Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

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Notes to Pastors

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Reminder: The August 11 Pastors’ and Leaders’ Breakfast (8:00 – 10:00 a.m. at the Mennonite Conference Center) will be “The Age Convergence: Practical Tools for Effective Inter-generational Leadership,” presented by Sheldon C. Good (Mennonite Weekly Review and Salford Mennonite Church) and Stephen F. Kriss (Director of Communication and Leadership Cultivation, Franconia Mennonite Conference).

Sheldon and Steve, along with a panel of Franconia Conference leaders, will share personal experiences and best practices of working in inter-generational groups. Though it’s not always easy, team-based leadership is one way your ministry can be intercultural and effective across generations. Franconia Conference leaders working in all forms of ministry are welcome to attend.

RSVP your attendance for this breakfast by Friday, August 5, by email to Gay Brunt Miller. If you are unable to attend in person but would like to join by videoconference, contact Gay Brunt Miller … or watch for a link to the podcast.

Upcoming Breakfast: September 15 – Dr. Barbara Moses from Philadelphia Mennonite High School will present and lead in conversation about Conflict Resolution.

On August 24, The Pennsylvania State Bureau of Drug & Alcohol Programs will sponsor, “Understanding the Impact of Addiction and Supporting Strategies and Tools for Clergy and Other Congregational Leaders.” This free, one-day training will raise awareness of how addiction to alcohol and other drugs affects individuals and their families. It will discuss the roles of clergy and congregations in offering information, hope, recovery and support for those affected by alcohol and drug abuse. The course will be held at Doubletree Guest Suites Philadelphia West, 640 W. Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1003.  Please contact Vanessa Walker, at 610-713-2183 to register for this training.

Kairos School for Spiritual Formation is offering Spiritual Guidance classes in Telford once a month, from September 2011 through May 2012. These classes are designed for clergy, pastors and congregational leaders—people who are called to guide the soul of persons and congregations whom they serve. This introduction to the art and practice of spiritual companioning (spiritual direction) provides essential understandings and skills for this ministry of guidance. Telford classes will be held on Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will be led by John and Sandy Drescher-Lehman.

Intersections: July/August 2011

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Introducing: Franconia Conference Snapshots, a summary of Intersections!

Holy Hospitality

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By Ben Sutter, benjamins5@goshen.edu, Franconia Conference Communications

One thing I’ve experienced this first week of living in Philadelphia is hospitality. I arrived last Monday at one in the morning and was picked up by my boss, Steve Kriss. Steve took me to his own house, because my more permanent housing arrangements hadn’t been settled yet. He welcomed me into his life and his work for three days, allowing me to live with him. He embraced my questions and my musings as he began to describe the city and the conference. He helped me start recognizing and thinking about the nuances and characteristics that I would run into in this new setting. I felt acknowledged and accepted into his work in the conference. Steve showed me only the beginning of the incredible hospitality that I have encountered in my first eleven days in Philly.

Last Wednesday I was welcomed into the home of Pastor Aldo, one of the pastors of Philadelphia Praise Center. Aldo lives in a home with five other Indonesian young men and an older woman we call “Ibu” or “mother”. I’ve come to dearly love staying in this house, even though I’ve barely been there a week. Everyone in the house is busy, but they’re all interested in each other’s lives. Food is a very important part of how we relate to each other. Almost every time I open the front door and come back to the house, the first question I’m asked is if I’ve eaten yet. Whoever is home at mealtime eats together. I fill my plate with rice and noodles and Ibu always tells me that I need more. She takes my plate from me and adds at least one more heaping spoonful.

My roommates Yonathan and Ardi have embraced me as a friend and brother in Christ. They’ve taken me around the city and shown me the ropes. Yonathan showed off Chinatown and the Redding Market, while Ardi explained the train system to me and took me to the train station to buy my ticket to work. They’ve treated me to food, buying me McDonalds and Phileo Yogurt. We hang out together in the evenings, watching TV in the house and walking around the city.

This past Sunday, I attended my first services at Philadelphia Praise Center, one in Indonesian and a second in Spanish. I was amazed at everyone’s willingness to include me. People welcomed me as I walked into the sanctuary, shaking my hand and saying “hello,” “hola,” or just giving me a big smile. Even though languages were different, communication was possible.

