Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

Care & Share expands its gift card program

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The Care & Share Shoppes’ are delighted to present to their customers the opportunity to purchase gift cards which can be used in the Clothing, Variety and Furniture Shoppes. Proceeds from these shoppes benefit Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) which is a relief, development and peace agency of the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Churches.

These gift cards will be replacing the previous paper gift certificate program. Customers are encouraged to redeem their paper gift certificates by December 31, 2009, whereas after this date they will no longer be accepted.

Sarah Bergin, Executive Director of the Care and Share Shoppes, explained the benefit of these cards. “Your gift card purchase helps many. First, the person you give it too will benefit from a huge selection of high quality merchandise in our shoppes, where your dollar buys much more than if you were shopping at a new retailer. Second, the money spent at our shoppes then becomes your ‘gift to the world’ as MCC uses these funds to assist others.”

“Many people are often surprised to learn that 25% off MCC’s funding supports those here in the United States,” continued Sarah. “Customers and those that donate to our shoppes should feel good knowing that MCC does a remarkable job finding non-profit partners to facilitate our donated dollars in the most effective manner.”

The increasingly popular monthly half-price sale will now be on the third Friday of each month – the next one on March 20. Shop from 10am till 8pm, all items in the three Shoppes are half of the ticketed price with a few exceptions and must be removed the day of sale.

The Care & Share Shoppes have been serving the local community for over 32 years. The Shoppes are centrally located; 10 miles from Doylestown, 10 miles from Quakertown, and 8 miles from Lansdale. Local shoppers benefit from the availability of low cost, high quality items. Donors contribute to the recycling and conservation efforts that affect the broader community in positive ways. Volunteers become part of a special community which embraces service above self. The funds raised for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) provide resources and aid for those in need, in North America and around the world.

EMU at Lancaster presents weekend on spirituality

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During the first weekend in May, Eastern Mennonite University at Lancaster will partner with Sunnyside Mennonite Church to host “Ancient Christian Paths, Contemporary Lives” led by Frederica Mathewes-Green.

Frederica Mathewes-Green is a nationally known speaker and author on Christian spirituality. Her work has appeared in such diverse publications as the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Smithsonian, the Los Angeles Times, First Things, Books & Culture, Sojourners, Touchstone, and the Wall Street Journal. She is a regular columnist for the multifaith web magazine Beliefnet.com, and she writes movie reviews for National Review Online and Christianity Today Movies.

The weekend of events is scheduled for May 2-3 and includes a morning and afternoon session on Saturday and a Sunday morning service. All evetns will be held at Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pa.

Registration is required. For more information and online registration visit  emu.edu/lancaster/seminary

Christopher Dock announces transition process and search team

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With the resignation of Elaine Moyer as principal at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School (Lansdale, PA), the school’s Board of Trustees has implemented a transition process.

  • The board’s executive committee has been named as the Transition Committee: Phil Bergstresser, LeeAnn Bergey, Henry Longacre, and Ruth Yoder.
  • The Board reaffirmed and agreed on several foundational beliefs to guide their decisions during the transition. Dock will retain an unapologetic Anabaptist/Mennonite identity considered essential to retain Dock’s vision. Dock is committed to continued collaborative work with Penn View and Quakertown Christian Schools and on the GPS 2012 initiative.
  • A Search Committee was named to to find a new principal and prepare a transition timetable. Members include: Joy Sutter, chair; Hunter Hess, Sharon Fransen, Jim Lapp, and Henry Longacre. Their intent is to employ a replacement by the beginning of the new school year.

The Search Committee also released the following employment advertisement. More information relating to the search process can be found online at dockhs.org by clicking on “DockSearch.” The Committee invites prayers and suggestion of possible candidates from leaders and members in the Franconia Conference community.

ADVERTISEMENT for Principal at Dock

Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, a leading secondary school in southeastern PA with 400 students and 40 faculty members seeks an outstanding educational leader rooted in the Anabaptist faith to serve as principal for the school beginning in July 2009. The successful candidate will embody a strong sense of community/team building, demonstrate well-developed leadership and administrative skills, display excellent interpersonal and communication skills, be an educator with a passion for leadership in a secondary school, and be an active member of a congregation affiliated with an Anabaptist church. Master’s degree and educational leadership experience required. Interested applicants should submit letter of intent and curriculum vitae to: Joy Sutter, chair of search committee, 2671 Crabapple Circle, Perkasie, PA 18944, or email to DockSearch@gmail.com. Further information for potential candidates can be found at www.dockhs.org.

