Conference News

Dr. Joseph Manickam, Executive Director of Arelti, has begun a six-month contract (February-August 2025) to support Mosaic Mennonite Conference with partnership development. 

In early February, Manickam accompanied a delegation to visit Conference-Related Ministry Peace Proclamation Ministries International in India. He has been asked to also meet with other global and U.S. community-center based Conference-Related Ministries. He will also support the Mosaic Conference Board in conversations about partnership with other Mennonite organizations, as well as provide accompaniment to Mosaic Executive Ministers and priority team leaders. 

“We are asking Dr. Manickam to help us continue to deepen intercultural awareness and think about partnerships in ways that aren’t colonial or paternalistic,” shared Executive Conference Minister Stephen Kriss. 

“His experience as the son of mission workers from India to Thailand; with Pacific Southwest Conference in California; and in leading Mennonite organizations are all valuable as the Conference tries to understand the possibilities that exist in partnerships outside the U.S. in ways that are healthy, mutual, and strengths-based.” 

Kriss continued, “Joe’s work with Mosaic Conference comes at a critical time as we discern and navigate our relationship with Mennonite Church USA and work to define what a robust partnership could look like.” 

Mosaic Mennonite Conference occasionally works with outside consultants to navigate critical issues and changing contexts, as it did with Grovider to develop the current strategic plan. 

When asked why Dr. Manickam agreed to this work, he responded, “I continue to believe in the church’s ability, as broken as it may be, to transform our communities toward a greater alignment with God’s Reign on this earth.”  

“I look forward to networking and connecting with Mosaic’s missional energy. Mosaic is in a space of missional curiosity right now, and I sense this curiosity is aligned with the movement of the Holy Spirit around the world,” he continued.  

Manickam will also serve as the keynote speaker at the upcoming Oasis gathering for Mosaic Pastors of Color in May, on the topic “Living as Diaspora People.” 
 
Dr. Joseph A. Manickam was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand to Paul and Mano Manickam, missionaries sent by the Church of South India to Thailand in 1958. The youngest of six children, Joseph grew up in a family deeply committed to seeing God’s Love translated into the local context crossing social barriers of many forms as he and his family continually swung between a South Indian home, a western school system, and living among the Thai people. Joseph married Wanda Wyse in 1994 in Yoder, Kansas and they have two children. Manickam is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Arelti, a nonprofit organization focused on walking with the oppressed to foster hope through the transformation of communities on the margins. 

He served as the ninth president of Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas, and as Director of the Institute of Religion, Culture, and Peace and faculty member for Peace Studies at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Previously he served in Thailand for three years with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada as Director of the Central-Southern and Northeast Asia Program, and earlier in his career, he was Director of the MCC Asia Program and Associate Director of the Center for Anabaptist Leadership in California. 

Dr. Manickam earned a B.A. in Communications from Goshen College (Goshen, Ind.) and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, Calif.). He has also previously served on the boards of The Mennonite and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Elkhart, Ind.), and his academic interests include Race/Ethnic Studies and Interreligious Engagement. Manickam’s relational abilities and his strong intercultural competency have been common threads in his work. His doctoral dissertation at Fuller focused on “A Study of Race, Culture and Ethnicity in Mennonite Church USA.”

Published:  July 25, 2024

LANSDALE, Pennsylvania– Mosaic Mennonite Conference has received a $1,250,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. to provide learning communities and coaching for congregational leaders and their congregations; funding for congregational learning experiences and missional experiments; and targeted supports for Mosaic’s growing community of leaders of color. 

The project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to encourage the flourishing of congregations by helping them deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the vitality of their communities and the world. 

The five-year project, titled “The Vibrant Mosaic Program,” is designed to integrate the Conference’s missional, formational, and intercultural priorities into congregational life. It seeks to build resilience among Mosaic congregations through spiritual practices, deepening relationships, common mission, and a sense of belonging. 

The Vibrant Mosaic Program includes three components:  

• Learning communities of congregational leaders who participate in up to two years of classes and travel, along with targeted coaching as they implement what they’ve learned on a congregational level.
• Congregational missional experiments and learning experiences funded by $5,000 microgrants and focused on each congregation’s growth edge.
• Specialized support and gatherings for leaders of color to learn, build relationships, and cast vision. 

