Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

Conference Update Regarding Pastoral Misconduct Allegation & Process

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The Mosaic Conference Board has called on the Mosaic Ministerial Committee to review conference policy regarding the holding of ministerial credentials for Conference Related Ministries (CRM) leaders.  

In September of 2021, Mosaic Conference committed to developing an internal review process in response to allegations of misconduct at Dock Mennonite Academy (Lansdale, PA). Soon after, an official complaint was filed with Mosaic Conference, accusing Dock Academy’s Superintendent, Conrad Swartzentruber, of failing to protect the children in the school’s care. Swartzentruber has been ordained by Mosaic since 2020 and is a member of Plains Mennonite Church (Hatfield, PA). 

In accordance with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) policies regarding allegations of misconduct against credentialed leaders, Mosaic Conference responded by placing a hold on internal investigations.  Mosaic Conference then moved forward to contract with external investigators to ascertain whether or not the allegation was founded. According to denominational policies, public communication was paused until the external investigation was completed. 

In early April 2022, the external team presented a confidential report to the Mosaic Ministerial Committee that recommended Swartzentruber be charged.  On April 7, the Ministerial Committee met to discern whether to follow through with this recommendation. The committee considered the evidence that the investigation team had gathered but, in a contested decision, declined to charge Swartzentruber.  

The minutes of the Ministerial Committee then went to the Conference Board on May 16 for affirmation. The Board acknowledged a lack of clarity for the charge and requested additional information from the investigation team.  This additional information was reviewed at the July 18 Board meeting, concluding the external investigation process.   

In considering the conference process, the Board identified some deeper issues within conference polity and structure that need to be addressed. One of the challenges revealed in the external investigation was the potential incompatibility between leadership of a non-profit organization, with its accompanying legal responsibilities, and the commitment that credentialed leaders make with the Giving and Receiving Counsel process, the primary accountability structure for the Conference’s credentialed leaders. In response, the Board has called on the Ministerial Committee to review the Conference policy on holding credentials for CRM leaders. 

Additionally, the report emphasized a weakness in the Conference’s leadership minister structure, which primarily provides accountability to the lead pastor of congregations, leaving potential gaps in support and accountability for credentialed leaders in other roles. This structure was developed by the Leadership Minister Team and will be reviewed and revised in conversation with the Ministerial Committee. 

Finally, the report identified the need for a clearer communication plan around misconduct investigations. The process, developed within the wider denomination, mandates a shutdown of communication during an external investigation, yet this lack of communication can create mistrust among members of the affected community, particularly survivors of abuse. The report suggested that often the institution is protected using the “guise of confidentiality.” Conference staff have committed to working with Mennonite Church USA to develop a new policy that honors confidentiality while also empowering survivors and providing transparency to the process. 

Both Mosaic’s Ministerial Committee and Board agreed that there were significant flaws in the process. “These kind of processes challenge our system and community because of the infrequency of complaints” reflected Mosaic’s Executive Minister, Steve Kriss. “Policies are created for hypothetical scenarios and then, when a complaint is filed, it often doesn’t play out that way in reality,” he said.  “This process was imperfect, and we are challenged now to continue to work at issues of restoration and hope for the many who have been involved and affected.”   

The events of the last few months have highlighted the need for Mosaic Conference to continue to adjust and change to more fully “embody the reconciling love of Jesus in our broken and beautiful world.” The Board hopes that these learnings strengthen commitments to healthy relationships, mutual accountability, and the cultivation of safe spaces for the vulnerable among us.  

Mosaic Conference takes allegations of abuse or misconduct seriously (resources for Safe Churches). If you have information about an instance of child abuse in your ministry context, please report it by calling the child abuse hotline for your state:  

CA: list of phone numbers by county
FL: 1-800-962-2873
MD: list of phone numbers by county
NJ: 1-877-652-2873
NY: 1-800-342-3720
PA: 1-800-932-0313
VT: 1-800-649-5285

Mosaic Conference to Review Relationships with Mennonite Church USA

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On July 18, the Mosaic Conference Board moved to form a task force to lead a listening process and review of the Conference’s relationships with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA).  The task force will be made up of Board members, staff, and nominated members from across the Conference’s diverse constituency. The task force’s goal is to listen to each Mosaic community and ministry and to provide direction for further discernment at the upcoming Annual Assembly on November 4-5.  We welcome your nominations to the task force. (Nomination deadline is Tuesday, August 2.) 

