Conference News

Reading God’s word after 25 years

February 18, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

Tarun with his wife Suniti and daughter Tripti.

by Rebecca Hendricks and Karen Moyer, Rocky Ridge

January 19, 2013 was a day of celebration for a lifetime of work when a new translation of the New Testament in a people’s heart language was dedicated in Korba, India. The story of the connection between the translator, Tarun Gardia, and families and churches in Franconia Conference is a divine drama of God’s amazing leading to accomplish his purposes.

It began when Tarun Gardia came to the USA in 1987 to live with Wilbur and Becki Hendricks as participants in the Mennonite International Visitor Exchange Program (IVEP) which sought to promote international understanding (he was assigned as a classroom aide to Quakertown Christian School.)

While Tarun was here, Hendricks encouraged him to participate in a Bible memory program, which opened Tarun’s eyes to see that a real relationship with the God of creation involved his heart. He acknowledged the impact of this exercise, saying, “The Christian love there touched my heart and I gave my life to our Lord. They sent me to [a missions conference where] I heard a Wycliffe Bible Translator speak…. Later they took me to North Carolina to the JAARS Center (a partner in Bible translation). Visiting the Museum of Alphabets at JAARS was the key factor that finally led me to translation as God’s plan for my life. While visiting the museum, I went to the Indian language section where I saw a hand-written verse in my own Chhattisgarhi language pasted on the wall. I was told that the Bible needs to be translated in that language.”

Following his one-year IVEP assignment, Indian and American Christian friends found the necessary support for Tarun to attend seminary in South India and then linguistic study at the Wycliffe center in Singapore. Tarun then returned to the JAARS center in North Carolina, where he received computer training, a skill which would greatly reduce translation time. It was during this time that Rocky Ridge Mennonite Church (Quakertown, Pa.) commissioned him to do this translation and took on his full financial support. Following a language survey, he began actual translation work in 1996.

NTs being distributed at dedication — The Chhattisgarhi New Testaments are distributed.

We marvel at the journey God planned for Tarun, a boy from a small village in India who trained to be a teacher. God took this village school teacher out of his comfort zone to a foreign country where he lived with a family who loved God and then loved Tarun into God’s kingdom. Those years convinced Tarun that not only he, but millions of others, needed God’s Word in their language so that they could become children of God and share this exciting life of purpose and value.

In January, a delegation of four individuals from Rocky Ridge congregation journeyed to India to participate in the ceremony celebrating the completion of Tarun’s New Testament translation. The team flew to Raipur, a city of 1.3 million, where Tarun, his wife Suniti and daughter Tripti (18) live and worked on the translation. The Chhattisgarhi language in this region is the purest spoken form; there are 15 million Chhattisgarhi speakers in the whole state.

On Friday, January 18, the team and the Gardias traveled four hours by train to the town of Korba where the dedication was held with three hundred people in attendance. Entering the courtyard gates, we were overcome with emotion as we noticed the stacks of Bibles ready for blessing and distribution.

The program began with praise music and scripture songs in the Chhattisgarhi language led by several congregations’ worship choirs. Representatives from Wycliffe Bible Translation India and the team from Rocky Ridge honored Tarun and Todd Hendricks brought greetings from his parents, Wilbur and Becki.

Following the program, people flocked to the front to purchase copies of the New Testament. When Karen asked one young man why he was buying two Bibles, he replied, “I got one for myself and one for my older brother. All these years I have been reading the Bible in Hindi, but I want to tell others about God in a language they can comprehend. This will bring them strength.”

Pastor Ravi Baksh and Karen Moyer talk with a young man who purchased two New Testaments--one for himself and one for his brother. — John Kurian (Director-India, The Wycliffe Seed Company) and Karen Moyer talk with young man who purchased two New Testaments–one for himself and one for his brother.

That evening several of us sat with Tarun and asked questions about his journey to completing the New Testament. Tarun reflected, “ Sometimes I was discouraged as I was the only one working on the translation, but two of my uncles would encourage me quite often to keep on going.”

