Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

Spend "A Day Away for Spiritual Retreat" with Whitehall Mennonite Church

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On Saturday, October 11 Whitehall Mennonite Church will sponsor “A Day Away for Spiritual Retreat” at the Mary Immaculate Center on Cherryville Road in Northampton, Pa.

This day-long retreat, led by Tom and Carolyn Albright, will teach a creative response to celebrating the harvests in our lives based on the teachings of Jesus in John 7:1-19 and the Jewish celebration of Succoth, highlighted in Exodus 23:16, “Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your life.”

Beginning at 8:30 am and ending at 3:00 pm, the retreat will include a time to reflect in silence, fellowship with a small group, relax, evaluate and rejoice in the blessings of life. The cost for the retreat is $20. While drinks will be provided, participants are asked to bring a bagged lunch and wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes. Registration deadline is October 1, please register by contacting Tom Albright at 612-767-6052 or 610-462-1075.

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The Faith Walk of a Child An Intentional Journey

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Franconia Conference School for Leadership Formation presents

October Pastors and Leaders Breakfast

The Faith Walk of a Child
An Intentional Journey
Thursday, October 16, 2008
8:00 am to 10:00 am
Franconia Mennonite Conference Center
771 Route 113
Souderton, PA 18964 (map)

Several years ago, Franconia Conference began thinking about spiritual formation from cradle to grave for each of its 7,000 members and their neighbors. Recently, as part of a joint strategic plan, Quakertown Christian School, Penn View Christian School and Christopher Dock Mennonite High School developed a spiritual formation framework. This framework, entitled Passing on the Faith: A Community Work, asks the question, how do we as families, churches and schools work together to encourage and guide the faith formation of children and youth so they become radical followers of Jesus Christ?

Marlene Frankenfield, Sharon Fransen and Mary Benner will share this framework with you.

Four Franconia young adults serve with Mennonite Mission Network

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Four members of Franconia Mennonite Conference congregations are serving through Mennonite Mission Network Service programs this year.

Laurelyn Foderaro, of Harleysville, Pa., began a one year term of Mennonite Voluntary Service September 2008 in Washington, DC, as a Protection Counselor with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. A 2008 graduate of Goshen (Ind.) College, Foderaro is the daughter of Janet and Anthony Foderaro and is a member of Salford Mennonite Church in Harleysville, Pa.

Heidi Kolb, of Spring City, Pa., began a one year term of Mennonite Voluntary Service September 2008 in Seattle, Wash., as a Clinic Registered Nurse with Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers. A 2007 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., Kolb is the daughter of Nancy and Roland Kolb and is a member of Boyertown (Pa.) Mennonite Church.

Rooted in the spirit of Jesus, Mennonite Voluntary Service invites adults, age 20 and older, to join together in Christian ministry for one or two year terms in more than 20 locations in the United States and one international site. Since the program began more than 60 years ago, thousands of volunteers have had the opportunity to live out their faith through this program of Mennonite Mission Network.

Corinne Jager, of Sellersville, Pa., began a one year service term with the Service Adventure program in August 2008. Jager will be living in community with other young adults in a unit house in Albany, Ore. A 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale, Pa., Jager is the daughter of Molly and Adolph Jager and is a member of Blooming Glen (Pa.) Mennonite Church.

Timothy Landes, of Hilltown, Pa., began a one year service term with the Service Adventure program in August 2008. Landes will be living in community with other young adults in a unit house in Albuquerque, N.M. A 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School (Lansdale, Pa.), Landes is the son of Sandra and Steve Landes and is a member of Doylestown (Pa.) Mennonite Church.

In Service Adventure, young adults, age 17-20, live in a household community with a leader for 10 months. Since 1989 Service Adventure participants have served in medical clinics, tutored children, worked with senior citizens, repaired old housing and helped meet needs across North America. They’ve visited new cities; experienced different people, foods and cultures; climbed mountains and camped in deserts; attended concerts, lectures and college events.

Mennonite Mission Network is the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA and exists to lead, mobilize and equip the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Mission Network envisions every congregation and all parts of the world being fully engaged in mission. More information about these programs is available at Service.MennoniteMission.net.

September Pastors and Leaders Breakfast

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Is your congregation prepared for the national health care crisis? Are you aware of how your congregation’s decisions on health effect those around them, both locally and globally?

Come to the Mennonite Conference Center on Thursday, September 18 from 8 a.m. to noon to hear persons from MMA share on the topic “Health Resources for Pastors.” This time will provide pastors with resources on engaging the topic of health in congregational settings whether in church business meetings or preaching and teaching. A $5 donation is appreciated toward this hot breakfast.

Doylestown congregation focuses on Revelation

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This fall, Doylestown (Pa) Mennonite Church will be hosting an evening series of fellowship, prayer, worship, and teaching centered around the book of Revelation.

