News

Beauty, Mosquitoes & Service in Alaska

June 21, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

From June 2-9, 22 a group of 22 people from Souderton Mennonite Church and 6 friends traveled to Alaska to serve at two summer camps. The Victory Bible Camp group included Glenn Bauman, Wendy Clemmer, Linda Gehman, Steve Halteman, Alan Landis, Merrill & Nancy Landes, Earl & Betty Mininger, Keith & Dottie Reed; and friends – Phil Gehman, Linda’s son, and Debbie Landis, Alan’s sister. The Camp Li-wa group included Ed Brubaker, Don Housel, Austin & Julie Landes, Drew Mininger, Dottie Mininger, Jon Moyer, Merrill Moyer, Tim Moyer, Gary & Phyllis Sellars; and friends, Justin & Melissa Metzler and Dave & Ruthie Mumbauer from East Swamp Church. Click here to see more photos from their trip. Members of each group wrote reflections on their experiences.

Working in God’s Beautiful Wilderness at Victory Bible Camp

By Dottie Reed

Alaska Victory Camp backhoe — Phil Gehman used the track hoe to backfill a trench at Victory Bible Camp in Alaska.

The thirteen participants who arrived at Victory Bible Camp (a two-hour ride from Anchorage) were awed by the creative splendor of our Lord in this area. Though it was cool and often rainy, the group worked hard, many times outside in the weather. We built three flower beds, constructed an outside bench, fixed benches around the fire rings, built a box around the phone in the gym, weeded a very large rock garden, cleaned the chapel and Miracle Lodge (dining and conference rooms, restrooms), relocated switches in restrooms, wired exhaust fans, replaced light bulbs, cut holes and framed areas for exhaust fans, cleaned the kitchen, cut croutons from frozen bread, unloaded the large truck full of groceries and supplies since they only go to Anchorage once a week… and anything else they asked us to do!

On Sunday we all attended Glacier View Church where our group of 50 counselors and staff from the camp made up more than half of the congregation. Devotions were held for us every morning at 7:30 a.m. on the camp theme, Truth.

Since it never gets very dark during the summer, we were able to do a number of fun activities after dinner. We toured the four smaller camps that make up Victory Bible Camp. We enjoyed dessert with Earl and Elaine Anders and Nadine Gillespie (92) who founded the camp with her husband. Many of us also visited and walked on a glacier, hiked to Inspirational Point, rode on a river ride in the rain, hiked many trails and mountains, and observed loons, muskrats, swans, curly-horned sheep, and many moose and their babies.

The first group of campers arrived on Wednesday for a short week. They seemed to enjoy themselves and some even went swimming in the beautiful lake in 38 degree water! All of the camp counselors and staff are volunteers who are supported by their friends and home churches. Our week was a great experience working in God’s beautiful wilderness.

Faith in Action… Swatting Mosquitoes

By Austin & Julie Landes

Alaska Liwa Wood — Ed Brubaker, Drew Mininger, and Phyllis Sellars split and stack firewood at Camp Li-Wa in Fairbanks, Alaska.

We are in the throes of parenting, so it felt almost like a vacation to head 4,300 miles to Fairbanks, Alaska to serve at Camp Li-Wa for a week. Leaving our two little girls in the care of their wonderful grandparents, we boarded three flights and exchanged our duties as mom and dad for almost constant daylight, moose sightings, and swatting mosquitoes–otherwise known as the state bird, according to Don Housel!

Our group reinforced and extended a hay loft 60 feet, built a fence around a petting zoo, split and stacked firewood, helped finish a new log cabin for the campers, sewed curtains, worked in the dining hall, and accomplished many other tasks around the camp. The highlight of our week was a day trip to Denali National Park – it was simply a surreal experience viewing some of God’s most amazing creation.

And then, three long flights back home…exhausted and back to parenting, back to work, back to our responsibilities. Why?