We were awed to experience God’s working in one man and his family’s life and their dedication to answer God’s call. Even when he was discouraged, he was committed to finishing the task, he said, because of his desire “for my people to be saved and have God’s word in their own language, to speak to their own heart.”

Rocky Ridge congregation invites your continued prayer for Tarun and his family in the next phase of their ministry as they seek ways of incorporating this “heart-language” translation into the daily lives of the Chhattisgarhi speakers. Check out Rocky Ridge’s Facebook photo album.

Christopher Dock Implements One-to-one Plan

February 13, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

The board and faculty of Christopher Dock recently announced the implementation of a 1:1 technology plan (one device to one student) for the fall of 2013. Dock will equip each student with a 3rd Gen iPad with the goal of providing equitable access to web resources and apps to enhance Dock’s mission and curriculum.

This program will enhance students’ preparation for college, career, and a technology-infused world. The instructional focus for the iPads will be active, engaged learning, and concentration on the national standards for technology. These standards are:

creativity and innovation
communication and collaboration
research and information fluency
critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making

The funding for this program will not affect tuition rates. While there will be ongoing costs for technology each year, Dock is seeking over $200,000 in assistance this first year in order to implement the plan for its entire student body. The plan will be sustainable through the ongoing annual budget for educational resources.

Employers, businesses, parents, community members, and congregations who are interested in assisting with this initiative are invited to contact Susan Gingerich, Director of Advancement, to make a donation or to provide funding for a class of students. Susan can be reached at sgingerich@dockhs.org or 215-362-2675.

Hiding treasures where others may find them

February 12, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Sandy Drescher-Lehman, Souderton

Making safe space for people to experience the love of God has been a passion of mine ever since I can remember. That passion has been given life in camp settings, in prison cells, in our home and yard, in homeless shelters, on bicycle trips, in mental health facilities, and in churches.

Thirty years ago, after a profound experience at a retreat center of God’s love totally enveloping and holding me, my life verse became Isaiah 43: “But now, [Sandy], the Lord who created you says, ‘Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.’” Since that day, I have had the desire to live as many minutes of my life as possible in the heart of that much Love and to help others to connect with that much Love in whatever way they can experience it, thus receiving the healing we all need to become more fully human and to hold more of the Divine.

House of Prayer: Life's Transitions — House of Prayer: Life’s Transitions

A formative book for me was, “Prayer and Temperament” which taught me the different ways that different personalities pray. I resonated with Sue Monk Kidd, when she said “Symbols are the language of the soul” and Paul Tillich who called Christians to the revitalization of their inner lives through the recovery of symbols. I began to notice how not only symbols but color, also, called my soul to go deeper into the wordless heart of God.

Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach encouraged the practice of looking for God in everything. I noticed, as a worship leader, that when all of our senses are called for, people more easily engage in the heart of worship rather than only staying in their head with words and reasoning. And I’ve always loved the stories of Pippi Longstocking, who hid treasures in old tree stumps so she could watch her friends joyfully discover them on their “thing-finding” adventures.

So, when I became one of the pastors at Souderton Mennonite Church, I had the chance to combine all those learnings and passions! Joy Sawatzky and I began inviting people to special times of prayer to begin the Lenten season, combining input with times of silence; spending time alone with God in any of the several prayer centers we created, each with colors and symbols and scriptures. The variety was in the ways participants were invited to use their body or mind or taste buds or ears or sense of smell or sight. When we ended these retreats by “sharing the wealth” of our time with God, we were always overwhelmed to hear how God had come to each person in exactly the way that was most needed – far beyond anything we could have planned or imagined!

