Assembly23

10 Things to Know Before Assembly

November 2, 2023 by Conference Office

1. Take time to read the documents in your docket and other important documents before Assembly. Print out a hard copy (if you want one) of the Assembly docket or bring an electronic device on which you can read a copy. We will not be supplying hard copies for everyone.

2. Enter Souderton Mennonite Church through the main carport entrance. There is a parking lot across the street from Souderton, on Chestnut Street, and parking around the building.

3. Doors open for registration at 9:00 am. Arrive early to avoid a line! Worship will begin at 9:30 am.

4. Lunch will be offered 12:30-2:00 pm. During the morning and afternoon community connecting time, a light snack, coffee, and tea will be provided. Childcare is available. There is no childcare during lunch.

5. Please bring a handheld rhythm instrument, such as a tambourine, drumsticks, or a shaker egg. We will use these during our afternoon session. If you don’t bring something, hands work great too!

6. Our Assembly Support Fund remains open for online giving and also through a collection basket at lunch. Your gifts offset the travel costs for delegates coming from a distance (FL, CA, VT).

7. A prayer room is located next to the sanctuary from 9:30 am-4 pm. It is available for anyone to pray or receive prayer.

8. Plan to spend some time connecting with others in the Exhibit Hall, where our Conference Related Ministries (CRMs) and other agencies will have tables. The exhibit hall will be open 9-9:30 am, 11-11:30 am, and 12:30-2 pm.

9. Those who attend as guests will have the opportunity to converse at tables with other non-delegates during the delegate sessions.

10. Our Conference has members who speak many languages. Be prepared to greet others in a language other than yours. Here are a few simple greetings to learn:

We look forward to seeing everyone on November 4! Need more information? Visit the Assembly Webpage.

What to Expect at Assembly 2023

October 26, 2023 by Conference Office

By Jenn Svetlik

When Mosaic Conference gathers for Assembly on Saturday, November 4, it will be just the second time our conference has gathered fully in-person. Hundreds of delegates and congregational leaders from California, Florida, Vermont, New Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania will convene in Souderton, PA to join for worship and prayer, fellowship, strategic planning, discussion, and active listening.

“Assembly is an opportunity to get to know the breadth and depth of our Conference community,” shared Angela Moyer Walter, Conference Moderator. “So much good work gets done virtually within our Conference. That work in committees is so valuable, but nothing is more important than gathering in person and really getting to connect more deeply.”

“Amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine, violence in the Middle East and in many other places, we are called, as people of Christ’s peace, to bear witness to God’s emet, God’s powerful kindness and faithful truth,” Moyer Walter continued. Conference Assembly offers an opportunity for Mosaic delegates and guests to do so, across a variety of differences.

The day will begin with worship, vibrant music, and a sermon by Hyacinth Stevens of MCC East Coast, who will offer much to reflect on about following Christ in community.

There will also be the opportunity to recognize newly credentialed leaders. Gathering to anoint and pray for these leaders is a sign of hope for all who are gathered. It is a reminder that God calls new leaders, gives them wisdom, and empowers them to do the work that God has given to our Conference.

During Assembly, we will also acknowledge the four congregations who have left Mosaic within the past year.

There will be an extended period for lunch and relationship building, and time to visit the Exhibit Hall, to connect with others beyond one’s own table groups, and to visit Conference Related Ministries and other agencies.

In the afternoon, delegates will gather for continued discussion around commonalities, differences, and tensions among Mosaic congregations, and an opportunity to work at Mosaic’s strategic plan together.

“In preparation for Assembly we have been fasting and praying the scriptures together to prepare to listen well to God and to one another,” said Moyer Walter. “At Assembly we are invited to listen to God together, to set aside our own perspectives, and get to know our collective body and listen together.”

What to Expect: Prayer Room

The Pathway Forward Process invites us “To share in the practice of continued prayer and fasting so that we may discern, yield, and listen to the Spirit among us.”

All are invited to take time during Assembly to spend time in the prayer room. It is provided as a space for intercessors to gather and pray onsite for the Assembly participants and proceedings. Intercessors who are not onsite can commit to praying from where they are. Each is invited to pray for a one-hour block of time from the start of Assembly until its conclusion.

Any assembly attendees who want a quiet space for prayer and reflection can visit the prayer room. (The prayer room will be located in a room off of the back of the sanctuary. Please follow the signs.) If an intercessor is present, they will be available to pray with any who comes in and desires prayer.

While the focus of the prayer room centers on the Assembly proceedings, the prayers can include personal concerns that attendees may have beyond the Assembly agenda.

In the delegate sessions, we will learn about rhythm and peacebuilding with a drum, led by Makinto, Associate Pastor of Los Angeles Faith Chapel. Participants should bring a handheld rhythm instrument such as a tambourine, drumsticks, or a shaker egg. (Or plan to clap along.) “Rhythm is a heavenly heartbeat that touches the body and mind and interconnects different parts of our essential being. It heals our heart, it soothes our soul,” Makinto shared.

