Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

Conference board and staff review vision & finance goals

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by Emily Ralph

board and staff discuss vision
Staff members listen intently as board members take turns in the “fishbowl,” discussing the VFP.  Pictured here are board members (L to R, inside) Rina Rampogu, Beny Krisbianto, Nelson Shenk, and Randy Nyce and staff members (L to R, outside) Steve Kriss, Noah Kolb, and Conrad Martin.  Photo by Emily Ralph.

Franconia Conference board and staff decided last month to phase out the conference’s Vision and Finance Plan.  The two groups gathered at Wellspring Church of Skippack (Pa.) on January 30 for a day-long retreat to discuss vision for the next five years.

Board and staff members reviewed and discussed the conference’s “E-3” vision (Equipping Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission), priorities (formational, missional, and intercultural), and the Vision and Finance Plan (VFP).  The group moved to consensus that the VFP, which was created in 2007 to give recommendations for decision-making about properties, staffing, and the implementation of the “E-3” Vision, had served an important function but had reached the end of its helpfulness.  The VFP was due for review this year.

The VFP worked to align vision with conference resources and was adopted by delegates at the 2007 Conference Assembly, according to board member Joe Hackman, Salford congregation, an original member of the VFP team.  “The plan was intended to frame the work of conference staff – to give a better picture of what conference is doing, why they are doing it, and how they are doing it,” he said.

Some of the specific goals of the VFP have been accomplished: development rights for the Indian Creek Farm are being sold with plans to pay off a portion of the mortgage on the conference’s Souderton Center property; the conference office was relocated and downsized; new modes of continuing education for credentialed leaders have been implemented.

Other goals remain important and ongoing, specifically the emphasis on healthy and growing churches, leaders, and connections.  “This is what I believe,” said Noah Kolb, pastor of ministerial leadership, as he reflected on the E-3 vision. “God is looking for communities of believers who are able to follow Jesus as he followed God, who are able to read the signs . . . and respond in specific ministries. But who leads [the disciples] with a sense of knowing where to go and what to do and how to listen? . . . It is well equipped leaders.”

The board and staff agreed that the main role of conference structures and staff was to equip, resource, and connect congregations, conference related ministries, and leaders.  To do this, the VFP will be phased out with new immediate, short-term, and longer range priorities established.  Conference Board will develop these priorities to be reviewed and implemented by staff.

“The church is the primary vehicle for God’s expression in the world,” said board member Jim Longacre, Bally congregation, as others nodded in agreement, “not individuals, but a community.”  The role of the conference, he suggested, is to do only what congregations can’t do alone.

And, added assistant moderator Marta Castillo. Nueva Vida Norristown New Life, to focus on God’s mission. “As we pray for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we know that the church is only an instrument in God’s hand and our work is to be a part of missio Dei [mission of God],” she said.  “At this time, for Franconia Conference, it means that we have to change.”

Even in a time of change and movement, some things will remain the same, said Ertell M. Whigham Jr., executive minister.  “The ageless goals are . . . equipping healthy and growing leaders.  That doesn’t change—it doesn’t matter how many years have passed.”

February 22 (Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent) has been set aside as a day of prayer and discernment for conference board and staff as they continue to seek God’s vision for the conference together.  Please continue to be in prayer for conference leaders; contact Sandy Landes, prayer coordinator, for more information on how you can support this day in prayer.

Conference students recognized for excellence in academic achievement

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Franconia Conference college students were recognized last week for excellence in academic achievement at Hesston & Goshen Colleges.

From Hesston’s Honor Roll:

Matt Hershey, son of Jim and Brenda Hershey, is a freshman and a member of Salford Mennonite.

From Goshen’s Dean’s List:

Lydia Anne Alderfer, daughter of Dwight and Beverly Alderfer of Harleysville, is a junior studying sociology. She is a 2009 graduate of Souderton Area High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

Christian Lederach Allebach, son of Rebecca Coppola of Ambler, is a sophomore studying molecular biology/biochemistry and Bible and religion. He is a 2010 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Souderton Mennonite Church.