Then about 7 years ago, the ideas for different ways to pray suddenly exploded into 50 and then 60 centers, as more people joined the team, creating ways to express and make available to others how they prayed most easily. In experimenting with each other’s favorite methods and colors and symbols for praying, we discovered that when we try new ways of prayer, we sometimes go even deeper into the heart of God than engaging our usual patterns over and over. We organized the centers into rooms of a house – the kitchen (where we pray as we eat), the study (where we pray as we read and write and kneel and listen to music), the playroom (where tactile centers and craft centers help children play their prayers), the bedroom (where it’s enough to just BE; resting in God’s comfort), the art room (where all kinds of things to create wait to be discovered), and the great outdoors (where the sounds and smells and sights of creation invite us to pray in our walking and in noticing God in the world)

And my Pippi-heart loves to hide treasures in places where those who enter may or may not find them! The “House” symbolically calls us to see every room we enter as a place of prayer; every moment we live is another chance to be aware of God’s love and peace and mercy and grace and healing and whatever else we need from the One who created us and continues to create through us!

Souderton’s Lenten House of Prayer will be open February 8-18th, from 9am to 9pm in the congregation’s fellowship hall. All are welcome to visit. For more information or to access other Lenten resources from Souderton congregation, visit their website.

Reflections on building an intercultural relationship

February 6, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

Urban Promise at Souderton — A team of interns from Urban Promise leads singing at Souderton congregation. Photo by Emily Ralph.

As a church seeking to connect with the mission of God in the world, it has been exciting to connect with the ministry of Urban Promise in Camden, NJ. Initially, several of our college students served as summer interns and Bruce Main and some of their interns came to a worship service on a Sunday morning. But this past year, the Senior High youth group did a week of service in Camden and for many of the youth it was life changing. Relationships were established. They connected with what God was doing in the city and the invitation was given to come to Souderton for an exchange visit. Seeing this come together on January 20^th was encouraging and confirmed the truth that mission in the Kingdom of God is more about building relationships than it is about programs.

–Pastor Gerry Clemmer, Souderton congregation

Urban Promise--Carlee Moyer — Carlee Moyer (left), a senior in Souderton congregation’s youth group, participated in a summer school camp. What she saw and experienced led her to consider teaching in the inner city someday.

I didn’t know what to expect walking through the doors into camp that first day—it was a huge eye opener. As Caucasian teens, we went from being the majority back at home in Souderton to being the minority in Camden! This gave me a sense of how other people view the world; I experienced what it feels like to not fit in. Each morning we had devotions and the main topic that they kept coming back to was about judging other people. In Camden, I tried to remember that I have no idea what these kids are going through and they know nothing about me either. If you have an open heart to everyone, you will not only see happiness in others, but happiness in yourself also.

Coming back home and starting my junior year in high school, something had changed. I tried to take a broader look at myself as a person. I have become more aware of how I treat people and think about how God would want me to treat others. Even though the children that were in the camps were young, they still taught me something that will stay with me forever. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about the people that made a huge impact on my life.

–Jillian Moyer, junior

Wow! Where do I even begin to talk about the experience our youth group had at Urban Promise? One of the things that fascinated me most was Urban Promise’s “street leader” program. This program is for the older children (9^th-12^th grade) who have gone to the camps before, but are too old to be a “camper”. They help run the camp and facilitate activities. It was great to see how these kids worked their way up through the program and are now given responsibility. As a teacher, I notice that kids rise to higher levels of maturity when they are given a responsibility, especially when that responsibility is to take care of younger children.

I know many of our youth want to go back and visit our friends from Urban Promise and some have showed interest in working there for a summer. What an amazing and life changing experience it was for our entire group! Urban Promise is truly ushering in God’s Kingdom in a very real way.

–Elyse Hackman, youth leader

Conference announces realignment of staffing

January 31, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

Due to continued reductions in congregational giving, Franconia Conference has made a number of staffing adjustments, most effective February 1, according to Executive Minister Ertell Whigham. These adjustments are in response to a call by the conference board in May of 2012 to reduce staff FTE (full-time equivalency), stewarding both financial and human resources while better aligning personnel with conference priorities. Over the course of 2013, Conference staff will be reduced from 8.5 to approximately 7.5, a total reduction of about 12%.

