Seeds for this community in Fairview Village were planted years ago—280 years ago, to be exact. They took root, surviving many seasons of struggle.
Methacton
One Stitch at a Time
A member at Methacton Mennonite Church, Tiana Martinez, was stirred to action by a sermon delivered by a guest speaker, Pastor Juan Marrero from Crossroads Community Center in Philadelphia, a […]
Conference group prays, crochets
The first Sunday Michelle came to worship with Kairos Community, she reached into her bag …
Introducing Methacton Mennonite Church
Methacton Mennonite Church has been connecting people to Jesus since 1739. The land on which the meetinghouse is located was deeded to the Dutch Anabaptist Society–Mennonite/Anabaptist families moving north from Germantown up Germantown Pike–for 5 shillings. The first meetinghouse was built prior to 1771 although the exact date is unknown. A second meetinghouse was erected of stone in 1805 and used as a community school and place of worship. The third and present meetinghouse was erected in 1873.
Indonesia pioneer partnership bears lasting fruit
In 1978 Luke and Dorothy Beidler moved to Kalimantan, Indonesia — where the Dayak people live along wide rivers in a great tropical forest — as pioneer missionaries with Eastern Mennonite Missions.
In a groundbreaking partnership between an Anabaptist mission agency in the global South and two from the West, the Mennonite Mission Board of Indonesia (PIPKA), EMM and Mennonite Central Committee united to send the Beidlers and others from Indonesia and the U.S.
Seeking peace and pursuing it with Conference youth
What happens when a youth group from a 274-year-old congregation (Methacton) meets with the youth from a community outreach that is just about a year old (Arise)? What happens when you then pile those youth in a couple of vans and drive two hours to a cabin where they will be cooped up for a couple of days? What happens when you add to this mix three 50-something-year-old leaders who want to connect with these kids and have a serious discussion about being peacemakers? You get a weekend when all of us learned a lot about each other and probably a little more about ourselves, a weekend when we all learned that we can have a lot of fun together.
Hurricane Sandy leaves destruction and opportunity
Three days after Hurricane Sandy swept through south-eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, members of Franconia Conference are still cleaning up from massive flooding, downed trees and power lines, and extensive power outages.
Communication has been challenging and reports are trickling in–entire communities are still without power, dealing with road closures, and running short on supplies as gas stations and grocery stores are also without electricity.
How do you cultivate Mennonite spirituality?
What is the spiritual commitment that is at the core of our identity as an Anabaptist community and followers of Jesus, who “for the sake of the joy set before him, endured the cross”?
For me, figuring that out far from home, in the middle of the violence of Dublin, Ireland in the 1980s meant integrating other Christian traditions with the practices of my plain grandmother. All these practices – together – have nurtured my life as I try to live out discipleship, peacemaking, and witness.
Quiet rebellion against the status quo
In a sermon titled Transformed Nonconformist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority” (Strength to Love, 27).
To “Mennonite” is to be creatively maladjusted to a society that promotes materialism, nationalism, militarism, and violence.
Enter into life with all your heart
by Emily Ralph, Swamp Mennonite Luke and Dot Beidler were recognized for their lives of ministry, service, and stewardship at the joint Franconia and Eastern District Conference Assembly on November […]
Church leaders discuss ways to build bridges with Muslims
by Emily Ralph Norristown, PA — “The greatest challenge the church is facing today is the rapid rise of Islam around the world.” It was a bold statement, but Dr. […]