Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

coronavirus

Resources for Ministry During Social Distancing

by

Give to the
Shalom Mutual Aid Fund*


(Updated: March 26, 9:30 am)
Technology:
Need some personal assistance?  Contact one of our staff persons below:
For children:
Worship and devotional resources from around MC USA:
Finances:

  • Everence announces initiatives aimed at providing financial support (The Mennonite)

*The Shalom Fund supports pastors, congregations and ministries in direct response to the Coronavirus and the ensuing economic crisis.   We will seek to respond to the most vulnerable within our membership and neighborhoods by empowering local ministries to meet real needs with Christ’s love and generosity in a time of fear and anxiety.

Online Support:

Alternative Worship Approaches During Social-Distancing

by

by Sue Conrad Howes, West Swamp congregation

Salford streams an abbreviated worship service. Photo by Steve Kriss

At the heart of congregational life is gathering for worship. In light of government warnings about the need for social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many Eastern District & Franconia Conference congregations had to decide whether they should gather together on Sunday, cancel worship, or find alternative avenues to lead congregants.

For many, this meant finding ways to use technology to enhance their community worship. Facebook Live was a popular platform for many congregations. Salford congregation (Harleysville, PA) live streamed an abbreviated version of their worship service.  One goal was to keep things as “normal” as possible; “The person who led the Children’s Time came in and read the story from the usual Children’s Time bench,” said Pastor Beth Yoder.

Pastor Jessica Miller (Perkasie) holds “Virtual Church” from her dining room using Facebook Live.

Meanwhile, Perkasie (PA) congregation had a casual, 30-minute service on Facebook Live. “We read Psalm 23 together, lit candles, and recited our peace lamp litany, had a scripture reading, and sermon,” reported Jessica Miller, associate pastor. She shared that the sermon response invited people to get a drink of water in their homes, an opportunity that would not have been realistic in the church pews.

One advantage to using Facebook Live as a platform was that participants had the opportunity to join the worship service live, watch it later on Facebook, or watch the service later via a video link posted on the church website, which gave those who do not have a Facebook account an opportunity to view the video link.

Many pastors noted that the services were shorter than a typical Sunday. Josh Meyer of Franconia congregation (Telford, PA) commented, “The service was simple and brief: a welcome, a pastoral prayer, some announcements, Scripture, a meditation, and a closing … 38 minutes.”

Ambler’s Zoom gathering. Photo credit: Andrew Huth

Not every church could live stream their worship experience, so alternative options were given. Methacton (Norristown, PA) sent out a group email that included a virtual worship service.   Rocky Ridge (Quakertown, PA) put together a “virtual worship service” and a blog post for interaction.  Ambler (PA) congregation used online conferencing. “Zoom worked well, with 40-plus persons participating, including two former congregants now in other states,” said interim pastor Dorcas Lehman. “It felt different, lively, meditative, and well-appreciated.”

A big surprise was the consistent report that participation was higher than expected. Deep Run East reported that about four times as many people watched the Facebook Live worship service than attend a typical Sunday morning in-person worship. “I was surprised by the breadth of people who joined the worship experience,” commented Pastor Ken Burkholder, “including people from numerous states, mission workers in Honduras, and others who would not typically worship in person at Deep Run East.” Likewise, Salford reported that by noon, their service had received over 1000 views.

Many pastors and congregants noted that each platform seemed to offer a valued sense of community to each other, especially during this time of social distancing and unknown. Methacton’s pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman, reflected, “We often talk about wanting to be a ’church without walls’ and this time we really did it!”

Even though the response far exceeded the expectations, there were still problems. Franconia’s worship crew arrived at church to find their internet was down.  Plains congregation (Hatfield, PA) planned to post a worship service video on their website by 10:30 am but discovered it took hours for the video to finish processing and uploading.

Another challenge was the obvious strangeness of leading a service in an empty auditorium or knowing how or where to make eye contact. Meyer commented, “So much of what happens during corporate worship is exactly that: corporate.  Without a gathered body, a number of our regular worship practices needed to be adjusted.”

Despite the challenges, last minute implementations, and new approaches to worship, most every church reported very positive experiences from congregants.  “Many expressed that being able to ‘gather’ in this way helped social solidarity, in a time when we are practicing social distancing,” said Lehman.

Updates from Eastern District & Franconia Conference

by

Give to the
Shalom Mutual Aid Fund*



During this time of responding to the public health emergency of COVID-19 (coronavirus), Conference leadership has encouraged localized decision-making that prioritizes both love of God and love of neighbor. 

Many of our congregations have chosen to experiment with new technologies (and many have successfully been using these technologies for a while now!).  As you experience God in the challenges and inspiration of these creative worship spaces, please share your stories by emailing communication@mosaicmennonites.org or posting on our Facebook page!

