Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Marta Castillo

Associate Executive Minister Marta Castillo Receives Reflective Leadership Grant

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Mosaic Mennonite Conference’s Associate Executive Minister Marta (Beidler) Castillo has received a $15,000 Reflective Leadership Grant from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity School. The grant will support a time of reflecting on how to grow relational capacity and adapt leadership accountability amid conference-wide growth of geographical locations, intercultural diversity, and congregational transitions. 

In 2024, 50 Christian leaders from a variety of faith-based organizations across the U.S. were selected for these grants, which support an opportunity for structured reflection for leaders of Christian organizations that are advancing their mission amid today’s rapidly changing context. The leadership education initiative is based in Durham, NC and funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc.   

“The Reflective Leadership Grant at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity recognizes and supports the faithful, innovative work of lay and ordained Christian leaders who find themselves at a pivotal moment in their ministry,” says Mycal Brickhouse, a director of program and grants at Leadership Education.  

“Using Harvard professor Ron Heifetz’s language, we want to help leaders experience “balcony time,” which allows them to move from the dance floor to the balcony to gain a broader picture of the work, organization, community and trends. We want to encourage grantees to continue to develop their leadership capacities in ways specific to their context and we look forward to learning alongside them and their communities.”

As the daughter of Franconia Conference-rooted mission workers, Castillo has been shaped by four of the linguistic cultures in the Conference, growing up in both Vietnam and Indonesia. Marta has attended Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life for over 30 years and served on the pastoral team from 2007-2017. Marta served five years on the Franconia Conference Board, two of those as Assistant Moderator, and has been employed by the Conference since 2016, beginning as a Leadership Minister. She graduated from Eastern Mennonite University with a major in Elementary Education and has a Certificate of Christian Ministry from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and a Master of Arts from Kairos University.  

In December, Castillo and her husband Julio will move from their home in Norristown, PA to Miami, FL to provide care for Julio’s mother. She will continue to work with Mosaic as a Leadership Minister and as Associate Executive Minister, expanding Mosaic Conference’s staff presence in Florida. 

In January through March, Castillo will have two days per week of “balcony time” for active reflection, coaching, personal retreat, and opportunities to listen for God’s calling within her role at Mosaic Conference and for God’s Spirit leading the Conference in this current stage of development and growth.  

Through the Reflective Leadership program, she will have opportunities to connect in person and virtually with other grant recipients and share reflections and ideas.  

A Pathway Doxology 

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by Marta Castillo

“O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’  
‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’  
For from him and through him and for him are all things.  
To him be the glory forever! Amen.”  

– Romans 11:33-36, NIV 

When our children are young, we limit their choices. We say, “Do you want the red cup or the yellow cup?” As their world expands, they realize that there are blue cups, green cups, and all kinds of cups to choose from. Having many choices can be lifegiving and can be overwhelming. 

When Mosaic’s Pathways Steering Team was charged with developing a strategic plan and bringing a recommendation of affiliation with MC USA, I went in with a two-path mentality. In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, he suggests that there are two roads and that we can choose only one of them. The less-traveled road would lead to another, and it is unlikely we could go back. 

Pathway Process Steering Committee Members

  • Brandon Bergey – Bethany (Bridgewater Corners, VT)
  • Brent Camilleri – Deep Run East (Perkasie, PA)
  • Bronwyn Histand – Blooming Glen (PA)
  • Cherokee Webb – Faith Chapel (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Danilo Sanchez – Ripple (Allentown, PA), Mosaic Staff
  • Jenny Fujita – Upper Milford (Zionsville, PA)
  • Jim Musselman – Zion (Souderton, PA), Mosaic Board
  • Haroldo Nunes – Seguidores de Cristo (Sarasota, FL)
  • Kiron Mateti – Plains (Hatfield, PA)
  • Mark Reiff – Doylestown (PA)
  • Marta Castillo – Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life, Mosaic Staff
  • Regina Valensia – Philadelphia (PA) Praise Center

Learn more

That may be true. However, when a group like our diverse Pathways Team works together, the choices of pathways become much more complex and roundabout. There are not just two paths but a city with miles of streets. It’s possible to turn right, left, or go around the block to return to the same place. There are some one-way streets we can’t enter, and we must go around the block and choose another way. 

