Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

March 2025 Mosaic Conference Board Report

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Mosaic Conference Moderator Angela Moyer Walter and Assistant Moderator Roy Williams report on the March 26, 2025 board meeting, including updates on the strategic plan, Spring Assembly gatherings throughout April, continued conversation with MC USA on ministry partnership, the dates for the Fall Assembly, and announcing the next Conference Assistant Moderator.

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To interact with this article, please email communication@mosaicmennonites.org.

Mosaic Conference explores ministry partnership as Program Entity of MC USA

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At its January 2025 meeting, Mosaic Conference’s Board decided to explore becoming a Program Entity with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). “Program Entity” status is designated by the MC USA bylaws to “arrange for the delivery of programs and services that carry out specific churchwide goals. [Program Entities] cooperate and network with other parts of the church around common goals.” 

Mosaic would be the first MC USA conference to shift to a ministry partnership via a Program Entity status. Everence and Mennonite Health Services are both currently named as program entities and listed as ministry partners on the Mennonite Church USA website.   

During November 2024’s annual Assembly, Mosaic’s delegates empowered the Board to work with MC USA in developing a plan that would allow Mosaic Conference to establish a “robust partnership” with MC USA. The approved action called on the Board to bring recommended bylaw amendments to the 2025 delegate assembly. 

Since the delegate action in November, Mosaic’s leadership has been gathering information and having conversations with MC USA leaders to explore the option of developing a ministry partnership as a Program Entity. Mosaic Conference moderator Angela Moyer Walter and assistant moderator Roy Williams met with MC USA moderator Jon Carlson and moderator-elect Marty Lehman leading up to MC USA’s Executive Board (EB) meeting on February 8 and have communicated with Carlson by email since the meeting. 

Lehman and Moyer Walter have since met to begin drafting a set of shared agreements integrating feedback from MC USA’s Executive Board, Mosaic staff and Board, and sibling MC USA conferences. Mosaic desires to collaborate with MC USA around core priorities including youth faith formation, intercultural leadership development, and church planting accompaniment. Additionally, Mosaic’s leadership hopes to explore ways to partner through shared values and mutual relationships, rather than transactional services. MC USA and Mosaic leadership will continue to discuss the implications on how members of Mosaic will participate in the life of Mennonite Church USA as a Program Entity. 

At the request of the denomination to work alongside other MC USA conferences, Moyer Walter shared about this proposal with conference moderators in a January meeting; direct conversations with the leadership of other conferences have been ongoing. “I value the healthy dialog we are having with many of our sibling conferences,” reflects Moyer Walter. “They have encouraged us to continue the good work that God has begun in Mosaic.” 

After Assembly, Three Congregations Vote on Affiliation with Mosaic Conference  

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At the Mosaic Conference Assembly in November, the delegates were asked to vote on the following ballot: “To affirm, with gratitude, the work and recommendation of the Pathway Steering Team to establish a robust partnership with Mennonite Church USA, and to bring recommended bylaw amendments for delegate discernment at the 2025 Mosaic Conference Assembly.”  The vote passed with 71% affirmation, which means that Mosaic Conference leadership will be working toward defining a relationship of partnership with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA).   

Following Assembly, the leadership of three Mosaic Conference congregations sought to discern their own relationship with Mosaic and Mennonite Church USA. Perkiomenville (PA), Swamp (Quakertown, PA) and Vincent (Spring City, PA) all had congregation votes related to affiliation with Mosaic Conference between November 10 and December 8.  

Perkiomenville

“When Mosaic announced a two-year Pathway plan at Assembly in 2022, Perk Church agreed to wait for the results of that process,” shared Mike Spinelli, Lead Pastor of Perkiomenville. “Church leadership understood that the 2024 recommendation from the Board did not result in a clear break from MC USA and asked for another year of processing.”  

Perkiomenville’s leadership called for a congregational meeting prior to the 2024 Assembly to give delegates guidance for voting. At that meeting, a member of the congregation moved for a resolution to disaffiliate with the Mosaic Conference since the vote this year was not a clear move toward leaving MC USA.  

This resolution was voted on at Perkiomenville’s annual business meeting two weeks later. “Discussion around the resolution included voices asking that the congregation not pass it and give Mosaic Conference one more year. This resulted in a vote that fell below our 67% threshold for major church decisions,” Spinelli shared. “As such, Perk Church will be a member of Mosaic through this year and will reconsider its ties to Mosaic when the new proposal is made in 2025.” 

Swamp 

Following the 2024 Assembly, Swamp’s Assembly delegates unanimously recommended to the Church Board that Swamp would leave Mosaic Mennonite Conference and shared this with the congregation. At Swamp’s member meeting a few weeks later, the Church Board shared a proposal, which had their unanimous recommendation, to “end Swamp Mennonite Church’s affiliation with Mosaic Mennonite Conference.”   

