict resolution among campers. In addition, she contacted parents when necessary, helped set curriculum and schedules and created pamphlets.

“I think being in Summer Service showed me ways to use the gifts God gave me – even before I realized I had them,” she said. Prunés added that she can see how God used her to do good, but also used others to provide spiritual guidance to her that set her along her current paths.

“Summer Service was … crucial to the summer camp’s development,” she said. “The camp really needed leaders who could put the time into all the work that it takes, and being a service worker meant being able to commit fully and entirely to projects and more importantly, to the campers.”

Churches too benefit from Summer Service, said Kim Dyer of MCC East Coast, former national coordinator of the program. “Through the grant support of MCC, churches are able to further their dreams for ministry and outreach by utilizing the skills and gifts of a young adult from their congregation.”

Prunés recommended the Summer Service program, with one helpful hint. “Absolutely,” said Prunés when asked, “but only to those who are willing to be vulnerable and commit themselves to the people they encounter and the mission they hope to fulfill.”

Nursalim agreed. “In the summer months, it’s easy to be home, hanging out with friends, but Summer Service allows you to do something meaningful with your time.”

Pittsburgh congregation closes as economy improves

February 12, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, associate director of communication

Greensburg Worship Center has closed its doors as of December 2013. Greensburg, which joined the conference in 2010, was a predominantly Indonesian congregation located in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

“Greensburg closed for similar reasons that it opened—the economic migration of Indonesian immigrants due to employment opportunities elsewhere,” explained Steve Kriss, Greensburg’s LEADership Minister. “The congregation grew at the height of the economic downturn, when there were more employment opportunities in Pittsburgh than in other areas. As the economy recovered, individuals moved back to larger Indonesian communities on the east coast.”

Many of the people who were part of Greensburg congregation moved to Philadelphia and are actively participating in Nations Worship Center, a sister congregation.

It may be difficult for some in a conference community that includes established, centuries-old congregations to grasp the kind of fluidity that leads a congregation to close after only four years, but for congregations working mostly with individuals who have recently immigrated, the forces of the economy are felt more intensely. “It’s possible these kinds of stories will become less unusual,” said Kriss. “We celebrate the conference Indonesian community’s responsiveness to the increased presence of Indonesian immigrants in Pittsburgh and in facilitating transitions back to Philadelphia.”

Although Pittsburgh is beyond the geographic boundaries usually associated with Franconia Conference, the conference has a history of flexibility when it comes to church planting, equipping and supporting church plants by Franconia Conference members who have migrated elsewhere—even as far away as Mexico or Hawaii. “Franconia Conference has a tradition of extending its ministry to where its people have gone,” said Kriss. “It’s part of our missional, entrepreneurial, and pastoral DNA as a community.”

Delegates discuss collaboration in time of anxiety

February 8, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, associate director of communication

Franconia Conference delegates gathered February 8 at Franconia Mennonite Church, Telford, Pa., to brainstorm ways of building relationships and collaboration in ministry and mission as part of a two-year direction toward growth and discernment as a community.

After a time of worship and reflection, delegates prayed for their congregations, the conference and denomination, and institutions of the church that are in difficult processes of discernment recognizing the tensions across the denomination related to human sexuality. Conversation then turned to identifying areas for mutual support and engagement; sharing ways that the conference community can strengthen relationships to open possibilities for healthy conversation and collaboration.

“We again recognize that God has gifted our conference with great diversity,” said Marta Castillo, assistant moderator. “Our Anabaptist commitments to reconciliation and community invite us to stay united in the midst of diversity…. So we again today commit ourselves to live openly and with integrity as brothers and sisters.”

Conference executive Ertell Whigham shared the intention of LEADership Ministers to reintroduce the principle of leadership clusters, where pastors from diverse congregations regularly meet together for support and networking. To make this more feasible for pastors, the School for Leadership Formation will scale back the number of other events pastors are encouraged to attend.

Some delegates enthusiastically supported the reimplementation of clusters and encouraged conference staff to explore ways to also engage between all congregation members rather than only credentialed leaders. Some dreamed of ways for members of diverse congregations to partner beyond ministry—to have fun together, worship, and play. Others questioned how we discern which issues to prioritize in mission together.

