by Emily Ralph Servant, Interim Director of Congregational Resourcing
“I was not really looking forward to the morning event. I wasn’t even sure it had much to do with my call and work,” confessed Joy Sawatzky, a chaplain at Living Branches. “What happened was a nice surprise. I like surprises.”
The “morning event” was a breakfast sponsored by Living Branches and Franconia Conference exploring questions of spirituality across generations. On February 14, a panel of leaders answered questions about calling, spiritual practices, and hope.
“What happened was heart-felt sharing from three different generations around call and how that was and is lived out, not just in the lives of those on the panel, but in the table conversations afterwards as well,” reflected Sawatzky.
Panelists Krista Showalter Ehst, John Ruth, Paula Stoltzfus, James Krabill, Josh Meyer, and Ray Hurst expressed curiosity about other generations, pondered over advice they would give to their younger selves, suggested practices that are important in the life of the Church, and confessed how their priorities in ministry have been shaped by their life experiences (listen to the podcast).
After the panelists shared, pastors gathered around tables to share their own stories, challenges, and questions. The take away—a hope for the future of the church and a hope for more of these conversations.
Living Branches began to explore sponsoring conversations on aging after a pastor told them, “Our church is aging, however our energy is focused on family and youth; we would appreciate thinking and talking together about issues of aging. Help us.” Living Branches believes that as a member of the community and a participating ministry of the Franconia Conference, they have a calling to connect with and resource their community and churches around the issues of aging, says Margaret Zook, Director of Church & Community Relations at Living Branches. “We believe that joy and purpose in life is enriched through conversations at all stages of our life.”
Credentialed leaders are invited to two breakfasts this April:
- April 19, 8-10am, at Souderton Mennonite Homes. Chaplains from Living Branches will present the documentary “Being Mortal” and facilitate a conversation around faith and end of life issues. (RSVP to Margaret_Zook@LivingBranches.org).
- April 25, 9-11am, at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church. Anne Kaufman Weaver will lead a conversation around her research in resiliency for women in pastoral leadership.
“Taking time to be together to learn, to network, to eat together, to drink coffee and tea together helps keep our leadership and relationships vibrant and lively,” says Franconia Conference executive minister Steve Kriss. “While our schedules are busy, this time apart, even for a few hours, is an important respite and a significant time to strengthen both skills and relationships among us as credentialed leaders in our conference community.”
For questions related to upcoming events or to request resourcing for your congregation, contact Emily (email or 267-932-6050, ext. 117).
We were all drawn together on that cold, windy Monday evening, February 13, by the promise of fresh enchiladas and tostadas made by the members of Centro de Alabanza, along with some warm conversation with James Krabill of 
Throughout the the evening, James shared Biblical principles about how the Cross brings reconciliation on a cosmic yet personal scale. He then reminded us that the ministry of reconciliation is God’s highest priority in the cosmos. At this point I leaned in, realizing how often this simple calling gets strangled by the tyranny of the urgent.
At this point, we changed tables to meet someone new and to share about our experiments and obstacles encountered in mission. I had the privilege of sitting with Lynne Allebach, the lay pastor from Arise Community Outreach, and Fernando Loyola, pastor of Centro de Alabanza. We reminisced about our own unexpected appointments, and commented on the unique shape of the ministry of reconciliation in our different settings. At the end of the evening, James offered a few final remarks, namely that Christianity comprises about one third of our planet, and that Islam comprises about one fourth of our planet. This is paramount to the ministry of reconciliation. We must recognize the task before us now, for the life of the world!
I cherish those memories, even as time and exposure to different faith expressions have given me more varied experience of what mission could look like: in the last few years alone, missional initiatives in Franconia Conference have included 
All of these expressions of mission point to the Good News: through Jesus, we are invited to share in God’s life; out of the overflowing of God’s life and love in us, we work for wholeness in the world around us. That is the meaning of the word shalom: wholeness and health, demonstrated in reconciled relationships with God, others, ourselves, and the earth.