Angela K. Bishop, daughter of J. Eric and Linda Bishop of Souderton, is a senior studying Spanish and TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages). She is a graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Souderton Mennonite Church.

Hannah R. Clemmer, daughter of Michael & April Clemmer of Harleysville, is a junior studying psychology. She is a 2009 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Towamencin Mennonite Church.

Joshua Philip Delp, son of Gary and Julia Delp of Sellersville, is a senior studying English and Bible and religion. He is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Jessica Rae Gotwals, daughter of R. Brent and Julia Gotwals of Telford, is a senior studying nursing. She is a 2009 graduate of Souderton Area High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Erica Rose Grasse, daughter of James and Marlissa Grasse of Chalfont, is a senior studying biology and environmental science. She is a 2009 graduate of Pennridge High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Marissa K. Kauffman, daughter of Thomas and Donna Kauffman of Harleysville, is a senior studying nursing. She is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Franconia Mennonite Church.

Tim C. Landes, son of Steven and Sandy Landes of Hilltown, is a junior studying art. He is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Doylestown Mennonite Church.

Madeleine Johnson Ruth, daughter of Philip Ruth and Elizabeth Johnson of Harleysville, is a sophomore studying music and psychology. She is a 2010 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

Rebecca Lee Weaver, daughter of Craig and Judith Weaver of Harleysville, is a senior studying psychology. She is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Franconia Mennonite Church.

Justin Nicholas Yoder, son of Jerold and Beth Yoder of Perkasie, is a senior studying music and interdisciplinary. He is a 2009 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

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Located 30 miles north of Wichita, Hesston College is the two-year liberal arts college of Mennonite Church USA.  Visit www.hesston.edu.

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values — passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership — prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Visit www.goshen.edu.

Former missionaries encourage missional imagination

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Alan and Eleanor Kreider
Eleanor and Alan Kreider: "We become what we worship." Photo by Emily Ralph.

Authors Eleanor and Alan Kreider, longtime missionaries to the United Kingdom, encouraged leaders toward missional imagination at a monthly pastors’ breakfast on February 10.

It is only by worshiping a God who is missional that God’s people can become missional, according to the Kreiders.  We become like the God we worship, Alan said, “What kind of God are we worshiping? The deeper we get into God, the deeper we get into mission.”

They pointed to Herm and Cindy Weaver, parents of a young mission worker who was killed by a 16-year-old boy who was texting while driving.  The parents forgave the boy–and it made headlines.  “They are shaped by their worship of a God who forgives them to be people who are forgiving in their world,” said Alan.

The Kreiders, who published Worship and Mission After Christendom in 2011, believe that worship fans mission.

The Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program, which started in Canada in 1974 and is now an international agency, began because one person asked “Wouldn’t it be neat?” said Eleanor.

“‘Wouldn’t it be neat?'” Alan added. “There is the missional imagination coming into play!”

Handouts from the Kreiders

The Krieders’ PowerPoint presentation

Deep Run East transports children to the Holy Land

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by Ruth Swartley, Deep Run East

Deep Run East's basement Holy Land
Deep Run East’s basement Holy Land

“Deep Run Mennonite East is a congregation that welcomes children,” a parent from our Deep Run East preschool observed after attending our Preschool Sunday service. We at Deep Run have a desire to share God’s love with our own children as well as those in the community. This is reflected by the many programs we have to offer. Our Bible School is well-known in our community as a great place for children to gather as they study the Bible, sing, work on crafts, and play games. Sunday School, Boys & Girls Club, JMYF, and MYF are additional opportunities for our children to grow in their love for God.

While we have many good options for our children to learn and grow, we realized that many of those opportunities were carried out in a rather drab physical environment: our church basement. Sedate blue-gray walls, broken up by white doors, did not reflect the joy and enthusiasm of the children who gathered within those walls. However, that was about to change!