In the afternoon, those gathered will celebrate communion, an embodied practice that unifies us as followers of Jesus. “The intention in celebrating communion at Assembly is to gather as the body of Christ, from many congregations and groups in the context of Mosaic, to remember the new covenant and Jesus’s return,” said Marta Castillo, Associate Executive Minister. “It is a unifying and holy space to be in together.”

Beyond the Saturday main event is a weekend of connecting and being community together. It begins on Friday with the Renewing Nations and Generations annual gathering for People of the Global Majority/People of Color. The gathering is a chance to reconnect, worship together, eat together, and learn together on this year’s theme of migration.

We look forward to seeing you at Mosaic’s Assembly on November 4. For further information, please see Mosaic’s Assembly website.

Jenn Svetlik

Jennifer Svetlik (she/her) directs children’s education and justice Initiatives at Salford Mennonite Church and works in fundraising and marketing for Roots of Justice. She and her partner Sheldon have two young children and live in Lansdale, PA.

Yet We Still Declare That God Is Faithful

September 21, 2023 by Conference Office

I was raised and spiritually formed by Mennonites. God’s call to ministry came to me when I was in my late 20s. It came as a surprise and was disorienting. I do not come from a family of pastors, and I was a single woman. Yet, the spiritual foundation had been laid for me to hear God’s call and respond with faithfulness. 

Ministry has been a great joy in my life, but it has also been full of hardships. Like so many in Scripture, I testify to the faithfulness of God, the love of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit amid those hardships.  

This has also been the testimony of Mosaic Conference. The birth of Mosaic was filled with hope. It has been an honor to be among its leadership from its beginning. We had work to do to live with integrity into this name, yet the Spirit was among us. 

The birth of Mosaic coincided with the unprecedented pandemic. Together we navigated that time, supporting and praying for one another. We chose different ways of being together and “doing church,” but we stayed connected to God and one another. 

Last year, our Assembly theme focused on the Hebrew word, chesed, meaning, the loving kindness of God which was given freely to us, even when undeserved.  This year, our theme emet builds off of that. In Hebrew, emet means powerful kindness and faithful truth. Psalms 116 and 117 remind us that God’s kindness for us is powerful; the Lord’s truth endures forever. 

We began our Pathways Forward process in 2022. During that time, our country, our neighborhoods, our churches, and even our homes have been through a lot. We have had severe weather, widening wealth inequality, episodes of hatred and violence, cultural and political polarization, and even divided family gatherings. 

Yet we still declare that God is faithful. There has been space for prayer, fasting, listening, relationship building, and dreaming together. The opportunity to live into the hope of Mosaic Conference remains.  

The Mosaic Board recently received a summary report from the Pathways Steering Team and the consultants, reporting on the focus groups’ meetings. Please take time to read this summary report. We will have the opportunity to discuss its implications at our Delegate Preparatory meetings (September 23-28) and Assembly on November 4. There will be lots of conversations to articulate who we are and to name our similarities and differences, and how they inform our missional, formational, and intercultural priorities. 

It may feel like learning to ride a bike without training wheels, full of bumps yet worth it. I anticipate needing to remember what it was like when I felt a call to ministry as a single woman; it was hard, and God was with me. Similarly to the disorienting pandemic, God will see us through. 

We knew living into the Mosaic name would require us to work at being transformed by one another through God’s power. I am grateful for the scriptures about the chesed and emet of God. It gives us strength to do the reconciling work of following Jesus through the power of the Spirit. 

We need not be afraid. We can have the boldness and courage to wait on the Lord as we heard proclaimed in Psalm 27 at Pentecost this year. May our work and lives together reflect the beauty of the quilt that has become a symbol for us and draws us back to chesed and emet, God’s powerful kindness and faithful truth. See you at Assembly on November 4th!

Register Now for Assembly and Delegate Preparation Meetings

September 6, 2023 by Conference Office

Mosaic Mennonite Conference Assembly

Saturday, November 4, 2023

(Registration and Exhibits Open 9:00-9:30 AM)
9:30 AM – 4 PM ET
Souderton Mennonite Church (map)
(in person – there is no virtual option this year)

Why should I register? Your church or CRM may have reported to Mosaic that you are a delegate, but now we need you to REGISTER your attendance. All attendees – delegates and guests – should register their attendance, to help us plan and prepare.

What are Assembly Delegate Preparation Meetings?
Mosaic Conference holds a series of delegate preparation meetings in the weeks leading up to our gathered Assembly. The purpose of these meetings is to help delegates understand the important commitment and specific duties they are responsible for, to prepare them with the latest information on the issues that will be discussed, and to give an opportunity to give feedback and ask questions.

Delegates are asked to please register and attend at least one meeting on a date & location that best suits them.