The Revelation of John is one of the most mystifying books of the Bible. Filled with bizarre imagery and frightening visions, it has terrorized and confused Christians for thousands of years. But it is also one of the most hopeful books of the Bible, and its vision of Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain, as the master of all history can help us make sense of this chaotic life as we learn to view it through God’s eyes.

Theology student Rob Arner, a recent graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and current Doctoral student at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, will offer the chance to get inside the world of John’s Revelation, to understand what it meant for its first readers, and explore what it can mean for us today. Arner and his wife are part of the Doylestown congregation.

Join the discussion and worship at 7:15 pm each Wednesday during September and October, at Doylestown Mennonite Church and gain some perspective on the New Testament’s most puzzling book.

Child Safety 101 child protection for congregations

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Thursdays, September 11 & 25
and October 9 & 23, 2008
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Mennonite Conference Center (map)
771 Route 113
Souderton, PA 18964

Churches everywhere are learning, sometimes the hard way, that child safety planning is an important part of providing high-quality ministry to children and young people. It is often a challenge, however, to know where to start when creating a child safety plan. The process is certainly time-consuming and can seem overwhelming, especially if a church’s leadership senses it might be difficult to make the changes within their congregation. Child Safety 101 is intended to help address those issues and help congregations create a comprehensive child safety plan in just a few weeks. With the support of instructor, Julie Prey-Harbaugh, and their classmates, participants will thoroughly understand the issues at stake and come away ready to implement a solid child safety plan in their congregations.

Registration Fee: $200 per team*

*Please note: Due to the practical nature of this resourcing event we ask that congrega-
tions send their entire Child Safety team/committee; no church should register less than two people.

Julie Prey-Harbaugh (One Childhood Consulting) is a licensed minister of Franconia Mennonite Conference and their recommended trainer in child protection and child abuse recovery. She is a member of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship and serves as an on-call chaplain at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2004, Julie received her MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, where she focused on theological and pastoral responses to survivors of abuse. Julie has extensive experience working with children and survivors of abuse in the Philadelphia area—as a social worker, support group facilitator, youth sponsor and activist. Recently, she led trainings in child protection at Eastern University, Princeton Theological Seminary, the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention and the Mennonite USA Churchwide Convention.

Honoring a Place in Faith Communities for People With Disabilities and Their Families

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Saturday, September 13, 2008

Peaceful Living will host a day of “action-oriented” workshops providing valuable tools to building an inclusive faith community. This event will be held at Salford Mennonite Church (map)beginning at 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. Registration, which includes a continental breakfast, is $ 25 and will be accepted until September 11, 2008.

The conference includes a special Pastors’ Breakfast on “Disability and Pastoral Care,” keynote speaker Dr. Richard Steele will speak on “The Enabling Congregation,” and 16 workshops by a variety of speakers including Mark Garis, Marilyn Kriebel, Paul Miller, Barbara Shisler, Carl Yusavitz, Rejoicing Spirits and Friendship Ministries.

Click to download brochure

for more info about School for Leadership Formation
click here

Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Pennsylvania announces fall courses

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By Laura Lehman Amstutz
laura.amstutz@emu.edu

emslancaster.jpgLANCASTER, Pa. – Want to learn more about pastoral care, non-violence or congregational revitalization? Eastern Mennonite Seminary at Lancaster is offering evening and weekend courses on these topics.

  • Marcus Smucker, pastor and seminary instructor, will teach “Pastoral Care: Ministry to Persons Throughout the Life Cycle,” on four weekends, Sept. 12-13, Oct. 10-11, Nov. 7-8; Dec. 5-6. Class will meet 5-9 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 5-9 p.m., Saturdays. This course will be taught at the EMS Lancaster.
  • Jon Rudy, peacebuilding consultant, will teach “Active Non-violence: Nurturing Peaceful Transformation” at Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, Pa. 6-9 p.m. Mondays evenings, beginning Sept. 8 and ending Dec. 15. Rudy will teach the same course at EMS Lancaster 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday evenings, beginning Sept. 9 and ending Dec. 16.

    • David Eshleman, pastor and bishop, will teach “Congregational Revitalization” 6:30-9:10 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 11 – Dec 18. This course will be taught at EMS Lancaster.

In addition, the seminary will offer two online courses during the fall semester:

  • Gerald N. Shenk, professor of church and society at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, will teach “Ethics and Non-violence: Sermon on the Mount.”
  • Dorothy Jean Weaver, professor of New Testament at EMS, will teach “New Testament: Text in Context.”

Both courses begin Aug. 26 and end Dec. 12 and may be taken for academic credit or non-credit. Registration ends Sept. 8.

For more information on courses at EMS Lancaster, contact Julie Siegfried, pastoral studies administrative assistant, at 717-297-5190 or email lancaster@emu.edu . More information is also available online at www.emu.edu/lancaster/seminary.

EMS Lancaster offers a variety of study opportunities for those interested in pastoral ministry .

photo provided by Eastern Mennonite Seminary