Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

Conference establishes 'feedback' email account

by

As we, the Conference Board, have been listening to the counsel you are offering as delegates and constituency, we want to find ways to expand communications and especially direct communication with LaVern Yutzy, the outside consulting agent who is conducting the in-depth review of our conference (bio below).

We have set up a special email account, feedback@mosaicmennonites.org, that will allow you to share your concerns, requests, ideas, and suggestions directly with LaVern. The email account will be solely for LaVern’s use and the information you share will be confidential.

You should continue to feel free to send email’s to the Executive Minister as agreed upon on the evening of March 16 using the word “Assessment” in the subject line. These will be forwarded on to LaVern via the designated email.

It’s our hope that you feel like your counsel is being heard and considered in this process. Blessings.

LaVern Yutzy is the current board chair for Mennonite Mutual Aid and has recently completed a yearlong consultation with MC USA on how the denomination operates and with suggestions to improve its witness. His final report, Mennonite Church USA: Consultant on Churchwide Operations and Alignment (click title to read), was released in March 2010.

Yutzy’s other current consultant involvements include governance and structure revisions for Lancaster Conference and overseeing executive searches and providing Board and CEO assessments for Mennonite Heath Services Alliance where he formerly served as board chair.

Yutzy served as CEO of Philhaven, a faith-based provider of behavioral health services in south central Pennsylvania that is a part of Mennonite Health Services Alliance, from 1991 to 2008. He started working with the organization 13 years earlier as a clinical social worker and spent time in other roles before taking on the chief position. He has experience directing strategic planning processes, providing leadership training and consulting with area conferences, non-profit organizations and boards of directors.

Yutzy, a member of Landisville (Pa.) Mennonite Church, has a master of science in health administration degree from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., and a master of social work degree from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., in 1970 and an associate of arts degree from Hesston (Kan.) College in 1968.

Conference Board hires consultant

by

March 15, 2010

Statement from the Franconia Conference Board

We deeply regret the pain and confusion that has resulted from our announced plan to lay off conference staff later this year. As a board, we acknowledge that we have not handled this well. Randy Heacock, Assistant Conference Moderator, adds, “We have been sobered and are distressed by the erosion of trust that has resulted from our actions.”

The plan to lay off staff is on hold while an in-depth review of our conference is undertaken. This review will include our Conference, its Board, executive minister, staff and congregations. It will involve listening broadly and assessing the various aspects of our Conference as well as the recent decision regarding staffing.

The Conference has retained LaVern Yutzy, a consulting associate with Mennonite Health Services Alliance. In addition to his work with other conferences and Anabaptist health care organizations, LaVern has just completed a one year review of Mennonite Church USA. We anticipate that his review will include recommendations about changes that are needed and that it will provide guidance about how we might move forward.

The listening meetings scheduled for March 16 and March 23 will take place as scheduled. The review process will provide additional opportunities for your perspectives and counsel to be considered.

It is our hope that we can better understand the role of Franconia Conference in supporting our desire to increase the health and growth of leaders, churches, disciples and connections by fulfilling our mission to Equip Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission…in the world.

Urban leaders take first steps toward forming global network

by

by Linda Espenshade

A newly formed network of urban Anabaptist leaders, facilitated by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), is developing organically. Person by person, they are gradually connecting with each other because they share the commonality of engaging the city as Anabaptists.

The formation of the network is based on one founding principle – Anabaptist leaders who are committed to caring for the cities they live in can benefit from relating to urban Anabaptists from all parts of the world. Once connected, they will better understand how they can support each other in their efforts.

“We have Korean Anabaptists longing to be in relationship with other urban Anabaptists,” said Joe Manickam, Asia director for MCC. “We have urban Anabaptists in London who are longing to be in relationship with other urban Anabaptists. The same can be said for Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vancouver and the list goes on.

“So this initiative is here to give credence to this voice coming out of the city,” said Manickam, who together with the Rev. Leonard Dow, pastor of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, birthed the idea. MCC’s role is simply to connect the urban voices. Dow is vice chair of the MCC U.S. board of directors.

“We want it to remain very organic,” said Manickam. “We want it to evolve as the people want it to evolve without outside pressures telling it what it should be.”

The first steps of the network took place in August when a group of urban leaders, most from Philadelphia, flew to Seoul, South Korea, where they were hosted by the Korea Anabaptist Center (KAC). Starting with these two groups was logical because KAC already participates in MCC’s exchange programs and was interested in more interaction, and Philadelphia is home to the largest group of MCC urban constituents on the East Coast.

For participant Ron Tinsley, communications director at Philadelphia Mennonite High School, the most valuable experiences of the trip were the personal discussions and times for reflection that were amply built into the schedule. Tinsley is a member of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.

“Sometimes we get so busy looking at programs that we don’t get a chance to understand where (the other leaders’) hearts are at and listen to their dreams and fears,” Tinsley said, adding that a prophetic sense can emerge from these kinds of conversations.

Some of the discussions, including those about stereotypes and racism, were difficult, Tinsley said. Instruction by Jeff Wright, an urban missiologist from Southern California, revolved around “theology of place” or building of intentional community in the city.

