Conference Board Update

Mosaic Conference Board Responds to MC USA’s Denial of Ministry Partnership Proposal

May 29, 2025 by Cindy Angela

From May 16-18, 2025, the Mosaic Conference Board held its annual in-person retreat in Homestead, FL. Meeting six times a year, the Conference Board, supervises the business of the conference and conference committees, and ensures that Mosaic remains aligned with its vision and attentive to the Spirit’s guidance in areas of growth and transformation.

In addition to times of prayer, worship, and deepening relationships, Executive Committee member Maati Yvonne led the group on Saturday morning in a time of learning about and practicing circle process.

“I love how circles bring people together, deepen relationships, and increase understanding,” reflected Maati Yvonne. “Amidst all that the board needed to discern, it was essential to pause and use the circle to reflect on how we were each feeling and being impacted. My hope is that we take the time to use circle process more and more to resolve issues and allow the Holy Spirit to bring restoration, in our families and youth groups, our communities and congregations, and at the conference level.”

The board retreat opened with a devotional on Acts 1:8. Board members shared testimonies of the Holy Spirit’s activity and the reconciling love of Jesus.

Strategic Plan Updates and Reflections on Spring Assembly

The board reviewed progress on the five pillars of Mosaic’s strategic plan: Clarity/Identity, Communication, Leadership Development, Reconciliation, and Relationship-Building. They also reflected on how the recent Spring Assembly equipping sessions connected with these pillars. Feedback on Spring Assembly highlighted a desire for clear, more tangible teaching on Centered-Set church concepts, and for more images and fewer words in Mosaic’s equipping sessions to accommodate various learning styles and cultures.

Other strategic plan updates included the launch of the Learning/Living Mosaic podcast, the first Vibrant Mosaic cohort, and 14 youth participating in the summer 2025 Ambassadors leadership development. The board had the chance to meet one of the incoming Ambassadors, Hensley, from Homestead Mennonite.

The board meets one of the 2025 Ambassadors from Homestead (FL) Mennonite.

Additional Board Business and Learning

The board acknowledged receipt of a letter from Spruce Lake Mennonite Camp (Canadensis, PA) indicating its decision to remove itself as a Conference-Related Ministry.

Plans and themes for the November Delegate Assembly were discussed.

Glenn Nemath, Director of Real Estate for FMC Properties, shared updates on Conference properties.

On Sunday morning, Joe Manickam, currently serving as a consultant with Mosaic Conference, shared on clarifying healthy structures and relationships.

Responding to MC USA’s Denial of Ministry Partnership

The Board reflected on the process around its proposal to the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA (MC USA), requesting to formalize a ministry partnership by becoming a Program Entity (a designation already existing in MC USA’s bylaws). This proposal followed a delegate action in November 2024, which called for Mosaic to redefine its relationship with MC USA as a healthy ministry partnership.

The proposal included services Mosaic would offer to MC USA at no cost, in youth formation, church planting accompaniment, and intercultural leadership development. It also proposed possible ways to manage credentials within this new framework.

Throughout the process over the past year, Board members expressed frustration that their voices and concerns felt minimized. These long-standing issues were articulated in a formal written response to MC USA, submitted at MC USA’s request earlier this spring.

On May 8, MC USA’s executive board unanimously voted to deny Mosaic’s proposal to become a Program Entity of MC USA. They proposed a “mediated conversation between the full (MC USA) Executive Board and Mosaic Board.”

While Mosaic leadership has previously expressed openness to third-party mediation with MC USA, the Board shared several concerns about entering mediation at this point in the process:

Mediation tends to emphasize interpersonal dynamics. While the Board values healed relationships, it also seeks organizational transformation to address deeper systemic issues.
Leaders of color across Mosaic have contributed substantial effort and emotional labor to this process. Many feel unheard and dismissed by MC USA. Entering mediation now would require some of them to revisit these experiences and continue retelling their stories in a context marked by power imbalances, both historic and ongoing.
The Board emphasized the need to prioritize living into Mosaic’s vision and mission and discern the Spirit’s leading, rather than rush into a mediation process before there has been an acknowledgement of the existing difficulties within the MC USA structure.
The proposal process required significant time and energy from both Mosaic board members and staff. With the rejection of this proposal by MC USA, the Board must now redirect its focus toward discerning next steps and clarifying ministry partnerships to the delegates prior to the November Assembly.