In the fall of 2009, Mae Kulp, then chairperson of Christian Education, called together a small group of women to begin brainstorming ways to transform the drab basement into an inviting place for our children to gather. We began with the idea of converting our rarely used basement kitchen into the “His Kid’s Café,” complete with a striped awning, “stone work” on the café front, and round tables. This has become a great gathering place for the children to enjoy a snack with friends before Sunday School.

While the newly painted café walls brightened the area up a bit, we had a sense that we weren’t finished. And so, that is how our dream began, a dream that seemed almost impossible to carry out.  Why not bring scenes from the Holy Lands into our children’s area? Could we do it, did we have people who could sketch and paint the designs we had in mind?

It was at that point that we really began to see the work of the Spirit in providing people all along the way who had the skills and enthusiasm to make the dream come alive. A friend of Mae Kulp, retired art teacher, Mary Blough, listened to our ideas and sketched them on paper. A group of ten DRE members, many of them grandparents, painted walls which would be the canvas for the paintings. Kathy Moyer, Sharon Leatherman, and Kirsten Rice, our fine artists, spent countless hours painting the scenes on the walls. Junior-high student, Katrina Rice, painted a wall outside of her classroom. Our gray children’s area was coming alive with shops and scenes from the Holy Lands. A town street with terraced homes, trees and flowers emerged first, followed by a carpenter’s shop where a whimsical mouse plays among the wood as a cat snores nearby. A small gray donkey laden with a cart of fresh vegetables makes its way to the fresh vegetable and fruit shop. The pomegranates, apples, lemons, and bananas, displayed in the shop, look so life-like one can almost taste them. Across the room in the bake shop a loaf of brown bread bakes in fire-burning stone oven. Beyond the shops, on the outskirts of town, a cow, sheep, donkey, rooster, and doves, all contentedly share a stable.

What a transformation our children’s area has undergone since 2009, from gray walls to colorful scenes of places where we envision Jesus walking! The children have enjoyed watching the painting progress from week to week and each has their favorite. This is their space to learn more about the Jesus who loves and welcomes them.

From Mozart to U2 with the EMU Chamber Singers

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Marking the season of Lent, the Chamber Singers of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) will be singing a concert that draws from from Mozart to U2 during their Feb. 24-26 tour.  The tour includes stops at Philadelphia Praise Center, Salford, and Blooming Glen.

Conductor Kenneth J. Nafziger said prayers and readings from the Psalms will be woven throughout the concert.  “There are very direct biblical psalms with parallels to popular music that explore a common spiritual life,” Nafziger said.

The repertoire will range from introspective and penitential texts, several versions of the Kyrie eleison, and popular songs that share Lenten themes, including U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”

“It is such a joy to bring our music to the churches and communities that we visit and see the way that our audiences respond to our music,” said Heidi Bauman, a senior at EMU. “I am particularly looking forward to singing an arrangement of ‘What wondrous love is this’ as well as Mozart’s ‘Laudate Dominum.’”

Aldo Siahaan, pastor of Philadelphia Praise Center, one of the churches that will be hosting the Chamber Singers during their Pennsylvania tour, is looking forward to the praise and worship with the choir.  The EMU Chamber Singers will be joining the congregation for an interdenominational prayer meeting held at another Indonesian church in Philadelphia.  Siahaan hopes that this will build relationships with other Indonesian churches “plus let the other churches know that PPC has wide connections in the Mennonite family.”

For more information contact Marci Myers, special events assistant, at
540-432-4589 or email myersmk@emu.edu.

