Eastern District

Reading the Bible “through the eyes of another”

July 10, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Worship Cohort — Bobby Wibowo, Philadelphia Praise Center, and Keith Schoenly, Bally, share song ideas at the monthly intercultural worship cohort at the Conference Center. How are members of Franconia Conference working interculturally? Browse old posts here.

Taking up the risk and hope of Intercultural Bible Reading

by Samantha Lioi, Peace & Justice Minister

Eastern District Conference and Franconia Mennonite Conference encompass many very different groups of people who experience a variety of “borders” in relating with each other and with wider U.S. society. At times some of us are unaware of these borders; at times we talk about them. Some of us live every day with an unavoidable awareness of them. And sometimes we surely avoid talking with each other about topics that might highlight differences.

Could reading the same biblical story and exchanging our questions and understandings across cultural and language lines be transformational in our context? What would it be like to listen to each other and the Spirit around one biblical text for a time? What if we chose a passage of Scripture for small groups across the conference to read? Ideally it would be a narrative that groups would engage as they gathered for Bible study, and these groups would be paired with other groups of believers within our conferences, using online forums to correspond.

Given our relative geographic proximity, we could also visit one another at some point during these exchanges. We would enter into this expecting to hear different understandings of Scripture, to learn to know one another better, to learn who makes up the “we” of Franconia and Eastern District, and to be open to God’s call coming to us from the Scriptures “through the eyes of another.”

Where did this idea come from?

From approximately 2001-2003, ordinary readers, teachers and scholars from five continents participated in the Intercultural Reading of the Bible project, using the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Sponsored by a network of people and institutions who formed the Intercultural Bible Collective, readers ranging from Latino men in a U.S. prison to Dutch Protestants to Colombian Catholics in Bogotá (and many more) formed partner groups and exchanged descriptions of the context of their everyday lives.

They met locally in small groups to study the John 4 text, sent reports of their interpretations to Amsterdam for translating, and received a report from their partner group in another part of the world. Then they read the biblical story a second time, through the eyes of the partner group, and asked themselves: What were similarities and differences? What role did culture play in the reading? Could anything be learned from the partner group? Were there new discoveries in the text on this second reading? Was there a change of perspective? After the second reading, they sent a response to the partner group, usually by letter. Then each group responded to the responses of their partner group, reflected on the process and chose whether to have further contact.

According to Hans de Wit, a leader in this project, “The core question of the project was: What happens when Christians from radically different cultures and situations read the same Bible story and start talking about it with each other? Can intercultural reading of Bible stories result in a new method of reading the Bible and communicating faith that is a catalyst for new, trans-border dialogue and identity formation?”

Those who undertook this project were concerned with the effects of globalization and persistent inequities and were looking for ways to engage Christians in communication which would broaden our awareness of each other’s lives, gifts, and challenges. Not expecting a crystalized, universal meaning of the scripture, they mainly hoped for new perspectives and relationships to emerge.*

Will you join us?

In my early work as Peace and Justice Minister I have begun to test interest in these exchanges and we have a couple of willing pairs that will begin in the fall. I will act as a liaison to check in with Bible Reading groups and to facilitate communication and connection between groups who have agreed to correspond.

Each pairing will have their own online forum to post 1) a description of themselves and their setting, 2) a brief written account of results of their first reading, 3) a response to their partner group’s first reading, 4) the results of a second reading and 5) a response to their partner group’s second reading.

Conference staff will also work with translators to be sure each group can write and receive feedback in their first or preferred language, and to facilitate face-to-face meetings between groups who are developing relationships around the reading of this common text and/or who wish to continue communicating beyond the formal process of the Intercultural Bible Reading project.

Would you like to join us? We welcome multiple small groups from each congregation–existing Bible studies or new groups formed just for this. For more information or to sign up, send me an email: samantha@interculturalchurch.com.

*This too-brief summary is drawn from the book, Through the Eyes of Another: Intercultural Reading of the Bible, edited by Hans de Wit, Louis Jonker, Marleen Kool, and Daniel Schipani. Elkhart, IN: Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2004.

Forum #2: Who are we now?

June 27, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Forum with Eastern District — Mike Derstine, Plains, and Edie Landis, Zion, participate in table conversations at the second Forum between Eastern District and Franconia Conferences.

