Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Franconia Conference

With new board members affirmed, agenda set for August Franconia Conference meeting

by

Stephen Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

After receiving over 145 responses, seven new Franconia Conference board members
have been affirmed for service and leadership, effective August 1, 2010. All new board
members received over a 90% affirmation in both emailed and written ballots. The new
board members will be introduced on August 12, 2010 at 7 p.m., at an all-conference
meeting at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale, Pa.

Board members and their affirmed positions include:

  • John Goshow, moderator and conference board chair, Blooming Glen
    congregation
  • Miriam Book, assistant moderator and conference board vice chair, Salford
    congregation
  • Randy Nyce, conference board finance committee chair, Salford congregation
  • Marta Beidler Castillo, member-at-large, Nueva Vida Norristown New Life
    congregation
  • Joe Hackman, member-at-large, Salford congregation
  • Beny Krisbianto, member-at-large, Nations Worship Center
  • James Longacre, member-at-large, Bally congregation

Review Steering Committee member, Mike Derstine (Plains congregation) remarked
that the affirmations indicate strong support for the new board members in the midst
of a difficult time for the Conference community. The new board members and
moderators were suggested in response to the Conference Review conducted by
LaVern Yutzy of Mennonite Health Services Alliance earlier this spring and were
intended to help with further alignment of the conference’s work and trajectory toward a
hopeful future.
The all-conference meeting is intended to offer a time of blessing and introducing the
new board members, prayerful reflection and conversation on the conference’s recent
history and future as well as a brief update on the conference’s finances. All delegates
as well as interested persons from the Conference community are encouraged to
attend.

CLICK HERE to download agenda PDF

Climbing on: A farewell of gratitude and hope

by

Jessica Walter, Ambler
jessawalter@gmail.com

As I prepared to write this, my last editorial for Intersections, I decided I needed to look back at some of the writing I have done for Franconia Conference in my almost four years of work and ministry here.

I began the writing portion of my work with an article in the now retired MennoLife. I wrote about how my faith and calling journey had been like rock climbing. My journey was one of questions and confusion and while I would cry out for help on what my next move, or hold, should be I often wouldn’t listen to God’s answer. Taking the leap of faith to grab ahold of the opportunity to work at Franconia was a move toward listening for me, one I have been greatful for.

Since that first article and those first few months of work I have gained many valuable experiences and knowledge. Franconia Conference not only hired me to work with communication and leadership cultivation it also invested in my leadership. I could not have asked for a better place to explore my leadership gifts, develop useful skills and contribute to the equipping of other leaders both young and old. I have felt truly valued and respected despite my age.

And as I spent time here my journey, my rock climb, became less confusing and some questions were answered. I am leaving my post at Franconia Conference with a better sense of who God is calling me to be, answered questions or not.

It is fitting that this issue largely features stories of ministries that have begun to take root throughout the conference because though I am leaving my role at Franconia my roots in the larger conference community run deep.

So deep that I am about to begin work in two ministries connected to Franconia Conference. In June I will become both the manager of Care and Share Thrift Shoppes’ soon to be opened bookstore and an Outreach Minstry Enthusiast/Pastor of Ambler Mennontie Church.

Like the beginning harvest at Living Hope Farm I have been harvested from the soil here at Franconia Conference to be re-planted in the larger community.

Like Rose Bender, God has used many hands to help mold, shape and guide me over the last four years of my life. Interactions with pastoral leadership throughout the conference, visits to many congregations, representing conference and young adults to the larger Mennonite Church, and aid in exploring seminary education have all shaped the creativity, hospitality, and hope that informs my leadership.

Like Lorie Hershey couldn’t have imagined she would be an ordained minister ten years ago I couldn’t have imagined that I would become both a store manager and pastoral leader. And yet the opportunities I have gained from my term at conference have prepared me for these new roles.

During my time at Franconia Conference two passages in the New Testament have shaped my faith and calling journey. Matthew 22: 37-40 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

And Matthew 13: 31-32 Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

I leave Franconia Conference with the hope that we all will continue to invest in the leadership of young adults, to remember that its the small steps toward change and growth in our congregations that stick, to love God with all of ourselves and to let that love radiate out into love of ourselves and others and to plant the Kingdom of Heaven one mustard seed at a time.