After prayerful discernment, the board acted to: Decline the board-to-board mediation process offered by MC USA executive board at this time.

“We remain saddened and disappointed by the structures within MC USA that are rigid and painful for many of us,” said Conference Moderator Angela Moyer Walter. “Our world and nation are changing rapidly, and so the church must adapt to the shifting realities in our communities and congregations. The inflexible response to the perspectives of Mosaic congregations has been disheartening, especially given that relationships with sibling conferences are mutual and supportive.”

“Despite this disappointment, I find joy and hope when we gather to listen and share together. The reconciling love of Jesus is at work amongst us, and I look forward to us living in to our vision together.”

Next Steps

The Mosaic Executive Committee will meet in June, followed by a full Mosaic board meeting in August. In line with the charge given at last year’s assembly, the Board will develop and present recommended bylaw amendments for delegate discernment at the 2025 Mosaic Delegate Assembly.

Mosaic remains committed to nurturing healthy partnerships with sibling Mennonite conferences and other Anabaptist communities.

In June, the Mosaic Board will host four sessions for conversation and two-way communication for the future trajectory of partnership conversations with MC USA. Three of these sessions will be on Zoom, and one will be held at the Mosaic Conference offices (Lansdale, PA), with options in Spanish, Indonesian, and English. Dates and times for these conversations will be available next week.

In the meantime, Mosaic Conference credentialed leaders and delegates are encouraged to reach out to their Leadership Minister with questions and to follow updates through Mosaic News.

** The most recent print edition of Anabaptist World includes a reporting error about this process. The online version is correct.

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.

Together in Courage and Faith: Janet Panning’s Call to Serve

May 15, 2025 by Cindy Angela

by Jennifer Svetlik

Janet Panning has dedicated her life to serving both the church and the broader community through a deep commitment to faith, justice, and leadership. In March 2025, the Mosaic Conference Board voted to approve Panning as the next Assistant Moderator of Mosaic Conference. Her term will begin on January 1, 2026, when Roy Williams of North Tampa (FL) Christian Fellowship will become Moderator.

Reflecting on this new calling, Panning shared, “I feel honored and humbled to be asked to serve in this role. I feel that Mosaic Conference is able to celebrate the faith of our Mennonite ancestors while learning from the example of our newcomer congregations. Together we are called to see and to serve the vulnerable among us.”

The Assistant Moderator serves as vice chair of the Conference Board and Chair of the Nominating Committee. Additionally, the Assistant Moderator chairs Board and Executive Committee meetings in the absence of the Moderator and fulfils other duties as assigned. The position is for a three-year term, with the expectation that the Assistant Moderator will then serve as Moderator, pending approval by the Conference Board. Panning’s appointment will be presented for affirmation by the Delegate Assembly in November.

Panning with her husband and grandson at her daughter’s house in Montana.

Panning brings a lifetime of leadership and service experience to this new role. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, she became a Christian at 14 through a Young Life Club and then grew increasingly involved in her Episcopalian church. Her journey with the Mennonite church began at Michigan State University, where she discovered a brochure for the InterMenno program, sparking a life-changing year of service in the Netherlands.

Together with her husband Steve, Janet served with Mennonite Central Committee for 12 years in Jamaica and Kentucky before settling in Pennsylvania. Since 1987, the Pannings have been part of Plains Mennonite Church (Hatfield, PA), becoming members in 2004. Janet is deeply involved in the life of the congregation—she currently serves as Chair of the Elders and contributes through children’s music, choir, playing piano during worship, serving as a host family, and participating in a small group.