“We believe that vibrant, thriving Mosaic congregations are missional, intercultural, and formational, embodying the reconciling love of Jesus in our broken and beautiful world,” shares Vibrant Mosaic’s codirector, Rev. Dr. Emily Ralph Servant, Mosaic’s Leadership Minister for Strategic Priorities.  

“The Vibrant Mosaic Program will provide congregations and congregational leaders with opportunities to strengthen their rootedness in our tradition while also increasing their missional, intercultural, and formational capacity through education, on-site communal experiences, spiritual practices, and relationship-building.” 

Mosaic Mennonite Conference is a community of congregations and non-profit organizations that stretches from Vermont to Florida and from New Jersey to California, with global connections in Mexico, Colombia, India, and England. The conference was birthed in the early 18th century in southeastern Pennsylvania, split in the mid-19th century into two distinct conferences, and experienced a reconciliation and merger in 2019 that blossomed into Mosaic Conference the following year. Since that time, the conference has integrated several networks of congregations and experienced a wave of emerging communities from across the country, shifting the demographics of the conference, as well as creating an influx of members that do not share a common history.  

“In the midst of the disorientation that often comes with rapid growth, Mosaic Conference has been exploring how to ground our congregations in our rich theological and communal tradition while also remaining open to transformation through relationships with new brothers and sisters among us,” shares Executive Minister Rev. Dr. Stephen Kriss. “Our desire for the Vibrant Mosaic Program is to cultivate resilient congregations who, together, recognize God in our changing reality and respond with courage and creativity.” 

The implementation of the Vibrant Mosaic Program has already begun. This summer and fall, program staff are making plans for an anti-oppression training for staff and board members (scheduled for September 5-7); a summer intercultural competency training for course instructors, program staff, and interpreters/ facilitators; and the first wave of course revisions with coaching from The Kaleidoscope Institute’s founder, Eric Law.  

Beginning in January 2025, Vibrant Mosaic will launch its first cohort. Five congregations will be added each year. Congregations who are interested in participating should talk with their leadership minister.  

Vibrant Mosaic’s grant funding will support the program through June 2029, with a plan in place to integrate it into the conference operating budget so that the program is fully sustainable by 2033. 

Mosaic Mennonite Conference is one of 238 organizations that have received implementation grants through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. Reflecting a wide variety of Christian traditions, the organizations represent mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, peace church and Pentecostal faith communities. 

“Congregations play an essential role in deepening the faith of individuals and contributing to the vitality of communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s Vice President for Religion. “We hope that these programs will nurture the vibrancy and spark the creativity of congregations, helping them imagine new ways to share God’s love in their communities and across the globe.” 

About Lilly Endowment Inc. 

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr., and his sons, Eli and J.K., Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe. 

Mosaic Mennonite Conference (Lansdale, PA) has received a $10,000 charitable distribution from the Schowalter Foundation to help fund the summer 2024 Ambassadors Youth Leadership Development Program.  

The Ambassadors Youth Leadership Development Program provides summer ministry experience to gifted young adults (ages 18-24) impacting their local communities. This program builds on a 20-year commitment by Mosaic (previously Franconia) Conference to develop young adult leaders through ministry experience.  

The program seeks to cultivate young adults’ commitment to Christian service and foster opportunities for Anabaptist witness and spiritual growth in their local communities and inspire young adults and develop their leadership skills. 

Danilo Sanchez, Leadership Minister for Intercultural Transformation, directs this program. Sanchez himself participated in a Franconia Conference-led summer service program as a young adult.

“These young adult Ambassadors give back to their community, work on their leadership gifts, learn more about who they are, and work closely with their pastor,” Sanchez shares. “As a young adult, I greatly benefitted from leadership opportunities with the conference which led me to become the pastor I am today.” 

For 10 weeks from June to August, the Ambassadors serve in their congregations’ Vacation Bible Schools and peace camps, at Conference-Related Ministry community centers, and more. They receive guidance from their pastor or another supervisor and mentor to discuss goals, receive support, and reflect on their experiences. The Ambassadors receive a stipend for their impactful work.  