Franconia Conference announces board candidates and sets August public meeting

by

Stephen Kriss

The Nominating Committee of Franconia Mennonite Conference announces seven candidates for open board positions and an election/affirmation process that will commence immediately by written or email ballot.   The seven candidates are:

Moderator:  John Goshow
John Goshow is retiring this fall after 33 years of service and leadership at Penn Foundation, Sellersville, Pa, where he served as president and CEO for the last decade. John and his wife Janet live near Perkasie, Pa, and are the parents of three adult children. They attend Blooming Glen Mennonite Church where John is a Sunday school teacher. John has served on the Board of Directors of Mennonite Health Services Alliance and in local and regional associations for community building and behavioral healthcare. He brings experience with organizational leadership as well as a social work background, combined with years of service connected with the church.

Assistant Moderator: Miriam BookMiriam Book is lead pastor at Salford Mennonite Church near Harleysville, Pa.   Originally from Lancaster County, Pa, Mim came to serve as part of the pastoral team at Salford after over 20 years of service in Mennonite Church denominational agencies where she worked with area conferences and overseas ministries as well as convention planning.  Mim brings gifts of connectedness across the denomination, a commitment to cultivating the gifts of both male and female leaders and acuity for administration and fair process.  She and her husband, Jim Lapp, live in Harleysville, Pa. and are parents of three adult children.

Finance Committee Chairperson:  Randy Nyce
Randy Nyce is church relations manager for MMA/Everence based at the Souderton (Pa) office.  He and his wife Juanita and son Garrett have recently relocated to Hilltown Twp, Pa, where they live in a three-generation household after a decade of living in Philadelphia.   Having grown up in Franconia Conference, Randy worked as a teacher at Philadelphia Mennonite High School and as executive director at Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust.  Randy had worked with stewardship education in his previous congregation (Circle of Hope Brethren in Christ in Philadelphia) and currently helps facilitate young adult Sunday school classes at Salford Mennonite Church.

At-large members:

Marta Beidler Castillo

Marta Beidler Castillo lives in Norristown, Pa, where she is serves as an associate pastor at Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation.   Marta grew up in both Vietnam and Indonesia, the daughter of Franconia Conference-rooted mission workers.   She’s committed to the intercultural work of antiracism and racial reconciliation.   Marta lives in a bilingual Spanish/English household with her husband, Julio and children, Andres and Daniel. With broad mission experiences internationally and in a US urban location, Marta is committed to prayer along with active engagement of diverse neighborhoods with the message of Christ’s Good News.

Joe Hackman
Joe Hackman lives in Lansdale, Pa, with his wife Angela and daughter Ila.  He grew up attending Swamp Mennonite Church at Quakertown and currently serves on the pastoral team at Salford Mennonite Church.  Joe is a student at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Pennsylvania, returning to school after several years of teaching at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School.  He’s passionate about the possibilities for Anabaptism in a postmodern context, loves working with young leaders and has worked hard to build bridges between the established and emerging congregations of Franconia Conference.

Beny Krisbianto
Beny Krisbianto lives in Philadelphia where he serves as lead pastor of Nations Worship Center, a congregation comprised mostly of recent immigrants from Indonesia.  Beny relocated to Philadelphia to begin a new Anabaptist congregation in South Philadelphia after completing studies at Jubilee School of Theology in Iowa.  Since coming to Pennsylvania, Beny has studied at Eastern Mennonite Seminary toward a certificate in Anabaptist leadership.  Beny is fluent in English, Javanese and Indonesian.  He’s gifted at calling forth new leaders and committed to establishing Anabaptist congregations within the Indonesian immigrant community on the East Coast.

James B. Longacre
James B. Longacre attends Bally Mennonite Church where he grew up as son of the pastor.  Jim has been active in the congregation’s leadership and believes that the Anabaptist/Mennonite way of telling and living the Good News is particularly relevant in today’s world.  Jim is an attorney specializing in employee benefits law, working with a regional firm in Reading, Pa.   He and his wife Ann along with their children Ben, Sam, and Zoe moved back to the family farm near Bally, Pa after years of living in Washington DC and now can frequently be found at youth sporting events throughout southeastern PA.