Panning has also served extensively at the Conference level. She has been a member of the Ministerial Committee for many years, with Franconia and Mosaic Conference, and has served as Chair of the committee since 2019.

Panning retired in 2024 from the Montgomery County (PA) Office of Public Health. She continues her advocacy and health work as a consultant with Children First’s PA Lead-Free Promise Project. Earlier in her career, she spent 18 years working in refugee resettlement, on a staff team helping thousands of individuals from Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq, the DRC, Ethiopia, and beyond find new homes and employment in the region.

When asked about her hopes for joining the Executive Committee of the Board, Panning responded, “That together we can find the courage to follow Jesus in our broken and beautiful world. My hope is that we can discern together what the reconciliation of Jesus means in our families, our neighborhoods, our church communities, our countries and our world, and that together we can have the courage to follow Jesus in challenging times.”

Outside of her professional and church commitments, Panning enjoys biking with her husband, reading, and spending time with their three grandsons. A recent highlight was an Amtrak journey across the country, where she particularly cherished the hours spent following the Colorado River through the Rocky Mountains.

Mosaic Conference requires all Board members to be 18 years or older and active members of a Mosaic congregation. While no other criteria are formally outlined in the bylaws, desired qualities include a commitment to following Jesus, spiritual discernment, active involvement in church life, and experience in leadership, with an emphasis on representing the geographic and cultural diversity of the Conference.

With her decades of dedication, cross-cultural experience, and spiritual depth, Panning will bring a strong foundation of leadership and compassion to the role of Assistant Moderator.

Jennifer Svetlik

Jennifer is Director of Community Engagement & Editor for Mosaic. She grew up near Houston, TX and spent a decade living in intentional community in Washington DC, before moving to Lansdale, PA. She serves as Children’s Faith Formation Director at Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA).

Living into Our Mosaic

April 14, 2021 by Cindy Angela

As I write, I am in Ohio, sorting through my father’s old letters, clearing out his old office at Wright State University, and helping my stepmom pick up the pieces of a world that was upended by COVID-19. I suppose I am not quite done processing yet, either. Two months ago, my father became a statistic; he is one of the 562,000 people who died from COVID-19 in the US, and 2.94 million in the world. I never thought it could happen to us.

Salford’s Luminary Walk of Remembrance and Hope, where each luminary represented the deaths of 1,000 people in the US and the deaths of 5,018 people around the world due to COVID-19.

There is a surprising sense of solidarity when losing a loved one in a pandemic. My family and I were touched as we recently walked through the Salford Luminary Walk of Remembrance and Hope, where each luminary represented the deaths of 1,000 people in the US and the deaths of 5,018 people around the world due to COVID-19. We are not alone, both in the fact that we share a sense of loss with others, but also that there is a deep sense that God is sustaining us, even when I feel a void within myself.

Despite my loss, I have much to be thankful for: my job is steady, my housing is secure, and my wife is available to help our school-age kids to thrive in virtual school. My son will only remember what he lived through by reading it in history books many years from now. The toughest decision I had to make is whether to refinance my house. First world problems.

It is painfully clear how this pandemic has not hit all people equally. I am so thankful that the Mosaic Conference Shalom Fund exists to, in some way, give opportunities for people like me to give to people who need help in a tangible way. I see the ways in which the Shalom Fund has enabled congregations like Nations Worship Center (Philadelphia, PA) to serve 40 bags a week to neighbors in need, and Ripple Inc. in Allentown, PA to serve 600 meals a week. I see how Crossroads Community Center creates safe Learning Pods for North Philadelphia youth. Still, I hear the words of Pastor Jaye Lindo, “Could we do more and are the needs being met?”

Reflecting on our conference retreat last year, our facilitator Calenthia Dowdy appreciated our conference’s new name, Mosaic, but also warned us that we have to live up to that name. As Steve Kriss and others have shared, “We are living into our new name. We are still becoming Mosaic. We are still becoming.” I feel like we are seeing glimpses of this coming into fruition as we continue to support each other as different pieces, in our multi-faceted conference community.