Conference partners to present leadership forum

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“Leadership is the art of inspiring others to want to work toward a shared vision” was the framing quote for the day long leadership forum, entitled Finding Our Way Together: Leadership in Challenging Times, held at Frederick Mennonite Community on February 12th. The day long forum was the result of a partnership between Eastern District Conference, Frederick Mennonite Community and Franconia Conference’s School for Leadership Formation.

More than 60 pastoral, lay and professional leaders, representing 17 different congregations and para-church organizations from across Southeastern Pennsylvania attended the forum led by Mennonite Health Services (MHS) Alliance’s Rick Stiffney.

Bringing participants current context to the forefront, Stiffney, who serves as the Presidnet/CEO of MHS Alliance, began the day by showing the group a montage of current national and local headlines. Participants then spent the day working together in their organizational teams through three interactive modules on leading, planning and building a strong team. The modules focused on the nature of the call to serve, exploring how leaders, whether pastor or CEO, can create effective partnerships with boards to carry forward long-range planning in their particular context.

Erin Price, Zion Mennonite Church, appreciated Stiffney’s practical apporach, “I found the training refreshing and energizing. It was great to take time out of the normal day to day business of a board and discuss where we want to go and how we can work better together. Rick’s simple and basic teachings gave us applicable things we could take with us as a board and put into practice. I’m not only inspired me to be a better leader, but also to mentor and encourage other leaders.”

Karen Moyer, Rocky Ridge Mennonite Church, also noted the significance of taking time off from the business side of board meetings, “The self-assessment for leadership practices and then the opportunity for individual reflection and discussion within our team was most valuable for us. As leaders, we too often meet for ‘business’ without reflection or feedback on how our leadership is perceived or received.”

“What was most valuable to our team was being given the time to process, dream and plan together in a way that is not normally possible,” noted Brent Camilleri, Associate Pastor of Deep Run East Mennonite Church. “I think that each of us felt challenged to reevaluate our leadership approach and to look at how we lead our congregation with a new sense of focus and purpose.”

Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse features DayBreak

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On February 21, one of Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse’s favorite bands returns to sing and play the night away as we look forward to spring. DayBreak and opening act Glass Roses will perform folk music at the Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse in the Perkasie Mennonite Church hall at 4th & Chestnut Streets in Perkasie, PA. Experience the warmth and energy of DayBreak on a winter’s night.

Doors open at 7 pm with performances at 7:30. Adults $9, Adults over 65 $7, Students 13 and up $4, 12 & under free. Refreshments will also be available for purchase.

The musicians of DayBreak have been harmonizing together in and around the Lehigh and Bucks Counties of Pennsylvania since 1990. The group includes Cliff Cole playing the hammered dulcimer, guitar, and percussion; Anna Lisa Yoder on the violin, mandolin and bouzouki; Rob Yoder on concertina, guitar, bodhrán, harp and mountain dulcimer. DayBreak also incorporates the musical skills of their children: Emily Cole on voice and pennywhistle, Trudy Yoder on cello, Lydia Yoder on violin and bodhrán, and Seth Yoder on hammered dulcimer and keyboard. Everyone lends their voices to a growing repertoire of winsome and compelling songs. DayBreak has performed in various settings including The Bethlehem Musikfest, Longwood Gardens, Godfrey Daniels Coffeehouse, The Allentown Mayfair, Foy Hall at Moravian College, Celtic Classic, Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse, Kutztown Pennsylvania German Festival and at various clubs and churches. Along with their three recordings, DayBreak is featured in the soundtrack for Expressions of Common Hands, a documentary on Pennsylvania German folk arts. Visit www.daybreakfolk.com for more information.

Opening act Glass Roses features daughter/father duo Emily Rose and Cliff Cole in combination with friend Rob Fedorczyk. This team combines hammered dulcimer, voice, tin whistle, slide and electric guitar, bass guitar, and percussion in genres from folk to folk rock. All three are experienced musicians and composers.

