Conference related ministry

Conference-Related Ministries, Together

July 18, 2024 by Cindy Angela

by Margaret Zook

Mosaic’s Conference-Related Ministries (CRMs) serve their communities through nurture, formation, witness, care and discipling. They are led by individual boards, and are in relationship with each other through Mosaic Conference, grounded in shared Anabaptist values. Mosaic’s CRMs are geographically disbursed, vary in size and scope, and offer a wide variety of ministries.

The “CRM Together” trips that have taken place over the past year have sought to “create a village” through visiting each other’s spaces, sharing stories, listening to the needs in our communities, learning and praying. These trips have invited CRM leaders to reflect on questions such as, “where can we help each other? What resources and gifts do we possess that can maximize the thriving of our communities?”

Leaders of CRM Midian Leadership Project (Charleston, WV) with Margaret Zook, right, visit the Mosaic office and Dock Mennonite Academy (Lansdale, PA).

CRM leaders, from left, visit Ripple Community, Inc.: Wayne Mugrauer, President, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation; Sarah Bergin, Director, MCC Care and Share Thrift Shoppes (Souderton, PA); Margaret Zook, Mosaic Staff; Ed Brubaker, President & CEO, Living Branches (Souderton PA).

CRM leaders, from left: Dean Stoesz, CEO of Indian Creek Foundation (Souderton, PA); Rich Whitekettle, Board member of Liberty Ministries (Schwenksville, PA); Wayne Mugrauer, President, Saint Luke’s Penn Foundation (Sellersville, PA); with Roy Williams, Mosaic Assistant Moderator.

During Conference-Related Ministry Together Trips to Bike & Sol (East Greenville, PA), Mennonite Central Committee Material Resource Center (Harleysville, PA), Ripple Community, Inc. (Allentown, PA), a learning trip with Mennonite Historians of Eastern PA (Harleysville), a gathering at North Penn Commons (Lansdale, PA), and a Board & CEO luncheon with Assistant Moderator Roy Williams (North Tampa [FL] Christian Fellowship), CRM Together trips offered a place for sharing organizational beginnings, dreams for the future, and hopes for collective ministry opportunities.

CRM CEOs and board members gather at the Mennonite Heritage Center (Harleysville, PA) for a talk on faith and culture. From left: Dr. Ron Souder, board chair, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation; Wayne Mugrauer, President, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation; Herman Sagastume, Executive Director, Healthy Ninos Honduras and Mosaic Board member.

“I find it inspirational to learn how members of our faith community are serving and supporting other CRMs in our community,” shared Sarah Bergin, Executive Director, Care & Share Thrift Shoppes (Souderton, PA). “These opportunities provide me with ideas and encouragement in my leadership role.”

Mukarabe and George Makinto, co-directors of Amahoro International, lead worship during chapel at Dock Academy.

Ed Brubaker, President & CEO, Living Branches; Edie Landes, board member of MCC Material Resources Center and of Mennonite Historians of Eastern PA.

The last stop on the tour was to North Penn Commons, a vibrant public center that houses four local nonprofit organizations that provide affordable housing, senior services, health and wellness services, job training, and food for those in need.

Sheldon Good (Salford [Harleysville, PA]), director of Development and Strategic Direction, at Manna on Main Street, one of the four nonprofit organizations co-located at North Penn Commons, shared with the group of CRM leaders gathered, “The collective power of the faith community is both so strong and so underleveraged.”

The CRM Together trips have sought to harness that collective power to develop deeper relationships across ministries, support one another, and seek to creatively continue to serve needs in our various communities.

“These visits have reminded us of the diversity, importance, and connection of our community work,” reflected Wayne Mugrauer, President, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation.

“We have all been inspired by this experience and the opportunity to learn, share, and grow.”

Assistant Moderator Roy Williams, left, and Scott Roth, director of CRM Bike and Sol.

Margaret Zook

Margaret Zook is the Director of Collaborative Ministries for Mosaic Conference. She and husband, Wib, are members of Salford Mennonite Church and live in Harleysville, PA.

When Life is CANCELLED

October 22, 2020 by Cindy Angela

When the calendar said CANCELLED, George stepped in.