Upon affirmation of conference delegates, the new board members will begin service in September 2010.   The moderator and assistant moderator positions are open due to the impending resignations of current moderators Blaine Detwiler and Randy Heacock. Two at-large board positions are available due to the resignations of Karen Moyer and Yvonne Platts that followed the approval of LaVern Yutzy’s conference review report earlier this spring.  As approved by the board, the nominating committee moved to reconstitute board leadership by receiving nominations from across conference constituency for all open positions.  Current and remaining board members include Jim King (Plains congregation), Jim Laverty (Souderton congregation), Rina Rampogu (Plains congregation) and Nelson Shenk (Boyertown congregation). Conference staff members Noel Santiago and Ertell Whigham will continue to meet with the board but do not have voting privileges as was recommended by the conference review report and approved by the board in May.

After prayerful discernment and consideration, the nominating committee presents this slate of qualified and committed leaders to help guide Franconia Conference toward a hopeful future. The seven candidates were selected from among those nominated based on skills, gifts, commitment and representation from across the Conference community.  The selection process requires a quorum of votes to affirm the new candidates by July 26, 2010.

Nominating committee members Donella Clemens (Perkasie congregation), Mike Derstine (Plains congregation), Beny Krisbianto (Nations Worship Center) and Joy Sutter (Salford congregation) have worked alongside the Review Steering Committee and current Conference Board to assure a transition that opens possibilities for the continued historic witness of Franconia Conference congregations, embodying Christ’s peace while recognizing our diversity of experience.  The nominating committee is grateful for God’s leading and the Spirit’s movement in the midst of the discernment process.  According to Mike Derstine, “We are impressed by the willingness and enthusiasm that all seven persons have for offering their gifts of leadership and wisdom to the present and future ministry of Franconia Mennonite Conference.”

CLICK HERE to download the ballot as a PDF.

A ballot will be sent by email and by the US postal service to all delegates for a signed or emailed response from each delegate. Emailed responses should be sent to ballot@mosaicmennonites.org.  All ballots will remain confidential. Franconia Conference bylaws require a 50% quorum and a two-thirds vote to affirm the candidates for service on the board.

The Review Steering Committee also announces an all-Conference meeting of prayer, update and introduction of new and current board members for August 12 from 7-8:30pm at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale, Pa. This meeting will include prayerful reflection, a financial update from the Conference and a timeline for further work rooted in the Yutzy conference review commissioned by the board earlier this year that seeks to guide in the alignment of the Conference’s work, staffing, finances and future.

Franconia Conference Review Steering Committee receives feedback, revises timeline for reconstituting the Conference Board

by

Stephen Kriss

The Franconia Conference Review Steering Committee expresses appreciation for the feedback on the Conference Review composed by LaVern Yutzy of Mennonite Health Services Alliance. As the timeframe for responses ends this weekend, the committee is moving ahead with the reconstitution of the Conference’s board of directors, naming at least five persons to open roles including moderator, assistant moderator, finance committee chairperson and at large members. The committee will receive nominations until June 9, 2010. Nominations for board positions can be sent by email to the Franconia Conference Nominating Committee (Donella Clemens, Mike Derstine, Beny Krisbianto, and Joy Sutter) at nominations@mosaicmennonites.org. The committee is abbreviating the nominating period to move toward fulfillment of the review’s recommendations while working with the board’s timeline for upcoming meetings.

The Review Steering Committee intends to submit a suggested slate of names for affirmation by conference delegates to the current board at the scheduled June 21, 2010, meeting. Following the approval of the slate, the committee plans to initiate public meetings sometime in mid-July that will offer time for delegate feedback and response as well as presenting a financial update of the Conference’s situation. In the meantime, the immediate recommendations from the report approved by the board in early May move toward fulfillment. Noel Santiago and Ertell Whigham continue to negotiate their interim staff leadership roles while other staff work toward the implementation of the LEAD platform among conference congregations.

The Steering Committee continues to appreciate the hearty engagement with the review process, including affirmations and nominations as well as challenges and concerns. While numerous nominations for the open board positions have already been received, the committee anticipates further suggestions and invites prayerful consideration as the discernment process continues over the next weeks. Over the next days, the committee intends to solicit nominations from conference pastors and looks forward to the contributions of current and future board members toward a hopeful future.

Conference review report released; board acts on immediate recommendations

by

Stephen Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

Franconia Conference’s Review Steering Committee met with the Franconia Conference Board of Directors on May 4, 2010, to receive the review and recommendations of LaVern Yutzy, consulting associate Mennonite Health Services. Yutzy was commissioned for the review by the Franconia Conference Board in response to questions around decisions related to staffing and proposed vision made earlier this year. He developed the report and recommendations after a process of interviews and consideration of responses from the Conference community. Both the board and the committee received Yutzy’s work as an independent consultant based on the content offered through the listening process. After careful and deliberate conversation, the board moved to receive Yutzy’s report and to follow through with the immediate recommendations as outlined in the review.

The board’s immediate actions include:

  • Receiving the resignations of the moderator and assistant moderator after a reconstituted board is situated this summer.
  • Appointment of a nominating committee comprised of members of the Review Steering Committee who are not currently seated on the board (Donella Clemens of Perkasie congregation, Mike Derstine of Plains congregation, Beny Krisbianto of Nations Worship Center and Joy Sutter of Salford congregation). The nominating committee will receive nominations for additional open board positions—including Conference Moderator, Assistant Moderator and Finance Committee Chairperson.
  • Withdrawal of the plan to lay off all Franconia Conference staff as was outlined in February 2010.
  • Appointment of an interim staff leadership team of Noel Santiago and Ertell Whigham that may serve through July 2011.

The Review Steering Committee will continue in its role through 2010 though Yutzy will not be meeting regularly with the group. The committee will continue to receive feedback and to work to discern a path toward a hopeful future for the Conference community. Yutzy’s report suggests a high-level of engagement across the Conference in response to the review and looks forward to continued engagement with delegates and the broader constituent community. The committee has established the following timeline for the review and implementation of the recommendations.

  • The Review Steering Committee (Donella Clemens, Mike Derstine, Randy Heacock, Beny Krisbianto, Jim Laverty and Joy Sutter) will now receive feedback by email at feedback@mosaicmennonites.org regarding the content and recommendations of the review through May 28, 2010. This feedback may also include nominations for the roles of finance committee chairperson, moderator, assistant moderator and at large members recommended to serve in a reconstituted Board of Directors of Franconia Mennonite Conference. Nominations for those positions will be received until June 30, 2010.
  • The review will be posted immediately on www.review.mosaicmennonites.org additional updates and timeline information will also be posted to the Conference website at www.mosaicmennonites.org
  • A newly constituted board will begin to serve after affirmations of new members by delegates in late summer 2010.

The committee wishes to express appreciation to LaVern Yutzy for patient listening and engagement in the development of the review, report and recommendations, in helping to find a way that Franconia Conference may continue to bear witness of Christ’s way of peace and to extend God’s healing and hope to the world.

Click here to view the Franconia Conference Review and Recommendations prepared by LaVern Yutzy.

Click here to download and view a PDF of the Review Steering Committee’s process for the recommendations.

Review Steering Committee develops process, expresses appreciation, invites prayer

by

Stephen Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

The Franconia Conference Review Steering Committee met April 28, 2010, at the Mennonite Conference Center in Harleysville, Pa., to continue to develop a path for discernment and communication for the upcoming Conference Review report and recommendations. The review, being performed by LaVern Yutzy, consulting associate Mennonite Health Services Alliance, is scheduled to be released in mid-May to delegates and constituents. Review Steering Committee members include Donella Clemens (Perkasie congregation), Mike Derstine (Plains congregation), Randy Heacock (Doylestown congregation), Beny Krisbianto (Nations Worship Center), Jim Laverty (Souderton congregation), Karen Moyer (Rocky Ridge congregation) and Joy Sutter (Salford congregation).

The steering committee wishes to express appreciation for the response and high-level of engagement around the review over the last weeks. While the review and recommendations are being constructed by Yutzy, the committee considered themes and recommendations from the report at this week’s meeting. Yutzy is set to present a draft to the steering committee this weekend with a scheduled release to Franconia Conference’s board of directors at a joint meeting with the board and committee on May 4, 2010.

On Monday, May 3, the steering committee will meet again at Harleysville to continue to develop a path for considering the recommendations that come from Yutzy’s review and further development of a venue for the conference community to consider and offer input into the review’s recommendations and forward process. The review is not intended to answer all questions around recent decisions regarding staffing, but rather to navigate together toward a hopeful future. The review will be available at www.mosaicmennonites.org upon public release in mid-May.

The steering committee calls the Conference to continue in prayer—both communally and individually—as we prepare to move together, to receive and process the review recommendations. The review and recommendations are intended to provide a path forward for Franconia Conference that together we will continue to proclaim and incarnate Christ’s way of peace, healing and hope.

Review Steering Committee names co-chairs and calls the conference to prayer

by

Stephen Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

The newly configured Franconia Conference Review Steering Committee met for the first time on April 21, 2010, at the Mennonite Conference Center in Harleysville, Pa., to continue to set a course for the review scheduled for release in mid-May 2010. The review, performed by LaVern Yutzy, consulting associate with Mennonite Health Services Alliance, is intended to offer recommendations and set a direction for the Conference toward a hopeful future. The committee’s next meeting is April 28, 2010, with additional meetings scheduled over the following months to guide processes on decision-making and communication.

In this week’s meeting, the committee named Mike Derstine, pastor of Plains Mennonite Church, Hatfield, Pa., and Joy Sutter, Executive Director, Bux-Mont Oncology Hematology Medical Associates and member of Salford Mennonite Church, as co-chairpersons. The committee reported a positive response to opportunities to provide information by email, postcard and through personal contact with LaVern Yutzy and recommended an extension of consulting hours to fully process and consider the volume of responses. Along with Sutter and Derstine, team members include Donella Clemens (Perkasie congregation), Randy Heacock (Doylestown congregation), Beny Krisbianto (Nations Worship Center, Philadelphia), Jim Laverty (Souderton congregation) and Karen Moyer (Rocky Ridge congregation at Quakertown, Pa.).

With the deadline for responses set for April 24, 2010, the committee and Franconia Conference Board of Directors will meet together on May 4, 2010, to consider the review and the situation going forward. The review is not intended to answer all questions about the recent events regarding staffing decisions, but is focused on finding a path forward together. The report will be crafted by Yutzy upon completion of all interviews and consideration of comments submitted by email and postcard. The committee’s intent is to provide guidance for establishing patterns of communication, discernment and decision-making for the upcoming report and recommendations that will be posted at www.mosaicmennonites.org in mid-May 2010.

The committee continues to call the conference to prayer—communally in the worship life of congregations as well as individually that together we might continue to proclaim and incarnate Christ’s way of peace, healing and hope.

Collaborative missional learning task force formed for Indian Valley initiatives

by

by Stephen Kriss

Leaders from ministries and organizations connected with Eastern District Conference and Franconia Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA met on April 5 at Dock Woods Community at Lansdale, Pa, to initiate a conversation about future partnerships toward collaborative missional learning. The gathering has implications for broader cooperation and included representatives from Living Branches (an affiliation of Franconia Conference-related retirement communities), Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Pennsylvania and Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, Pa. The meeting included board members, business leaders, pastors, conference staff and organizational leaders in conversation together.

The group met to discuss possibilities and to engage in storytelling on the movement on education and equipping within a variety of contexts, considering from the pew to pulpit as well as later year learning. Though an informal conversation, the group named a task force to continue the conversation toward more practical realities and paths for mutual enhancement of mission and vision for extending the reign of God and missional engagement locally in Bucks and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania.

Franconia Conference is undergoing a conference-wide review while regional conferences of Mennonite Church USA, including Harleysville-based Eastern District Conference, continue to explore collaborative equipping and learning opportunities from an Anabaptist perspective. Christopher Dock Mennonite High School is also in the midst of a marketing review along with Penn View Christian School in nearby Souderton, Pa. Both Biblical Seminary and Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Pennsylvania are expanding options to serve emerging congregational leaders in the Philadelphia region considering both urban and suburban constituencies. With the recent affiliation of Souderton Mennonite Homes and the Dock Woods facilities under the name Living Branches, there is a new opportunity to explore lifelong living and learning among a community of 1500 residents.

The group named a task force set to include:

  • Phil Bergstresser, board member Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, broker/owner, Bergstresser Real Estate
  • David Dunbar, President, Biblical Seminary
  • Steve Kriss, Director of Leadership Cultivation for Franconia Conference of Mennonite Church USA
  • Rich McDaniel, board member Biblical Seminary, president of College Retail Alliance
  • Conrad Swartzentruber, Principal, Christopher Dock Mennonite High School
  • Mark Wenger, Director of Pastoral Studies, Eastern Mennonite Seminary at Lancaster (Pa)
  • Warren Tyson, Conference Minister, Eastern District Conference of Mennonite Church USA