“Are we taking seriously the issues that we ought to be taking seriously?” asked Josh Meyer, associate pastor of Franconia congregation. “We were reminded of Matthew 23 where Jesus says, ‘… you neglect the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, faithfulness.’ How can we as churches, as a conference, be more committed to justice, mercy, faithfulness?”

Meyer’s table group wondered if the conference could focus together on matters of justice instead of division, working, for instance, on an issue that many are passionate about: combatting human trafficking. Since one goal of the morning’s gathering was to build relationships around a common area of mission and call, Whigham asked delegates whose congregations are interested in working together against human trafficking to raise their hands so that they could network on the spot. Delegates from a dozen congregations responded.

“Sitting down and talking to one another is a good thing,” reflected conference moderator John Goshow. “I think we’re enjoying one another’s company this morning [which] demonstrates why we need to do more of that than we’ve done in the past.” He encouraged delegates to continue to pray for the denomination in days ahead. “This call for prayer does not need to end today. Our church needs the continued prayers of all of us.”

Listen to the podcast:

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Feb 8 Delegate Mtg.mp3[/podcast]

See the Facebook photo album

Racial-ethnic leaders want expanded leadership pool

February 4, 2014 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Anna Groff, The Mennonite (reposted by permission)

Forty-five participants gathered in Leesburg, Va., Jan. 30-Feb. 2, for the third installment of Hope for the Future.

Hope for the Future is a gathering for Mennonite leaders of color and other Mennonite leaders to work on finding solutions for culturally appropriate leadership development.

The first meeting was held Jan. 9-11, 2011, in Tampa, Fla., and the second was held Jan. 25-27, 2013, also in Leesburg.

The first two meetings were open only to members of under-represented racial/ethnic groups (Africans, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans).

This year was the first time members of the dominant culture were invited to join for part of the meeting. About 10 white leaders joined the gathering.

On the final day, the participants named three areas of focus that came out of the previous day’s work.

The three areas include more networking opportunities, expanding the pool of leaders and intentionality by “credible” leaders to ensure access to resources for leaders of color.

Regarding the need to expand the pool of leaders, Ertell Whigham, executive minister of Franconia Mennonite Conference, said, “There’s a small pool of people that get overexposed.”

Several participants mentioned concrete ways to expand this pool—especially for leaders of color.

These ideas include cultivating leaders as young as high school age, keeping in touch with leaders as they transition to college and throughout their life, being sensitive to gender issues and offering networking opportunities for young people of color.

Another theme that emerged throughout the gathering was access to the “invisible playbook”—the unwritten rules in a culture that those new to the dominant culture feel pressure to learn.

Mentors and credible leaders of the dominant culture must offer insights into this playbook to minority leaders.

Iris De León-Hartshorn, director of transformative peacemaking, also pointed out the significance of “being in relationship.”

She said she hears agencies ask, “Why don’t these [minority groups] come to our events or use our material?”

De León-Hartshorn challenged the agency representatives to visit the communities and gatherings of people of color first.

“Relationships have to be intentional,” she said.

She provided several upcoming opportunities this year: the Native Assembly in Winnipeg July 28-31 and the Iglesia Menonite Hispana and African-American Mennonite Associate conferences in August.

On Feb. 1, Luke Hartman called on the members of the dominant culture to move beyond acting as allies or advocates. The term ally, in particular is “overutilized, played out, tired,” he said.

Allies demonstrate support to those in the minority group, and advocates voice their responsibility to bring social change, said Hartman, who is vice president for enrollment at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va.

However, he asked the white leaders present to work as “agents of change” that have the “power to act to create change.”

“It’s more than a social relationship,” he said. “[Agents] engage in strategic action designed to bring about ongoing organizational improvement.”

The gathering also included times of worship led by Moniqua Acosta. Isaac Villagas, pastor of Chapel Hill (N.C.) Mennonite Fellowship, and Stanley Green, executive director of Mennonite Mission Network, offered the messages.

Villegas spoke about recognizing God in the strangers among us as well the power in Communion.

“Jesus turns the table on ‘host’ and ‘guest’ in Communion and reminds us we are guests in God’s house,” he said on Feb. 2.

On Feb. 1, Green—referring to Acts 13—said that the cosmopolitan and diverse nature of the church in Antioch demonstrates God’s “design for the church.”

The next Hope for the Future gathering is scheduled for Jan. 22-25, 2015, with the location to be decided.

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