On May 24, leaders from Eastern District Conference and Franconia Conference met together to continue conversations about partnering in the future. Eastern District conference minister Warren Tyson and Franconia Executive Minister Ertell Whigham shared ways that the two conferences are already working together as well as suggestions of future possibilities.

After table conversations, the gathered leaders reflected back to the larger group some of their affirmations, concerns, or questions.

Listen to the whole Forum:

[podcast]http://mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Forum 2 (May 2012).mp3[/podcast]

Watch the video:

Conferences discuss history, consider future in forums

April 5, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

Jim Musselman and John Ruth — Jim Musselman, left, and John Ruth, unofficial historians for Eastern District and Franconia Conferences share the history of the 1847 split. Photo by Emily Ralph..

Members of Eastern District and Franconia Conferences of Mennonite Church USA met on March 29 at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale, PA, to continue conversations about a shared future. This gathering, the first of two forums planned for Spring 2012, focused on developing a deeper understanding of the 1847 split in Franconia Conference that led to the formation of Eastern District Conference.

Although some people think that the merger between the two conferences is a done deal, that couldn’t be further from the truth, according to Ron White, moderator of Eastern District Conference and member of Church of the Good Samaritan. Conference leadership has been following the delegates’ directive from the 2011 Assembly to move forward in exploring and listening, he said in his welcome.

When White asked how many people from each conference had attended an event or service in a congregation from the other conference, nearly every hand in the room raised. “See, we’ve already been working together,” said White, “we just haven’t called it that.”

Jim Musselman, Zion congregation, and John Ruth, Salford congregation, unofficial historians for the two conferences, shared presentations on the history of the 1847 split, the tensions leading up to it, and the fallout in the years following it. The progressives (a group which broke off to later become Eastern District Conference) were looking for modern administration, freedom in dress and conduct, education for pastors, and the creation of publications, said Musselman, Eastern District historian. The years following the split were tumultuous for the new conference, he said, with further division as differing theological strains emerged.

“Almost every positive thing that the Eastern District leaders wanted eventually came to Franconia Conference,” said Ruth, Franconia Conference historian. “It just took 100 years longer. . . . It would have come sooner to Franconia Conference if they all would have stayed together.” In the end, said Ruth, both sides lost: “There was not much creativity in finding ways of love and respect for each other.”

After the presentations, participants talked around their tables to ask questions and reflect on the history. Photo by Emily Ralph

To this day, remnants of the 19^th-century division remain in attitudes toward one another. Eastern District Conference congregations often accepted into membership people who had been disciplined by Franconia Conference congregations, gaining them a reputation as a conference who will “take anybody,” said Musselman; Franconia congregations worried that this acceptance watered down the purity of the church body.

Following the presentations, the gathering broke into table groups to talk about what they had heard, formulate questions, and discuss together the implications of a shared future. In reporting the highlights of their table conversations with the room, members of both conferences expressed concern about navigating theological differences within conferences and congregations, overcoming generations of “us/them” mentalities, and working through organizational and structural differences.

The group also wondered how there could be healing of the personal wounds that people still carried from the tension between the conferences. “How can we gain empathy for each other’s narratives in moving forward?” asked Marta Castillo, assistant moderator for Franconia Conference and a pastor at Nueva Vida Norristown New Life.

These next steps will be discussed at a second forum, planned for May 24, 7pm, at Christopher Dock. Forum 2 will look at present-day similarities and differences in vision and mission as well as strengths and weaknesses of the two conferences and begin a conversation on future possibilities. A possible third forum may be scheduled if needed.

Sam Claudio, co-pastor of Christ Fellowship, came to the forum to gain further understanding of the histories of the community that he has joined in Mennonite Church USA. “It’s good to see that I’ve become part of something that is in the midst of coming together, not in the midst of tearing apart,” he told the group. “As we leave this place, let us remember that we are ministers—all of us, each of us—of reconciliation. That is our mandate, to be reconciled one to another…. Let us work toward that goal as we leave this place.”

Listen to Forum 1:

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Forum 1 (March 2012).mp3[/podcast]

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On ‘Titanic’ centennial, missionary’s life remembered

April 2, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

By Sheldon C. Good, Mennonite World Review

Annie Funk — Funk prepares to ride her bicycle to the girls’ school she started in India in 1908. — Photo provided

HARLEYSVILLE, Pa. — When Annie Clemmer Funk, a Mennonite missionary to India, learned her mother was very ill in Pennsylvania, she quickly packed her bags and caught a train to Bombay. From there she traveled to England, where she learned a coal strike had delayed her ship’s voyage to the U.S.