In addition to the service opportunities, there are monthly virtual cohort gatherings for participants to build relationships, pray, and develop leadership skills. At the end of the program, there is a 2.5 day in-person retreat, designed and led by Sanchez and Hendy Matahelemual, Associate Minister for Community Engagement, which this year will take place in Tampa, Florida for the first time.

In 2024, 10 young adults are participating in the Ambassadors program, hosted by their congregation or Conference-Related Ministry. Initially, there were plans to host just six Ambassadors, but due to high levels of interest from applicants and host congregations, and the possibility of additional funding, the program was able to grow.  

“J.A. Schowalter wanted his legacy to continue on beyond his lifetime, supporting the missional work of Mennonite churches and organizations with similar faith and values,” said Schowalter Foundation President Diane Yoder. “We are pleased to support the efforts of Mosaic Mennonites through his vision and generosity.” 

The Schowalter Foundation was established in 1954 from the estate of J. A. Schowalter, a Mennonite from Newton, Kansas. The Foundation supports initiatives that follow the Mennonite convictions of service and missions, peacemaking and social concerns, and other programs and projects carried out by Mennonite Church USA and the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, as well as Mennonite higher education institutions. To learn more about the life and legacy of J. A. Schowalter and The Schowalter Foundation’s mission and grants, visit schowalterfoundation.org. 

Mosaic Mennonite Conference (Lansdale, PA) has received a $21,000 grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship to discern the theological distinctiveness and ethnocultural diversity of the church’s music. The project will provide tools to effectively evaluate CCLI Top 100 contemporary worship music from an Anabaptist theological perspective and provide suggestions to broaden the Top 100 list to better represent the diversity of the church.  

The project, entitled “Anabaptist CCLI Top 100 and Beyond,” is organized in partnership with the Anabaptist Worship Network and is part of a cluster of similar projects which have been called together by the Centre for Congregational Song. The project will be led by Rev. Dr. Emily Ralph Servant (Leadership Minister for Strategic Priorities for Mosaic Conference); Rev. Dr. Sarah Kathleen Johnson (Assistant Professor of Liturgical and Pastoral Theology at Saint Paul University); and Anneli Loepp Thiessen (PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Ottawa).  

“We aspire to create a theological framework for evaluating some of the most widely sung worship songs from an Anabaptist perspective. We aim to work together across Anabaptist traditions, with representatives from the Mennonite Brethren, Mennonite Church Canada, Mennonite Church USA, Church of the Brethren, and Evangelical-Anabaptists, on the team,” shared Sarah Kathleen Johnson, who is representing the project on the Together in Worship leadership team.

“We are attuned to the reality that definitions of Anabaptist theology will be distinct depending on the community, and that differences abound across distinctions of racial/ethnic identity, rural vs. urban location, average age of congregation, and more. Our intention is to identify shared pillars of Anabaptism and explore how song lyrics may align with or disrupt these values,” added Anneli Loepp Thiessen, Co-Director, Canada, of the Anabaptist Worship Network. 

The team will go through the CCLI Top 100 and identify whether songs resonate in an Anabaptist context, reflected with a color coding. The bulk of this work will be completed at an in-person gathering in the fall of 2024.  

“Recognizing that the CCLI Top 100 represents songs limited in origin to predominantly white Evangelical communities in the U.S. – and further is dominated by men – we aspire to create a list of contemporary worship songs that better represent the breadth of the church,” Loepp Thiessen further explains.  “This list will intentionally highlight songs in languages beyond English, gender diverse songwriters, songs by people of color, and songs that represent immigrant and refugee communities, and songs with expansive language for God.” 

“We are privileged to extend our intercultural worship capacity through the grant from Calvin,” shares Steve Kriss, Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. “This builds on continued partnership and gifted contributors to enrich the spiritual life of Anabaptist communities within and beyond Mosaic Conference. We are grateful for Calvin’s leadership, trust and generosity.” 

This program is made possible through a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with funds provided by the Lilly Endowment.