Our team knew that finding a path forward would be difficult and would mean committing to God, one another, and the journey. We believed our desire to seek God’s will would please God, and that God would be faithful to show us the way. We kept saying to one another, “If our group can come to agreement on the way forward, then there is hope for the conference to come to agreement.” 

Our team was asked to focus first on the strategic plan and our identity as Mosaic, and then consider our recommendation for affiliation with MC USA. We were asked to consider but decenter the LGBTQIA conversation and instead center on our identity as a conference, our vision, mission, and priorities.  

The focus areas that emerged were clarity/identity, communication, relationship building, leadership development, and reconciliation. When we learned of the probability of receiving the Vibrant Mosaic Program grant, we incorporated those activities into the plan. Many of us felt excited about all that could happen over the next three years. 

After turning the strategic plan over to our consultants for refinement, we turned to discernment on our recommendation for affiliation with MC USA. It was a disconcerting moment, and we asked ourselves, “How do we decide? What process do we use?” 

We gathered information and had direct and deeper conversations with groups in Mosaic around the three options that had emerged – independence, renewed commitment, or partnership and collaboration. We considered the implications of each option.  

From our conversations, we heard that a split to independence was supported by only a few, a renewed commitment to MC USA was encouraged by a higher percentage, and the option to leave as a member but continue as a partner brought the most energy and felt mostly lifegiving by a wide margin. 

After processing the feedback, our last step was to discern and decide which recommendation we would make to the Board. In a meeting, each team member presented and explained their recommendation, from their own areas of influence and connections within the conference. There was a clear majority recommending collaboration and partnership, with several advocating for continued commitment, so we decided to take additional time for discernment.  

Two weeks later, we met and received a more detailed list of ways we might be able to collaborate with MC USA, and each team member again shared their recommendation. That evening we came to consensus to recommend collaboration and partnership with MC USA. 

For me, it was a joyful culmination of the work the Holy Spirit had done in our group. We had committed to each other and to the work, even in disagreements. Each person’s gifts were used, and each person remained engaged throughout the almost two-year process. The ebb and flow of the process showed us who we can be in community. Together we wrote our final recommendation and rationale. 

We offer it to you as a labor of love, representing many hours of prayer, conversation, and discernment. To the delegates, it is now your choice!  

“For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Romans 11:35, NIV

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.

Submitting to God and One Another as the Pathways Steering Team

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by Marta Castillo

Every group or process I have been a part of has required submission and humility. Before I became a pastor, I thought that pastors and leaders had control in their church and organization, and they were able to get things to go their way. When I became a pastor, especially a pastor on a team with two other pastors, male, one African American and one Latino, in a congregation that was intercultural, I realized that I only got “my” way about 10% of the time. There was a lot of submission to God and to the members of the congregation where I served. It was freeing, humbling, and occasionally annoying. 

As the Pathways Steering Team, our diverse group from all over the conference has worked together over the last year and a half on strategic planning and preparing a recommendation about affiliation with Mennonite Church USA. There have been countless opportunities for us to learn to submit to God and to each other. The reality is that none of us are in control or can get our own way. All of us are seeking to honor God by being submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to the others in our group and the conference. Reverent submission is honored by God. 

Statue at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (Harrisonburg, VA) titled “Love Essence” by Esther K. Augsburger. Photo by Marta Castillo. 