So she paid a few extra gold pieces for a spot on the Titanic, which set sail two days later.

Funk was one of 1,517 people who died in the “unsinkable” ocean liner’s disaster on April 15, 1912. Just three days earlier she had celebrated her 38th birthday aboard the Titanic.

To mark the centennial of Funk’s death in one of history’s most famous tragedies at sea, filmmaker Jay Ruth is producing a 35-minute video that tells the story of Funk’s faith and witness and describes the nature of Mennonite mission at the time.

A DVD will be available, and two premiere showings are planned. The first will be at 7:30 p.m. April 29 at Zion Mennonite Church in Souderton. The second will be at 7:30 p.m. May 6 at Hereford Mennonite Church in Bally, Funk’s home congregation.

The film, sponsored by Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania, is a production of Jay Ruth’s Branch Valley Productions in Lederach.

A native of Butter Valley in southeastern Pennsylvania, Funk was the first Mennonite woman from Pennsylvania to serve as a missionary in India. Fragments of her story have been known for years, but the film is the first larger project of its kind.

“Here’s a young woman who grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and somehow she was drawn from there to the other side of the world, and then her life ended in this worldwide drama,” said historian John L. Ruth, a consultant for the film. “As a memorably dedicated Christian, she has not been forgotten in India and North America as a hero of our faith family.”

Using momentum from the blockbuster 1997 film Titanic, Charlotte Strouse of Zion Mennonite helped Funk’s story became even more widely known. Strouse recalled Funk’s life more than 100 times in a one-person re-enactment.

Before going to India, Funk took a teachers’ course at West Chester State Normal School, which later became West Chester University. She trained for Christian service at D.L. Moody’s Northfield (Mass.) Seminary for Ladies, then served in Chattanooga, Tenn., and with the Young Women’s Christian Association in Paterson, N.J.

After Mennonite missionaries in India put out an urgent call for an unmarried woman, Funk expressed interest, Jay Ruth said.

According to a story in the Dec. 26, 1985, issue of Mennonite Weekly Review, Funk had written: “Several years ago I promised the Lord that if the way would open to go to the foreign field, I would do my duty… . Now the door is open wide enough for me to do my duty to the extent of being willing to go.”

Funk went to Janjgir, India, in 1906, at the age of 32. She served under the General Conference Mennonite Church’s young board of missions.

“At the time, India had famine, leprosy, cholera and extreme heat,” Jay Ruth said. “Annie would not have thought of herself as an important person. She would have thought of herself as being faithful.”

In 1908 Funk started a one-room school for girls, later named Funk Memorial Girls School.

Giving up her seat

Not much is known about Funk’s time on the Titanic. Conflicting stories tell of her experience while the ship was sinking.

According to one account, Funk was already seated in a full lifeboat when she saw a woman and her child (or children) who needed space. So Funk gave up her seat, saying she would probably find a seat in another boat.

Although a newspaper in England was said to have documented Funk’s situation, the story is now mostly oral, Jay Ruth said.

Funk’s friends back home were surprised to see her name listed in newspapers along with the other casualties. They were sure the Annie Funk they knew was to come on the SS Haverford. A letter Funk sent back to India as the Titanic left England explained what she had done.

After her death, several memorial services were held in Pennsylvania and India. Her mother’s health had improved, and she was able to attend one of the services. A plaque was later installed in the chapel of the Northfield school, where she had trained.

In 1913 a monument was dedicated at the Hereford Mennonite Church cemetery. The monument, erected by Eastern District Conference, says: “Her life was one of service in the spirit of the master — ‘not to be ministered unto but to minister.’ ”

Reprinted by permission from Mennonite World Review.

Historic forums planned for inter-conference dialogue

March 22, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

IMG_2674B — Delegates from Eastern District and Franconia conferences approve continued conversations on a shared future at the joint assembly in 2011. Photo by Emily Ralph

Eastern District and Franconia conference leaders have planned two delegate forums this spring to continue the exploration of a shared future. The forums will be held on March 29 and May 24 at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale, PA and will include presentations from conference historians and conversations about the nature of each conference and possible next steps.