“George” (a “staff” member at Living Branches, a CRM) shares his adventures virtually with residents during the pandemic. Photo provided by Living Branches.

George, a 4-foot stuffed gorilla on “staff” at Living Branches (a Conference Related Ministry, CRM, retirement community in southeastern PA), stepped up when life shut down. Before the pandemic, George’s role was to bring a smile to those whom he met in person. But now, George was on a mission.

In March, retirement communities responded to Governor Wolf’s “stay at home” directive. Most of the daily activities that provided connections and community for residents were suddenly cancelled.

When foot traffic and travel was cancelled, “Out and About with George” served to bring “community” back to the residents by bringing them along for the virtual journey through videos and photos that were shown on the in-house TV channel. George enlisted others, including CEO Ed Brubaker, to share the story, pictures, humor, and conversation of their travels.

Among George’s adventures was a 93-mile bike ride with Brubaker, a day at the beach, roasting marshmallows over a campfire, and riding a John Deere tractor. A highlight was George’s participation at the graduation of Nursing Assistants.

George was not alone sharing joy during challenging times. Volunteers at Frederick Living doubled their efforts as well. Supplies were provided to residents to continue individual participation in the Mennonite Resource Center (MRC) quilting project. Volunteers ensure care and food for the pair of swans that grace the pond at Frederick Living. Other volunteers restack library bookshelves. Some work to ensure that worship is broadcasted live to residents.

A staff member spreads joy with bubbles at Living Branches. Photo provided by Living Branches.

Because of the efforts of those who have stepped up, the quality of life is most certainly not cancelled. Yet, the pandemic still has been difficult for residents. “It has been sooo long. We want to gather, visit, eat, and worship together,” a resident shares. “We miss hugs, family dinners, and singing.”

Video visits and the chat room bring family and friends together. Worship services, exercise classes, and movies through in-house channels fill those cancelled spots. “We have found that innovation, resilience, patience, and prayer keep our Life Communities together,” says CEO John Hendrickson of Frederick Living.

CEOs continue to emphasize how staff team members are showing genuine love and care for the residents during this time. Wearing PPE, staff members sweat as they protect our residents and have volunteered for the little extras that mean a lot. They continue to provide care in spite of anxiety surrounding their health.

And, although the PA Department of Heath has eased visiting regulations, how those regulations will be implemented will be balanced with risk and safety. Finding the appropriate response is a daily challenge.

Staff members at retirement communities work hard to find ways to bring fun to quarantine life. Photo provided by Living Branches.

Through it all, the universal longing for personal touch and connections is never cancelled. “The wait [to hug my mother again] was hard, but we are very thankful that our community follows science and procedures that keeps my mom and other residents safe,” says Sharon Metzler-Ruth, whose mother is a resident at Souderton Mennonite Homes. “There is nothing more important than that.”

“This is a challenging, frustrating, and maddening time,” says Ed Brubaker, CEO of Living Branches. “But [it is] also inspiring as I have watched folks ‘step up’ and do their work in amazing ways.”

We are community. We are hands and feet serving and creating a helpful, just, and Spirit-filled community. Please pray for all of our Conference Related Ministries in this unprecedented year, as we live our faith together.

Stewarding the Earth, Caring for Community

May 2, 2018 by Conference Office

By Alex Smith, Production Manager at Living Hope Farm

I came to Living Hope Farm in Harleysville, PA several years ago, excited for the opportunity to help manage a community-oriented organic vegetable farm. What I found when I arrived was a productive farm and a whole lot more. Living Hope is a farm with a mission – to help build a community that is more firmly rooted in the land, and foster stewardship and care for the Earth. We feed local people, offer opportunities for folks to learn and connect with the place where their food is grown, and work to train the next generation of farmers. In times when it seems like people are growing disconnected from the land and from one another, I am thankful to work for an organization that is striving to rebuild those connections.

