Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

Being Church Together

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conference assembly 2015 153According to the Franconia Conference by-laws the vision for the conference is set by the conferring of the delegates. At the Fall 2015 Assembly, the vision of the conference was set through the passing of five Church Together Statements from congregations. Three of these statements called for either a taskforce or commission to carry out the work outlined in the statement. Therefore, the Israel/Palestine and Addressing Abuse Taskforces, along with the Faith and Life Commission have been formed. Here is an update on their work:

Faith and Life Commission

The Faith and Life Church Together Statement was approved by the delegates and calls for “the conference to reestablish the Faith and Life Commission for the purpose of providing at least quarterly gatherings for pastors to discern and study scripture together.”

The commission currently includes Rose Bender (Whitehall) as chair, Nathan Good (Swamp), Kris Wint (Finland), Verle Brubaker (Swamp), Penny Naugle (Plains), Josh Meyer (Franconia), and the staff liaison is the conference executive minister.

With the ministry description in mind, the commission is working on developing a covenant of cooperation for themselves and have developed the following priorities:

  1. Strengthen relationships of mutual trust and accountability between credentialed leaders
  2. Discuss Scripture, its meaning, and its application together
  3. Hear stories of how others are interpreting and applying Scripture
  4. Pray for each other and our congregations
  5. NOT intended for decision-making purposes

The commission is looking forward to kicking off the first of the quarterly gatherings for the conference credentialed leaders sometime this fall. Date to be announced in the coming weeks.

Addressing Abuse

conference assembly 2015 136The Addressing Abuse in Our Midst Church Together Statement was approved by the conference board as it provides a way for Franconia Conference to implement one of the 2015 MCUSA Kansas City Resolutions. This statement calls for the conference to “establish a task force to oversee the implementation of actions designated by the MCUSA Churchwide Statement on Sexual Abuse within Franconia Conference.”

The Addressing Abuse Taskforce consists of Karen Zehr (Salford), Krista Showalter Ehst (Alpha), John Drescher-Lehman (Souderton), Wayne Speigle (Blooming Glen), and their staff liaison is Jenifer Eriksen Morales .

With their ministry description in mind, the taskforce was faced with numerous items that need to be addressed. They decided to begin where the wounds are and work from there. Currently, they are working at providing resources and support for adult survivors; then they will develop and identify resources for supporting church leaders and equipping them to prevent and respond to abuse; finally they will help provide education within congregations. Resources identified by this taskforce are available on the Conference’s Church Safety webpage (http://mosaicmennonites.org/church-safety/), and more resources will be added in the future.

As the taskforce begins to look at providing resources and support to adult survivors, they discovered there is little-to-no support in the area of the conference congregations. In order to ensure support is available for adult survivors, the taskforce is working to develop support groups. If you or someone you know is interested in more information or in helping with the development or facilitation of a support group, please contact Karen Zehr, zehrhead@gmail.com or Jenifer Eriksen Morales, jeriksenmorales@mosaicmennonites.org.

Israel/ Palestine Church Together Statement

The Church Together Statement on Israel/Palestine was also approved by the conference board as it too provides a way for Franconia Conference to implement the MCUSA 2015 Kansas City Resolutions: A statement of support for our Palestinian and Israeli partners in peacemaking. In addition, the Franconia Conference Church Together Statement says “the intended consequence of this statement [is] to educate ourselves about the people of Israel-Palestine and their problems, and thereby to prepare our congregations, pastors, and delegates to evaluate intelligently the longer [MCUSA] resolution, called “Israel- Palestine” that was tabled until Convention 2017.”

In order to best prepare the conference, a taskforce has been formed. The taskforce currently includes Andrew Bush (Methacton), Ed Brubaker (Souderton), Preston Bush (Salford), Lynelle Bush (Salford), Jeff Hackman (Plains), Mike Merryman Lotze (Ambler), Peder Wiegner (Norristown), and their staff liaison is John Stoltzfus.  They are still looking for additional members and would love to hear from anyone who has been on a Come and See Tour. 

With their ministry description in mind, the taskforce is focused on providing the following resources:

  • Creating an informational packet on Israel/Palestine for the fall delegate assembly.
  • Hosting a conference on Israel/Palestine (time and date still being discussed).
  • Possible film screenings and discussion times.