Check out our website at www.perkmenno.org for directions or more information, or call 215-723-2010.

Upcoming Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse shows:

  • March 21 – Wayfarers and Company + Steve Begley
  • April 16 – Ken Kolodner + Boys of County Bucks
  • May 16 – Kim & Reggie Harris
  • October 17 – Gordon Bok
  • November 21 – Charlie Zahm & Tad Marks + Unsafe At Any Speed

Teaching a practical skill in Chile's summer sun

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During a recent visit Pastor Alfredo Navea of the Tabernacle of Christ Church in Viña del Mar, Chile learned of the canning process many EuroAmerican Franconia Conference congregation members use to preserve harvests of seasonal garden fruits and vegetables. Navea was visiting Pastor Charles Ness, Perkiomenville, and his wife, Janet, at the time and told them, “You must come to Chile and teach us how to do this so we can preserve the fruit we have in the summer for use in the winter.”

In mid-February this year Charles and Janet, Merv and Lois Zook, also from the Perkiomenville congregation, and John Kulp and his family, Franconia congregation, will do just that. The group will spend seven days in Viña del Mar teaching members of Tabernacle of Christ how to can and preserve the abundance of summer fruits during what is late summer in the southern hemisphere. This project will help the members of Tabernacle of Christ and other Chileans meet their winter food needs, especially in the mountain areas of Chile where food shortages are common in winter months.

“We believe that this is a unique way to use a process that many of us learned from our parents and take for granted to bless others in need,” notes Pastor Charles Ness. “This cross cultural exchange is another expression of being Partners in Mission.”

Tabernacle of Christ congregation and a network of churches in the Viña del Mar area are Franconia Conference Partners in Mission and have a thriving relationship with the Perkiomenville, Boyertown and Whitehall congregations.

In order to fund this initiative the team is hoping to raise support from across Franconia Conference communities. Donations will provide canning supplies, jars, lids and help cover the costs of airfare for the team.

If you would like to make a donation toward this initiative please send a check to Perkiomenville Mennonite Church marked “Chile Canning Project” at the following address:

Perkiomenville Mennonite Church
PO Box 59
Perkiomenville PA 18074

For more information contact Charles Ness at 215-234-4011 or perkmc@verizon.net

Donated funds beyond what is needed for the canning project will go toward the $50,000 needed to finish Tabernacle of Christ Church’s building construction.

WPMF congregant publishes memoir of father's legacy

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In February DreamSeeker Books will release a memoir of a father’s life, legacy and death, entitled Long After I’m Gone, by Deborah Good of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship. A recent Cascadia Publishing House news release described the book as follows:

    In this unique and compelling memoir, the voice of a well-loved father intertwines with that of his twenty-four-year-old daughter, as he fights the ravages of a cancer that eventually takes his life.

    Deborah Good was living in Philadelphia,when her life was hit suddenly with terrible news. Her father’s CT scans showed multiple spots of cancer. Deborah moved back in with her parents, Betty and Nelson Good, in Washington, D.C., and as Nelson approached death, spent hours sitting with him while he reflected back on the interlocking pieces of his unconventional job life. Nelson was neither a saint nor a celebrity and, by many measures, was a rather ordinary person, yet he lived with a humble integrity and a commitment to others that touched many.

    From his spot on a padded green recliner, Nelson told the stories of seven projects, communities, and organizations he had cared about: a neighborhood community center, an experiential education program for college students (Washington Community Scholars Center of Eastern Mennonite University), an alternative day school for foster children, a retreat center, a house church, a historic building restoration and a unique house renovation.

    After Deborah listened, took notes, and tape-recorded their conversations, she added her own reflections. The resulting memoir is a unique intertwining of a father’s history-telling with a daughter’s personal journey of remembrance, loss and grief.

Deborah Good is a writer, editor and, currently, a student and research assistant at Temple University, where she is pursuing a Master of Social Work. Her short essays and poetry have appeared in What Mennonites Are Thinking 2002 (Good Books), Crossroads, The Other Side and Dreamseeker Magazine.

For more information about the book click here.