Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

formational

Philadelphia Praise Center to host EMU ministry intern

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by Mike Zucconi, EMU

EMU MIP Program
EMU's MIP students, from left to right: (first row) Rose Jantzi, Rebekah Enns, Erika Bollman, (second row) Jossimar Diaz-Castro, Joel Nofziger. Photo by Mike Zucconi.

A group of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) students will begin summer internships with congregations throughout the U.S. as part of Mennonite Church USA‘s Ministry Inquiry Program (MIP).

Funded in part by Mennonite Church USA, the MIP program gives students an opportunity to explore their gifts for ministry and to test their possible calling to longer term service work for the church.

“The opportunity for students to test their gifts and to be mentored by seasoned pastors is truly invaluable,” said Carmen Schrock-Hurst, instructor in the Bible and religion department and director of MIP at EMU.  “The insights that these students then bring back to the classrooms in the fall will greatly enrich the learning environment on campus.”

Erika Bollman, a second-year student in EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and a member of Emmaus Christian Fellowship in Boise, Id., will intern at Philadelphia Praise Center in Philadelphia, Pa. “The purpose of Erika’s placement is to that she can be a part of the urban immigrant congregation,” said Aldo Siahaan, pastor of Philadelphia Praise Center.  “It will help her to understand our challenges and the function of leaders and the church in our context.”

Other participating students

  • Jossimar Diaz-Castro, a junior philosophy and theology major and a member of the Early Church in Harrisonburg, Va., will intern with Iglesia Discipular Anabautista in Harrisonburg. Diaz-Castro has the opportunity to “go deeper into the areas of teaching, preaching and working with the youth,” said Schrock-Hurst.
  • Rebekah Enns, a junior history, peacebuilding and political studies major and member of River East Mennonite-Brethern Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, will intern at Fourth Street Community Church in Washington, D.C. Enns will be working with the homeless population, providing meals and legal counseling. In addition, Enns will host youth groups from suburban Korean congregations who come to the city for an immersion experience.
  • Rose Jantzi, a sophomore elementary education major and member of Iglesia Discipular Anabautista and Harrisonburg Mennonite Church, will intern with Highland Retreat in Bergton, Va., serving as staff chaplain and Christian nurture coordinator. Jantzi will be involved with pastoral care, teaching and worship planning with both staff and campers.
  • Joel Nofziger, a junior history and peacebuilding major and member of Pilgrims Mennonite Church in Akron, Pa., will intern with the Washington Community Fellowship Center in Washington, D.C. Nofziger will be working with a multi-denominational evangelical congregation affiliated with the Virginia Conference of the Mennonite Church located near the Capitol.

Hands-on experience

At the completion of their 11-week placement, students in the MIP program receive stipends towards their continuing education at a Mennonite college. In addition to Mennonite Church USA, funds come from EMU, the host congregation and conference, and the student’s sending congregation and conference.

“The MIP program is a win-win for the denomination, local congregations, students, participating colleges and for the broader church,” said Schrock-Hurst.

This summer, Mennonite Church USA anticipates having over 20 students in the MIP program from five Mennonite colleges participating in the program.

For more information on the Ministry Inquiry Program visit emu.edu/bible/ministry-inquiry/.

 

Spring Training 2012

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Franconia Conference credentialed leaders from up and down the east coast met on Saturday, April 21, at Towamencin Mennonite Church for the first annual Spring Training, a time of equipping planned by the conference as part of a commitment to continuing education.

The day focused on interculturalism and included times of worship, table conversation, resourcing, and, of course, food!

[tab:Podcast]

Morning Session #1 (1:02:37)

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Spring Training Session 1 (low).mp3[/podcast]

Morning Session #2 (43:29)

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Spring Training Session 2 (low).mp3[/podcast]

Afternoon Session #3 (57:37)

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Spring Training Session 3 (low).mp3[/podcast]

[tab:Photo Gallery]

View the photo gallery

[tab:Video]

‘Tis a gift to be complex

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by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

John Rempel preaching at Salford on Sunday. Photo by Ben Wideman.

We’re a simple people, right?

Yes, I’m a seminary student, but I am often frustrated with those who want to find answers for every single question in the Bible or to debate all the ins and outs of theology.  I’m comfortable with a simple faith that learns and accepts, that ponders and lets go, that embraces the ambiguity.  I only need to understand theology as far as it affects the way I live.

I assumed I thought this way because I’m postmodern, but Sunday evening John Rempel suggested that I may just be steeped in a historic Mennonite worldview.

Rempel, professor at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Indiana, gave a presentation at Salford on helping congregations discuss difficult issues theologically.  He said that traditionally, Mennonites haven’t tried to create a theology that answers every possible question.  In fact, the Anabaptist impulse was in response to what seemed to them to be too much theology and not enough practice.

The Mennonite ideal has been to keep the question as simple as possible and get on with living the Christian life.  But questions these days are not so simple—in fact, they are growing in complexity.  Unfortunately for us simple folk, said Rempel, the more complex the challenges, the more complex the answers have to be.

And this calls for serious theological reflection.

As Anabaptists, we believe that every follower of Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit and that God can and will speak through any member of the church.  But we also believe that the Holy Spirit is in community, so we collectively struggle to decide how we are to behave as Christians, Rempel said.  How exciting!

How terrifying.

It suggests that the word of God is living and active.  It suggests that we trust the Holy Spirit in one another to bring us to unity on divisive issues.  It suggests that we struggle and wrestle and persevere.