Conclusion

The taskforces and commission are hard at work to ensure resources are implemented prior to assembly 2016.

Staff Update: The Space In Between

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by Stephen Kriss

We are three weeks into Executive Minister Ertell Whigham’s three month sabbatical.   In the meantime, I’m serving as acting executive minister, which so far has meant attending to both more details and broader issues and possibilities for our community of faith together.   These months will continue to provide opportunities for staff growth and engagement in new ways.   Our conference youth minister, John Stoltzfus, is also on sabbatical, which makes the staff lean and busy for the summer.

In Mennonite Church USA, our conference currently has the most advertised pastoral openings.  We are searching for diverse leaders from Taftsville in Vermont to South Philly to serve among our congregations.   With about a dozen pastoral openings across our Conference, this is a significant time of transition and focused work.  Pastoral transitions are high priorities for LEADership Minister engagement to help keep our congregations healthy and growing.

conference assembly 2015 175This summer we, the staff, begin “Going to the Margins” staff meetings which will mean the Conference office will be closed the last Wednesday of July, August, and September in the afternoons as staff engage with our congregational communities.  Our first “Going to the Margins” staff meeting will be with Doylestown Mennonite next week where we’ll engage with pastors and spend time learning there.  I look forward to each of these three afternoon times out together.

Franconia Conference is about conferring.  There are frequent meetings and there is much planning happening for meetings coming up this fall.  Office staff work hard to ensure that we are ready to gather together in ways that are meaningful and that information flows in a timely and efficient way.  We’re in process of planning for our annual assembly and continue to work to update our pastoral credentialing records.

There is much to do.  We have many good stories to tell.   We continue to work and to hope.  I invite you to join together in prayer for the conference, staff, board and everyone across our almost 7000 people conference community as together we strive to “live a life worthy of our calling.”

Executive Search Update

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Franconia Conference logoOn May 19, Franconia Mennonite Conference (FMC) Moderator, John Goshow, announced to the conference delegates and conference related ministry (CRM) leaders that the board had accepted the resignation of Executive Minister, Ertell Whigham, to be effective January 31, 2017. Ertell states in his resignation letter, “it continues to be a blessing and honor to serve as the Executive Minister and CEO of FMC. On behalf of the conference, I have enjoyed the opportunities and collaborative relationships that have developed and been strengthened among our constituency and MCUSA affiliates. However, as I sense time for a change in responsibility and ministry focus, I believe that the season approaches for me to step out of my current conference role as Executive Minister and CEO of FMC.”

With that the Conference Board Executive Committee began engaging Franconia Conference pastors, CRM leaders, board and staff for their input on what they desire from the next Executive Minister.  A survey was sent out to these constituency groups and resulted in 22 pages of feedback. Three meetings were then held where pastors, CRM leaders, board and staff were invited to dialogue with the Executive Committee about their hopes and expectations of the next Executive Minister. The survey results and notes from these meetings have been shared with the search committee.

As communicated in a letter from the conference moderator on July 1, Joy Sutter of Salford Mennonite Church, has agreed to chair the search committee. Joy is also a member of the MCUSA board, and the Associate Administrator for the Cancer Service Line at University of Pennsylvania Health System. She brings extensive administrative and executive experience to this process. Five additional people have also been named to the search committee in the last few weeks. These individuals have been appointed by the board with input from some conference pastors. The other members include Angela Moyer (Ripple) who will serve as the board representative on the committee, Henry Longacre (Swamp), Glen Nemath (Blooming Glen), Doris Diener (Franconia Mennonite Church), and Michael Meneses (Wellspring Church of Skippack). The search committee is scheduled to have their first meeting on July 21.

The conference board desires not to rush this process and wants to ensure that the search committee has all the time they need to discern the person God has for this role. At the same time, it is hoped that the next Executive Minister would be named by December 31. Further communication regarding the process will be released as it is available via Intersectings and possible letters from the Moderator. Questions regarding the process can be directed to the Conference Moderator.

Together Despite Differences: Youth Worship Event Report

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By Madison Smith, Deep Run East

In order to bring teens “together despite differences”, Eastern District and Franconia Mennonite Conference held their annual Youth Worship Gathering on June 4, 2016. The theme of the event was “Built together in Christ”, and was led by Chantelle Todman Moore, Philadelphia Program Coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee.