* Find important Mosaic Conference documents HERE
* Delegate Assembly Policy & Delegate Ministry Description: pages 8-10 HERE
* Mosaic News – our weekly e-newsletter: see past issues HERE
(new delegates will begin to receive Mosaic News next week!)

The 2023 Docket will be released in a few weeks … watch your email!

(5/11) Powerful Kindness, Faithful Truth – Conference Assembly Theme

Visit MosaicMennonites.org/assembly
or check your email for important information, documents
& details as they become available!

Get Ready for Assembly

August 30, 2023 by Conference Office

Mosaic’s Annual Assembly is just a little over 2 months away! While many of us still feel like summer isn’t over, now is the time to start planning for Assembly. Here are a few things to know:

When? Saturday, November 4, 2023; 9:30 AM-4:00 PM (Registration is from 9-9:30 AM)

Where? Souderton Mennonite Church, 105 W Chestnut St., Souderton, PA 18964 (Everything is in-person this year)

What is the theme? “Emet”, the Hebrew word meaning powerful kindness, faithful truth, based on Psalms 116 & 117

What should I do now to prepare for Assembly?

If your church or Conference Related Ministry (CRM) has not yet submitted your delegates’ names for the Assembly, please contact your Leadership Minister as soon as possible. CRMs should contact Margaret Zook as soon as possible.
Watch your email and Mosaic’s weekly Newsletter, Mosaic News, for important updates and information about Assembly in the coming weeks.
Plan now to attend an Assembly Delegate Preparation Meeting. All delegates are strongly encouraged to attend one. Registration will open on September 5 for these meetings, but mark your calendar now.
Registration for Assembly will open on September 5. Everyone (delegates and guests) who is planning to attend Assembly must register, even if your church has already named you as a delegate. We need to hear from you to complete your registration. (All named delegates will receive an email with registration details on September 5.)
If you are attending Assembly as a guest (not as a delegate), you are most welcome. We just need to know you are coming, so please register when registration opens on September 5.
If you are coming from a distance, plan your travel and arrange for your lodging. If you need assistance with lodging, please click here for information.
Pray for the Assembly, Mosaic’s Board, the Pathways Steering Committee, delegates, Mosaic staff planning it, those attending, and God’s leading in the process.

Powerful Kindness, Faithful Truth

May 11, 2023 by Cindy Angela

Assembly 2023 theme

Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise the Lord, all you people of the earth.
For God’s kindness for us is powerful; the Lord’s truth endures forever.
Psalm 117

How can all the peoples of the earth praise God together? If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that even families are being torn apart by disagreement and conflict. How can we expect churches, conferences, and denominations, much less the nations of the world, to gather and praise God with one voice?

Last year’s assembly theme revolved around the Hebrew word chesed: God’s overflowing, constant, steadfast, and faithful love for us. Chesed doesn’t have a simple translation into English: we need many different words to describe what it means. It includes an outpouring of undeserved favor and kindness that comes from the generosity of the giver and not the deeds of the receiver.

In the Hebrew Bible (what we call our Old Testament), the word chesed is often paired with the Hebrew word emet. Similarly, emet doesn’t have a one-for-one translation but is multifaceted. We see it translated most frequently as truth or faithfulness.

These two attributes of God—kindness and truth—are fundamental in Hebrew theology and often accompany one another, especially in the Psalms. God’s kindness is powerful and God’s truth is constant and reliable. This is who God is and the very nature of how God acts toward us.

At the 2022 Assembly, we explored how God’s powerful kindness is the thread that sews us together. As we discern a pathway forward for Mosaic Conference, the 2023 Conference Assembly will explore how God’s faithful truth is woven into the fabric of our relationships.

In Genesis 47, Jacob begs his son Joseph to bury him in the land of his ancestors. Their family has a long history of jealousy and betrayal, as well as love and forgiveness. Jacob asks Joseph to hold those two realities in tension: “Swear that you will treat me with chesed and emet in honoring this request” (vs 29). Powerful kindness and faithful truth: not denying their past, but allowing it to be named, acknowledged, and resolved in an act of commitment and love.

What would it look like for us as a conference to do the same? How can our truth-telling be interwoven with gracious kindness so that chesed and emet are embodied in us? Can we acknowledge our fraught past while allowing undeserved favor to move us into new possibilities together?

While this may seem unrealistic or even impossible to achieve on our own, we remember and rely on Jesus, who comes full of both grace and truth. “He was full of grace and truth…No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God…has revealed God to us” (John 1:14, 18).

Jesus, the image of God, is the only one capable of fully living both chesed and emet. The rest of us hold those two realities in jars of clay, with humility. Even as we acknowledge that our love for one another is sometimes incomplete, may we choose to extend powerful kindness and faithful truth to each other as we walk together in our broken and beautiful world.

Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise him, all you people of the earth.
For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
PSALM 117