We seek to follow the way of Jesus in Philippians 2 which asks, “Does belonging to Christ help you in any way? Does his love comfort you at all? Do you share anything in common because of the Holy Spirit? Has Christ ever been gentle and loving toward you? If any of these things has happened to you, then agree with one another. Have the same love. Be one in spirit and in the way you think and act. By doing this you will make my joy complete. Don’t do anything to get ahead. Don’t do it because you are proud. Instead, be humble.  Value other more than yourselves. None of you should look out just for your own good. Each of you should also look out for the good of others. As you deal with one another, you should think and act as Jesus did.”  (Philippians 2:1-5, NIRV) 

The posture of submission to God results in humility towards God and one another. For the Pathways Team, it has created fertile ground for unique ideas, unexpected twists and turns, curiosity, and attention to the parts of the body that seem weaker, less represented with opportunities to honor their voice (c.f. I Corinthians 12:12-26). Time and again we are seeing the fruit of submission to another God and the “other,” not in forming the perfect strategic plan, but in honoring God and one another. The way of the Lamb of submission to God leads to honoring God and being honored by God (c.f. Revelation 5:9-12). 

Copyright ©2024 InterVarsity Press

I am currently reading Humility Illuminated by Dennis Edwards (which I highly recommend). In Chapter 3, he writes about how “indispensable humility is for establishing and maintain Christian community…humility is how love blossoms.” (p.12) 

In every meeting, in decision making, in conflict, and transition, we must strive for submission to God, considering others better than ourselves, remaining silent so that others may speak, waiting on God, and believing the intercultural value of mutual transformation open the door to God’s way being revealed and to obedience. We submit to one another to honor each other, and we are changed by the experience. We die to self and end up producing fruit of righteousness.   

The Pathways Steering Team was set up to be representative of the conference. I have heard it said that if we can work together, hear one another, and together present a plan and recommendation to the rest of the conference, then there is hope that the whole of Mosaic can do the same. Walking humbly with God and with each other will be essential for the pathway forward. 

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.

Dear God … It’s me, Marta 

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio & Photo by Ben Vaughn on Unsplash

Dear God, 

It’s me, Marta. 

I am still glowing inside from my visit to Garden Chapel yesterday. The two-hour drive on a Sunday morning was long enough to quiet my mind and open space for your presence, your peace, and your Spirit to settle in and take hold.   

Upon arriving I found the two pastors, Tim and Hector, already hard at work, setting up systems for two services, one in English and one in Spanish (or Spanglish), in-person and on Zoom, one upstairs and one downstairs in their newly renovated building, divinely provided through a community ministry connection. These pastors have full-time time jobs and a deep passion for Christ, ministry, the Word of God, and their diverse community. Oh, the stories they tell, Lord, of how You are working and moving.   

After the service, one of the sisters invited me and the two pastor’s wives for a coffee at a local Colombian bakery. What a wonderful gift to sit and fellowship with my sisters, covering topics from the Conference to our ministry work and our families. I am still glowing, Lord, from spending time with You and Your people. 

But it’s not just at Garden Chapel but at Spring Mount, Plains, Nations Worship Center, Peña de Horeb, Mennonite Bible Fellowship, Circle of Hope, Evangelica Menonita de Oracion y Adoracion, and all the other churches I am invited to visit. 

“For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all” (Ephesians 4:4-6, NLT).  

Thank You, Lord.   

Love, Marta 

Dear Mosaic Conference, 

It’s me, Marta.   

During the Pathways Forward focus groups, I heard a phrase multiple times: “I love the diversity of Mosaic but…” The “BUT” threw me off. “But” is used to introduce a phrase contrasting what has already been mentioned. It invalidates everything said before. It does not allow for both things to exist at the same time. 

If we use the word “AND,” we can make both statements true: “I love the diversity of Mosaic AND…” 

We need the AND to answer in unity. We need the AND for our commitment “to making our churches places of radical hospitality, inviting and engaging all people regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, lifestyle, or socioeconomic status. God desires to bring transformation to all people; therefore, we will welcome all people and call all people to repentance and holy living” (Grace and Truth, Church Together Statement). 

We need the AND to “be intentional about identifying those on the margins of our churches and society and provide resources for the work of mutual transformation according to the good news of Jesus Christ” (Going to the Margins, Church Together Statement). 