The text of the proposal indicates Swamp’s desire not to be an independent church and recognizes that a decision about future affiliation with a different conference will take time.  

The proposal also stated that during this transition period, “the congregation and its leaders may still partner with Mosaic for the sake of holding pastoral credentials, participating in the health insurance plan, and gaining counsel from the assigned Mosaic Leadership Minister.”

The vote passed by 92 percent. Details about the timing of Swamp’s departure from Mosaic Conference are still to be determined. 

“This is an especially difficult decision. We love Mosaic,” shared Lead Pastor Nathan Good in an email to Mosaic leadership. “We have invested time, energy, and resources, especially over the last decade. We have many important relationships within Mosaic. And the reality is that we agree with the Mosaic body on most things. There were many tears at our congregational meeting and at our Board meeting [prior to the vote].” 

Vincent 

On December 8, Vincent congregation moved toward disaffiliation with Mosaic, with a vote passing by 77 percent. It was initiated after a recommendation from the congregation’s elders stating ongoing disagreements with Mosaic Mennonite Conference. The ballot suggested that bylaws would be adjusted in January and that the congregation would move toward exploring new conference affiliations in 2025. The full disaffiliation would be recognized by Mosaic after the bylaw change is affirmed. 

“We recognize that some historic Mosaic congregations feel discomfort maintaining any connection to Mennonite Church USA. There is some tension around ongoing discernment about human sexuality within our Conference as well,” commented Stephen Kriss, Executive Minister. “I appreciate that these congregations remained in relationship with Mosaic while the Pathway process moved over the last two years. We honor their decisions and discernment. And we regret the potential loss of long-time member communities.”  

Mosaic Conference Receives Grant for Thriving Congregations Program 

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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.  

Ministers and leaders gathered for a Mosaic Institute course in May 2023.
The Introduction to Mosaic class at Fern Rock Retreat in 2022.

“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 Conference Receives $10,000 for Ambassadors Program

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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. 

Conference Board Affirms Anchor Statements for the Strategic Plan  

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Mosaic board members gathered at Bethany Birches Camp for a retreat. 

On May 17-19 the Mosaic Conference Board met at Bethany Birches Camp (Plymouth, VT) for an offsite, in-person retreat. The Conference Board, which meets 6 times a year, supervises the business of the conference, including conference committees, and ensures that the conference is maintaining alignment with its vision and following the lead of the Spirit into areas of growth and change.  

The group gathered for worship, prayer, relationship building, and an equipping session on discernment and decision making, led by Mosaic Leadership Ministers Rose Bender Cook and Noel Santiago. The board also affirmed the Anchor Statements from the Pathway Team Strategic Plan.  

The anchor statements form the framework for the strategic plan, which is currently being developed by the Pathway Steering Team with support from the consultant organization Grovider. The anchor statements cover five areas: reconciliation, leadership development, relationship building, clarity/identity, and communication and articulates how Mosaic will work toward those five areas. Each anchor statement has corresponding objectives and activities in the strategic plan that are currently under development. (download the Anchor Statements here in English, Spanish or Bahasa Indonesia) 

“I affirm the hard work, which is not fast work, of the Pathway Steering Team to attend to all of the details of creating the strategic plan,” shares Conference Moderator Angela Moyer Walter. “They have been discerning tangible steps for us to live into our vision, to embody the reconciling love of Jesus in our broken and beautiful world.”   

During the board meeting, members of the board echoed this sense of affirmation of the frequent meeting, listening, discernment, and planning that the Pathways Steering Team has done. They affirmed the process so far and invoked God’s continued blessing on the work.   

“The Pathways team has gone through the forming, norming, and storming stages, and I think we are entering the performing stage,” reflects Kiron Mateti (Plains [Hatfield, PA]), board member and member of the Pathway Steering Team. “Getting concrete steps on paper is encouraging. All these strategic words are a little new to me, but they are just tools to communicate the concrete ways Mosaic can live out our Mission and Vision, keeping our Missional, Formational, and Intercultural Priorities in mind.”  

Mateti continued, “The session with Rose and Noel could not have come at a better time. I am quick to enter “decision-making” mode and weigh the data and steps in a logical way but entering into “discernment” is a practice and a habit. As Noel put it, ‘discernment is what God reveals and decision-making is what we do with that.’”  

The Pathway Steering Team will provide the Board with the Anchor Statements (done), strategic plan, and affiliation recommendation (in progress). Graphic by Kiron Mateti. 

The full strategic plan, and a recommendation around the question of affiliation with Mennonite Church USA, will be brought by the Pathway Steering Team to the board meeting on August 19. By the end of August, the board will set the agenda for the November Assembly.  

“Now is the time for praying for the Pathways Steering Team. These commitments are the crux of moving forward together as Mosaic, and they give me hope,” Moyer Walter reflected.  

We encourage you to reach out to your Lead Ministers, or the Pathway Team members, with your questions and feedback.   