“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” James 2:17 (NLT)

Service projects have been part of our yearly routine since we were married. It is faith in action for us. At first, they were almost built-in to our schedule when we were senior youth advisors for seven years, but now we intentionally fit them in. Serving is worth the expense. It is worth the sacrifice of your time and your finances. It has strengthened our marriage and united us as a couple. It has helped to adjust our perspective. And there is something about traveling and living with a random group of people from your church that is just plain fun. If you ever get the chance – whether it’s serving a zip code or a country away – take it, you will be blessed.

The Garden brings renewal and hope to Doylestown

June 21, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

The congregation in Doylestown was about at the end of their rope, struggling to find ways to engage their community after years of declining attendance.

Pastor Randy Heacock knew the future didn’t look good: if the congregation continued to do things as they always had, within ten years they could easily die out.

Or, they could try something new and see what happened.

The leadership team began a process of discernment, asking “What does it mean for us, Doylestown Mennonite Church, to lose our life to find the greater life God desires for us?” said Heacock. After six months, they invited the congregation into further prayer and discernment. Heacock began conversations with the congregation’s LEADership Minister, Steve Kriss, and other young and emerging leaders in Franconia Conference.

Slowly they began to develop a plan. Less than a plan, actually, according to Scott Hackman and KrisAnne Swartley, who, along with founding team member Derek Cooper, were hired in April of 2011 to give leadership to this new congregational direction. “KrisAnne and I are organizing on the fly,” said Hackman, “we’re cultivating as we go!”

The new missional team was given flexibility and the support of the congregation as they plunged into the world of their Doylestown community, a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia that rarely allows its deeper needs to show above its suburban chic surface. They took prayer walks, hung out at coffee shops, developed relationships with the church’s neighbors.

Around the same time, a member of the community approached the leadership at Doylestown to ask if they were open to allowing unused land behind their facility to be cultivated as a community garden. Out of that partnership, the Sandy Ridge Community Garden was born.

As the missional team watched the congregation enthusiastically join the gardening project, they began to wonder what it would be like to create a Christian community with a variety of entry points, where people could belong even if they didn’t connect with or commit to Sunday morning attendance.

They were particularly inspired by the life cycle of the garden—every season has life and death, and that’s ok, they realized. Acknowledging those cycles allowed the congregation to join in where they wanted to, to back off when they needed to, to connect and release. They decided to call their new ministry “The Garden.”

By September, The Garden was ready for its first official experiment: a peace walk through Doylestown to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 and proclaim a counter-cultural witness.

Only one community family joined them.

Since this family had been 30-year residents of Doylestown, Swartley asked them to lead the prayer walk. The family guided the missional team around town, eventually leading them to the cemetery where their daughter was buried. In tears, they told the story of their daughter’s murder and shared how much it meant to them that someone was working in the community to build hope.

It was a turning point for The Garden. Although numbers were small, the missional team caught a glimpse of the importance of The Garden’s presence and ministry in Doylestown. “We need to reimagine what failure is in post-Christendom witness,” Hackman explained.

The “failures” have also opened up doors of connection with members of the congregation as the missional team shared their stories on Sunday mornings or through their blog. Members could participate in Garden Groups—home gatherings over food and conversation—or partner with the community garden and other Garden initiatives without pressure or expectations.

Some of the expectations they have surrendered have been formed by years of stories about what “mission” really is, like “we need more young people or a better worship band or a more charismatic pastor,” said Hackman. They came to realize these stories aren’t true. “What we need is to be more of what we are in spaces where people are already,” he added.

Sandy Ridge Garden — Bill Leatherman, Steve Landis and Vernon Althouse of Doylestown Mennonite Church, help one of the master gardeners of Sandy Ridge Community Garden install a brand new fence and gate.