Youth gathering 3According to Christian Zeo, Doylestown Mennonite Church, the theme helped to “bring us all together under Jesus.”

The message that Todman Moore delivered also resulted in a positive responses.  “It put flesh and blood on the idea of Christ,” said Doylestown Youth Leader Brandon Landis.

As well as a message, the gathering also had many times of worship throughout the event, which were led by Nathan Good, Associate Pastor at Swamp Mennonite Church, and Danilo Sanchez, Leigh Valley Youth Pastor for Ripple, Whitehall and Vietnamese Gospel.

According to Zeo, the songs get people to express what they normally can’t. “Besides the messages, the songs had an upbeat feel,” said Zeo. “Most songs are too solemn.”

Youth gathering 4This event is held biannually, the first weekend of June following the Mennonite Historians Whack and Roll event. Usually the youth enjoy time outdoors under a big tent on the Mennonite Historians’ land in Harleysville. Due to the rain, the event was moved indoors to Christopher Dock Mennonite High School. Yet, the rain did not keep the people away; over 12 youth groups participated, including those from Doylestown, Ripple, Whitehall, Blooming Glen, Deep Run East and Deep Run West and many more.

Thy Kingdom Come

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By Aldo Siaahan

As a part of an annual event of Kingdom Builders network of Philadelphia, the Pentecost Worship service was held at Philadelphia Praise Center on July 2, 2016. The service started with a fellowship over different traditional meals. There was a Vietnamese noodles and meatball dish, traditional tacos, Indonesian empanadas, sushi and much more. We did not expect to have a big crowd because it was a holiday weekend. Yet, to our surprise so many people came and brought food to the point where we were overflowing.

We opened the service at 6:30 pm with a prayer, followed by songs in Creole, Spanish, English, and other languages. We listened to a short message by Chantelle Todman Moore, Philadelphia Program Coordinator at Mennonite Central Committee. The service was divided into 3 sections. The first was, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, then “Thy Kingdom Come”, and lastly “Thy Will Be Done”. During the service, Fred Kauffman, Methacton Mennonite, and Calenthia Dowdy, Professor and Director of Faith Initiatives at Eastern University, led occasional conversations by throwing a question to discuss in small groups about why our ancestors came to the United States. Some reasons given were “escaping persecution”, “economic opportunities”, “education”, and “slavery”.  A big lesson learned was that we are all displaced (desplazados, terlantar, verschoben). We closed the service with a holy communion led by Bernard Sejour, pastor at Eglise Evangelique Solidarite and Harmonie, and Fernando Loyola and Leticia Cortez, co-pastors at Centro de Alabanza.

I am very grateful to be a part of a diverse community in the city of Philadelphia that can give me a little sneak peak of Heaven.

Note: The Kingdom Builders Network is a Mennonite Anabaptist Network around Philadelphia. They have meetings every month on the second Thursday. During the meetings, they read scriptures, discuss the word of God, and pray for each other. They have meetings in different locations although most of the time the meeting is held in Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.

Aldo Siaahan is a LEADership Minister and Pastor at Philadelphia Praise Center.

Welcoming the Stranger

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By Barbie Fischer

As we begin this journey of diving into the subject of hospitality, it seems fitting to start at the beginning. The origin of the word hospitality can be traced back to the Hebrew/Aramaic word הכנסת אורחים (hachnasat orchim) which literally translates to bringing in of strangers. Something that nowadays may give many of us pause, if asked to bring a complete stranger into our home. Yet, this was common practice in the days of Abraham and Sarah. We see the first record of hospitality in the Bible as Abraham and Sarah welcome three visitors.

The story is recorded in Genesis 18: 1-8, and states:

Abraham“Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. 4 Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; 5 and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.” 7 Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. 8 He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.”

To understand this story one must look at the cultural context. During this period people were seminomadic and there were no hotels or inns, no hospitality industry. It was deemed a social obligation of people in cities and encampments to care for travelers. Abraham and Sarah would have been accustomed to welcoming strangers.