At the joint assembly in 2011, delegates of both Conferences expressed a strong desire to more fully understand the events that led to the 1847 split in Franconia Conference and the eventual formation of Eastern District Conference. There was overwhelming support for continuing conversation as well as concern that these conversations be done with care and integrity, said Eastern District moderator Ron White, from Church of the Good Samaritan, in a letter to delegates.

Continuing to maintain two separate conferences, side by side, is the expression of an unhealed break in the Body of Christ, according to historian John Ruth, Salford congregation, who will be presenting at the March forum. “It’s a statement that needs to be explained (or defended) to the current generation of church members . . . and the neighbors to whom we witness,” he said.

Beth Rauschenberger, associate pastor at Zion congregation, understands the need for these forums. She didn’t grow up within the Mennonite church and has always found the historic rift between the conferences puzzling, she said in a recent round table. “You have to hear those personal stories; you have to hear the hurt,” she explained. “I don’t understand the hurt, so I want to hear the hurt that some people have gone through.”

Although all delegates are asked to attend, the forums are also open to anyone interested in learning more about the joint history of the conferences or participating in conversation about future possibilities.

In preparation for the forums, Franconia Conference has made available digital copies of three chapters of Maintaining the Right Fellowship, Ruth’s history of Franconia and Eastern District conferences. These chapters describe the circumstances leading up to the 1847 split and the aftermath of the conflict.

These forums are historic, said Ruth, “because there has never been a serious, deliberate dialogue between the two conferences on this problem.” The current dialogue, he added, could be transformative “because the core of the Gospel we profess is reconciliation.”

Forum One (March 29, 7-9 pm): In this forum, Franconia Conference historian John Ruth and Eastern District Conference historian Jim Musselman will explore the differences that led to the 1847 split and the birth of the Eastern District. A time for questions and conferring will be structured into the forum where participants will be invited to consider how this split has impacted our two conferences for the past 165 years.

Forum Two (May 24, 7-9pm): This Forum will focus on the current realities of our conferences. What are the present-day similarities and differences in the vision and mission of our conferences? What are the strengths and weakness of our two conferences? Are there ways the 1847 split continues to cause tension between our conferences? What have we learned from each other? What are the next steps for our continuing dialogue?

Christopher Dock, Conferences Name Youth Minister

December 12, 2011 by Emily Ralph Servant

Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, Franconia Conference and Eastern
District Conference celebrate their ministry partnership by naming John Stoltzfus
Conference Youth Minister.

“Youth are a key segment of God’s community. They are ambassadors of Christ
here and now, but also the future leaders of our congregations,” said Dr. Conrad
Swartzentruber, principal of Christopher Dock. “It’s exciting to see two
conferences join our school in this focus on youth ministry. John Stoltzfus has a
passion for helping youth become radical followers of Christ. We are pleased to
welcome him to our team.”

In his new position, Stoltzfus will become campus pastor for Christopher Dock’s
365 students, and will encourage, support and promote youth ministry in the
churches represented by the two conferences, which are part of Mennonite
Church USA. It is the first time that all three entities have collaborated on a youth
ministry position.

“I look forward to youth ministry connections growing between our member
churches, our two conferences and the school community,” said Warren Tyson,
conference minister for Eastern District Conference and a member of the
Christopher Dock Board of Trustees.

Stoltzfus comes to his new position after 10 years as associate pastor at
Lombard Mennonite Church, which is part of the Illinois Mennonite Conference. A
graduate of Eastern Mennonite University and Eastern Mennonite Seminary
(Harrisonburg, VA), Stoltzfus has also served with a Christian Peacemaker
Teams in Colombia, and participated in China Educational Exchange, a program
of Eastern Mennonite Missions, Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite
Central Committee that is now known as Mennonite Partners in China.

“I found John’s insight, understanding and commitment to engaging in the work
of intercultural transformation and relationships to be both relevant and sincere,”
said Ertell Whigham, executive minister for Franconia Conference. “This was
particularly evident as he shared experiences and learnings from his ministry in
China. I thank God that we are moving ahead and look forward to John’s arrival
and our work together.”

John Stoltzfus 2 — John with his wife Paula and children Justin, Lilianna, and Elaina. (They are expecting their fourth child in December).

The Youth Minister position is full-time, and involves partnering with youth
workers in congregations and at Christopher Dock to “actively invite every youth
to commit to a personal relationship and everlasting adventure with Jesus Christ,
mentoring them towards a supportive church community and empowering them
to bring healing and hope to the world.” In addition, Stoltzfus will be charged with
providing support, training and resources to those who minister to junior and
senior high youth, so that they are better able to carry out the youth ministry
mission and vision of Franconia and Eastern District Conferences. He will begin
his work in January.