“We were blessed to enter this year debt-free, but paying off the mortgage on the Souderton Shopping Center did not change the economic realities we’re facing, including a pattern of decreased giving from conference churches,” Whigham said. “While it will be challenging to provide ministry support with a more limited staff, we will continue to make every effort to meet the needs of our congregations and leaders.”

Both Noah Kolb, director of ministerial leadership, and Conrad Martin, director of finance, will reduce their percentage of time employed through the Conference. Martin will reduce to three-quarters time and Kolb, who began transitioning from a full-time role last year to move toward semi-retirement, will reduce further to half-time. Some of Kolb’s responsibilities will shift to other LEADership ministers including Jenifer Eriksen Morales, who will increase her load to fulltime.

Franconia will partner with Eastern District Conference to increase Carla Ferrier, administrative assistant, from three days a week to fulltime. In addition to the new administrative work for Eastern District, Ferrier will also take over some basic bookkeeping and move into an office manager role.

Sandy Landes, conference prayer coordinator, will step down on February 28 from her conference position to focus on ministry in the Doylestown congregation, where she has been on staff for eight years. “Sandy has brought a contagious and enthusiastic spirit and perspective to prayer ministry that has helped raise prayer awareness and especially intercessory prayer ministry to another level of importance in Franconia Conference,” reflected Franconia’s minister for spiritual transformation Noel Santiago, who has worked closely with Landes since she came on staff in 2007. “Sandy has been invaluable in keeping prayer at the center of Conference work and life. While she will be greatly missed on staff, we are grateful that she will continue in ministry through her local congregation.”

The prayer coordinator position, which was entirely grant-supported, will be discontinued and Santiago will oversee future conference prayer ministry.

Samantha Lioi, who was contracted last year by Franconia and Eastern District conferences as Minister of Peace and Justice, has extended her contract for another two years. Her position is supported by grants—congregations or individuals interested in supporting her work can contact conference Executive Minister Ertell Whigham.

In addition to its paid staff, Franconia Conference also benefits from the wisdom and guidance of volunteer LEADership Ministers. Randy Heacock, lead pastor of Doylestown congregation, has joined the conference’s volunteer staff and is now serving as the LEADership Minister for Wellspring Church of Skippack. Ray Yoder, who has served as one of Franconia’s volunteer LEADership Ministers for several years, will be retiring this spring.

“We’ve appreciated Ray and his work with congregations,” said Whigham, “but more importantly, he’s had a pastoral presence on our team and a level of wisdom and maturity that we all have benefitted from during his time on staff.”

Whigham also anticipates possible additional shifts in job responsibilities in the coming months to further align staff strengths and resources with conference priorities.

“As a board, we recognize the importance, reach, and depth of the work of Conference staff as we strive together to fulfill God’s vision of proclaiming Christ,” said Marta Castillo, assistant moderator, Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation. “We thank our staff for their passion, flexibility, and commitment to lead in equipping leaders and congregations to be missional, formational, and intercultural Anabaptist communities of faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Incarnation in the suburbs

January 30, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

by KrisAnne Swartley, Doylestown congregation

My fingers and toes are still somewhat numb as I sit down to write this account of the prayer walk in Hilltown Township (Pa.). I also feel somewhat numb on the inside. I wonder how I got here… the associate pastor who was just interviewed by a local news station for walking and praying on a neighborhood street. This is weird.

Then I remember how I got here. I have been asking God to show me what it looks like to incarnate God’s love in the suburbs because it isn’t always obvious to me. My suburbs look beautiful and well-kept and peaceful when you drive around on the streets. What need is there here? It is hidden under the surface.

I got an email last Friday from my children’s school district office saying that there had been a home invasion and murder in my township and that their school would be increasing security. I quickly looked up the news story and read the report. My first instinct was to lock my doors, hunker down and pray. I felt violated and fearful.

My second instinct was to get outside and be present, to stand in the middle of the darkness and bring the light of hope and faith. I had been asking God what it looked like to do incarnational ministry in the suburbs and I felt in this moment that it meant going against any normal instinct to insulate myself or rationalize away what had happened.

