Franconia

Introducing Covenant Community Fellowship

May 21, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

Covenant Community Fellowship was planted by the Franconia Mennonite Church in 1986. Covenant is located on Sumneytown Pike just outside of Lansdale with an average attendance of 120. Our lead pastor is Jay L. Moyer and our associate pastor is Scott Franciscus whose primary focus is on youth & young adult ministry. We are an elder-led congregation, with our vision statement as follows: “We envision the transformation of persons, families and neighborhoods by the power of the Holy Spirit through authentic caring community that serves the needs of others around us as we model the life of Jesus Christ.”

As a community of believers, Covenant continues to seek how to live faithfully to the teachings contained in the Bible, believing in the authority of Scripture as the inspired Word of God. One component of our Sunday morning worship is music, which is team-led, creating an atmosphere of healing, participation and celebration.

In keeping with our mission to reach the community by serving others and modeling the life of Jesus, we have shared with the Lansdale community a number of free spaghetti dinners to provide a non-threatening environment for the establishing of initial relationships that can be built upon in the future. We are a congregation striving to live the command of Jesus: to love God first with all our being, and to secondly love one another as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

Introducing Covenant Community (pdf)

Introducing Garden Chapel

May 14, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

We are “The Garden Chapel” from Victory Gardens, New Jersey. We are a small, diverse, loving, and growing congregation located in Morris County, New Jersey. The borough of Victory Gardens was founded in 1941 by the federal government to house workers from a nearby munitions factory. It was named after the vegetable gardens people planted during World War II in response to food shortages. It is the smallest municipality in size (91 acres) and population (1,520) in Morris County, but the most densely populated.

During the Vietnam War young men were being drafted into the military services. Since serving in the military is completely contradictory to our beliefs, the Mennonite Church negotiated an “Alternative Service” arrangement with the government. This allowed conscientious objectors to serve our country in a manner consistent with our understanding of the Lord’s commands. Instead of going to war, these men served at Greystone State Psychiatric Hospital assisting patients in various capacities. Initially, the men formed a house church, but they saw that the community of Victory Gardens was not served by a single church. With the assistance of the Franconia Conference, they planted our church in 1971. To this day it remains the only church in the community. How truly wonderful it is that God would plant a peace church in a community founded for war!

We have been blessed with our new Pastor Tim Hart since last March. Tim grew up in the community and has attended our church since childhood. He is keenly aware of our strengths and our needs and has a dynamic vision for the future.

Our mission statement is “Loving God, Loving Our Neighbors, & Loving Each Other.” We try to live this out by our outreach to the community. We have an annual “Community Day” picnic were we reach out with food, fun, and fellowship with our neighbors. This year we distributed 105 book bags filled with school supplies to needy children. During the holidays we prepare and deliver meals to shut-ins and seniors. When we visit and fellowship with them we are reminded to “… remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)

We are praying that God will enable us to develop a Hispanic Ministry and also help us to restore our summer youth program which in the past has shown God’s love to many young people. Please pray for us as we are praying for all of you.

Find Garden Chapel on the web: http://www.gardenchapelchurch.org/. Download the pdf: Introducing Garden Chapel.

Conference announces realignment of staffing

January 31, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

Due to continued reductions in congregational giving, Franconia Conference has made a number of staffing adjustments, most effective February 1, according to Executive Minister Ertell Whigham. These adjustments are in response to a call by the conference board in May of 2012 to reduce staff FTE (full-time equivalency), stewarding both financial and human resources while better aligning personnel with conference priorities. Over the course of 2013, Conference staff will be reduced from 8.5 to approximately 7.5, a total reduction of about 12%.

“We were blessed to enter this year debt-free, but paying off the mortgage on the Souderton Shopping Center did not change the economic realities we’re facing, including a pattern of decreased giving from conference churches,” Whigham said. “While it will be challenging to provide ministry support with a more limited staff, we will continue to make every effort to meet the needs of our congregations and leaders.”

Both Noah Kolb, director of ministerial leadership, and Conrad Martin, director of finance, will reduce their percentage of time employed through the Conference. Martin will reduce to three-quarters time and Kolb, who began transitioning from a full-time role last year to move toward semi-retirement, will reduce further to half-time. Some of Kolb’s responsibilities will shift to other LEADership ministers including Jenifer Eriksen Morales, who will increase her load to fulltime.

Franconia will partner with Eastern District Conference to increase Carla Ferrier, administrative assistant, from three days a week to fulltime. In addition to the new administrative work for Eastern District, Ferrier will also take over some basic bookkeeping and move into an office manager role.

Sandy Landes, conference prayer coordinator, will step down on February 28 from her conference position to focus on ministry in the Doylestown congregation, where she has been on staff for eight years. “Sandy has brought a contagious and enthusiastic spirit and perspective to prayer ministry that has helped raise prayer awareness and especially intercessory prayer ministry to another level of importance in Franconia Conference,” reflected Franconia’s minister for spiritual transformation Noel Santiago, who has worked closely with Landes since she came on staff in 2007. “Sandy has been invaluable in keeping prayer at the center of Conference work and life. While she will be greatly missed on staff, we are grateful that she will continue in ministry through her local congregation.”

The prayer coordinator position, which was entirely grant-supported, will be discontinued and Santiago will oversee future conference prayer ministry.

Samantha Lioi, who was contracted last year by Franconia and Eastern District conferences as Minister of Peace and Justice, has extended her contract for another two years. Her position is supported by grants—congregations or individuals interested in supporting her work can contact conference Executive Minister Ertell Whigham.

In addition to its paid staff, Franconia Conference also benefits from the wisdom and guidance of volunteer LEADership Ministers. Randy Heacock, lead pastor of Doylestown congregation, has joined the conference’s volunteer staff and is now serving as the LEADership Minister for Wellspring Church of Skippack. Ray Yoder, who has served as one of Franconia’s volunteer LEADership Ministers for several years, will be retiring this spring.

“We’ve appreciated Ray and his work with congregations,” said Whigham, “but more importantly, he’s had a pastoral presence on our team and a level of wisdom and maturity that we all have benefitted from during his time on staff.”

Whigham also anticipates possible additional shifts in job responsibilities in the coming months to further align staff strengths and resources with conference priorities.

“As a board, we recognize the importance, reach, and depth of the work of Conference staff as we strive together to fulfill God’s vision of proclaiming Christ,” said Marta Castillo, assistant moderator, Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation. “We thank our staff for their passion, flexibility, and commitment to lead in equipping leaders and congregations to be missional, formational, and intercultural Anabaptist communities of faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Franconia Conference moves toward a debt free 2013

January 4, 2013 by Emily Ralph Servant

Franconia Conference is entering the new year debt-free after receiving payment for the sale of the Indian Creek Road Farm’s development rights late last week. The proceeds of the sale were used to pay off around 90% of the mortgage on the Souderton (Pa.) Center on December 27, 2012, according to the conference’s director of finance, Conrad Martin. The remainder of the mortgage was paid using funds from the center’s Capital Improvement Fund.

This marks the fulfillment of a process set in motion in 2007 by the Vision and Finance Plan Team formed by the Franconia Conference Board to align the conference’s resources to the call for contextual and contemporary ministry. The VFP team recommended in 2009 that the conference sell the development rights for the farm (near Harleysville, Pa.) and use the proceeds to pay off the Souderton Center’s ten-year-old mortgage. With the mortgage paid off, this will free over $13,000 per month to replenish the improvement fund and support conference ministry.

The conference is positioned to start 2013 on solid financial footing, said Conference executive minister, Ertell Whigham. “Along with anticipated increased giving from our congregations, this will enable us to invest more financial resources into ministry,” Whigham reflected. “We are grateful for those who had a vision for how the Souderton Center could bless the conference. What a way to start a year and celebrate God’s ongoing provision!”

Selling the development rights to the farm acreage means that the land cannot be further developed and will likely remain in agricultural use. The Vision and Finance Plan also recommended that the Indian Creek Road Farm be leased to an organization that would use the land to develop sustainable creation-care oriented ministries that recognize the nature of the preserved open space. As a result, the property was leased in 2010 to Living Hope Farm, a non-profit sustainable agricultural CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm led by Jill Landes of Blooming Glen congregation. Franconia Conference and Living Hope Farm are currently in conversations about beginning a Conference Related Ministry relationship.

In addition to property proposals, the VFP included recommendations about increasing continuing education expectations for credentialed leaders, creating grants for missional experiments, downsizing and relocating office space, and stabilizing the conference’s annual operating budget. The repayment of the mortgage was the final step in fulfilling the VFP’s recommendations. In early 2012, the conference board and staff acknowledged the fulfillment of the Vision and Financial Plan and moved toward a new set of working priorities (described in detail here). “We are pleased that the mortgage on the Souderton Center is paid off and that Franconia Conference is now debt-free,” said John Goshow, the board chair. “This will allow us to focus even more intently on growing God’s Kingdom.”

What I spent all my life becoming

August 28, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Josh Meyer, Franconia

Born into a family with a rich spiritual heritage, I quite literally grew up in the Church. I was dedicated as an infant at a Baptist church. A few years later my mom was offered a job as the Director of Christian Education at a Lutheran church in the area. We worshiped and participated fully in the life of that church for most of my adolescent years. As I matured in my faith and grew in my relationship with Jesus, I began exploring other faith communities and ultimately attended a non-denominational and then a Brethren in Christ church during my high school years. While in college I attended a more charismatic Vineyard church, and upon graduation joined the pastoral staff at a United Methodist Church.

I’m grateful for this diverse religious background, particularly because it has taught me one of life and ministry’s most important truths: it’s about Jesus. Whether it’s a Baptist, Lutheran, non-denominational, Vineyard, United Methodist, or Anabaptist church, what ultimately matters is the death and resurrection of Jesus. I’ve been influenced by a number of different theological traditions, but most importantly, I’ve been influenced by the person and work of Christ. It’s this influence, this relationship, that drives and sustains me, that gives me life and hope and meaning and purpose, and that I’m pursuing with everything I have and all that I am.

From a young age, I have been drawn to the life of faith and in my early high school years began articulating a desire to “become a pastor one day.” Part of me wondered whether these were the naive pipe-dreams of adolescence; however, as my faith grew and relationship with Christ deepened, the desire to pursue full-time ministry intensified. During my college years, this calling—this vocational clarity—became undeniable. Eugene Peterson writes about this in his memoir The Pastor, saying that pastor was “not just a job so that I could make a living, but a way of living that was congruent with what I had spent all my life becoming.” Peterson’s words resonate deeply with my own experience: an inward calling to ministry that makes sense of and is in accordance with all the ways God’s been moving in my life to this point.

In addition to this inward calling, I have also felt an outward affirmation from the community of faith. I’ve had people speak into my life—peers and mentors, pastors and parents, colleagues and congregants—who have affirmed some variation of the same message: “God’s gifted you for ministry. You’re wired to be a pastor.” I was initially uncomfortable with these conversations and unsure how to respond. Over time, however, I have come to cherish these interactions as one of the ways God is continuing to confirm my call and invite me to pursue vocational ministry.

John Ruth has written that, “The way we do church is the evidence of what we believe.” I’ve found that to be true. Our beliefs have a profound influence on the way we do church, and my own Anabaptist convictions eventually led me to pursue ministry in the Mennonite church. While I’d never actually been part of a Mennonite church, I align so squarely with Mennonite thought and theology that the process has felt very much like a coming home.

Looking back over the past few years, I have to marvel at the way God’s led me to serving in Franconia Conference: a chance meeting with a Mennonite pastor at an ecumenical training event; a late-night conversation with a Conference staff member at a restaurant in rural Vietnam; a meeting with a seminary professor who encouraged me to put my Anabaptist beliefs into practice by filling out the MLI (the first step toward becoming a pastor in Mennonite Church USA); an invitation to join a local Mennonite pastors group despite the fact that I was, at the time, a Methodist pastor. On the surface, all these random “Mennonite connections” seemed coincidental, comical, and—to be honest—sometimes a bit creepy. However, I can now see how each of these experiences were part of God’s unique calling, a way of bringing my wife Kim and me to the Mennonite church in a way we never could have imagined.

I look forward to listening to, learning from, and leading in the Mennonite church. More than anything, I can’t wait to see how God continues to draw us into inspiring stories, using them to disrupt our complacency and remove our fear so that we might strive after Jesus together.

August Ministerial update

August 15, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Update from Noah Kolb, Pastor of Ministerial Leadership, on behalf of the Ministerial Committee.

Just two quick updates this month:

Kristopher Wint has been called by the Finland congregation to serve as an associate pastor alongside of John Ehst. He begins full-time in August.
Josh Meyer has been called by the Franconia congregation to serve on the pastoral team as pastor of preaching and teaching. He begins full-time in September.

Backward Jazz

August 8, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Jacob Ford, Franconia

I read Blue Like Jazz backwards. It was the story of a guy who had the whole concept of love figured out, who went into the woods as his facial hair slowly retracted, and eventually ended up as a child in a conservative Christian household.

No, here’s what I actually mean:

Well, first, a little backstory. In June, RELEVANT Magazine published an article on Donald Miller and the new movie based on his book. Like any good pop culture Christian magazine dealing with a potentially good pop culture Christian movie based on a good pop culture Christian book, the article dug down to the inspirations and environmental elements which led to the author writing certain words and not writing certain words in what eventually became the finished book. But what happened next was fascinating. About halfway through the article, the claim is made that Blue Like Jazz inspired not only a mindset and some inspired thinking among its readers, but was instrumental in birth of an entire new concept of Christianity, a “shift in evangelical culture.”

Generally, we’re talking about the newish liberal quasihipster kind of Christian culture (you may recognize us), but it gets much deeper than I just made it sound.

This is where the backwards comes in. Without realizing it, I had already begun to align myself with this new culture, before reading Blue Like Jazz. As I read, I felt my ideas being validated just as much as I was hearing new ones. I was seeing much of my own thinking on a page written by someone else. This connection made it even more personal and frustrating when I read something that didn’t seem to match up with my thinking. It was fascinating. Rather than simply being inspired by a book I was reading, I was reading a book which was inspired by something I was already a part of.

Read the book. Watch the movie. Do both. Read then watch. Watch then read. I’m not one of those parental crazies ranting about how no movie should ever be watched before it is read (I still have something like eight pages left to read and I might go watch the movie anyway before finishing the last few paragraphs just to bother people).

But here’s my unexpected advice: Don’t watch or read it with a totally open mind. Have your own thoughts. Bring your personal opinions. If you love/hate the church, continue loving/hating the church. Yes, be ready to change your thinking, but make sure you actually have your own thoughts. Blue Like Jazz might change your mind on at least a few things you previously thought were unshakable, but it can only change something if it’s already there.

I hope to soon watch Blue Like Jazz backwards. And not in the Benjamin Button sense.

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Franconia Mennonite Church’s Youth and Young Adults are sponsoring a movie showing of Blue Like Jazz at the Grand Theater in East Greenville (252 Main St, East Greenville PA 18041, 215-679-4300) on August 8, beginning at 7 PM. Tickets are $5. For more information about the movie visit http://www.bluelikejazzthemovie.com/.

Franconia

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