***Tour schedule***

Friday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. – Indonesia Full Gospel Fellowship Church (Philadelphia Praise Center, host)

Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. – Salford Mennonite Church

Sunday, Feb. 26, at 9:30 a.m. – Blooming Glen Mennonite Church

Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. – Pinto Mennonite Church

MWC executive secretary preaches in Philadelphia

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by Adrian Suryajaya, adrian_190192@hotmail.com

[singlepic id=3024 w=320 h=240 float=right]”There is not one culture that fully knows who Jesus is. That is why we need another culture to complete the character of Jesus.” That is the heart of the message Mennonite World Conference’s new executive secretary Cesar Garcia gave the congregation at Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC).

On January 29, Garcia made his Franconia Conference debut at PPC–a growing multiethnic and multilingual congregation in South Philadelphia that worships in English, Indonesian and Spanish.   “I am amused to see the little print on the bulletin that says ‘Multiethnic Church’,” said Garcia. “By being a multicultural church, you can be an example to other churches in North America.”

His message, affirming the call of multiethnic congregations, became a form of confirmation for the congregation according to Aldo Siahaan, PPC’s lead pastor. “As a pastor of a multiethnic church, I felt that Pastor Garcia’s message was an affirmation of what the church has been doing and it will always be a vision of Philadelphia Praise Center,” he said. “It is not easy and each culture needs to learn from one another. However, this will not become a hindrance because we believe that this is God’s plan for the church.”

Garcia offered God’s vision in Revelation 7:16-17 about what could happen if the church heeds God’s calling and remains faithful. “We will find consolation and satisfaction in God,” he said. “There will be no more emptiness in our life as long as we are faithful to heed his calling.”

Lindy Backues, a member of the congregation’s elder team, also felt the resonance of God’s plan for Philadelphia Praise Center through Pastor Garcia’s message. “I am very, very, very enthusiastic about the message!” Backues said. “Cross-cultural congregations are very rare [and] relevant today because it forces us out of our comfort zone. . . . It is easy to love people from the same culture. However, if we can reach out and love our brothers and sisters from other cultures, then the love that Jesus speaks about is fulfilled.”

Garcia, born in Colombia, is the first executive secretary for Mennonite World Conference who is a native of the 2/3rds world.  He began this position this spring and recently completed graduate studies in California.  Garcia and his family, along with the main offices of Mennonite World Conference, are now relocating to Bogata.

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Allentown Mennonites gather for Tet worship celebration

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[singlepic id=3001 w=320 h=240 float=right]The Mennonite Church USA congregations in Pennsylvania’s third largest city hadn’t to anyone’s recollection gathered for worship together until Sunday, January 29, at the Vietnamese Gospel Mennonite Church.  The four diverse communities—Vietnamese Gospel Mennonite Church, Whitehall Mennonite Church and Ripple all associated with Franconia Conference and Christ Fellowship, an Eastern District Conference congregation—met together to celebrate Tet (Vietnamese New Year) through an eclectic multilingual worship that featured singing in three languages, Scripture reading in six languages, and storytelling from each congregation on the theme of God’s abundance in a time of scarcity.

Vietnamese Gospel Mennonite Church pastor Hien Truong welcomed those gathered, explaining, “Vietnamese New Year is a marking of springtime.  It’s a time of new growth and a special time of asking forgiveness and moving into new ways of building relationships.”  While planned by a team from the four congregations, the gathered worship took on a Vietnamese flair with scripture blessings distributed to adults and traditional li xi gifts ($2 bills in red envelopes) for children.  Afterward, the congregations enjoyed a carry-in meal that was held together around Vietnamese New Year foods.

According to Rose Bender, pastor at Whitehall Mennonite who also helped plan the gathered worship, “The worship service was such a joyous occasion for me because of the great diversity of God’s kingdom that was represented.  It was a foreshadowing of heaven—all nations, all tribes—declaring God’s glory! . . .  I am so excited to see what God is doing in the Lehigh Valley—and encouraged by four small congregations coming together and proclaiming God’s bounty as we face a new year.”

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Owen Longacre: "You've got to help your team"

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Owen Longacre (Swamp), a junior forward on the men’s basketball team at Eastern Mennonite University, is making a name for himself.