A group of us from Line Lexington Mennonite, St. Peter’s Covenant, and Doylestown Mennonite have been meeting to pray once a month. We called an emergency meeting to pray specifically about this tragedy and discern a response. Lowell Delp, the pastor of Line Lexington congregation, Jim Fox, the pastor of St. Peter’s congregation, and Sandy Landes and I from Doylestown congregation decided that walking Swartley Road and praying for our neighbors there would be a faithful and redemptive way to incarnate Jesus. Lowell and Jim visited some of the residents the day before our prayer walk, to let them know what was happening and invite them to join us.

Today, a group of ten of us met in a parking lot on Route 309. One man who joined us there but could not brave the cold walk said, “I want to see our community come together after this. We can’t change anything by ourselves. Our community needs prayer and our churches need prayer.” I was sure I saw the hint of tears in his eyes and heard a tremble in his voice.

We carried candles in glass jars and sang songs of grace and God’s faithfulness. We walked against the freezing wind to “Amazing Grace” and “The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.” We prayed for the woman and the teen boys who were traumatized by the violence, for the neighbors whose street was violated by this horrific incident. We prayed for beauty to come from these ashes, for God’s redeeming power to be at work.

I am tempted to look forward and ask “What’s next?” But maybe for now it is enough to be visible. To be present. In a community with no sidewalks and few places to be together as neighbors, maybe even that presence is miraculously transformative. I will keep choosing presence and incarnation over insulation. I will tell my first instincts to step aside in favor of what Jesus is prompting deep inside. And I find I am not numb anymore.

KrisAnne Swartley is pastor for the missional journey at Doylestown (Pa.) Mennonite Church. She wrote this reflection last Thursday (January 24^th). Read the news report.

Christopher Dock seniors step outside classroom

January 15, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

CD senior experience week — Christopher Dock student Jared Hunsinger at the Alderfer Auction Company with founder Sanford Alderfer, left. (The Reporter/Geoff Patton)

by Jennifer Connor, jconnor@journalregister.com
Reposted by permission from The Reporter

On a Thursday afternoon around 10 a.m., Jared Hunsinger, 17, would normally be in class at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School (Lansdale, Pa.). Instead, last Thursday, he stood observing a live auction of estate items at Alderfer Auction Co. in Hatfield, Pa.

Hunsinger got the opportunity as part of Christopher Dock’s “Senior Experiences Week,” which is a component of each senior’s Kingdom Living Class. Each student sets up his or her own opportunity to shadow someone in a vocational field or participate in a week of service.

“I want to go into business and since my dad knows the auctioneer, I thought this might be a good place to see business in action,” Hunsinger said. He spent the morning talking to customers about what they sought to buy, amazed that some came from afar — including North Carolina.

Sanford Alderfer (Salford congregation), who founded Alderfer Auction Co. in 1959, said, “Jared is just one of those kids with a lovely personality and charming smile. We’ve enjoyed having him around.”

Earlier last week Hunsinger observed a financial adviser. “To be honest it was kind of boring,” Hunsinger said with a laugh. But, that’s partly the point of “Senior Experiences Week,” to get students out in the community feeling out what they like and don’t like in the field they intend to study in college.

Students also have the option to participate in a week of service, which is the avenue Taylor Mirarchi (Plains congregation) took.

“I’m a very service oriented person and like doing more hands-on activities,” Mirarchi said.

Mirarchi spent her week volunteering at the Mennonite Resource Center in Souderton, where she volunteers regularly. She completed administrative work and also spent a lot of time in the quilting room.

“I’ve sorted quilt blocks that are used for quilts sent oversees to refugee camps,” Mirarchi said. “I’m just happy to lend a helping hand.”

On Friday, Mirarchi spent the day at the Mennonite Resource Center in Ephrata, Pa., where all Mennonite donations go to be distributed around the world.