As a result of this developing culture, the Doylestown congregation is experiencing new life and vitality. For years, there was a sense of low self-esteem at the church, a sense of failure, said Swartley. “Now there’s a renewing of their identity as loved people of God. And that makes room for other people!” It’s been inspiring to watch, she added. “They’re awaking once again to what they are and how beautiful they are and their potential.”

Doylestown has not seen a dramatic growth in their Sunday morning attendance, but they have seen an increase in the number of people who call the church their own. From community gardeners at Sandy Ridge to men and women who attend AA meetings in the church’s fellowship hall, members of the Doylestown community will say, “That’s my church!” even if they have never entered the sanctuary on a Sunday morning.

“The agenda is creating space for people to belong to each other and God,” said Hackman. It’s not a church growth plan. “And how does that result in more people coming to your church? I have no idea. But we have more people coming to Doylestown.”

The Doylestown congregation committed to a minimum of three years for this new initiative; Hackman and Swartley have high hopes for the next two years and beyond. “[My dream is] that more than half of the present congregation would try at least one experiment in the next year in their neighborhood. Any experiment,” said Swartley. “That would be super fun and then we’d get together and tell those stories—what we’ve learned, who we’ve met, how we’ve seen God at work.”

And Hackman hopes for growth, but not in the traditional sense. “Whether that growth is Sunday morning, through groups, events, I don’t care,” he said. “Our identity as Christians keeps growing and that creates more room for people looking for God.”

It’s been three years since Heacock realized that something needed to change. And something has. “While I certainly don’t know where all this is heading, I do know God is present, people are open, and lives are being transformed,” he reflected. “That is good enough for me.”

Ministerial Update (June 2012)

June 20, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

An update from Noah Kolb, Pastor of Ministerial Leadership, on behalf of the Ministerial Committee

Rose Bender Ordination — Rose Bender was ordained at Whitehall on May 27. Photo Gallery

Derek Cooper, assistant professor of Biblical studies and historical theology at Biblical Seminary in Hatfield (Pa.) was approved for a two-year license toward ordination. He and his family are members at Deep Run East (Perkasie, Pa.). The seminary, through his congregation, requested a ministerial license for his work in preparing pastors.
Joy Sawatzky was approved for a two-year license toward ordination for her ministry as chaplain with Living Branches. She presently has a license for specific ministry. She is a member of the Plains (Hatfield, Pa) congregation.
Don McDonough resigned from his associate pastoral role at Spring Mount (Pa.) to give leadership to a missional experiment called Arise in the Harleysville, Pa. area. He is accountable to Chris Nickels and the Spring Mount congregation.
Randy Good resigned as pastor at Taftsville (Vt.). He will complete his ministry there at the end of August.
Blaine & Connie Detwiler completed their pastoral leadership at Lakeview, (Susquehanna, Pa.) at the end of May. They have accepted pastoral leadership at the Marion Congregation in Franklin Conference.
Scott Landes has resigned as pastor at Frederick (Pa.) and completed his ministry there on June 15.
Rose Bender was ordained on May 27 at Whitehall (Pa.). Steve Kriss and Noah Kolb officiated. A large crowd of church community and relatives were present.
Ubaldo Rodriguez was appointed to fill an opening on the ministerial committee. Ubaldo is the church planter at New Hope Fellowship/Nueva Esperanza (Baltimore, Md.), a church plant of New Hope Fellowship Iglesia Nueva
Dennis Edwards, pastor of Peace Fellowship (Washington DC) has resigned as pastor. He has accepted a pastoral position in Minneapolis, MN. Dennis has been credentialed with Franconia serving a Partner in Mission congregation.

Whack & Roll Tournament raises funds for non-profits

June 7, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Sarah Heffner, Mennonite Heritage Center

Whack and Roll--MHEP — Teammates Donna Floyd and Courtney Floyd compete in the Mennonite Heritage Center's Whack and Roll Tournament on June 2nd.