Living Hope is a working farm, first and foremost, and our social mission hinges on being able to grow ample, high-quality produce. I’m proud to say that in the summer 2017 season we grew and distributed more than 60,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits, along with pasture-raised eggs, chicken and turkeys. We distribute our produce at farmers’ markets and through food pantries, but our main focus is on our community supported agriculture (CSA) program. CSA members sign up for a season’s worth of produce, and each week they order six to ten items from the selection of veggies and fruits we have to offer at that time. For our paying members, this is a chance to get local, organically grown vegetables through the season at a good price, and it gives them the confidence that comes from knowing where and how their food is grown. In addition to paying members, we also offer work shares and subsidized shares to folks in the community. Our work shares go to folks who are willing to put in a weekly work shift in exchange for their box of fresh veggies from the farm. Our subsidized shares go to families with children who may not have the funds for a share but could really use some nutritious food.

Good stewardship of the Earth is an essential part of my job as a farmer, and everyone’s work here at Living Hope. In order to hold ourselves to the highest standards, we take part in the Certified Naturally Grown program, which carries all the same requirements as USDA Certified Organic but with an additional emphasis on building a biologically diverse farm ecosystem. Like a natural environment, our farm relies on cycles that sustain one another. For example, after the vegetables are harvested, we bring in our poultry to forage on the plants and insects that remain in the field. The birds get food and exercise and help future crops by eating pests and fertilizing the soil. This kind of farming sometimes takes extra effort and coordination, but for me it brings the special satisfaction that comes with taking proper care of our place.

I also find it satisfying to be able to share our farm with others. We welcome many visitors to Living Hope, including school and church groups, corporate volunteer groups, volunteers with special needs, and individuals who just want to lend a hand! Many of these folks say that they find their time on the farm healing and therapeutic, which helps to assure me that we are maintaining a healthy, positive place. We also share our work on the farm with the interns who commit themselves for a season (or sometimes more) to learn sustainable farming. A number of these folks have gone on to start farms of their own, and we hope all of them will continue our mission of growing healthy relationships with the land in one way or another. In addition, we look forward to connecting with a new community this summer as we begin bringing our produce to the Oxford Circle Farmers’ Market, an inner-city Philadelphia market hosted by the Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.

As we move forward, we continuously re-commit ourselves to our mission and seek to build on our strengths, including one of our most constructive and helpful initiatives to date: our sponsored CSA share program called “Farm to Family”. This program advances our social mission in many ways at once – it provides good food to families in need, but also gives them a chance to build a relationship with a local farm. Some of our sponsored share members have transitioned into being work shares, so that they could spend more time on the farm and give something back, but there are always more families in need. My hope as we grow into the future is that we can provide more families in need with produce and a personal connection to the land.

Living Hope Farm is a Conference Related Ministry of Franconia Conference.

Blessing and Appreciation

March 31, 2016 by Conference Office

On Wednesday, March 23rd, Franconia Conference hosted an appreciation luncheon for the Conference’s 19 Conference Related Ministries (CRMs). Representatives from the organizations enjoyed lunch in the Fisher Auditorium at Dock Woods, part of Living Branches. Welcome remarks were given by Ertell Whigham, conference executive minister. John Goshow, conference moderator, reflected on his time as a leader at Penn Foundation, a CRM, and offered his perspective now from a conference stand point, highlighting all the CRMs offer to the conference and conference congregations. It was noted that through the CRMs, well over 50,000 people are reached annually.

As a token of appreciation, each CRM was gifted by the conference a Pennsylvania Redware plate handcrafted by Denise Wilz and customized with the CRM’s name. In addition, Mim Book and Jim Lapp, credentialed leaders within Franconia Conference offered a blessing over the CRMs.

To learn more about who the Conference Related Ministries and how you and your congregation can get involved with them, visit http://mosaicmennonites.org/directory/conference-related-ministries/.

Prayer of Blessing
Conference Related Ministries Appreciation Luncheon
March 23, 2016

Offered by Mim Book and Jim Lapp, credentialed leaders with Franconia Conference

It is an honor to be with you today and to offer a blessing for you in your varied ministries in behalf of our conference and congregations.

Thank you for the important service you each provide that enriches the body of Christ in such diverse ways. Please pray with us.

Gracious God, you have blessed your church with a rich abundance of gifts for service through these sisters and brothers, and the boards, leaders and staff in each of these ministries.

We praise you for the women and men with vision who gave pioneering leadership these past 100 years to bring into existence these many forms of service that extend the mission of our congregations.