In the Indonesian service, I listened to the message through a translator speaking into a head set. The songs weren’t translated, however, and many were sung in Indonesian. Most of the songs showed English translations alongside the Indonesian words on the screen in the front of the church, but I found myself drawn to singing the Indonesian. It was too hard to follow both the English translation and the Indonesian words sung by the congregation. Singing the Indonesian words, even in my poor pronunciation, made me feel apart of the community. It didn’t matter if I knew exactly what I was singing or even if I was doing it well. All that mattered was that I was joining the community in praising God. I could tell that at the core of whatever I was singing, God was being praised—God received the glory.

I’m excited to see where this summer takes me. I have felt embraced by the conference and supported by its people. I recognize the presence of God in the relationships that I’ve begun to foster and the barriers that I’m beginning to help break down. I pray that as I continue my work, I will continue to see God’s dream for the world revealed in authentic and tangible ways.

 

Notes to Pastors

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Pittsburgh Convention – Willing to share a ride? Pastor Bob Nolt, Intentional Interim Pastor at Upper Milford (robertnolt@yahoo.com) and Pastor Kathy Yoder, West Swamp (kathydyoder@gmail.com) are looking for rides to the Mennonite Church USA Convention in Pittsburgh to be part of pastors’ day on Sunday, July 3 and then home after convention. If you are willing to give them a ride, or know someone else who can, please be in touch with them. Thanks!

Intersections Summer 2011

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Marked by a celebration of peace, a pole, and a neighborhood park: Urban Anabaptists make a commitment to work and hope in Allentown

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Samantha Lioi, Whitehall
samanthalioi@gmail.com

In one corner of Franklin Park’s blacktop, Heidi Wert and her young friends sat drumming for peace, drawing in others to grab a pair of sticks and beat out a rhythm on white plastic tubs—thumping out their commitment to be agents of well-being in their neighborhoods. Among them was Peter Pettit, director of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College. Mayor Ed Palowski stood talking with folks setting up for the dedication of the Lehigh Valley’s third Peace Pole, the only one in the City of Allentown. The four-sided pillar, bearing “May peace prevail on earth” in Spanish, English, Arabic and German, was a gift to Pastor Tom Albright for his ordination. With his wife Carolyn, Tom gives leadership to Ripple, an eclectic Anabaptist urban worshiping community “moving toward Jesus as our center.” As they learn more what it means to follow Jesus, Tom says, they also learn, “We need each other.” Tom is credentialed by Franconia Mennonite Conference and the group grew out of ministry with Whitehall Mennonite Church, just outside of the city.

This mutual need, mutual honesty and encouragement were clear in the words and acts surrounding this pole on Saturday, as various people of faith gathered in a common desire for respectful relationships which build trust and shed fear in our city. Josh Chisholm of Congregations United for Neighborhood Action (CUNA) stood at the mic with his daughter on one hip, describing where he sees peace emerging. John, one of Ripple’s faithful deacons who lives across the street from the park, assisted with logistics and the pole’s unveiling. Rev. Maritza Torres Dolich of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church across the alley from the park said she sees peace in the children playing here day after day, and in her conversations with them. Torres Dolich, originally from Puerto Rico, read the peace pole’s message in Spanish on behalf of Allentown’s large and growing Latino communities. Muc Nguyen of Vietnamese Gospel Church spoke the pole’s blessing in Vietnamese, and his friend Luke Martin, long-time Mennonite missionary in Vietnam, spoke the words in German, representing the Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in the region. Lucy, a first-year student at William Allen High School just a few blocks from the park, read an original poem of peace and sang a song of worship that made children and parents move from playing on the swings and jungle gym behind her to stand listening.

Planting this pole of many tongues calling silently for peace in our city will not stop people from shooting at each other or children from calling out hurtful names across this playground. It will simply remind us who commit ourselves to making peace that we too are planted here among the swing set and the spring onions of the community garden. And unlike this pole, we have breath and voice and power to be in healing relationships. It’s true: we need each other, and we need to remind each other that we are held and empowered by the Source of peace.

View the photo album

Samantha Lioi is an associate pastor at Whitehall Mennonite Church and is part of Zume House in Center City Allentown, an emerging intentional community of faith, witness and hope.