Dan Lapp, Director of Development for the Mennonite Heritage Center, had a brainstorm several years ago about using a favorite backyard game as a fundraising event. This led to Whack & Roll Croquet Tournaments on the lawn of the Heritage Center each summer for the last four years.

Croquet has been a favorite summer pastime in southeastern Pennsylvania for many years. Accounts of croquet history vary, but it is thought the game began in Ireland and was introduced to England in the mid-nineteenth-century. The game traveled to America, and by 1882 an official National American Croquet Association was formed. Croquet was even played in the 1904 Olympics. For most, however, croquet was played in back yards on Sunday afternoons and it is still a favorite activity at summer get-togethers and family reunions.

This year’s Whack and Roll Tournament was held the first weekend of June. Friday, June 1 was the Senior Tournament for teams from local retirement communities. Teams of two enjoyed a friendly competition with the traveling trophy awarded to Living Branches. The evening Reception on the Lawn featured a dinner where the Reunion Vocal Band, Eastern Mennonite University friends since 1989, performed for an appreciative audience.

Saturday, June 2, players for seventy-two teams representing twenty-two area nonprofit organizations arrived early in the morning to sign in for the elimination tournament. These teams competed for cash prizes for their nonprofit organization on two dozen croquet courts set up on the Heritage Center campus. Daniel Hackman, a Penn View Christian School science fair finalist, brought his croquet inspired science fair project “Croquet From All Angles” to the event.

Whack and Roll--MHEP2 — Courtney Floyd and Rina Rampogu watch as Andrew McElhaney takes his shot.

Three teams of two players compete on each court. A match ends when time runs out or when both members of a team successfully “stake out” (hit the end post with their ball). Each team played two matches in the morning. In the afternoon, twenty-seven teams advanced to the quarter final round and then nine teams moved to the semi final round.

After a long day of croquet, the first place winners were Phil Swartley and Andrew McElhaney who won $5,000 for Spruce Lake Retreat; second place prize of $2,500 was won by Paul and Rina Rampogu for Quakertown Christian School and the team of Donna Floyd and Courtney Floyd won third place of $1,250 for Keystone Opportunity Center. Donations of $500 to each participating nonprofit organizations were sponsored by Bergey’s, Inc. and many local businesses were sponsors of the event.

For more information on the tournament, see the Mennonite Heritage Center website.

Salford youth extend hospitality in Allentown

June 5, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Ben Wideman, Youth Pastor, Salford

Salford-Ripple — Salford congregation collected 50 bags of groceries, which the youth distributed in partnership with Ripple Allentown.

Salford Mennonite Church is a place with many resources and talents – yet we as a church are often are at a loss at how to use these resources in the world. Every once in a while, an opportunity takes shape that touches us in a meaningful way.

During the month of February, Salford’s members collected over 50 grocery bags filled with non-perishable food items, as has been a tradition for many years. The second part of this tradition is that Salford’s youth have delivered the groceries to a community where this can be of use. Our youth leaders reached out to Steve Kriss at Franconia Conference, who suggested that it might be helpful to get in touch with the Ripple Allentown community.

Our inquiry was met with a quick response from Pastor Ben Walter, who explained that they would love the chance to connect with the Salford youth. We made plans to join them during their monthly “Community Sunday” – an intentional day set aside each month to connect with their local neighborhood.

A group of Salford’s youth and a few adults loaded up a van full of grocery bags and made the short trip north to the Ripple community. We were assigned to groups and led around by members of the Ripple family, knocking on doors and delivering groceries to anyone who needed them. We heard stories about ways that Ripple has been able to reach out to its neighborhood and were pleasantly surprised by the response we received from the people we met.

It was incredible to experience and participate in this kind of basic service and hospitality – especially in a neighborhood that was different from our own. Salford’s youth enjoyed meeting families from the neighborhood and connecting in inter-generational ways. While each participant experienced the day in their own unique way, all came away with a new-found respect for the Ripple Allentown community and the passion they have for service and hospitality. We were left wondering how we can capture this spirit of giving more fully in our own lives and how we can continue to work to bring about God’s Kingdom in our own local context. It was certainly a day we will cherish moving forward.

