Uncategorized

(click the header to read all stories)

Read the articles online:

• Partners in Mission Invigorate Franconia Conference– Gay Brunt Miller
• Establishing Partners In Mission: Finding ourselves transformed by God as well– Noel Santiago
• A closer look: Cultivating leaders through partnerships– Steve Kriss
• Hearing, responding and exploring God’s sense of call: Summer interns serve across conference congregations and ministries- Steve Kriss
• Interns connected with Franconia Conference in the Summer of 2008
• From mothering to shepherding: For God’s gift and His call are irrevocable– Eva Kratz
• From seeds of Anabaptism: Remembering a “child-like” faith– Chris Nickels
• Global shared convictions series: Welcome to the table in the name of Christ– Blaine Detwiler
• Retired to service in Arizona: Our lives have been enriched– Roland Yoder
• Reflections from Via Verano: Pilgrims on El Camino– Sheldon Good
• Pioneering new frontiers: Believing in miracles– Ron Tinsley
• Peaceful Living hosts conference for area faith communities: Moving toward welcoming people with disabilities and their families– Rich Lindberg
• Celebrating 300 years of heritage: Illuminating our life with hope– Christopher Friesen
• Experiencing the warm embrace of fellow believers– Nelson Shenk

Click to View/download the printable PDF

Gay Brunt Miller, Spring Mount

Dictionary.com defines the words “partner” and “mission” as follows:

Partner [pahrt-ner] noun: a person who shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor; sharer; associate; a player on the same side or team as another.

Mission [mish-uhn] noun: a group of persons sent by a church to carry on religious work, esp. evangelization in foreign lands, and often to establish schools, hospitals, etc.; an establishment of missionaries in a foreign land; a missionary church or station.

Historically the model of mission featured EuroAmericans going, often internationally, and serving people in need in some way. As the definition above suggests, missions often implied establishing schools, hospitals or other institutions in the name of Christ.

In the last decade the whole concept of missions has been changing. Many countries where we used to “go” and “do” are now sending missionaries, sometimes to the United States.

More recently the word “missional” has crept into our vocabulary. While it comes from the same root, the idea is about realizing that our mission field is here all around us, not an ocean away. We’ve begun to wrestle with what it means to get on board with what God is already doing and reach out to our neighbors who need the hope and Good News of the gospel.

When combined with the word, “partners,” you get a very different connotation. Partners do things together, not for or to one another.

So how did this Partner in Mission (PIM) relationship become part of Franconia Conference?
The concept originally emerged from conversations between the Conference Board Executive Committee and staff as they considered the implications of being a missional conference. With a core value that God’s Spirit “blows where it will,” and wanting to flow with the Spirit wherever and however it happens, the idea was that developing relationships with partners who were different, yet shared some core similarities with us, would enhance our conference life in mission. We were looking for partners where God’s Spirit and movement was clearly evident. It was a “holy experiment,” recognizing that if we truly wanted to be a missional conference, we needed to shape our conference life and activities around what would make us more dynamic and ready to reach beyond our comfort zone.

It was envisioned that Partner in Mission relationships might open new vistas of mission for Franconia Conference, expand our connections and increase our opportunities for ministry in new areas. We may be enriched by discovering the gift of Christian unity that exceeds the usual boundaries that divide God’s people. Conversely, it was suggested that our partners might increase missional vitality from Franconia Mennonite Conference’s rich Anabaptist history and faith, including our holistic view of mission that combines evangelism, service and peacemaking. They might also benefit from certain resources we have to offer, and the relationship may provide the stimulus to further clarify their own congregation’s identity.

Early in 2001, Franconia Conference leaders first shared the concept of developing Partner in Mission relationships with conference congregations, and it was the subject of conferring at the year’s Conference Assembly. While there were lots of questions about whether we would lose our Mennonite distinctives by engaging in these relationships, and whether there would be appropriate accountability for the partners, delegates acted in the spring of 2002 “to affirm Partners in Mission as a positive expression of the missional character of Franconia Mennonite Conference and to ask conference leaders to bring a proposal for formal action to the November 2002 Assembly.” Delegates then took action to approve implementation of the plan for three years, after which an evaluation and a report was to be given to the delegates.

The following value and learnings from these developing relationships were reported in the three-year review of 2005:

Value: We have helped make God’s love in Christ for all people visible as Franconia Conference has worked together with other ministries toward a common project or purpose. These relationships have more adequately revealed the reality of Christ’s Body and witnessed to the gospel of peace. These PIM relationships have enhanced Franconia Conference’s Anabaptist theology by giving us opportunities to share our image of the world and of God. God has been more fully revealed especially through Franconia Conference’s demonstrated partnerships within the Northeast corridor region.

