• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Mosaic MennonitesMosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our History
    • Vision & Mission
    • Staff
    • Boards and Committees
    • Church & Ministry Directory
    • Mennonite Links
  • Media
    • Articles
    • Newsletters
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Bulletin Announcements
  • Resources
    • Conference Documents
    • Missional
    • Intercultural
    • Formational
    • Stewardship
    • Church Safety
    • Praying Scriptures
    • Request a Speaker
    • Pastoral Openings
    • Job Openings
  • Give
    • Leadership Development Matching Gift
  • Events
    • Pentecost
    • Delegate Assembly
    • Faith & Life
    • Youth Event
    • Women’s Gathering
    • Conference Calendar
  • Mosaic Institute
  • Vibrant Mosaic
  • Contact Us
  • English

Berdine Leinbach

Creation is Calling for Peace

August 29, 2024 by Cindy Angela

by Joyce Munro

immersive and collaborative 

An art installation of 12 Mosaic Conference artists suggests its theme: “Creation is Calling for Peace.” It is on display until September 28 at the Conference-Related Ministry Mennonite Heritage Center (Harleysville, PA), along with paintings and worship sanctuary art by Berdine Leinbach (Souderton [PA] congregation).  

Ever since she visited Wonderspaces in Austin, TX, Leinbach has wanted to create an interactive multi-sensory art experience. How could she do that for her upcoming 2024 show at the Mennonite Heritage Center? In the Lapp gallery? 

Ouisi, a game of associations, has a nature version that invites players to find patterns. “Everyone can notice, wonder, and connect,” Leinbach says about this game. The show idea grew to include the game, as well as an I-spy element.  

Another question for Leinbach was: Could artists together create something around a creation theme?  

The Interdependence Hexagon Project, an arts and educators collective based in Scranton, PA, uses this geometric shape to focus its makers on relationships that can be made visible and practiced in a world where shared values are needed if we are to survive.  

Joy and Connection. These were Leinbach’s longings for the anticipated show. There it was—a hexagon project for Mosaic artists. With six equal sides to connect to other hexagons!  

Leinbach offered each artist three or more wooden hexagons in Fall 2023, which were returned to her by each artist in Spring 2024.

“Berdine asked if I’d be willing to collaborate in this project. I agreed without hesitation,” writes Ramona Pickett (7 Ways Home Fellowship), a liturgical dancer and life coach living in Maryland, with whom Berdine first brainstormed the project.  

Leinbach and Pickett had worked together on the intercultural planning team for the October 2022 Mosaic Women’s Gathering. “I knew she was full of ideas and her creative outlet was dance and sewing,” Leinbach says. They brainstormed other artists they knew.  

“Carla Garder was the first person who popped into my brain,” Ramona says. Carla and she worship together with 7 Ways Home Fellowship. So the project got a crochet enthusiast.  

Glenn Bauman, Joanna Rosenberger, Kim Bergey, Libby Musselman, Lydia Sensenig, Mandy Martin, Tim Swartz, and Vicki Beyer were also on board.  

So was Steve, Berdine’s husband and a graphic artist whose skills would be needed when it came to building a visual key for the installation with statements from the artists. 

When the hexagons came back from the artists five months later, Berdine saw that no mammals were included (think Edward Hicks’ “The Peaceable Kingdom”). Steve searched through his photos. A lion, elephant, and a leopard made hexagonal entrances. 

fusion, sometimes drama 

Many individual hexagons speak for themselves:  

Dramatic three-dimensional blues and white swirl on Vicki Beyer’s hexagons, sometimes in interlocking patterns. There’s tension and action here.

Poppies like shooting red and white stars pop—these are the flowers of Flanders and war; the artist Mandy Martin reminds viewers—not simply a signature subject of hers.  

Subtle green tones and patterns occur in the quilted fabrics of Pickett’s earth hexagon; a gold button for the precious metal that Proverbs signifies is the result of purification provides continuity among her three hexagons. 

A child looks at you, its brow furrowed, so that peering at the installation, you cannot help but feel that a trauma has occurred and you are here to wait for its voicing.  

counterpoint 

Several hexagons benefit from their placement among others: 

A crescent moon among distant stars situates questions that night skies prompt, that religions seek to answer. . . abuts Fraktur symbols of Mennonite piety in Kim Bergey’s hexagons. 

A grey so dark so close you must make of the scene something that’s almost terrifyingly your own meaning, even though your brain scrambles to categorize the image calmly. . . It is the breakdown of life carbon and mineral that up close is a sandy shore on a cloudy day. Tim Swartz attends to the turmoil narrative of creative process while finding calm in the patterns that happen where land and water meet. 

I left the art installation feeling its silences:  

the tiny pollinators that get mistakenly called “bees,”  

unseen, the billions in a tablespoon of healthy soil and their absence in unhealthy soil,  

the vulture gut and its glorious work, 

edible oyster fungi growing on dead ash trees,  

invisible methane escaping confined meat animals. . . 

Then there is the vanilla bean that we are about to lose because of climate change. 

What are life changes we could make if we would hear these creations calling for peace?  

The collaborative work by Mosaic artists, along with many other of Leinbach’s paintings, are available for viewing at the Mennonite Heritage Center until Sept. 28, 2024. 

A photo of this collaborative work was selected by the Hexagon Project’s Posters for Peace exhibit beginning at ArtWorks Gallery and Studio in Scranton from Sept 6-21. It is one of 40 selections out of 1,500 entries.  

If your congregation or Conference-Related Ministry is interested in displaying the piece after the exhibit, please let Berdine Leinbach know.  

Mosaic congregations and Conference-Related Ministries represented include Souderton Mennonite, Dock Mennonite Academy, Ambler [PA], Blooming Glen [PA] Mennonite, 7 Ways Home Fellowship, and Salford (Harleysville, PA) Mennonite. 


Joyce Munro

Joyce Munro is a member of Unami Friends Meeting and involved with the Carbon Forest Project. She is also a volunteer for the Mennonite Heritage Center (Harleysville, PA).

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Berdine Leinbach, Joyce Munro, Mennonite Heritage Center

What Color Am I? 

August 10, 2023 by Cindy Angela

I was intrigued by zinnias on the buffet table when I arrived at Mosaic’s first White Caucus on July 30 at Salford Mennonite Church (Harleysville, PA).  A new variety with speckles was mixed in with the brilliantly colored flowers. I am drawn to color, and yet here I was at a White caucus group.  What was I doing?  

(L-R) KrisAnne Swartley, Berdine Leinbach, and Emma Frederick enjoy good food and fellowship at the White caucus gathering at Salford on July 30. Photo by Jordan Luther.

Andrew Zetts (Salford) made the most of the amazing weather by hosting the gathering outside.  First, we savored a potluck meal with special music provided by local birds. Facilitators Jordan Luther (Methacton; Norristown, PA) and KrisAnne Swartley (Doylestown) created a friendly, safe space for this small gathering of participants from Plains, Souderton, Doylestown, Methacton, and Salford congregations.   

Next, KrisAnne Swartley shared how this gathering grew from a request of Mosaic’s Intercultural Committee.  Each race and ethnic group within Mosaic Conference meets as a caucus for encouragement, growth, and accountability, so it seemed like a White group should meet, too. Meeting in a caucus can prepare us to interact in a multicultural environment with more cultural awareness and mutual respect.  

After prayer, we collaborated on a memory-based retelling of the story of Peter and Cornelius from Acts. We noticed long-held traditions being challenged, personal emotions, and people listening. God felt the need to repeat the message 3 times. The Holy Spirit falling on this diverse group was powerful. The gospel is for all! 

Jordan Luther then invited us to reflect on our experiences as White people in a race-based society. How/when did you become aware of your race? Was there a time you learned about your race from an uncomfortable experience? The conversation flowed easily even though I had never met any of these people before.  Each of us had different experiences and perspectives on being White. Points of connection were made, and patterns were noticed.  The time was blessed. 

While counterintuitive, meeting as a White caucus for reflection shows respect for our brothers and sisters of color. Whites need to intentionally do some antiracism work on their own.  I know I have much to learn.  Current society gives me the choice to think about my race or not. Others are forced to deal with it every day.  

I don’t like clicking a box saying I am just White. My identity is so much more in Christ. However, I can grow in awareness, consider new perspectives, and seek mutual transformation with all of God’s family.  

Who knows what Mosaic’s mutual transformation will eventually look like, but maybe we will be like a colorful garden with some speckled zinnias! 

Speckled zinnias. Photo by Jordan Luther.

If you would like more information about joining the White caucus or another caucus, contact Danilo Sanchez, Mosaic’s Leadership Minister for Intercultural Transformation.  

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Berdine Leinbach, intercultural, White Caucus

God at Work on Our Vacation

September 10, 2019 by Conference Office

by Berdine Leinbach, Souderton congregation

My husband and I bumped into God frequently as we traveled to Tanzania to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

His silky white beard was shaped like an Amishman’s. His skin was dark walnut. His eyes crinkled cautiously in greeting.  When the flight attendant was checking seatbelts, his body motions revealed limited neck mobility and vision issues, so I reached across and clicked in his seatbelt.

Later he struggled to put on a brand-new sneaker, which is really hard to do in an airplane seat. I unbuckled and dove under his window seat to loosen the laces and assist. Using my finger as a shoehorn felt oddly akin to foot washing.

Over the course of a long flight, multiple opportunities arose to serve him.  I felt like God had put me there on purpose. As we shared travel plans, I found he was retired professor from Bangladesh and a peace-loving Muslim. We shared our beliefs, respectfully and simply (I need more practice at that).

We prayed blessing on each other.  God was on our plane.

As we traveled along the rim of Ngorogoro Crater, the vehicle in front of us stopped. Our vehicle stopped. Just 20 feet away a huge elephant appeared out of the mist.  Our driver turned off the engine.

We watched, fascinated, as she looked at us, flapped her ears, and lifted her trunk in inquiry. A trumpet sounded from our left as another elephant appeared on that side of the road. The first one moved forward and, behind her, another younger elephant and a baby appeared, then another adult.

We were in awe of these amazing creatures, right there.  Soon the first elephant clambered down the road bank, crossed in front of our vehicle and climbed up the left side. The others soon followed.  Seconds later, nothing could be seen but mist and shrubs.

What a beautiful gift, a holy moment.  God was in creation.

Our tour company arranged for us to stop at Karatu Mennonite Church, a small outreach congregation started in 2010 by the Arusha (Mennonite) Diocese.  When we arrived, children greeted us.  We gave Pastor Peter Ojode a prayer shawl made by women from our home congregation. As I prayed aloud the prayer that goes with each shawl, I got all choked up. I sensed that this gift and prayer were aligning with something much bigger that God was already doing there.

Front row (left to right): Evangelist Nicodemus Malaki, Evangelist Meshack Shabani, Martina Victor (church treasurer), Tasiana Toway (church elder), Berdine and Steve Leinbach (Souderton congregation).  Back row (left to right): Pastor Peter Ojode (KMT Arusha), Sofia Mirobo (church elder KMT Arusha), Pastor Julius Churi (KMT Katesh), Pastor Emmanuel (General Secretary of KMT Arusha Diocese).

When the service began, my heart swelled with joy singing along to “Holy, Holy, Holy” and other songs. Thank goodness Swahili has phonetic spelling. 

When they had heard that we were coming, Pastor Emmanual Maro (general secretary of the entire diocese/conference of churches) and elder Sofia Mirobo traveled three hours on a bus from Arusha to come and translate for us, organize a brief meal, and welcome us. We are still processing the hospitality of this intercultural experience and wondering what God will do next.

Pastor Emmanuel emailed us after we returned home, “We thank God for a wonderful Sunday at KMT Karatu. We really appreciated the opportunity to exchange our views, and we do hope through our relationships with one another we are revealing the face of God to the world and advancing his kingdom in Jesus’ name.”

God is at work. May we all notice and join in.

Filed Under: Articles, Blog Tagged With: Berdine Leinbach, formational, intercultural, Souderton Mennonite Church

Primary Sidebar

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our History
    • Vision & Mission
    • Staff
    • Boards and Committees
    • Church & Ministry Directory
    • Mennonite Links
  • Media
    • Articles
    • Newsletters
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Bulletin Announcements
  • Resources
    • Conference Documents
    • Missional
    • Intercultural
    • Formational
    • Stewardship
    • Church Safety
    • Praying Scriptures
    • Request a Speaker
    • Pastoral Openings
    • Job Openings
  • Give
    • Leadership Development Matching Gift
  • Events
    • Pentecost
    • Delegate Assembly
    • Faith & Life
    • Youth Event
    • Women’s Gathering
    • Conference Calendar
  • Mosaic Institute
  • Vibrant Mosaic
  • Contact Us

Footer

  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Delegate Assembly
  • Vision & Mission
  • Our History
  • Formational
  • Intercultural
  • Missional
  • Mosaic Institute
  • Give
  • Stewardship
  • Church Safety
  • Praying Scriptures
  • Articles
  • Bulletin Announcements

Copyright © 2025 Mosaic Mennonite Conference | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use