Conference pastors recognized for leading and serving

May 24, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Stephen Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

Tom Albright, lead pastor of Ripple, an emerging Anabaptist missional faith community in Center City Allentown was recognized by the Lehigh County Council of Churches with the Ecumenical Service Award for 2012. According to the Council, “the award is not to glorify the individual, but to give witness to the important work of affirming and strengthening Christian unity. The award is given to well-known and little-known individuals, to people deeply involved in the life of the Conference and to those who have offered their gifts elsewhere.”

Ripple is a church-plant that was birthed from Franconia Conference congregation, Whitehall Mennonite Church, just outside of the city. Tom and his wife Carolyn were honored with this award for “hearing God’s call and moving into the city.” He accepted the award on behalf of the emerging community at Ripple, suggesting that this award wasn’t only about him but also about the community of people who gather weekly and who live the Good News every day in their hearts and on the streets of Allentown.

Earlier this year, Ripple called two additional pastors–Ben Walter and Angela Moyer—to serve alongside the Albrights in leading this growing congregation of approximately 100 people. Albright is the first Mennonite pastor recognized by the Council with this award, given since 1981. The award presentation was marked with a dinner on May 15 at Allentown’s Dieruff High School.

Aldo-award — Aldo Siahaan received his award on May 22. Photo by Basil Zhu, China World News.

As part of WPVI ABC-TV’s celebration of Asian American Heritage month in Philadelphia, Aldo Siahaan, lead pastor of Philadelphia Praise Center, was honored for his commitment to the Indonesian immigrant community since arriving in Philadelphia over a decade ago, part of a wave of approximately 10,000 immigrants from Indonesia who settled in Philadelphia in the last 15 years, the majority of whom were Christians escaping religious persecution in their homeland. Siahaan is the first Mennonite pastor to receive this award.

Siahaan was honored for his work in community service and communication among the immigrant community in South Philadelphia along with approximately ten other leaders from the diverse Asian communities in the city. He is the founding pastor of the now multilingual, multiethnic urban Anabaptist congregation of Philadelphia Praise–approximately 250 people, the largest Mennonite Church USA congregation in the city.

An award celebration was held at the historic Joy Tsing Lau restaurant in Philadelphia’s Chinatown section on May 22. The celebration included cultural celebrations of the Delaware Valley’s Asian communities, from Pakistani dance to Japanese Kobuki-style drama.

For Siahaan, the honor was unexpected. But for members of the congregation at Philadelphia Praise, the honor was appropriate and even missional. According to Adrian Suryajaya, a young adult leader from Philadelphia Praise who attended the event along with Siahaan, “The time has come for Godly leaders to rise and be recognized, to be salt and light. Christians are called to being God’s love, passion and Good News to the community where we are placed.”

Nations Worship Center to host fundraising dinner

May 24, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Nations Worship Center will be hosting a dinner next month to celebrate its ministry and expansion in South Philadelphia. The dinner, which will be held at the Indonesian Restaurant located at 1725 Snyder Ave, Philadelphia, on Saturday, June 16 at 5:30pm, will raise funds for the purchase and renovation of a new worship and ministry center.

The new facility, located on W. Ritner St. in South Philly, is a former catering hall that will provide the congregation with over 8700 square feet of space, out of which they hope to host community meals and offer groceries like rice and noodles to neighbors who need them, according to congregational pastor, Beny Krisbianto.

Up until now, Nations Worship has been renting a building on McKean St., down the block from its sister congregation, Philadelphia Praise Center. The congregation has been ministering to Philadelphia’s Indonesian population since 2006 and hopes to expand that reach while adjusting to a neighborhood just a few blocks south.