The diverse congregations of Mosaic Conference already minister in the margins.  There are no BUTS about it. Let us be attentive to sticking points and replace them with, “We love the diversity of the body of Christ in Mosaic, AND we will worship the Lord and serve the Lord in unity.” 

“True worship of God transcends time, culture, language, and nation,” says Nelson Kraybill in his book, Apocalypse and Allegiance. Kraybill says that when we worship God, we join a vast multitude of saints from all peoples and all eras of history. When we “see ourselves as part of this multitude, it makes us less likely to idolize our countries. We are less likely to let issues and perspectives of our own generation eclipse the shared wisdom of saints through the ages.”  

Love, Marta 

It’s Your Turn: Pray & Engage the Pathway Forward  

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The Pathways Steering Team has diligently listened, prayed, and discerned over the last year. Together with Grovider, our consultants, we have sought to collect and organize thoughts, feelings, and opinions from the variety of voices represented in our Conference community, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. 

The first outlined point of the Pathways Document approved by delegates in 2022, reads, “To share in the practice of continued prayer and fasting so that we may discern, yield, and listen to the Spirit among us.”  In preparation for our Assembly on November 4, the Pathways Steering Team and the Mosaic Board invite everyone to fast and pray each Wednesday between now and November 4. There are weekly guiding scriptures to focus your prayer and fasting time. An online, Mosaic prayer group meets each Wednesday at 12 pm ET/9 am PT. To join the group, click here at that time for the Zoom connection.  You may also host a time of prayer in your congregation. Regardless of when it is done, fasting and praying together to surrender to God is important.

During the spring and summer months, The Pathway Steering Team met with various focus groups throughout the Conference. We now offer you this working document and summary of what we heard from the focus groups and interviews and say, “It is your turn.” Please prayerfully read the document and share it with anyone who would be interested. Have conversations with other leaders in your congregations, Conference Related Ministries (CRMs), and around the Conference. Ask the questions: What are the various pieces of our mosaic? What can we affirm? What is missing?

At our Delegate Preparation Meetings from September 23-28 (click here for registration to these meetings), we plan to process the report with delegates further.  We hope delegates will read and process the report with others in their congregation prior to the Delegate Preparation Meetings and come prepared to discuss the findings.  The input we gather at these Delegate Preparation Meetings will inform our agenda and discernment at our Assembly gathering on November 4 (register here for Assembly, as a delegate or a guest). It will also help us develop proposed priorities for the Strategic Plan. In order for the official strategic planning to begin in January 2024, as outlined in the original Pathways Forward proposal, the identified priorities will need to be approved by the Conference Board and Mosaic staff by the end of 2023. 

Prior to Assembly, the Mosaic Board asks you to also review the guiding documents of our Conference. We will be using these as we navigate through the tensions and areas of dissent in the Conference.  These documents were adopted by Franconia Conference in 2015 and folded into Mosaic’s framework in 2020. Please familiarize yourself with these important, foundational documents.  

In the coming year, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Board and Conference Committees will lead discussion and discernment in areas of current tensions within our Conference. Such topics include nationalism, immigration policies, patriarchy, poverty, economic inequality, human sexuality, white supremacy, racism, and oppression. The purpose of these discussions is to hear different perspectives and be mutually transformed.  

As we think about the potentially challenging work we have ahead of us, we desire to bear witness to God’s church together. How do we find clarity in our differences and work at loving one another and being people of God’s peace? How can we be the church and be a counter-cultural alternative to the world around us?   

God is creating our mosaic:  together, the broken and beautiful pieces form a representation of Christ for each other and the world. 

Photo by: Marta Castillo

God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts Proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All these gifts have a common origin but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when. (1 Corinthians 12: 4-11, MSG) 

When No One is Pleased

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Editor’s Note: Associate Executive Minister, Marta Castillo, wrote the following article, reflecting on the work of Mosaic Conference over the past 17 months in response to the March 2022 allegations of misconduct at Dock Mennonite Academy, a Conference Related Ministry. 