Mosaic Mennonite Conference Receives $21,000 Grant for Vital Worship Initiative

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Participants of the Anabaptist Worship Network 2023 songwriting retreat, which included four people from Mosaic Conference. Photo by Darryl Neustaedter Barg.

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.

From right: Emily Ralph Servant (Mosaic Leadership Minister), Stephen Zacheus (Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Anugerah; Sierra Madre, CA), and George Makinto (LA Faith Chapel) travel to the Anabaptist Worship Network 2023 songwriting retreat. Photo by George Makinto. 

“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.  

Three Possible Pathways for Our Future as Mosaic 

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by Stephen Kriss

In November 2022, our Mosaic delegate body met for the first time in person. And we had our first shared crisis of identity. Mennonite Church USA’s (MC USA) Kansas City summer 2022 special delegate session, which included repealing the denomination’s membership guidelines and passing a Repentance and Transformation resolution, created ripples of emotion for many persons across Mosaic.  

In response, at our first annual face-to-face, Mosaic delegates affirmed the Pathway Forward which includes strategic planning (needed at this point in our story together), an option for congregations to remove themselves from MC USA, and a promised discernment about our relationship with MC USA as a Conference community. This was a lot for the first annual face-to-face session.  

This is a lot for a new community to bear in its beginning. However, we are both deeply rooted and freshly new. By the grace and lovingkindness (chesed) of God, we have continued to flourish with surprising growth and provision in this two-year period. Our board has led with steadiness and our member congregations have engaged in mutuality and the agreed-upon work of our core missional, formational and intercultural priorities as we seek to embody the reconciling love of Jesus in our broken and beautiful world. 

In these two years, the Pathway Steering Team, which represents the diversity of gifts and perspectives of our Conference, has diligently worked on strategic planning and is moving closer to discernment on a recommended path for our Mosaic affiliations.  

In the meantime, Mosaic staff and board have made sure the work of the Conference continues. For me, as Executive Minister, this has meant understanding our relationship and responsibilities with MC USA and the implications of remaining within the denomination or finding alternative paths. 

Last month, I shared with the Pathway Steering Team three possible pathways I can identify for our future as Mosaic:  

A Pathway of Autonomy

As someone of Slavic descent, I recognize that autonomy can present new possibilities and challenges. Franconia Conference has been an autonomous conference in the past. Our community has capacity, in human and financial resources, to operate autonomously. We would still be Mennonites. We would find new ways to relate to other Anabaptists. We would seek membership in Mennonite World Conference. I have explored possible affiliations outside of MCUSA, and from my perspective, none would fit who we are or give us the support and space we need to live into our vision and mission.   

A Pathway of Continued Commitment

When Mosaic formed, we assumed continued membership in MC USA. We have deep connections broadly across the church and our continued engagement would offer our strength, diversity, and perspective to the largest Mennonite group in the U.S. Our membership in MC USA gives access to resources that are important in our credentialing process and in supporting some of our most vulnerable and newest communities with grants for ministry, educational opportunities, and financial backing for the purchase of new meetinghouses. Continued membership would maintain those programmatic connections and relationships across the country. The challenge for some of us is that this affiliation has become a liability rather than a strength that enables us to live more fully into our vision and mission. 

A Pathway of Collaboration or Partnership

At the last MC USA gathering, Mennonite Health Services and Everence altered their relationships with MC USA. We have had some initial conversations with leaders in MCUSA on what a different relationship might look like, in which we could collaborate on some areas of shared interest while holding our own polity and membership guidelines as Mosaic. This would require something new for MC USA (timely, given that we just discussed reinventing the church at our annual Constituency Leadership Council [CLC] gathering). This would also require something of us in Mosaic. Is it possible that Mosaic is a better MC USA partner rather than full member? Would this allow us to live into our vision and mission more fully? 

I have committed to a sense of holy indifference as the Executive Minister of Mosaic. I can see strengths and vulnerabilities in each of these paths. And it’s possible that the Pathway Steering Team will offer an alternative recommendation.  

What I do expect is that a year from now, Mosaic will be a different community in some way. This may be difficult, and it may also be invigorating. So far, the Spirit has continued to show up. I am committed to us living into our vision and mission of embodying the reconciling love of Christ even in difficult circumstances together. We won’t get it right all the time, but I want to keep us focused on living into who we have felt God has called us to be, both broken and beautiful. 

The Pathway Steering Team will likely have the strategic plan ready for board review at the May meeting at Bethany Birches Camp in Vermont. We hope there will be a recommendation for the board regarding affiliation at the August meeting. Conference delegates will have an opportunity to discuss this in our Assembly preparation gatherings, as we prepare for further discernment at the November 2, 2024, annual Assembly at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. 

As the pathway emerges, may we have the courage to do what is right and good, may we extend God’s great chesed to all, and may we walk humbly as individuals and as a Mosaic community. 

Stephen Kriss

Stephen Kriss is the Executive Minister of Mosaic Conference.