Steve Kriss, LEADership Minister for Nations Worship, along with Krisbianto and Aldo Siahaan, pastor at Philadelphia Praise Center, will be present at the June dinner to share about the congregation’s vision and the role this new church facility will play in meeting this vision. “Purchasing a building is an investment incarnation, putting roots in a neighborhood,” said Kriss, “It’s an important part of the journey for immigrant congregations to embrace life and move toward holy stability that allows the Spirit to move in new ways.”

NWC new building — The new building on Ritner St. in South Philly.

The dinner will be free, and all are invited. During the evening’s festivities, participants will be given the opportunity to make a contribution to cover the cost of the meal and support the important work that Nations Worship is doing in South Philadelphia, said Franconia Conference moderator John Goshow in his invitation to the event.

Not only will this dinner be an opportunity to assist the congregation in raising the down payment for the mortgage (which will be held by Everence), it will also provide the chance to enjoy authentic Indonesian food and celebrate the exciting future ahead of Nations Worship, he added.

Vina Krisnadi, a part of the leadership team at Nations Worship Center, is excited about the opportunities this new building will provide. “It’s been a long time that we have been renting for worship space. The congregation has been waiting and this now seems like the right time and space,” she said. “We can worship in any place, but by purchasing this building we will reduce our costs as well as invest in our neighborhood. With this facility, we can expand our work with children and have more space for ministry in the future. We appreciate the input and help from other Mennonite congregations as we look forward to renovations. We are grateful for Everence’s support and other Mennonite sisters and brothers who have contributed already to our efforts.”

Franconia youth collect “Pedals for Progress”

May 17, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

El Salvator 1 — Bikes provide low-income men and women with reliable transportation for commuting to work, transporting produce to market, or accessing health care and other services. Photo provided.

Franconia Mennonite Church senior high youth will be collecting used bikes this Saturday, May 19, from 9am to noon at the church on Harleysville Pike in Telford, Pa. These bikes will be repaired and distributed through Pedals for Progress, an organization that collects over 5000 bicycles a year to redistribute in countries in the global south and Eastern Europe.

The bike drive seemed like a perfect project for the active youth group at Franconia, according to drive organizer Bekah Ford. “Our youth group is interested in sports and being active,” said Ford, a sophomore at Souderton High School. “We realize that we’re blessed with the tools to do this, including bicycles. The fact that our outgrown and unused bikes could be put to use in countries of need is exciting!”

In addition to bikes, the Franconia youth are collecting sewing machines. Photo provided.

In addition to collecting bikes, the youth group hopes that this event will raise awareness of living conditions around the world. In comparison, many people in our church community have been blessed with a magnitude of resources, said Ford. “We believe these [resources] have been given to us so that we may be equipped to bless others in the name of Jesus Christ.”

The Franconia youth group has a big dream: to collect over 181 bikes so that they break Pedals for Progress’ one day collection record this year. They also are looking for donations of working portable sewing machines, bike wrenches, and funds to cover the cost of processing, shipping, rebuilding, and distributing each bike. All cash and material donations are fully tax deductible and a receipt will be available at the church.

Bike Shop — The collected bikes are transported overseas where they are reconditioned and distributed. Photo provided.

To date, Pedals for Progress has shipped more than 133,500 bikes to developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. In these countries the bikes are reconditioned by partner agencies and distributed at low cost to low-income working adults. These bikes provide them with reliable transportation for commuting to work, transporting produce to market, or accessing health care and other services. Steady employment for these adults is vital to the development and success of these countries’ economies.

It’s a simple premise with far-reaching effects, said Ford. “We hope to inspire generosity and meet new people in the community through this event.”

For more information on the Franconia bike drive, call (215) 815-1672 or email Mike. For detailed information about overseas projects and a current schedule of bicycle collections, visit www.p4p.org.

News

Working in God’s Beautiful Wilderness at Victory Bible Camp

Faith in Action… Swatting Mosquitoes

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