So where do those of us who are allergic to deep theological reflection start?  First, find a healthy balance between prophetic leadership and the priesthood of all believers, Rempel said.  Then look at biblical themes (also called “trajectories”), especially those of grace, hospitality, covenant, and discipline… and discern solutions that do justice to all of them.  We also need to accept new understandings of the Bible that adapt to our culture, according to Rempel, while still honoring traditional interpretation.

Am I the only one that feels exhausted?  How many balls do we have to keep in the air?

And yet there is freedom in the possibility that our answers don’t have to be simple, that there is room for nuance.  There is hope if we will give ourselves permission to experiment—together.  There is a promise of peace if we simple folk can learn to embrace a little complexity now and again.

Does Mennonite Matter?

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By John Stoltzfus, Franconia Conference Youth Minister

Dale Schrag at Salford. Photo by Ben Wideman.

Does it matter being Mennonite? According to Dale Schrag, “It depends.”

Dale, who is campus pastor and director of church relations at Bethel College, spoke to this question at a seminar for youth and adults at Salford Mennonite Church on April 11.  He elaborated by saying that it depends on what we mean by being Mennonite.

Schrag quoted Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches who said, “Mennonite is a beautiful adjective but an idolatrous noun.” We need to understand being Mennonite as an adjective description of Christian. In addition, in the Mennonite tradition it is essential to understand the Anabaptist theological distinctiveness of our tradition.

He named four central markers of Anabaptist theology from Harold S Bender’s Anabaptist Vision of 1944:

  • A distinctive reading of the Bible that is centered in Christ
  • A distinctive approach to discipleship, following the teachings of Jesus
  • A distinctive understanding of community
  • A distinctive commitment to nonresistance in the reconciling love of God

Dale concluded by emphasizing that being Mennonite matters because of what we have to offer to a world that needs Jesus.  Our particular understanding of the gospel of shalom (peace) and of how Jesus calls us to live is a gift to offer to our broken world.

Some questions to consider as we continue to unpack the question identified in this seminar.

  • How can we engage our children and youth in talking about what it means and why it matters to be a Mennonite Christian in today’s world?
  • How does this distinctiveness make a difference in how we practice our faith?
  • What difference does it make in how we read the Bible, live as community, relate to our neighbors, and engage in mission in our world?
  • How does being Mennonite help us to be faithful in following in the way of Christ?
  • What testimony do we have to share?
  • How can we hold these convictions with an open hand in a way that is inviting and winsome and good news to our neighbors and to a hurting and broken world?

Watch the full presentation:

STEP Pastoral Training Expanding

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Pictured: Luc Pham and Khon Tran. Photo provided.

The STEP pastoral training program looks to grow in 2012 by forming two new cohorts of students simultaneously in both Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pa. for fall semester.

“Starting two cohorts of STEP students in one year signals another adventure for us,” remarked Mark R. Wenger, STEP program director.  “We are very pleased to see how STEP is addressing the urgent need for basic high-quality pastoral training of those in congregational leadership.”

The STEP pastoral training program emerged in 2004 in response to the need to provide more flexible, non-traditional Anabaptist ministry preparation.  STEP will hold its sixth annual graduation on May 12, 2012 for a cohort of students completing the three-year, part-time program.

The program first expanded from its Lancaster base in 2010 by working together with Anabaptist congregations in Philadelphia.  Those congregations are requesting an additional urban cohort.

Pictured: Fernando Loyola, Daniel Lopez, & Lam Nguyen. Photo provided.

The STEP curriculum is designed for adult learners in part-time study.  Actual ministry practice, coupled with assignments and teaching by experienced pastors, forms the basis for lively learning in community.

Each of the three years of STEP yields ten undergraduate credits at EMU.  Classes meet on Saturdays, once a month.  Students drive to class from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Ohio.

STEP is jointly owned by Eastern Mennonite University and Lancaster Mennonite Conference.  More information.

Penn View students take science competition by storm

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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.

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

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

  • 2nd Place Botany
  • Broadcom MASTERS award
 Colin Bernd

  • 3rd 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

Jimmy Olsen, Megan Swintosky, and Maxwell Howald.
Jimmy Olsen, Megan Swintosky, and Maxwell Howald.

Historic forums planned for inter-conference dialogue

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Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

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?

Does Mennonite Matter? A night for youth and parents

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Dale SchragHow or why does identifying as Mennonite matter for today’s youth?  That’s the question speaker Dale Schrag will explore at an April 11 seminar for youth and parents at Salford Mennonite Church starting at 7 p.m.  The event, sponsored by Eastern District and Franconia Conferences, related Mennonite schools, and a number of area churches, is part of a twice a year series designed to stimulate and encourage Sr. High youth and their parents in their faith walk.  The event is free of charge and high school aged Mennonite youth and their parents are encouraged to attend.

Dale Schrag is the campus pastor and the director of church relations at Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas, and is a regular speaker on Anabaptist related topics.  At this seminar, Dale will describe Anabaptist theology and its importance as a window through which we can see and understand Jesus, with a focus on its relevance to youth.  Says Dale, “One of the questions I hear young  people asking is how do I claim my Mennonite identity without being exclusive and inhospitable to those of other denominations and faiths?  In addition, folks outside the Mennonite church are always asking who we are.  The question needs to be unpacked.  It frequently has cultural and ethnic overtones, rather than theological ones.”  These issues will be discussed, and a question and answer time will end the evening, along with light refreshments.

For more information, contact Ben Wideman at Salford Mennonite Church, 215-256-0778, or see the related Facebook link.