Learnings: Some of the challenges we have experienced include relational challenges like cultural differences, differences in expectations and priorities, difficulties in communication, inadequate time to develop trust and disparities in wealth. Through the publicized moral failure of a Partner In Mission leader we have become acutely aware that our mutual trust in one another’s organizational and personal integrity is vulnerable to human weaknesses.

Delegates affirmed “the continuing ministry between Franconia Mennonite Conference and Partners in Mission into the future, based on our experience over the last three years.”

Partners in Mission are increasingly becoming a vibrant part of our conference and congregational life. If you want to taste and see for yourself the good fruit of these relationships, come and meet many of our partners at this year’s Conference Assembly!

Blaine Detwiler, Lakeview
detwiler@nep.net

Gay Brunt Miller, Steve Kriss and I were going to the Baker’s for dinner. It was that simple, I thought. For Gay it was a reunion of recently made friendships…for Steve and I, the Bakers were merely a name, a picture and a promise by Gay that we would love them.

Joe Baker came by with his car at five in the evening to fetch us. Gay did formal introductions in the parking lot and I sensed a quality in Joe that drew me. He focused his eyes with deep interest until otherwise diverted. I liked that his eyes paid attention.

I think houses have “feels” and “focal points.” When we arrived at the Baker’s house I sensed that it felt “lived in” with walls filled with the artwork of four girls and musical instruments, a piano and violin case obvious in the room where we dropped our coats. By then it was time for “tea” which meant cups of Earl Grey for the adults and a light meal for the Baker’s daughters, Mo, Stella and Sophie, before they were bathed and put down in bed for the night.

Joe and Sarah are easy hosts. Our conversations ran easily between cleaning up table after the girls’ tea and the scents of a delicate French Onion soup simmering on the stove. They asked frequent questions about us, about Mennonites and what exactly is a conference. We wanted to know why they decided to leave their large church in Birmingham and begin Peace Church…a house church that meets in their very own kitchen.

Our chatter continued as two candles were lit. Joe and Sarah invited us to seats around their long, family-sized table. Joe dimmed the lights. Sarah brought out fresh herbed bread, red wine and juice and set a liturgy on each napkin. Phoebe, the oldest, was being allowed to stay up past her bedtime and eat with us.

The mood at the table shifted when the liturgy welcomed each of us by first name in the name of Christ…“Steve, we welcome you to this table in the name of Christ”…each of us taking our turn to greet the person next to us. For the first time I began to realize the potency in Jesus’ own words as He and his disciples sat down to the carefully prepared meal Peter and John had set out and Jesus announced to them all, “I have eagerly desired to eat with you…” As Joe poured wine and Sarah broke the bread and passed it to each of us our liturgy picked up, “Thank you God, for food and love.”

Our meal of French onion soup progressed to dappled plates of Ratatouille that Joe had carefully prepared. The pace of our unhurried talk wove from Joe’s understanding of shalom and its influence on his choice to go vegetarian, back to Sarah’s music lessons, then to how Peace Church invites a variety of interested souls to their table. Curiosity and marmalade bread coming together in one sentence over dinner.

I have gotten quite used to prayers before meals. I have even waited for a meal to be complete and then offered my thanks. But this meal liturgy connected food and God in ways that were a surprise to me. With satisfied stomachs and a plum tart heating in the oven we prayed, “thank you, Lord, for this meal, but we cannot live by bread alone.” With tea light candles we offered prayers for people and places that still need the love of God. One by one we lit candles expressing our need for each other and dreamed dreams of a world more peaceful and just…with a hush that seemed holy lingering over our emptied plates.

Our meal ended with warm plum tart and a prayer, “O God, we ask you for one thing more; send us your Holy Spirit, endue us with your power, renew our hearts…Amen.”

Joe and Sarah Baker’s house has a “focal point.” It is their table. Their kitchen table bears the stains of food and paints that only creativity can boast. So much of their lives as family and Peace Church revolve around this nicked centerpiece. Children learn to sing and to pray there. It is a place where the pace is not rushed but genuine. Their table is a place for talking face to face with friends and a place where strangers from Pennsylvania are honored with prayers.

“Do all this in remembrance of me,” is what Jesus said. To me, it was communion.