We give thanks for those who contributed their finances and time, often sacrificially, for the good of children, youth, older people, those with disabilities, those well and not well, the newly born and those dying, the incarcerated, and those with physical and mental illnesses.

We are grateful for those who brought business experience and wisdom to their leadership as they invested their gifts and resources in these creative ways. We thank you for pastors and church leaders who offered spiritual insight and wisdom to help make these ministries flourish.

We now pray your blessing upon those who give leadership to our camps and retreat centers – Bethany Birches in Vermont, Camp Men-O-Lan, and Spruce Lake. We pray that in each setting the spirit of Christ would infuse those who serve with love, and transform all the participants in these ministries.

We pray your power and blessing on our schools – The City School, Quakertown Christian, Penn View and Christopher Dock high school. May the administration, faculty and boards of directors serve with clarity of purpose and conviction in the nurture and formation of our children and youth.

We pray grace upon all who serve with the Indian Creek Foundation and Peaceful Living who provide opportunities and care for those with special challenges in life. May each one be treated with dignity, compassion and love.

We pray your gracious presence upon all who serve with the Penn Foundation and Liberty Ministries. Let your healing mercy and love shine through the staff and contribute growth and stability to those who too often are stigmatized in our society.

We pray for those who lead us in gathering and managing historical resources through the Germantown Historic Trust and the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania. Through these ministries may the faith of our ancestors continue to enrich and guide our churches in the 21^st century.

We pray your continued strength on the ministries of the Care and Share Shoppes and the MCC Material Resource Center and all who lead and volunteer in these ministries. Bless these labors of love and sharing as a means of ministering in the name of Christ to those local and global who experience special needs.

We pray the Delaware Valley MEDA, the Eastern PA Mennonite Disaster Service, and Life with God program will continue to offer resources that touch the spiritual and physical needs of people with the hope and peace of Christ.

We pray for all our ministries that serve the aging – Living Branches on its various campuses, and the Community at Rockhill. We pray the staff, administrators, chaplains, and boards of directors will have wisdom to foster communities of healing and peace, with respect for the spirituals sages who reside there, and for those with limited family and other resources.

Our God, we also ask your Divine blessing on our conference leaders who seek to show support and encouragement to those in these ministries.

With the apostle Paul we exclaim, “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”

With the saints of all ages we pray, “Now to God who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly in these ministries, far more than we can ask or imagine, to this God be glory in the church, in all our church related ministries, and in Christ Jesus, to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Penn View students take science competition by storm

March 26, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Students from Penn View Christian School in Souderton, Pa, participated in the Montgomery County Science Research Competition last week, taking home twenty-five awards and sending fifteen projects on to the regional science fair.

The 55th Montgomery County Science Research Competition (MCSRC) was held March 15-18 on the main campus of Montgomery County Community College. Five-hundred and eighty-two junior and senior high school students from all over Montgomery County participated in this year’s event. Students choose topics of scientific research, design and carry out experiments, and then prepare speeches and poster presentations to share with the 122 judges representing a diverse population of scientists, engineers, medical doctors, and science teachers. They are entered into one of 14 categories ranging from the Behavioral and Social Sciences to Biochemistry, Mathematics, Engineering, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany. First and second place winners in the high school divisions and first, second, and third place winners in the middle school divisions go onto the Delaware Valley Regional Science Fair which includes 8 Pennsylvania counties, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Penn View Christian School did very well in E Division (middle school), taking 6 first place awards in the 12 categories that students were entered. In addition, 6 students won second place awards and 3 came in third. Penn View students also “swept” the Biochemistry category, taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd out of the 23 students entered. Ten students were awarded honorable mentions. When all the points were added Penn View won the Richard A. Close award (named after a teacher and former director of MCSRC).

Penn View Christian School is a Conference Related Ministry of Franconia Conference.

PV science Awards — Middle school students from Penn View Christian School participating in the Montgomery County Research Science Competiton.