It reminds me of our Mennonite Culture, as we are known for our homestays, and also of my time in Africa, I was never without a place to sleep. Yet, this is not common in our broader culture here in the states and nowadays even as Mennonites we might pause welcoming someone who happens upon our front door with no knowledge of who they are or where they came from. There was a time I was traveling and needed a place to stay here in the states. I mentioned to my friend, Bahati, from the Congo, I was looking for a place. He looked at me and said, “If we were in Africa, I would say come and stay with my wife and I, but we are in America, so I must say, let me check with my wife.” A sign of a respectful husband, but also of our culture, as perhaps his wife would not want a guest. Inviting a guest into the home is not a given in our culture. Yet, for Abraham and Sarah, it would be unthinkable to allow a person in need to pass by without offering them hospitality.

It makes one wonder, what is it about Abraham and Sarah that made them so open to being hospitable? Was it their upbringing and culture? Or something deeper? And what keeps us from being hospitable at times? Is it our upbringing and culture? How can we show hospitality like Abraham and Sarah in this day and age?

Stay tuned for more on Abraham and Sarah with the three visitors, in the next Intersectings edition.

Creating Space

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By Jenifer Eriksen Morales

teddy bear picnicMy 4-year-old daughter invited me to join her picnic, complete with plastic fruit.  I looked at the stuffed animal guests, “Wow, you have very different friends.  Aren’t you afraid the bear will eat the dogs or the dogs will eat the cats?” She patiently responded, “No Mommy.  That is not going to happen because Jesus is with us.” She pointed to a doll wrapped in white lying on the edge of the picnic blanket. “See?”

What a prime example of hospitality according to Henri Nouwen’s definition, quoted in last week’s Intersectings. “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place…”

My role as a LEADership minister offers me many opportunities to witness hospitality at its finest within Franconia Conference.  Here are just a few ways in which congregations or members of congregations are “creating space.”

West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship is partnering with Redemption Housing to purchase a recovery home in West Philadelphia that is designed to encourage and support returning citizens. Not only are they collaborating in ministry with this organization, but the congregation will spend the next year preparing themselves to better understand, welcome and build relationships with citizens returning from prison to the broader community and congregation.  This will happen through trainings, Sunday school studies, and guest speakers who will help them grow in understanding the prison system/mass incarceration, and intercultural competencies.

A year ago, a man in the Spring Mount congregation told me about multiple new neighbors who are Muslim.  He asked me to recommend books he could read to learn more about this faith tradition.  Recently, he returned a book I lent him and told me about his on-going learning about Islam and the comfortable friendships he is forming with his neighbors from Pakistan, Egypt and Bangladesh.

Souderton Mennonite Church recently turned an extra Sunday school room into a warm, living room-type space where parents can retreat and connect with each other.  I spent some Wednesday evening club nights there drinking coffee and visiting with others.  I was able to get to know a woman from the Congo. Thanks to the provided space, our family has new friends.

Plains Mennonite Church has a beautiful park which often serves as space for people to connect.  Members of the congregation hang out at the park to have conversation and build relationships with neighbors who gather there for basketball, soccer, disc golf, or just to play at the playground. One member of the congregation carries dog treats in his pocket and takes a couple minutes to greet people and their pets.  This summer the congregation is hosting Art in the Park.  They will hold concerts, movies, and line dancing.  This July, a simple meal will be served each week in the pavilion followed by an art of living class on different topics such as gardening, or cooking/preserving in season foods. This is all free and open to the community. The goal is for all to feel welcomed and comfortable, including those with special needs. To prepare for this time, the congregation will devote June Sunday school classes to raising sensitivity and awareness and learning how to embrace and reach out to the special needs community.

5 years ago, the Perkasie congregation received a Franconia Conference grant to aid in their endeavor to create a safe place for people from the community to gather with faith-related questions or to talk about different ways of understanding the Bible.  The friendships formed there have been lasting.  This group of people still meet and are currently studying Phyllis Tickle’s video series around the theme of Emergent Christianity.

I could write pages about the different ways I see congregations and individuals intentionally creating space where strangers can come together.  As followers and worshipers of Jesus, we live in Jesus’ promise to be with us always.  The space we create in the name of Jesus, where lives and love are shared and transformed is ordinary and sacred.  Because Jesus is with us.  See?

Jenifer Eriksen Morales is Minister of Transitional Ministries and a LEADership Minister for eleven congregations in Franconia Conference.