***

(Updated as of March 26, 2020 at 10:00am EST)

Congregations:

  • Alpha (Alpha, NJ) – shared, at-home worship service
  • Ambler (Ambler, PA; Montgomery Co.) – worship service by Zoom (or join by phone at
    312-626-6799)
  • Bally (Bally, PA; Berks Co.) – worship services canceled 
  • Bethany (Bridgewater Corners, VT) – worship services canceled  
  • Bethany Elevation (Queens, NYC) – online streaming
  • Blooming Glen (Blooming Glen, PA; Bucks Co.) – worship service recorded and posted on website;  4/4 Easter Egg Hunt is cancelled; 4/5 Pathways, Passion and Promise is cancelled
  • Boyertown (Boyertown, PA; Berks Co) – worship services canceled  
  • Centro de Alabanza (Philadelphia, PA) – live streaming worship service
  • Christ Fellowship (Allentown, PA; Lehigh Co.) – worship services canceled  
  • Church of the Good Samaritans (Holland, PA; Bucks Co.) – worship services canceled  
  • Covenant Community Fellowship (Lansdale, PA; Montgomery Co.) – worship services canceled
  • Deep Run East (Perkasie, PA; Bucks Co.) – online worship service
  • Deep Run West (Perkasie, PA; Bucks Co.) – Facebook Live
  • Doylestown (Doylestown, PA; Bucks Co.) – March 29 service cancelled; 4/5 Sam Sandler presentation cancelled; 4/12 Easter breakfast cancelled
  • Ebenezer (Souderton, PA; Montgomery Co.) – worship services canceled  
  • Fairfield (Fairfield, PA; Adams Co.) – worship services canceled 
  • Finland (Pennsburg, PA; Montgomery Co.) – worship services canceled 
  • Franconia (Telford, PA: Montgomery Co.) – Scriptures, prayers, & sermon posted online
  • Frederick (Frederick, PA; Montgomery Co.) – worship services canceled  
  • Garden Chapel (Dover, NJ) – worship service by Zoom
  • Indonesian Community Christian Fellowship (Colton, CA) – worship services canceled  
  • Indonesian Light Church (Philadelphia, Pa) – online streaming
  • International Worship Church (San Gabriel, CA) – worship services canceled  
  • Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Anugerah (Sierra Madre, CA) – streaming sermon
  • Lakeview (Susquehanna, PA; Susquehanna Co.) – Zoom worship service
  • Line Lexington (Line Lexington, PA; Bucks Co.) – live streaming, via YouTube; all activities cancelled until further notice
  • Mennonite Bible Fellowship (Morris, PA; Tioga Co) – worship services canceled 
  • Methacton (Norristown, PA; Montgomery Co.) – shared, at-home devotionals
  • Nations Worship Center (Philadelphia, PA) – Facebook Live
  • Nueva Vida Norristown New Life (Norristown, PA; Montgomery Co)
  • Perkasie (Perkasie, PA; Bucks Co.) – Zoom worship service
  • Perkiomenville (Perkiomenville, PA;  Montgomery Co.) will livestream services on Facebook at 10:15 am
  • Philadelphia Praise Center (Philadelphia, PA) – dispersed worship
  • Plains (Hatfield, PA; Montgomery Co.) – recording of worship service online, connecting through Zoom on Wednesday, March 25 at 2:00 pm
  • Providence (Collegeville, PA; Montgomery Co.) – Zoom worship service
  • Rocky Ridge (Quakertown, PA; Bucks Co.) – virtual worship with interactive blog
  • Salem (Quakertown, PA; Bucks Co.) – worship services canceled  
  • Salford (Harleysville, PA; Montgomery Co.) – simulcasting online with children’s activities
  • San Francisco Chinese (San Francisco, CA) – YouTube sermon
  • Souderton (Souderton, PA; Montgomery Co.) – live streaming
  • Spring Mount (Spring Mount, PA: Montgomery Co.) – Facebook Live
  • Swamp (Quakertown, PA; Bucks Co.) – all activities canceled through May 3
  • Taftsville Chapel (Taftsville, VT) – Zoom worship service
  • Towamencin (Kulpsville, PA; Montgomery Co.) – live streaming on website
  • Upper Milford (Old Zionsville, PA; Lehigh Co) – Zoom worship service
  • Vietnamese Gospel (Allentown, Pa; Lehigh Co.) – worship services canceled  
  • Vincent (Spring City, PA; Chester Co.) –  worship service on Facebook Live (10am)
  • Wellspring Church of Skippack (Skippack, PA; Montgomery Co.) – Zoom worship
  • West Swamp (Quakertown, PA; Bucks Co.) – worship services canceled 
  • Whitehall (Whitehall, PA; Lehigh Co.) – Facebook Live
  • Zion (Souderton, PA; Montgomery Co.) – live streaming (9am)

