Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

missional

Seeking peace in their cities, urban leaders gather in Philadelphia

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by Rachel Sommer for Mennonite Central Committee East Coast and Mennonite Church USA

urban ministry conference
Chantelle Todman Moore (Philadelphia program coordinator, MCC East Coast), Freeman Miller (retired bishop, Philadelphia District of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA) and Glen Alexander Guyton (chief operating officer, Mennonite Church USA) pray together for peace in their cities at the Urban Anabaptist Ministry Symposium co-sponsored by MCC East Coast and Mennonite Church USA. (MCC photo/Rachel Sommer) 

In a letter to Jerusalem’s exiled leaders, the prophet Jeremiah called on them to work for the welfare of Babylon, the city to which they had been deported. “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city,” he wrote. “Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7).

From October 2-4, nearly 100 Anabaptist leaders gathered in Philadelphia to discuss what responding to Jeremiah’s charge looks like in the 21st century.

Participants came from cities including New York; Hampton, Virginia; Philadelphia; and Washington, D.C., to attend the Urban Anabaptist Ministry Symposium organized by Glen Alexander Guyton, chief operating officer for Mennonite Church USA, and Chantelle Todman Moore, Philadelphia program coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) East Coast.

The symposium invited urban leaders to discuss practical Anabaptist ministry in their cities. “Being a peace church isn’t just about not going to war – it’s about manifesting God’s kingdom in our own communities,” said speaker Addie Banks, executive director at The Groundswell Group in the Bronx, New York.

Banks said the symposium provided opportunities for her to learn from colleagues in new ways. “Each of us has a tool. We all need tools to do our work, and gathering here with one another is like assembling a toolkit.”

During plenary sessions, