Conference Board

Amid tension and trust, around 100 delegates and leaders from across Mosaic Mennonite Conference gathered in June and July for board and delegate conversations. With Mosaic’s relationship to Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) at a crossroads, these meetings served as a space for prayerful dialogue, two-way communication, and opportunities to give and receive counsel about next steps.  

The sessions focused on providing a historical overview of the communication between Mosaic Conference and MC USA and an invitation for feedback. The meetings opened with prayer and a devotional on Ephesians 4:1-6. Board members then provided, in most meetings, a summary chronology of communications over the last three years, including the letter to the MC USA Executive Board that Mosaic Conference moderators sent in 2022, expressing concerns that had arisen since the reconciliation of the Franconia and Eastern District conferences in 2019 as well as more recent concerns about the MC USA special delegate session in 2022. The letter announced the start of the two-year Pathway Process, affirmed at the November 2022 Mosaic Delegate Assembly.  

For two nearly two years, the Pathway Steering Team listened to the depth and breadth of Conference members and partners, discerned, and worked to develop a five-year strategic plan for Mosaic Conference. In August 2024, the Pathway Steering Team made their recommendation of “a pathway forward of partnership (rather than membership) and collaboration” with MC USA, which received 71% affirmation by the delegates at the 2024 Mosaic Delegate Assembly.  

In 2025, the board has been tasked with carrying out this recommendation with MC USA. In February, the Mosaic board proposed that Mosaic Conference become a program entity of MC USA (a designation already in MC USA’s bylaws) to facilitate ministry partnership. At MC USA’s request, the Mosaic board responded to four questions in writing in April, which directly name the challenges that Mosaic Conference has faced with MC USA. 

In May, MC USA’s executive board unanimously voted to deny Mosaic’s proposal to become a program entity of MC USA, and later that month, the Mosaic board declined the board-to-board mediation process offered by MC USA at this time.  

Following this update, most meetings included a time of silence, prayer, and agreement to respectful communication guidelines. Participants were invited to ask questions, and then to share counsel with the board. 

“In our delegate listening sessions, I deeply valued the time to grieve and be frustrated together around difficulties with MC USA while simultaneously being grateful for the meaningful relationships within Mosaic and excitement for our witness together in the future,” shared Conference Moderator Angela Moyer Walter. “We are listening more deeply to one another, seeking understanding rather than uniformity, and trusting God to direct our path.” 

Amongst the four June/July board and delegate conversations offered in three languages, the questions and the counsel were varied. Here are some examples, which include both direct quotes and summaries of questions and themes that emerged from the counsel:  

• Affirmation for Mosaic’s leadership, and sorrow for the pain caused by this process. 
• A call to ensure that Mosaic’s vision, mission, and priorities remain central and are not diminished by devoting extensive energy to this process. One participant cautioned: “Don’t allow “Mosaic’s wings to get clipped.”
• Recognition that the unanimous vote to reject Mosaic’s proposal feels significant.  
• A question of whether “there is any space with MC USA for mutual, respectful conversation about the ‘rules of engagement’?”
• Noted parallels between some Mosaic congregations seeking structural change for the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons, and Mosaic’s desire for structural change within MC USA. 
• Acknowledgment that theological differences—particularly around the welcome of LGBTQ persons—must be addressed in environments of high trust, empathy, and care. 
• Expressions of deep frustration and alienation from MC USA among some participants, along with a desire to disengage. 
• Immigrant congregations noting that we do not have the same privileges as other congregations that have already left Mosaic due to frustrations with MC USA. 
• A belief that outside of MC USA, Mosaic will attract more congregations and be better positioned as a partner. 
• A suggestion to slow the process with a “holy pause” to allow for additional discernment. 
• A request for the Delegate Assembly to offer more time for discernment earlier in the day. 
• Questions about how Mosaic leaders can be better supported in advocating for structural change within MC USA. 
• A desire for clearer communication of the process’s complexity, with an emphasis on increasing understanding and capacity for ambiguity among congregants. 
• Curiosity about what would be required to pursue mediation as a future option. 

The meetings closed with a request of prayer for the board as they discern the next faithful steps for Mosaic Mennonite Conference. The next Mosaic board meeting will take place on August 2, and the Fall Delegate Assembly will take place on November 1.  

“We appreciate the investment by our delegates in Mosaic and concerns, though varied, about our relationship with Mennonite Church USA,” shared Executive Minister Stephen Kriss. “The board will need to continue to work diligently to discern what recommendations and postures the delegates will discuss in November.”  

Kriss continued, “What is increasingly important to me within Mosaic is that we hear the variety of concerns, and that we maintain our clarity of focus on our own vision and mission while responding empathetically to one another. I am drawn back to the idea of extending Chesed, which we considered in 2022 at our first in-person gathering.  While the Spirit holds our diversity together with the tensions that emerge from within and beyond us, we remain people committed to extending God’s grace, justice and peace.”