Is your teen almost Christian? — Part 2

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Nate Stucky & Marlene Frankenfield

mfrankenfield@mosaicmennonites.org

natestucky@hotmail.com

Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy Dean has grabbed the attention of not just persons that minister with youth but church leaders across all denominations. Nate Stucky, Ph.D. student at Princeton Seminary, returned for more conversations with church leaders, youth leaders and parents at Zion Mennonite Church (Souderton, Pa.) on April 14. Nate challenged the group with three practical ways to intentionally communicate a passionate faith with young people:

1. Tell Your Own Story: Find a way to tell your own story of faith to a young person, and then let the young person share their story. As you tell these stories, try to give God “agency.” In other words, make sure God is an actor in the story. What does God do in these stories? If we don’t answer that question, I think we fail to follow the example of scripture. Three different stories you might tell:

  1. Fill in the blank: If it weren’t for ________, there’s no way I’d be following Jesus today. Name one person for whom this would be true and tell the story of how that person impacted your life and shared Jesus with you.
  2. Dark Night of the Soul: Share the story of a time when God seemed most distant. How did you navigate that time? What did God teach you in the midst of it? How did that time shape your faith?
  3. Thin Spaces: Where and when do you consistently feel closest to God? Through music, art, nature, acts of service? Pick one place and tell a young person how you discovered that space, why you think God consistently finds you there and what that thin space might reveal about who God is.

2. Building the Constellation: While there are many benefits to the professionalization of youth ministry over the past few decades, one unanticipated and unfortunate byproduct is parents treating youth workers like “the hired help” to do youth ministry. In reality, youth ministry is the calling and work of the entire congregation. Each young person needs as many people as possible surrounding him or her to encourage and nurture the seeds of faith. Mark DeVries talks about having a constellation of support around each young person. Parents might benefit from making a list of the people who make up the constellation of support around their teen (teachers, youth sponsors, pastors, family friends, peers, coaches, etc.) and then intentionally building relationships within the constellation to provide as much support and encouragement as possible for the teen. Let the teen know that all these people care about their faith!

3. Participation in the life of the church: What might we learn from interrogating the bulletin each week? Do adults know why we sing? Why we pray, read scripture, receive an offering, take communion, baptize, and preach? Each element is presumably there for a reason, and adults and teens each stand to learn something from asking hard questions about why they exist in the first place. By having these conversations, we can’t help but increase the whole community’s vocabulary of faith. Additionally, Kenda reminds us that in order for any of these practices to be “Christian,” we have to explicitly connect the practices to Jesus. We practice “X” because we follow Christ.

When Nate asked Kenda Creasy Dean what one thing she would want to tell parents, she gave a simple and profound challenge: “Do one radical thing for your faith; do it in full view of your youth; and tell them you do it because you follow Jesus, not just because you are a wholesome or nice person.”

In an age when we feel like we are losing ground in passing on faith, perhaps we need to avoid being fearful and recognize that that the Holy Spirit is already acting in the lives of our young people and that we can come alongside and more actively share our stories of faith.

Conference Finance Update — April 2011

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Two months have been completed in the 2011-12 fiscal year. Revenue is slightly ahead of budget at this point, but so are expenses. (The budget for both revenue and expenses is seasonally adjusted to reflect when activity is more likely to occur.)

A sampling of the various activities of the conference during these two months:

  • Franconia Conference School for Leadership Formation: a Damascus Road Training was held at Philadelphia Mennonite High School and two Pastors and Leaders Breakfasts were held.
  • Regional Partnerships: conference leaders attended the Mennonite Church USA Constituency Leadership Council meetings held in Ohio, with leaders from other conferences.
  • $13,500 in Missional Operations Grants was given out to four congregations for new ministry projects. We feature stories from these grants in Intersections.
  • LEAD/Congregational Ministries: the annual Jr. High Youth event was sponsored by the conference again.
  • $1,250 in Leadership Cultivation Grants was given to seven emerging leaders.
  • Ministerial Leadership: Training & Development Grants and Ministerial Counseling Grants were provided to assist three pastors in their development as leaders.
  • Conference Board: Mennonite Health Services is continuing to give board development training for the new board members.
  • $5,990 in assistance was given from the Ministers Retirement Fund to those pastors and spouses who served in the era before retirement funds were established.
2 months
Operating Budget
Actual  Budget
Revenue (from all sources)
$103,983
$98,294
Expenses
$137,947
$132,051
Line of Credit Payment
$4,167
$4,167
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Net
($ 38,131)
$ (37,924)