Task Force Nominations are due Tuesday, August 2. 

Nominate Someone

At the July meeting, the Board reviewed numerous letters from Mosaic congregations, pastors, and leaders, urging action in considering the ongoing relationships with MC USA.  For many, the resolutions and decision-making processes at the MC USA Special Delegate Session in May demonstrated a disconnect with the denomination and Mosaic Conference’s formation document and mission.  

Meanwhile, the Board also underscored the significance of prayer in the coming weeks together. Following the Conference’s listening sessions in June, a listening prayer initiative, led by staff, began. The call to prayer is an invitation to hear what the Spirit is saying in the midst of this time of discernment together. Prayer groups have already formed across the Conference, but more are welcome (click here to register). For more information contact Marta Castillo, Associate Executive Minister.  

The Board is committed to a thorough, thoughtful, and timely process of listening and discerning. At this time, the Board expects that the task force will take time to first listen to all Mosaic communities, then follow up with more conversations at Assembly scattered sessions in the early fall. With over 8,000 members in nearly 100 member communities and ministries, spread from coast to coast and working in multiple languages, listening to the Spirit as well as each other will require careful and thoughtful attention. 

“While we recognize the urgency for some of us in reconsidering the relationships with Mennonite Church USA, the reign of God continues to unfold among us” says Stephen Kriss, Executive Minister.  “New pastors continue to be called, new churches continue to form, needs and possibilities are expressed and met. We must continue the good work that God has begun through us as Mosaic in the midst of this process.”   

The Board hopes to have the task force named by mid-August. Because Conference delegates must be notified of any balloting processes a month before the November Assembly, a tight timeline may be required for the task force’s work. The task force will need to be prepared to work diligently and collaboratively.  Watch Mosaic News for updates in the coming weeks.

When Nothing Has Changed, But Everything Seems Different

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Since the Mennonite Church USA Special Delegate Assembly in Kansas City in late May, Mosaic Conference has hosted Listening Sessions for Mosaic Assembly delegates to share with and listen to one another. Nearly 100 delegates participated in the listening sessions that occurred in person and online. (There is one final listening session yet this week with Indonesian speaking leaders and pastors from across our Conference.)  The decisions made at the MC USA Assembly have created some uncertainty in our Conference as we consider our relatedness to one another, our experiences, our understanding of the biblical texts and of our Christian faith. 

A clear request emerged from the Listening Sessions for clarification of Mosaic Conference’s position regarding the narrowly passed A Resolution for Repentance and Transformation at the Kansas City Special Delegate Assembly. (Delegates voted 267-212 in favor of the resolution.)  

We are now living into the reality of feelings about and responses to the vote. I am committed personally to living into this openly, non-anxiously, and with as much clarity as I can offer as Executive Minister.

In reality, nothing has changed for Mosaic Conference.  Denominational resolutions are non-binding for area conferences. A denominational resolution sets the trajectory for MC USA policy about how denominational staff time is spent and how denominational resources may be distributed; however, it does not override any conference policy, posture, or position. All of our Conference formation documents continue to stand and guide us, including our Church Together Statements of Going to the Margins, Faith and Life, and Grace and Truth.   Our formation document that binds our reconciled Conference together is rooted in Harold S. Bender’s The Anabaptist Vision and Palmer Becker’s Anabaptist Essentials (here is a helpful summary of Becker’s work) continues to stand.  We continue to abide by the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. We also recognize our global connections through Mennonite World Conference’s Shared Convictions. Our specific Conference vision and mission statement remain the same.

So while nothing in our Conference has changed, for some of us, our relationship with Mennonite Church USA has been called into question.  For some, A Resolution for Repentance and Transformation represents a significant departure from the 2,000-year history and practice of Christian tradition. There are calls within our Conference for immediate distancing from the denomination.  Some congregations and leaders feel the relationship is untenable. Others desire more time to listen, reflect, and discern. 

I believe in the work of the Spirit that drew Mosaic Conference together. The possibility of our shared witness is far greater than we have yet lived into. We have strong local histories and global connections. We are a network of committed leaders, ministries, and congregations. I believe in us, and I am committed to our navigating this turbulence together. 

We need to be patient and allow time for all of us within Mosaic Conference to be able to understand and discern. Our missional, formational, and intercultural commitments as a Conference mean that our discernment work together must include space to hear diversity of perspective and experience and take account of our cultural and linguistic differences.  We also have strong relationships with the global church, which is also asking about our future posture as Mosaic Conference in relation to Mennonite Church USA. 