What happens when we go through a misconduct investigation process, and no one is pleased?  What happens when a decision is reached, and everyone loses in one way or another?   

  • Victims are hurt, traumatized, and not satisfied. 
  • Prophets are disgusted and disappointed.
  • Defendants are bruised and angry. 
  • Participants, processors, and decision-makers are weary and disillusioned.  
  • Cracks in our system have been exposed.  
  • Transparency and communication have been compromised.  
  • Relationships need healing because we are broken and uncomfortable on all sides. 

Where do we go from here?    
What do we hold on to and what do we let go?    
What do we lament?  What are we thankful to God for?  
How do we move forward in God’s grace and righteousness? 

I wrote the above reflection over a year ago.  When, after hours of prayer, conversation, and discernment, the best intentions of those involved “seemed” to come up empty for a peaceful and satisfactory outcome.  No one was pleased.   

Since then, we at Mosaic Conference have continued to invest hours of discernment and conversation with the Ministerial Committee, Conference Board and staff, Conference Related Ministries (CRMs), invested persons from our conference, and professionals around the above questions.  

The following is an incomplete yet important list of what we have learned about ourselves as Mosaic Conference, what we lament, what we are thankful for, and what steps we might take to move forward in God’s grace and righteousness:   

We learned that our Lead Minister system has weaknesses, especially in churches with multiple credentialed leaders, as we focus on lead pastors.  We learned the Lead Ministers are unequipped for following up in these situations.   

We commit to training Lead Ministers on how to communicate with credentialed leaders and the community in situations where abuse allegations have been made and how to accompany a leader who has been accused.   

We learned that the Conference process was riddled with overlapping relationships and roles which resulted in conflict of interest.   

We commit to identifying and acknowledging conflicts of interest within our system and to limit the influence of conflicting loyalties on our board, committee, and staff decisions. 

We learned that silence in communication creates anxiety for the community (especially persons who have already been traumatized by abuse).  

We commit to the best practices of keeping communication open by: 

  • Sharing resources and articles on abuse prevention and healing when there is alleged abuse. 
  • Sharing frequent updates, even simply saying there is no update, if that is the case.
  • Being transparent in sharing facts: Why don’t we have the information, why we aren’t charging, etc.
  • Creating space for survivors to provide feedback and give input into what our best practices can be moving forward. 

We learned that the process of investigating credentialed leaders who are licensed by the Conference and work for another institution or Conference Related Ministry is complex. This is because our commitment to a Conference Related Ministry is a looser organizational connection and our relationship with credentialed leaders is one of accountability and authority.   

We commit to a new level of accountability and cooperation with Mosaic credentialed leaders who are employed by an organization or Conference Related Ministry by signing a memo of understanding.  We seek an agreement to keep communication open and commit to an integrated process that acknowledges Mosaic’s role as licensing entity.  This policy has been created and is waiting for board approval once logistics are clarified with the denomination. 

We commit to strengthening the already functioning Addressing Abuse Committee (a sub-committee of the Ministerial Committee) by adding new members and meeting twice a year to review and revise our existing policies and practices. 

We are thankful to everyone who has questioned us and challenged us, so that we can better support the people among us who have experienced abuse.  We are thankful to everyone who has supported us and walked with us even if you were not pleased.   

To the God who cares for the brokenhearted, to the God of justice, to the God who can bring healing and wholeness, we pray.  Lord, forgive us.  Transform us.  Lead us on.  Amen. 

The Gift of Not Knowing

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“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 

2 Chronicles, 20:12, NLT

In 2 Chronicles 20, messengers came and told Jehoshaphat (the king), “A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.”  Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.  So, people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help.  Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord.  

He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.” 

When the people of Judah stood before the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there.  

He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, march out against them. But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!  

Not clearly seeing the pathway ahead, not knowing what to do, where we are going, or what might happen, may not seem like a gift to most leaders.  It is frightening, disconcerting, and uncomfortable. It is humbling. Jehoshaphat begs the Lord for guidance, and he orders everyone to begin fasting for God’s help.  He stands before the community and prays, acknowledging God’s rule and power and their powerlessness. 