About 85 seniors participated last week, with some venturing much further than the Lansdale area. Linked up with Souderton and Blooming Glen congregations, some students participated in volunteer work in Haiti and Mexico. Other students shadowed congressmen and women in Washington, D.C.

Then, following the week, the entire senior class left for a retreat in Lancaster, where they shared their experiences about what they saw, learned and completed.

“It’s been a really valuable experience for our seniors in the past,” Vice Principal, Martin Wiens said. “We look forward to hearing the tales from this year’s class.”

Worshiping around the table

January 14, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Chris Nickels, Spring Mount

Last summer the members of our worship commission, led by Eileen Viau, were planning for the fall and doing some reflection together. It was less about the monthly details and more of a “big picture” conversation about our identity as a worshiping congregation.

Worship is an expression, and the style of a congregation’s corporate worship can reflect the gifts and talents of the group. Among other things, we asked ourselves, “What are some of the gifts present within the Spring Mount congregation that God might want to use at this time?” And fairly quickly an experiment in doing church began to take shape.

In listening to church members, a sentiment that I heard voiced a number of times was “We should have more fellowship meals.” Those meals have always been a popular event–an atmosphere of comfort and fun. And our congregation is particularly good at facilitating ministry with meals. In the past we created worship and Bible study experiences that included a food element, such as an Anabaptist meal liturgy (with resources from our friend Stuart Murray Williams) and Saturday morning breakfast Bible studies. Every Sunday morning we enjoy an abundance of refreshments for fellowship time, coordinated by our dedicated hospitality team. Stacey Hallahan’s chocolate cake, Lorene Nyce’s monkey bread, and Ruth Reinford’s mango salsa are some of the best culinary treats you can find in the Perkiomen Valley (or anywhere else for that matter). If we were going to experiment with a new kind of ministry, it seemed natural to move in a direction involving food and hospitality.

Our conversation landed on the idea of creating a monthly Sunday morning meal liturgy. I believe Gay Brunt Miller first mentioned the name “Table Church,” which we liked and which certainly fit because this would be “church happening around tables.” Table Church is modeled after Jesus’ table practices and the gatherings of early Christians that we noticed in the New Testament (Acts 2:42). It is a potluck meal (everyone brings a brunch-type food) reminding us that we all participate in the church and each has something of value to share–no matter how big or small the contribution. We sit at round tables, facing one another, in an environment intended for conversation. A simple liturgy was created for this time to guide us as we eat, pray, share, laugh, and reflect on a Bible story together.

There is no sermon at Table Church. Instead, we listen as someone reads the Bible passage aloud and then each table group reflects on it by asking missional questions (adapted from Darrell Guder): What does the passage say about God? About us? What is the Good News in this passage? How does this passage send us out to help in God’s Mission? We may not have a typical sermon at Table Church, but the potential exists for a collective one to emerge as we respond to the Story, to each other, and to the voice of the Spirit. Various people of different ages participate in leading elements of the liturgy, through praying, reading the scripture, and offering a blessing to the group before we depart.

For each Table Church, we print a Spring Mount trivia question in the bulletin as a conversation starter (Example: Name the famous music act that wrote a song about the Perkiomen Creek.*). The questions are a fun way to delve into some of the history of our town. For some of us the answers are new information, while for others they recall memories from the past. It was great to observe one question–about a local park–inspire some reminiscing about the person the park was named for, a friend of a few church members.

It feels like God is doing something among us through Table Church. I think we are continuing to discover the vital ministry of hospitality. We are learning about the place where we meet, the place on whose behalf we are “seeking the peace” (Jer. 29:7). We are further experiencing the value of multi-voiced worship, and how God is present and shapes us as we listen to each other and to God’s Story. We are trying out new recipes and sharing new foods; one table group recently proposed the idea of creating a Table Church cookbook. So far, I think we are discovering that the table can be a fun, meaningful, and even holy place. No wonder Jesus spent so much time there.

*Trivia answer: Hall & Oates

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