Although nothing has changed, it can feel like everything has changed.  We are in a time of uncertainty. But we are also participating in a movement of communities that are in God’s care, part of God’s long story of redemption and reconciliation.  While the way ahead is not clear to me, God’s faithfulness is clear. God is with us, individually and communally.  Our denomination, Conference, communities, ministries, history, present, and future all belong to God. 

I invite each of us, as communities and individuals, to rest in what we know and in the things that have not changed that remain clear for us as a Conference community. Let us then lean into trusting each other and the work of the Spirit as we discern our path forward, holding onto the things that we know endure: faith, hope and love (I Corinthians 13:13). 

Clergy Housing Allowance & Inflation: Can You Change it Mid-year?

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With rising inflation, all of us have experienced prices rising on most everything over the past few months, including housing expenses (rent, mortgage rates, utilities, furniture, etc.) Credentialed leaders are afforded a clergy housing allowance through the federal government which allows them to exclude housing expenses from their gross income.  These allowances are set annually by your congregation or governing board.  With the current financial climate, you may be asking, can I change my Housing Allowance to reflect the current increases in my housing costs?   

The answer is yes, with the following rules: 

  1. Changes may be made to a Clergy Housing Allowance for the remainder of 2022.  You cannot change the Housing Allowance for any period already past, but you can change it for the rest of the year. 
  2. The same authority (e.g. Church board) that set the Housing Allowance at the beginning of the year needs to be the same authority that changes it. 
  3. The change needs to be duly recorded in the minutes of that authority’s meeting when the change was approved. 

Some churches establish a maximum amount that their credentialed leaders may utilize as a Housing Allowance for a given year.  If the credentialed person decides to increase the amount of their housing allowance for the remainder of the year (and it is less than the approved maximum amount), the person may change it without further approval. 

For more information regarding a Clergy Housing Allowance, please see this article, “Did you Know?” on the Mosaic website. For further questions, we encourage you to contact an accountant familiar with the IRS’s Clergy Housing Allowance.  

Increase in IRS Mileage Rate

Due to recent gas prices, the IRS recently announced an increase to the business mileage rate, beginning July 1, 2022.  As of July 1, the mileage rate for business travel will be 62.5 cents per mile, up 4 cents from the rate effective at the start of the year.  For more details, please see the IRS website.  

 

Updates for MC USA Special Delegate Assembly

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Mosaic Conference has named the following delegates to the Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA) Special Session of the Delegate Assembly in Kansas City, MO, May 27-30, 2022:

Mosaic Board representatives: 

  • Cory Longacre, Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church 
  • Janet Panning, Plains (Hatfield, PA) Mennonite Church 
  • Herman Sagastume, Perkiomenville (PA) Mennonite Church 
(from left to right) Cory Longacre, Janet Panning, Herman Sagastume

Mosaic Staff representatives: 

  • Marta Castillo, Associate Executive Minister, Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life
  • Michele Ramirez, Youth and Community Formation Coordinator for Florida, Iglesia Menonita Luz y Vida (Orlando, FL)
  • Aldo Siahaan, Leadership Minister, Philadelphia (PA) Praise Center 
(from left to right) Marta Castillo, Michele Ramirez, Aldo Siahaan

Mosaic Committee representatives: 

  • Michael Howes, West Swamp (Quakertown, PA) Mennonite Church 
  • Emmanuel Mwaipopo, Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life 
(from left to right) Emmanuel Mwaipopo, Michael Howes

All Mosaic congregations are strongly encouraged to select their delegate(s) for the Special Assembly and to register. Contact your Leadership Minister with questions about financial assistance to attend this Assembly. If your congregation’s membership is less than 100, apply for scholarship assistance through Mennonite Church USA. 

Mosaic Conference will hold two delegate equipping sessions with MCUSA moderator elect, Jon Carlson, Pastor of Forest Hills (Leola, PA) Mennonite Church. These sessions are for all congregational and conference delegates planning to attend the Kansas City Special Assembly. 

  • Tuesday, April 26, 7pm: Souderton/Lansdale PA area (specific location TBA) 
  • Tuesday, May 3, 7pm ET/4pm PT: via Zoom (with Spanish interpretation available) 

Preparing for MC USA’s Special Delegate Session

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On May 27-30, 2022, Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA) will hold a Special Session of the Delegate Assembly in Kansas City, MO. Each Mosaic congregation is eligible to send delegates to this important meeting in the life of our community and witness together.   

