Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

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Notes to Pastors

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Pastors invited to take FREE resources
The Resource Library at the Mennonite Conference Center has been closed due to general usage decline over the past several years. During the process of closing the library many resources were moved to Nueva Vida Norristown New Life, and you are welcome to call 484-322-0442 to inquire about borrowing items from their library. The small collection of resources that remain are available free to pastors and congregations. You are invited to use these books, videos, or choral music in your church libraries! Come to the Mennonite Conference Center on Monday, August 24 through Wednesday, August 26 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to pick up any resources you’d like. Please call 215-723-5513, ext. 110 with any questions. Thank you!

Reminder – RSVP to attend “A Day Apart” for Pastors
Pastors and credentialed leaders of Franconia Conference are reminded to RSVP for “A Day Apart” by Wednesday, September 2. “A Day Apart” will be held on Wednesday, September 9 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., at Camp Men-O-Lan as a way for pastors to come away and spend time with God in a beautiful, relaxed setting to be refreshed and restored. There will be opportunities for guided prayer, worship, being alone and being in a small group, as well as personal prayer ministry with a prayer team. Lunch will be provided. Send RSVPs to Sandy Landes.

Notes to Pastors

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Fall Workshop on Congregational Peace Building
Pastors are invited to the Peace and Justice Fall Gathering “Seeking Peace:
A Conversation to Encourage Congregational Justice and Peace Education and Action” on Saturday, October 10 from 8:30 a.m. – noon at Franconia Mennonite Church. The program will include reports about peace and justice work in local congregations and introduce new peace resources for preaching and teaching. For more information or to RSVP, email seekpeace@ppjr.org or visit efpjc.ppjr.org. Questions can also be directed to James C. Longacre at 610-845-7686 or Robert Walden at 610-861-0653.

Notes to Pastors

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“A Day Apart” for Pastors
Pastors and credentialed leaders of Franconia Conference: You are invited to “A Day Apart” planned just for you by Franconia Conference on Wednesday, September 9 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Camp Men-O-Lan. The purpose of the day is to provide a space and time for you to come away and spend time with God in a beautiful, relaxed setting to be refreshed and restored. There will be opportunities for guided prayer, worship, being alone and being in a small group, as well as personal prayer ministry with a prayer team. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP by Wednesday, September 2 to Sandy Landes.

Healthcare Resolution Update
Mennonite Church USA has provided extensive information on the healthcare resolution passed at convention 2009.  Pastors and church leaders are encouraged by MC USA to help congregational participants connect their faith to the healthcare resolution passed at Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 and the current health care issues in our country. Featured on the website are easy to access congregational handouts as well as printable copies of the Mennonite Church healthcare resolution. Pastors can gain practical sermon helps and suggested actions steps at www.MennoniteUSA.org/peace.

Notes to Pastors

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Footwashing Resource
The worship planning team at Swamp Mennonite Church in conjunction with Mennonite Media will be developing an informative, newcomer-friendly video on footwashing. Currently there is not a resource of this type available that explains the practice of footwashing in a meaningful way. Churches interested in partnering with Swamp in this endeavor may contact Emily Ralph, Minister of Music & Worship, at emily@swampmennonite.org.

Notes To Pastors

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Reminder to Update Mennodata Profiles
Pastors are reminded and encouraged to update their profiles on the Ministerial Leadership Registration System at www.mennodata.org. You can do this by visiting the website and entering your ID and password. Once logged in, go to “Personal Information”, where you can update contact information, continuing education, history of ministerial positions, etc. Please take time to assure that your ministerial positions are up to date. Any updates entered online will automatically be filled into your MLI for future use. If you are not sure of your ID and/or password, email DebR@MennoniteUSA.org, and that information will be mailed to you via the US Postal Service. You can also contact Melissa Landis at mlandis@mosaicmennonites.org with any questions.

Intersections Summer 2009

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(click the header to read all stories)

Twenty five years at the center of God’s work – Donella Clemens

Fashioned after Christ: Life after the altar call – Jessica Walter

Anabaptist vision series: Discipleship connects the ‘Story’ to life – Chris Nickels

Mutual aid in practice: Returning aid in a time of ‘drought’ – Robin Long

Grace emerging in the Appalachian Mountains: Churches form relationships across the state and beyond among immigrant communities – Sheldon Good

Protecting our future: Taking action against gun violence – Drick Boyd

From upheaval to Good News: Reflecting on over 25 years of prison ministry – Charles A. Ness

Exchanging a free meal for a listening ear: Worm Project shares stories and inspires action – Jessica Walter

Click to view/download the printable PDF

Fashioned after Christ: Life after the altar call

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Jessica Walter, Communication and Leadership Resources Manager

Over the last few years I’ve asked and been asked the following question: What comes after “being saved”?

I grew up with a theology that centered almost completely around the salvation experience. Over and over again I was told that what really mattered was whether or not I had committed my life to the Lord, so much so that I often questioned my own salvation. Long after I had made the choice to follow Christ and “accept him as my Lord and Savior” I would continually feel drawn to respond to altar calls. Eventually a voice inside me said, “Enough already, when will you ever feel completely perfect in your faith? The answer is never and responding to every altar call won’t change that.”

In that moment I realized I was missing an element of Christianity and I started to look for it. Soon I began to better understand faith as a journey and salvation not as the destination but rather a part of the beginning.

I discovered that discipleship comes after salvation and began looking at Christ’s relationships with his disciples with more probing eyes. This helped me see how Christ meets us where we are and then nudges, sometimes shoves, us forward. Suddenly I encountered discipleship in a more meaningful way.

In Chris Nickel’s reflection on Harold S. Bender’s The Anabaptist Vision he notes Bender’s explanation of the early Anabaptists’ understanding of discipleship as “a concept which meant the transformation of the entire way of life of the individual believer and of society so that it should be fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ.”

Our theological ancestors understood that when you welcomed the transforming power of Christ’s salvation into your life that it was the beginning of a commitment to walk the journey, to “fashion” your life after Christ.

In Matthew 25: 31-46 Jesus tells us how the Son of Man will come and separate the people of all nations to his left and right; judging them by whether they gave the hungry food, the thirsty a drink, welcomed the stranger, clothed the needy, looked after the sick and visited those in prison. “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me.’ (verse 40)”

In these verses Christ outlines some of the expectations he has for his disciples. Bender later notes that the early Anabaptists’ also understood discipleship as the “outward expression of the inner experience.” The following pages of Intersections are filled with the stories of fellow disciples who are expressing their salvation and fulfilling the Matthew 25 expectations.

A congregation is providing financial “water” those who are experiencing the current economic “drought” through raising support for families who have recently lost their livelihoods.

Behind prison walls, inspired disciples are defying past barriers centered around fear to visit those in prison. They are finding a people hungry for a different way of life.

Immigrant disciples who share the bond of being strangers in a new land are providing each other with hospitality. Worshiping and fellowshiping together despite the distance between them.

Those who have heard the cry of the hungry, starved by intestinal worms, are working together to combat the parasite, hoping someday to rid the world of it’s existence.

Men and women are standing up for the children in their neighborhoods, speaking and acting against gun violence so that their neighbors have a chance to life long and full lives.

A dedicated disciple reflects on her years of leadership at Franconia Conference. She has seen its members through many changes and has empowered and provided space for many other disciples along the way.

These are a few examples of the many ways we live, transformed by our faith, as disciples. What are the Matthew 25 stories that surround and inspire you? How is your life being fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ?