Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Gay Brunt Miller

Preparing for transition

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by Gay Brunt Miller

Gay Brunt Miller
Gay Brunt Miller

As I prepare to transition from my fifteen-year tenure with Franconia Conference, I find myself living in rather unusual space. These have been perhaps my 15 most productive years in life, at least thus far. I’ve been blessed to many times experience my call to ministry here as being “for such a time as this.”

It’s been a time of helping to discern and follow God’s vision for Franconia Mennonite Conference—trying to live into it, to live it out, and to encourage others to live it out, too. Franconia Conference’s own commitment to the Great Commission, before the term “missional” eventually blossomed into the mission statement of “Equipping leaders to empower others to embrace God’s mission” enhanced by incorporating strategic values of being missional, formational, and intercultural.

I’ve been part of more hours of meetings—locally, regionally, and nationally—than I ever could or would want to count. I’ve helped to plan and execute a myriad of gatherings, both large and small. I’ve been the keeper of the bylaws and the author of untold numbers of minutes. I’ve treasured many friendships formed across the conference and across the national church. I’ve learned so much. I’ve been at times both profoundly frustrated and profoundly blessed.

After full emersion and engagement in a vision and with a people, how does one begin to get things in order, to transition to the next leader and the next generation to steward into the future?

Times change. Values shift. New generations of leaders need to shape what God asks them to carry out, for the sake of God’s reign here on earth. Who is God preparing to grasp the baton from me? What will Franconia Conference and Mennonite Church USA look like in the future? What kind of leadership will be needed for the next leg of this race of life?

In this time of transition, I am seeking to be available as needed but to hold direction and outcomes even more lightly than in the past, knowing that I will not be here to carry out plans that are being laid. I’m seeking to stand in a place of “holy indifference”—a place where I trust that God’s purposes will be worked out through those whom God is calling. And I’m trusting that all things will work together for good…for me and for all those of you who love God and who are called according to God’s purposes (Romans 8:28). May it be so.

Gay Brunt Miller has served Franconia Mennonite Conference for 15 years, in various capacities. She will be leaving her position in April. 

Franconia Conference announces upcoming staff change

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by Stephen Kriss, director of communication

Gay Brunt Miller
Gay Brunt Miller

With a stable team of LEADership Ministers in place, Franconia Conference will be adjusting administrative and communication staffing into the first half of 2015.   After 15 years of ministry leadership and administration, Gay Brunt Miller (Spring Mount congregation) announced her intent to leave the conference sometime in early 2015.  Brunt Miller has served alongside three different executive leaders and submitted her intent to resign early to allow the Conference to transition smoothly while she explores new vocational possibilities.

Emily Ralph, associate director of communication, relocated to Lancaster in 2013 where she began a pastoral position at Sunnyside Mennonite Church.  After serving Franconia for four years, she intends to resign her Conference role by March 1, 2015.   Emily will continue communication work with Mennonite World Conference through the global assembly in Harrisburg this summer.

Emily Ralph
Emily Ralph

“Gay and Emily have poured their hearts and souls into the ministry of Franconia Conference and we’ve been blessed by them and through them; I have been especially blessed in my role as executive minister.  Communication and administration have undergirded the strength of conference ministry over these last few years,” said Ertell M. Whigham, Franconia Conference Executive Minister.

The hiring process for administration and communication roles will begin immediately with an intention to have some overlap within both roles.   Staff changes in communication and administration open the possibility for the role to be shaped to serve the conference’s current needs.

Delegates to continue discernment around vision

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delegates praying 2013
Franconia Conference delegates spent time conferring and praying together at Conference Assembly 2013. Photo by Bam Tribuwono.

by Emily Ralph, associate director of communication

Harleysville, PA — Franconia Conference delegates are invited to gather on Saturday, February 8, 2014 for a time of continued conversation and discernment around the vision and future direction of the conference and to recommit to healthy relational engagement with one another in the midst of difference.  The gathering, which is open to all delegates, will include a time of corporate worship, review of table feedback from November’s Conference Assembly, and discerning next steps as a conference that has and will continue to grow increasingly diverse.

“There were so many thoughtful comments and insights mentioned at Conference Assembly that deserve our attention, discernment, and renewed commitment,” said assistant moderator Marta Castillo (Nueva Vida Norristown New Life).  “The purpose of the February 8 meeting is to continue the animated, enthusiastic, and participatory conversation about our shared convictions and vision for moving forward together in 2014 and beyond.”

At Conference Assembly, held on November 2, 2013 at Penn View Christian School in Souderton, Pa., delegates were invited to give feedback on a statement written by the board, which addressed the growing diversity of the conference and encouraged discernment on the congregational level, while maintaining conference unity, saying, “We believe our witness is strengthened when energy is put into celebrating our shared convictions.”

In addition to table discussions around the statement, the delegate body also shared stories of where God is at work in congregations, communities, and the conference.  In a bonus workshop session, over a hundred delegates gathered to further discern God’s calling for 2014 and beyond.

See summaries of table feedback, God@Work stories, and 2014 visioning conversations.

Conference Assembly 2013
Part of the February 8 meeting will be spent responding to a summary of delegate table feedback from Conference Assembly 2013. Photo by Bam Tribuwono.

“It is our hope that the February 8th gathering will result in bringing additional clarity to how we value one another and, given our diversity, how we work together towards a community and ministry that honors God as His John 17 people,” said Ertell Whigham, executive minister. “We look forward to gathering with a spirit of cooperation as we commit to working together while honoring God in our diversity.”

The February 8 gathering will take the place of Spring Training, an annual continuing education event usually required for all credentialed leaders.  “We believe that participation in this and possibly additional meetings this year is crucial to finding a healthy shared future together,” said Gay Brunt Miller, School for Leadership Formation director. “So attendance at these meetings will fulfill the 2014 continuing education guidelines for credentialed leaders.”  There will also be fewer resourcing events for pastors and Conference Related Ministry leaders planned in 2014, Brunt Miller added, “to give space in leaders’ schedules to participate in what seems most important this year.”

The gathering will be held on February 8 from 9 to noon at Franconia Mennonite Church; delegates are requested to RSVP by January 31st on the conference website or by calling the conference office at 267-932-6050.  For more information, delegates can talk to their congregation’s LEADership minister.  Snow date is February 15.

Conference Board announces new appointment

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Klaudia Smuckerby Gay Brunt Miller, Director of Administration

Franconia Conference Board members took action to appoint Klaudia Smucker as a new member of the Conference Board at the April 22 board meeting.

Smucker serves as pastor of Bally Mennonite Church, a role she assumed in 2010. She came to Franconia with extensive pastoral and conference leadership experience in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference.  “We are thankful that Klaudia has chosen to use her considerable experience and wisdom on behalf of Franconia Conference,” said Conference Moderator and Board Chair John Goshow.

Conference Board members began discussing the addition of a few board members after Mim Book, who served as Assistant Moderator 2010-2011, resigned from her role 2011 to take an interim pastoral assignment in Nebraska. Marta Castillo, already a board member, was affirmed by delegates to fill this role, leaving the Conference Board short one member and further widening the gap of gender balance. Following a period of discernment, Smucker’s name came forward as a strong candidate. She met with the Conference Board Executive Committee in February and board members acted on the recommendation of the Executive Committee to officially affirm her at their April meeting.

Smucker’s appointment is in alignment with the Conference’s bylaws, which stipulate, “the Conference Assembly shall appoint, by affirmation, a majority of the Conference Board members.  The Conference Board may appoint several additional members to the Conference Board for overall board balance and perspective.”

“I am honored to be asked, and looking forward to working on the Franconia Conference Board with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,” reflected Smucker.  “I know that church work at all levels is complex and can be messy.  I believe that united in prayer and through the love of Christ, God will continue to do amazing things within Franconia Conference and its churches!”

Smucker joins continuing board members Marta Castillo (Nueva Vida/Norristown New Life), John Goshow (Blooming Glen), Joe Hackman (Salford), Jim King (Plains), Beny Krisbianto (Nations Worship), Jim Laverty (Souderton), Jim Longacre (Bally), Mary Nitzsche (Blooming Glen), Randy Nyce (Salford), Rina Rampogu (Plains). With the exception of Rampogu, all other Conference Board members have been affirmed by Conference Assembly delegates.

Worshiping around the table

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Table Church 4by Chris Nickels, Spring Mount

Last summer the members of our worship commission, led by Eileen Viau, were planning for the fall and doing some reflection together. It was less about the monthly details and more of a “big picture” conversation about our identity as a worshiping congregation.

Worship is an expression, and the style of a congregation’s corporate worship can reflect the gifts and talents of the group. Among other things, we asked ourselves, “What are some of the gifts present within the Spring Mount congregation that God might want to use at this time?” And fairly quickly an experiment in doing church began to take shape.

In listening to church members, a sentiment that I heard voiced a number of times was “We should have more fellowship meals.” Those meals have always been a popular event–an atmosphere of comfort and fun. And our congregation is particularly good at facilitating ministry with meals. In the past we created worship and Bible study experiences that included a food element, such as an Anabaptist meal liturgy (with resources from our friend Stuart Murray Williams) and Saturday morning breakfast Bible studies. Every Sunday morning we enjoy an abundance of refreshments for fellowship time, coordinated by our dedicated hospitality team. Stacey Hallahan’s chocolate cake, Lorene Nyce’s monkey bread, and Ruth Reinford’s mango salsa are some of the best culinary treats you can find in the Perkiomen Valley (or anywhere else for that matter). If we were going to experiment with a new kind of ministry, it seemed natural to move in a direction involving food and hospitality.

Our conversation landed on the idea of creating a monthly Sunday morning meal liturgy. I believe Gay Brunt Miller first mentioned the name “Table Church,” which we liked and which certainly fit because this would be “church happening around tables.” Table Church is modeled after Jesus’ table practices and the gatherings of early Christians that we noticed in the New Testament (Acts 2:42). It is a potluck meal (everyone brings a brunch-type food) reminding us that we all participate in the church and each has something of value to share–no matter how big or small the contribution. We sit at round tables, facing one another, in an environment intended for conversation. A simple liturgy was created for this time to guide us as we eat, pray, share, laugh, and reflect on a Bible story together.

There is no sermon at Table Church. Instead, we listen as someone reads the Bible passage aloud and then each table group reflects on it by asking missional questions (adapted from Darrell Guder): What does the passage say about God? About us? What is the Good News in this passage? How does this passage send us out to help in God’s Mission? We may not have a typical sermon at Table Church, but the potential exists for a collective one to emerge as we respond to the Story, to each other, and to the voice of the Spirit. Various people of different ages participate in leading elements of the liturgy, through praying, reading the scripture, and offering a blessing to the group before we depart.

Table Church 5For each Table Church, we print a Spring Mount trivia question in the bulletin as a conversation starter (Example: Name the famous music act that wrote a song about the Perkiomen Creek.*). The questions are a fun way to delve into some of the history of our town. For some of us the answers are new information, while for others they recall memories from the past. It was great to observe one question–about a local park–inspire some reminiscing about the person the park was named for, a friend of a few church members.

It feels like God is doing something among us through Table Church. I think we are continuing to discover the vital ministry of hospitality. We are learning about the place where we meet, the place on whose behalf we are “seeking the peace” (Jer. 29:7). We are further experiencing the value of multi-voiced worship, and how God is present and shapes us as we listen to each other and to God’s Story. We are trying out new recipes and sharing new foods; one table group recently proposed the idea of creating a Table Church cookbook. So far, I think we are discovering that the table can be a fun, meaningful, and even holy place. No wonder Jesus spent so much time there.

*Trivia answer: Hall & Oates

Haitian pastor, family attacked

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By Sheldon C. Good, Mennonite World Review

Pastor Lesly and Bernadette Bertrand
Pastor Lesly and Bernadette Bertrand in the “mother church” of Grace Assembly Network in 2004.

A group of robbers attacked an orphanage in Haiti early on March 19, killing one person and raping another. They injured at least three others, including Mennonite Pastor Lesly Ber­trand.

At about 1 a.m., the robbers jumped over the wall surrounding Grace Children Home located in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, eight miles northeast of Port-au-Prince. They shot and killed the security guard and took his keys.

They then tied up three people — Pastor Bertrand; his wife, Bernadette; and the yardboy — and beat them. The robbers raped the Bertrands’ 14-year-old daughter. They took a cellphone, a laptop and some money.

Bernadette Bertrand and the girl were both hospitalized overnight. They are now receiving medical attention at home.

Esaie Bertrand, a son of the family, said in an email March 20 that the orphan children “are doing well.”

In addition to the orphanage, Assemblée de la Grâce (Grace Assembly Network) consists of 25 congregations with about 2,387 members, and seven schools. There are more than 30 pastors.

Pastor Bertrand is bishop of Assemblée de la Grâce, which is a partner in mission of Franconia Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA. He has invited prayers for the situation.

Walter Sawatzky of Hatfield, Pa., a consultant with Wozo, an organization that runs a trauma-healing program in Haiti, said that Garly Michel, executive director of Wozo, planned to meet with Pastor Bertrand.

Wozo is an adaptation of Eastern Mennonite University’s Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience program. The Haitian program began in October 2010 with funds from six denominations and organizations, including Mennonite Central Committee and the Church of the Brethren.

Sawatzky said the Bertrands and the orphanage are victims of a broader trend of violence and insecurity in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.

“The pattern I’ve seen is that the robbers will observe when there’s been contact with international people,” he said. “After the visit is done, they assume [the foreigners] left some money or that the Haitians have access to money, so they kidnap people or try to rob them.”

This is not the first time Grace Assembly Network has been targeted. In 2006 several gunmen came into the “mother church” of Grace Assembly Network and shot and killed a church deacon, severely wounded the worship leader and injured several others.

The intruders “promised to come back and kill Pastor Lesly,” Sawatzky said.

At the time, Bertrand and his family lived near the church. They later moved across town.

“Foreigners are given a wide berth when it comes to street violence or even home invasions,” he said. “The sad thing is that the average Haitian is far more vulnerable to this kind of violence, because they lack the foreigners’ greater visibility, and therefore, protection by the global community represented through occupying U.N. security forces deployed in Haiti since 1994.”

Gay Brunt Miller, who relates to Assemblée de la Grâce for Franconia Conference, said at least three conference congregations are taking special offerings for costs associated with the situation, including for the security guard’s funeral. An offering was taken at a Sister Care seminar of Mennonite Women USA held March 23-24 in Souderton, Pa.

“This incident makes me heartsick,” she said. “Please pray for Pastor Lesly and all those impacted by this brutal violation. Pray that God will heal their minds, bodies and souls, and give them courage so that they may continue to shine God’s light in Haiti.”

Gifts can be sent through Franconia Mennonite Conference, 569 Yoder Road, Harleysville, PA 19438.  Please mark your check “Haiti.”  Article reprinted by permission of Mennonite World Review.

Conference announces staff realignment

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Noel Santiago has accepted a position as LEADership Minister for Spiritual Transformation. Executive Minister Ertell Whigham invited Noel into a continuing staff role following his transition from the executive minister responsibilities. According to board chair John Goshow, “We are pleased that Noel will be continuing to offer his significant ministry gifts within the congregations and ministries of Franconia Conference.”

Gay Brunt Miller will assume the role of Director of Administration. Her LEADership Minster responsibilities will be transferred to other Conference staff. Gay will work directly with Ertell Whigham who was named Executive minister earlier this month. This is a familiar role for Gay as she worked with similar responsibilities previously with Franconia Conference.

Both roles are effective immediately. Other staff positions remain unchanged at this time though some continued realignment is projected in the work of LEADership ministers as responsibilities and workloads are adjusted.

Embracing God’s mission: Being and becoming people of peace

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Gay Brunt Miller, Spring Mount

In February of 2008, urban minister Jim Kilpin gave Blaine Detwiler (conference Moderator and pastor of Lakeview Mennonite Church), Steve Kriss (conference Director of Communication and Leadership Cultivation) and myself a tour in of East London. He shared how his family had moved to this neighborhood a decade earlier to plant a church (connected with Urban Expression, part of the Anabaptist Network, U.K.). As they became familiar with the neighborhood, they began to look for where God was already at work, wanting to be part of what God was already doing. In other words, to be missional.

I asked Jim, “How do you recognize where God is already at work?” He thought about my question and then replied, “I think it is where you find people of peace.”

Henri J.M. Nouwen offers a similar observation in his book, Life of the Beloved, “There is no clearer way to discern the presence of God’s Spirit than to identify the moments of unification, healing, restoration, and reconciliation. Wherever the Spirit works, divisions vanish and inner as well as outer unity manifests itself.” Through God’s Spirit and collective discernment, we join hands with like-minded believers where we find and give encouragement, we equip leaders to empower others and we look for opportunities to join in what God is already doing – where there is unification, healing, restoration and reconciliation.

Recently, delegates of Franconia Conference have shaped our work together through these actions:

  • Developing relationships with Partners in Mission as an expression of the missional character of Franconia Conference (2002)
  • Establishing the Conference’s mission: “Equipping Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission” (2004)
  • Affirming the Conference’s Vision/Core Processes: Identity Formation from a Biblical/Anabaptist perspective, Leadership Transformation from cradle to grave, and Healthy Relational Patterns—passionately living out our callings; and Strategic Values as to be missional, intercultural, and formational (2005)
  • And clarifying that Franconia Conference’s five-year Vision and Financial Plan should result in more healthy and growing leaders, congregations, new believers and connections to the world. (2007)

Together, we are cultivating a community of “people of peace” in this framework of action and discernment. Matthew 7:16 says, “You will know them by their fruits.” What fruits from these decisions are evidenced in this issue of Intersections?

Healthy and Growing Connections to the World
As you read you will discover stories about three of our Partners in Mission–the Anabaptist Network in the United Kingdom, Oxford Circle Mennonite Church and Peace Fellowship Church. Nearly half of our conference’s member congregations connect with one of these three partners.

Equipping Leaders and Identity Formation
Elaine Moyer’s reflections on her leadership at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School remind us of the important identity formation work and legacy of leaders who have been equipped and are equipping others through their ministry. Dock’s role in these areas precedes Franconia Conference’s mission statement and is an important piece of our collective work.

Bob Helverson’s ordination is another specific example of a young leader, called, equipped and empowered for ministry.

Strategic Values In Action
“Creating Ripples in the Lehigh Valley” tells the story of the Whitehall congregation’s missional experiment, led by Tom and Carolyn Albright. The growing ministry of Ripple is Anabaptist in character with an untraditional expression of worship, learning from other “emerging” groups, including the Anabaptist Network, U.K.

Healthy and Growing Congregations
The story of Philadelphia Praise Center’s expansion into Spanish worship is a beautiful expression of a healthy and growing congregation. The congregation meets an important need for South Philadelphia, living into the Revelation 7:9 vision of “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation” standing before the Lamb of God.

So what does Franconia Conference do? Together we are living into the vision and mission that we have set. We’re embracing God’s mission, continuing to be and become people where the fruit of God’s peace is manifested.