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 

2 Chronicles 20:12, NLT

King Jehoshaphat led the people of Judah to seek God’s salvation.  He did not know how God would act in response to their prayers, but he knew that God was trustworthy and faithful.   

The gift of not knowing takes us to the throne of God.  The gift of not knowing takes us to surrender.  The gift of not knowing opens a space for the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives to comfort, counsel, and direct our paths.  May we use this gift of not knowing effectively.  

“The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.

Speak, Lord, We Are Listening

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By Marta Castillo, Associate Executive Minister 

Photo by Marta Castillo.

As we move through our process of preparation, conversation, and discernment for Fall Assembly (Nov. 4-5), the Mosaic Prayer Team invites you to listen to the Holy Spirit through prayer and fasting as individuals, congregations, and small groups. By entering a posture of listening prayer, as in I Samuel 3, we allow God to speak. We then can share what we have heard through the Spirit, as the early church declared, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,” (Acts 15:28a, NIV) 

The theme for Mosaic’s fall Assembly is Chesed (חֶסֶד) God’s loving kindness, based on Psalm 116 and 117. As the psalmist wrote, we too believe that God’s unhesitating, constant love (chesed) will not be shaken.  

Together, Mosaic Conference remembers God’s goodness, and we commit to extending God’s unhesitating, constant love to a broken and beautiful world.  We are inviting you to listening prayer and join us as we ask to hear from God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit for wisdom.  

How to be involved:

  1. An individual, congregation, or small group commits to a week or a certain day each week (which may include regularly scheduled prayer times) to pray and fast as God leads you during July and August. 
  2. Register your commitment to joining us here, so we can support each other. 
  3. We will be hosting two Zoom events and invite you to participate in either or both. Zoom links will be sent to you when you register your commitment.  Events will be held:
    • Wednesday, July 20, 7pm ET/4pm PT
    • Wednesday, August 10, 7pm ET/4pm PT
  4. At the end of August, report back to the Mosaic Prayer team (via Marta Castillo) about your experience and what you heard through your Listening Prayers. These reports will be shared with the Mosaic Board.  

If listening prayer is new for your group, here is a suggested format: 

  • Read Scripture together. (One suggestion would be Psalm 116 or 117) 
  • Listen in silence for God’s Spirit to speak. (5-10 minutes) 
  • Write down or make note of what you hear as individuals. 
  • Share in the group. 
  • Repeat by reading another Scripture or focus on a prayer point (see below). 
  • Listen in silence for God’s Spirit to speak. (5-10 minutes) 
  • Write down or make note of what you hear. 
  • Share in the group. 
  • Repeat as time allows. 
  • Discuss what would you like to share back to the larger community. (Listen for larger themes, the voice of the community, and consensus, but also listen for the minority voice.)

As you pray, you may also want to ask these questions or prayer points, and listen for a response through prayer:  

  • How do we keep Jesus in the center? 
  • How does God want to form our churches to be places of radical hospitality, inviting and engaging all people regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, lifestyle, or socio-economic status? 
  • How does God desire to bring transformation to all of us?  
  • How is God calling us to repent?  
  • How does God want us to live, work, and dialogue with those who hold differing views?
  • How is God calling us to be communities of faith that are full of grace and full of truth?
  • How can we pray for our leaders? (Mosaic Board meetings are July 18 and September 19; Executive Board Committee meeting is August 3.)

Groups who have already committed to participate: 

  • Mosaic’s weekly Prayer Group – Wednesdays, 12-1 pm ET (weekly Zoom link) – anyone is welcome to join! 
  • Upper Milford Mennonite Church (Zionsville, PA) 
  • Methacton Mennonite Church (Norristown, PA) 
  • Blooming Glen (PA) Mennonite Church 
  • Centro de Alabanza (South Philadelphia, PA) 

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.