–UPDATE: Results from the Delaware Valley Science Fair with Penn View Christian Students–

Megan Swintosky

Ist Place Biochemistry
Parenteral Drug Assn. Award ($1000)
Janssen Biotechnology Award ($150)
Broadcom MASTERS Award

Jimmy Olsen

3^rd Place Biochemistry
DuPont Excellence award ($50 and a day at the DuPont Labs in Delaware)
Broadcom MASTERS award

Madison Buiting

2^nd Place Botany
Broadcom MASTERS award

Colin Bernd

3^rd Place in Mathematics
Broadcom MASTERS award

Jessica Chung

DuPont Excellence award ($50 and a day at the DuPont Labs in Delaware)

Sharon Curtis / Maddison Landis

HM in Team Category

Laura Olsen

HM in Chemistry

Addie Olsen

HM in Mathematics

Maxwell Howald

HM in Biochemistry

A Place to Belong

December 12, 2011 by Emily Ralph Servant

Rockhill-Katherine — Katherine (lower left) with her roommate (lower right) and two other nurses while in the Ukraine.

by Mary Lou Cummings, Perkasie

“Ever since I left home at age 17 to go to nursing school, I have always lived among strangers,” Katherina Efimenko says. Born in a German Mennonite colony in the Ukraine, Katherina now lives at Rockhill Mennonite Community in Telford, Pa.

Katherine graduated from nursing school in 1938 just as World War II erupted. The Ukrainian community was caught between the Russians and the Germans. Trying to survive, Katherine volunteered to join a medical unit of doctors and nurses that moved with the German army. She owned only a blanket, basin and pillow.

In the meantime, in three different deportations, Katherine’s loving stepmother and two brothers were sent to Siberia by the Russians. The villages were emptied, and all the relatives lost contact with each other, not reconnecting until many years later. Many had thought that Katherine was dead.

Katherine met Iwan Efimenko in a displaced persons camp in Salzberg, Austria. She lived there with two other women in a cubicle partitioned off by blankets hung for privacy. She and Iwan decided to marry and try to build a life together. Their daughter Alla was born a year later.

In 1949 the Efimenkos were accepted to immigrate to Brazil; once there they were housed and fed with 200 other immigrants dislocated by war. They tried to learn Portuguese and struggled to build a small house. Iwan worked as a mechanic and Katherine in a factory.

And there, Katherine became very ill and almost died of typhus. During the long month Katherine lay in the hospital, a German-speaking nun came to pray for her. Katherine prayed in desperation, “Please let me live so I can raise my child.”

“That is when I became a believer,” Katherine says simply. Iwan and Katherine began to worship in the Greek Orthodox faith.

A second daughter, Tamara, was born 10 years after her sister. In 1962 the family moved to the U.S. During those early years in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Katherine cleaned houses, worked on learning English, and began work as a phlebotomist (“collecting blood”) at Thomas Jefferson Hospital, where she taught many others, including doctors, her techniques. Her style of nursing was to help the patient in any way she could, even when not her assigned job.

Both of her daughters died early deaths, and when Iwan died in 1989, Katherine thought, “Now I want to look for a Mennonite Church.”

She found a listing for Doylestown Mennonite in Together newspaper and sought out a church home. She bonded with the congregation and with pastoral couple Ray and Edna Yoder.

“When I first joined at Doylestown, I said, ‘Now I belong, what can I do to help?’ They asked me if I could quilt. So I’ve been making quilts all these years,” Katherine says.

Katherine, now 93, struggles with Parkinson’s Disease, and is ready to give up sewing comforters every Thursday morning, but her church friends have told her to keep them company while they work. It will be difficult for her to stop “helping,” however, because helping others and working hard is the way she has lived her
life.

Katherine has three adult grandsons and five great-grandchildren, with whom she is very close. She has family members in Canada, Brazil, and in the Ukraine with whom she keeps in touch. But her Doylestown church family continues to be precious to her, and her friends at Rockhill provide special tokens of friendship—such as the daughter of her late neighbor who plants flowers on her patio each spring.

A victim of World War II and conflicting ideologies, Katherine has lived a hard life—a life of terrible losses. But now, between her friends at Rockhill Mennonite Community and her Doylestown church family, she finally has found where she belongs.

Conference related ministry

“We have all been inspired by this experience and the opportunity to learn, share, and grow.”

Margaret Zook

–UPDATE: Results from the Delaware Valley Science Fair with Penn View Christian Students–

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