“I am excited about this new venture of journeying together with the youth and
community at Christopher Dock and Franconia and Eastern District
Conferences,” Stoltzfus said. “I look forward to discovering how God is at work
among us and calling our young people to be faithful followers of Christ in our
world.”

John Stoltzfus will begin as Conference Youth Minister in January 2012.

Eastern District and Franconia gather on “holy ground”

November 21, 2011 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Stephen Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

Gwen Groff, pastor at Bethany Mennonite Church in Bridgewater Corners, Vermont, drove the seven hours south for the joint Franconia and Eastern District Conference Assembly on November 11-12 for what she suggests became a “beautiful cacophony.”

Groff and more than 300 others from across both Conference communities along with Mennonite Church USA representatives gathered Friday night at Penn View Christian School in Souderton, Pa, in the first joint worship service for both Conferences since 1999. The opening worship, which featured a combined cross-conference, multi-ethnic and multilingual worship team, kicked off the gathering switching swiftly back and forth between Creole, English, Indonesian, Spanish and Vietnamese—the worshipping languages of the 60 congregations that make up both conferences.

Groff describes her experience, “I always look forward to the singing at Conference Assembly worship services. Coming from a small congregation, I enjoy the big sound, the full harmony. When I come into an Assembly worship space, if I see that we’ll be using the blue Worship Book hymnals I like to sit in the center of it all to be surrounded by the four part harmony. When I see a screen and projector, instruments and microphones, I usually take a seat on the periphery.

“This year I found myself most moved by the kind of singing I usually hang back from. Singing all together, with some singing in Indonesian, some in Spanish, some in Vietnamese, some in English and some in Creole, was disorienting in a way that was challenging, enlightening and beautiful. In worship there is often an invitation to sing or pray each in our own language, but this year the multicultural worship team was leading in all the different languages, switching languages between verses, between lines, singing in different languages at the same time. There was no right language to be singing in at any particular moment. We all could experience how it felt to be singing new words and not knowing if we were pronouncing them correctly. We all knew how it felt to be a little off balance. It wasn’t about political correctness (or it was what political correctness should be). It was about leveling the ground as we worshipped together, and it was holy ground.”

While energetic music and multiple languages marked the shape of the worship, Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards, pastor of Peace Fellowship Church in Washington, DC, a Franconia Conference Partner in Mission, focused intensely in an evening message that explored the possibilities of the assembly theme, “Unity and Maturity in Christ” based on Ephesians 4. The whole of the worship gathering was broadcast in five worshipping languages and available online through a live stream. Over a dozen persons from a variety of congregations helped to coordinate technology, translating, and communication for the event.

The spirit of gathered worship was framed further through Saturday’s joint delegate session held around tables that considered the further cooperation between both Conferences in a move toward healing the 1847 historic rift between the groups. Overwhelmingly, representatives from both conferences gave permission by raising green cards that suggested a continuation to explore life together more extensively and collaboratively. Considering the future of the conferences, Sam Claudio, Jr., associate pastor at Christ Fellowship in Allentown said in a time of reporting, “Hopefully we’ll be able to be a positive witness [in a way that people will say], look how they came together after this long division in love, in peace, in charity, in grace.”

After recognizing the affirming move, Dave Hersh, moderator of Eastern District Conference responded, “I’m really excited about what we’ve accomplished. Your direction to us is loud and clear. We’re going to continue working together.”

The conferences divided for business sessions, but re-gathered for lunch and a commissioning worship that recognized each person’s role and contribution in both conference communities. In general business, Eastern District Conference marked the transition of Ron White of Church of the Good Samaritan (Holland, Pa) into the moderator role succeeding Hersh of Grace Mennonite Church (Lansdale, Pa). Marta Castillo of Nueva Vida Norristown (Pa) Mennonite Church was affirmed as assistant moderator for Franconia Conference for a special one year term.

First time Franconia Conference delegate Derek Cooper of the Doylestown (Pa) congregation said, “I appreciated the worshipful tone. Beginning and ending the assembly in worship united the community and guided our interaction throughout the weekend. I also appreciated the prayer ministry. It created a Spirit-led presence that saturated the building.”

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Eastern District

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