The Philadelphia guests also visited two Anabaptist churches and learned about several peacemaking organizations. KAC teaches peace-building skills to North Korean defectors and South Korean young people. The organization also works with other peace groups to create understanding of past hurts among people from South Korea, Japan and China.

When KAC Administrator Kim Kyong-Jung paid a return visit to Philadelphia and then to Los Angeles in November, he was glad to witness urban churches at work within a multicultural society. South Korea, which once was predominantly homogeneous, is becoming increasingly diverse.

“This means that many different types of conflict issues exist, which makes churches’ jobs harder,” he wrote in an e-mail after his visit. “The churches’ missional approaches are being challenged as they look to this kind of social phenomenon.”

Encouraging young people to serve in cities around the world through MCC’s Global Service Learning program is important to this emerging network. For example, Korean Jung Joo Park, who is a participant with MCC’s International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP), is working with Oxford Circle Mennonite Church and its community partners.

“Here in the U.S., I am valued as Asian, adding to the cultural diversity of Philadelphia, and it does not seem to matter that I am a foreigner,” Park said. “Once I go home, I hope to introduce a deeper understanding of and respect for diversity in South Korea.”

Making these kinds of “flesh and blood connections” between Anabaptists from different cities is exactly what Ruth Keidel Clemens, executive director of MCC East Coast, hopes will happen as the network develops. “Urban Anabaptist churches are a priority for MCC East Coast, and bringing its leaders together with those from other countries strengthens all involved, as we seek to engage the cities together as Anabaptists,” she said.

Clemens and Manickam are discussing possibilities for holding a conference of urban Anabaptist practitioners as another way to bring people together to learn from each other. Until then, the conversation will continue, person by person.

Conference Board communication to constituency

by

Franconia Conference Board
March 3, 2010

The Conference Board is deeply saddened with the confusion that has been created in parts of the Franconia Conference Community and beyond. We take responsibility for not communicating quickly enough and with clarity.

  • The news has gone out that Franconia Conference Board has made a decision to dismiss all the staff.
  • The reality is that the staff has been informed that in the coming year the direction the Board is calling for requires a mid-course correction, to come into a greater alignment of fulfilling our mission to Equip Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission.
  • A smaller Conference staff to include LEADership Ministers, will continue, but will be narrowly focused on equipping congregations to becoming missional.
  • We lament the deep pain and suffering that this decision has caused staff and others by not including the staff directly in the decision-making process.
  • We will work towards a healthy ending process and seek to build upon the hard work and creativity by which the staff has carried out their work to date.

The Conference Board will be facilitating public meetings to engage in further dialogue regarding all that has transpired. The following times and dates have been set as follows:

  • Monday, March 8, 2010 from 7-9 pm at Towamencin Mennonite Church for all Credentialed Leaders of Franconia Mennonite Conference;
  • A second meeting will happen on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 from 9-11 am at the Mennonite Conference Center.

Special Event: Celebrate Women Joining Together

by

The day will include a morning and afternoon session of worship through music, prayer and sharing of the Word by Bonnie Stevenson, missionary in Mexico, serving at Monte Maria Tierra Prometida, Mexico City. The theme of the morning session will be “Laying Down the Burden” and the theme for the afternoon will be “Picking Up Joy”.

Lunch will be provided, as well as opportunities for fellowship and pampering such as head, neck and shoulder massage, light stretching and prayer stations. Child care will not be provided.

Click on the image above to download a PDF of the event flyer.

To register for this event by mail, download the registration form here.

To register online click here.

Kanagy encourages local leaders to think missionally

by

from Biblical Seminary

Over 70 pastors, educators, and leaders from Franconia Conference recently explored the past, present, and future of Mennonite churches with author Conrad Kanagy. Dr. Kanagy, author of Road Signs for the Journey: A Profile of Mennonite Church USA, writes and speaks about the changing realities facing churches in the 21st century.

A thoughtful and compelling speaker, Dr. Kanagy believes churches should become more outwardly focused (missional) in order to better share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Road Signs for the Journey, his latest book, is based on a seven-page questionnaire sent to 3,000 members of Mennonite congregations across the United States in 2006. Inspired by the message of Jeremiah 31:21, Dr. Kanagy recognizes the importance of road signs and guideposts in helping God’s people stay on track.

The luncheon event featuring Dr. Kanagy was sponsored by the Catalyst for Missional Leadership (C4ML), the ministry arm of Biblical Seminary, and held on the seminary’s Hatfield, PA campus. Biblical Seminary, a nondenominational graduate school located outside Philadelphia, offers master’s degrees, the Doctor of Ministry degree, and certificates. Dr. Kanagy teaches in the school’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program.

“Conrad brings to our DMin faculty the perspective of a practicing sociologist, informed by his deep commitment to missional Christianity. His Mennonite background enriches the evangelical theological diversity which also characterizes our program,” states Mick Noel, executive director of C4ML and head of Biblical’s DMin program. C4ML creates learning opportunities for pastors, churches, and Christian leaders through its workshops, seminars, and community classes. It also helps churches and pastors develop missionally-directed congregations.

Conrad L. Kanagy is a professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College and an ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA. He is also a consultant to congregations and mid-level judicatories and has been involved in the Partnership for Missional Church since 2005. He holds graduate degrees in rural sociology from Penn State University and co-authored, with Donald B. Kraybill, Riddles of Human Society.