Partners in Ministry:

  • 7 Ways Home Fellowship (Bowie, MD) – Zoom gatherings
  • Arise (Harleysville, PA; Montgomery Co.) – worship services canceled 
  • Homestead Mennonite Church (Homestead, FL) – worship services canceled 
  • Iglesia Evangelica Menonita Shalom (Tampa, FL) – gathering in small prayer groups
  • Iglesia Menonita Luz y Verdad (Lakeland, FL) – worship services canceled 
  • Iglesia Menonita Seguidores de Cristo (Sarasota, FL) – YouTube worship service
  • Nueva Esperanza New Hope Fellowship (Alexandria, VA) – worship services canceled 

Conference Related Ministries:

  • Care & Share Thrift Shoppes (Souderton, PA) – closed through March 28
  • City School (Philadelphia, PA) – closed through March 30
  • Dock Mennonite Academy (Souderton & Lansdale, PA) – closed through March 30
  • MCC Material Resource Center (Harleysville, PA) – closed through March 30; MCC Meat Canning is cancelled
  • Mennonite Heritage Center – closed through March 30
  • Penn Foundation – see info here
  • Quakertown Christian School – closed through March 30
  • Retirement Communities – Almost all retirement communities are restricting visitors and have cancelled any large group gatherings or services. If you plan to visit, please be sure to call ahead. Please call residents of the retirement communities to stay in contact with them rather than visiting during this time, if at all possible. 
  • Spruce Lake/Pinebrook – closed until April 1

Other Conference events that have been cancelled (rescheduled, TBA):

  • “Women of Remarkable Faith” Gathering (March 28)

We know that this list will continue to grow and change. We hope to keep you updated as much as possible–if you have updates or changes to this list, please send them to communication@mosaicmennonites.org.

*The Shalom Fund supports pastors, congregations and ministries in direct response to the Coronavirus and the ensuing economic crisis.   We will seek to respond to the most vulnerable within our membership and neighborhoods by empowering local ministries to meet real needs with Christ’s love and generosity in a time of fear and anxiety.

It’s Time to Plant a Garden

by

by Emily Ralph Servant, Leadership Minister & Director of Communication

Just this morning, the president of our Baltimore city neighborhood association posted in our local gardeners’ group on Facebook.  She encouraged us to take advantage of the early spring to start planting our container gardens with vegetables.

In the midst of the constant barrage of news about COVID-19 (coronavirus), I doubt she was aware of how much her words resonated with those of another prophet, thousands of years ago.

God’s people were in exile, in a world they no longer recognized, and they had been crying out to God to send them home.  God responded that rescue would come—eventually.  But, in the meantime, God’s people were to settle in … because it was gonna be a while.

Build homes, the prophet Jeremiah encouraged them, foster relationships, plant gardens.  Pray and work for the well-being of the cities where you live.

This cheerleading feels timely this week, as we face a growing awareness that the coronavirus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.  In my association president’s words and in Jeremiah’s plea, I hear God’s invitation to settle in.  It’s gonna be a while.

The thing about working in the garden (or going for a walk around the block), is that we can encounter our neighbors in safe space and at a leisurely pace.  It’s amazing how many meaningful conversations can happen across fences or between the sidewalk and the stoop.

Those of us on the east coast have been experiencing an early spring—a gift from God for such a time as this.  The unusually warm weather allows us to get out of our houses and be the Church in our neighborhoods: checking in on neighbors and handing out our phone numbers to those who don’t already have them; extending and accepting help with yard work, trash cleanup, or grocery pickup; visiting with new and old friends as we commiserate together.

And if you haven’t already joined neighborhood groups on social media, now is a perfect time to do so.  Many of these groups—formed around shared geography, hobbies, the “gift economy,” and local advocacy—are increasing their connection to community right about now.  They are creating spreadsheets of vulnerable neighbors who need help, offering to pick up food on trips to the grocery store, sharing information about school lunches, medical care, and the latest in neighborhood closings.  This is community at its best.

Jeremiah reminds us that our well-being is tied up with the well-being of our neighborhoods.  We can pray and work and advocate for our government leaders to make wise and just decisions.  We can pray and work and advocate for neighbors who are at risk.  We are called to pray diligently, even as we build, plant, and make new friends.

[Join a Conference-wide online prayer meeting this Wednesday at 12pm EST/9am PST. RSVP by emailing Noel Santiago.]

Tomorrow morning, you are invited to login to your virtual church service, interact with your congregation on Facebook, read your email devotional (whatever ways of participating in corporate worship that your hardworking pastor has been creating for you!) … and then join your neighbors in the streets and on the sidewalks of your community.  Together we will pray for an end to this pandemic.  And, together, we will settle in for the long haul.