Mennonite Church USA is providing background resources and hosting a series of educational webinars (see below) to prepare delegates and their conferences / congregations for the Special Session of the Delegate Assembly in May.

Mosaic Conference will also be offering preparation work to help resources delegates and pastors in the months ahead.  The resources are intended to help prepare delegates for the upcoming discernment and voting that is planned for this special session.   

Upcoming January webinars:

Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 07:00 PM (EST): The development of resolutions, especially church statements, must seek to follow our ecclesiology. We believe the church exists at the congregational, area conference and national conference levels. While each person is responsible for developing and maintaining a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our understandings of the revelation of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are refined and tested by the community of believers on the three levels of our church. This seminar will explore the current role resolutions play in MC USA and hope we might shape the resolution process in the future. 

Monday, Jan. 31, 2022 07:00 PM (EST): Join MC USA’s Iris de Leon Hartshorn (facilitator) and panelists Jamie Pitts of AMBS, Pastor Isaac Villegas of Chapel Hill (North Carolina) Mennonite Fellowship and Shana Peachey Boshart of Mennonite Education Agency for an engaging discussion on biblical discernment. In this one-hour webinar, the panel will address three key topics:

  • Biblical and historical understanding of discernment
  • Congregational experiences with discernment
  • Best practices for discernment 

All webinars will be recorded and available on the MC USA delegate resource page. Please visit the delegate resource page for the full schedule and additional information.

Conference Board Update: September 2021

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The Mosaic Conference Board met September 20, 2021 to prepare for the annual Assembly and to review a process for conversation with Dock Mennonite Academy in response to allegations of misconduct in March 2021. The Conference board meets bimonthly. Most meetings are a hybrid combination of virtual and in-person attendance, so that members can attend across the Conference’s wide geography.

Process with Dock Academy

The Board reviewed a process prepared by the Ministerial Committee and the Conference Related Ministries (CRM) Committee for further conversation with the leadership of Dock Mennonite Academy. The Board affirmed the proposed process to move forward, rooted in the Conference’s agreement with CRMs (of Community and Accountability) and the Giving and Receiving Counsel document for credentialed leaders.

Conference leaders will be meeting with leaders from Dock Academy in October to review the process. More information will be available in the coming weeks as this process continues.

New member congregations and ministries

In preparation for Assembly, the Board affirmed Iglesia Menonita Pena de Horeb (Philadelphia, PA) and Faith Chapel (Los Angeles, CA) as new member congregations and The Midian Project (Charleston, WV) as a new Conference Related Ministry (CRM). These memberships will be officially affirmed and blessed in the annual delegate session in November. Information to introduce these congregations and ministries to the Conference will soon be available through the Mosaic Newsletter and website.

Annual Assembly pivot to online

The Board approved a change from in-person to virtual Assembly participation with localized watch parties due to the current COVID conditions, our geographic spread, and our diverse constituency. The delegate sessions will be held on Zoom from 1-3pm Eastern/10am-12pm Pacific on Saturday, November 6. The annual worship will be broadcast from a central location with watch parties for delegates across the Conference community at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific. More information regarding opportunities to gather as small groups for Conference worship will be coming in the next few weeks.

Update on Process with Dock Academy

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Last month, Mosaic Conference committed to developing an internal review process in response to allegations of misconduct at Dock Mennonite Academy (Lansdale, PA). In the last weeks, our Conference Related Ministry Committee and the Ministerial and Credentials Committees have developed a process that will include conversations between some of their members and members of the Dock Board, as well as the Dock Superintendent, to discuss concerns, affirmations, and future recommendations.  

A draft of this process will go to the Conference Board for approval at their next meeting. Next steps will be communicated by September 30.  We have continued to consult with Dove’s Nest to work toward a survivor-centered process.  We hope to not only provide insight into what has or has not been done in the past but also to initiate changes for our conference that foster healthy relationships, mutual accountability, and safe spaces for the vulnerable among us.  

Mosaic Conference takes allegations of abuse or misconduct seriously (resources for Safe Churches).  If you have information about an instance of child abuse in your ministry context, please report it by calling the child abuse hotline for your state:

CA: list of phone numbers by county

FL: 1-800-962-2873

MD: list of phone numbers by county

NJ: 1-877-652-2873

NY: 1-800-342-3720

PA: 1-800-932-0313

VT: 1-800-649-5285