Owen Longacre scored a career-high 15 points in the Royals' 74-71 win over Randolph on Saturday, playing on a painfully sore injured ankle. "I don't really think of myself as tough," Longacre said, an assessment his coach and teammates disagreed with. Photo by Wayne Gehman.

In many ways, the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder stands out by not standing out. He isn’t flashy or demonstrative on or off the court. He plays with a reserve that stands in contrast to the running and gunning style that made EMU an Old Dominion Athletic Conference power the previous two seasons.

But even as the Telford, Pa., native was fighting for playing time on stacked EMU teams led by George Johnson and Todd Phillips – teams that played fast and above the rim and had no shortage of swagger – Longacre was popular with both the fans and his teammates.

“He always fit in really well,” EMU coach Kirby Dean said. “… He works really, really hard and he does his own thing, but he doesn’t do it in such a way that, because you’re different he thinks less of you, because he doesn’t. That allowed him to really mesh well with those guys.”

Despite being likeable and hardworking, Longacre – a history and education major who enjoys reading mysteries and is learning to play the guitar – still found himself buried on the depth chart behind the Royals’ star players as a freshman and sophomore. He got some minutes but was a role player.

At times, EMU has struggled to retain players who didn’t quickly make the starting lineup. At Division III, where players don’t get athletic scholarships, the prospect of paying tuition just to ride the pine often drives people to transfer.

“I don’t think there’s any question that he’s the exception to the rule,” Dean said. “In a society of instant gratification, `I want what I want and I want it right now,’ you just don’t see guys who predominately sit for two years and patiently wait their turn. What a privilege it is to have a kid like that in the program.”

Longacre, from Christopher Dock Mennonite School in suburban Philadelphia, played just over five minutes a game as a freshman at EMU – the year the Royals went 25-5 and won three NCAA tournament games before losing to Guilford. A year ago, when the class of Johnson, Phillips, Eli Crawford, D.J. Hinson and Orie Pancione were all seniors, he played just over eight per outing.

This year, he’s a starter and is averaging 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the young Royals (8-10 overall, 3-6 in the ODAC).

He’s done it all while battling through a bevy of injuries – four concussions, a broken hand, bruised chest and shoulder surgery after his freshman year.

“I don’t really think of my self as tough,” Longacre said, an assessment his coach and teammates disagreed with. “It’s more the mindset of, if you can get out there any way, you’ve got to help your team. I just think if I can get out there, I’m going to try.”

Longacre scored a career-high 15 points in the Royals’ 74-71 win over Randolph on Saturday at Yoder, playing on a painfully sore injured ankle.  When he fouled out with just under four minutes to play, the crowd showed its appreciation for one of its own.

“Our women’s soccer coach said, `Man, when Owen fouled out he got the loudest ovation I’ve ever heard in there,'” Dean said.

Among those applauding was Quincy Longacre, Owen’s older brother and a basketball player at EMU from 1996-2000. Quincy – who played at EMU before it opened Yoder Arena and before it routinely drew crowds of more than 800 people – was a member of the 16-9 Royals squad that had the best record in program history until Dean put together the 2009-10 juggernaut.

Longacre said he was familiar with EMU because of Quincy’s time here but didn’t set out to pick a Mennonite college to continue his basketball career. With the Royals, Longacre said he just found the right fit – athletically, academically and socially.

For his part, Longacre said he enjoys the love he gets from the fans. “A lot of the guys on the team comment on that, how I have the most fans,” Longacre said. “I guess part of that is I can relate to a lot of different groups on campus. I feel like I can relate a lot with the fans in the stands, relate to the students. I get a lot of razzing from Coach and the other guys but I don’t feel any extra pressure. I just feel even more support.”

Reprinted by permission from the article “The One & Only” by Mike Barber, Daily News Record, Harrisonburg, Va., January 26, 2012.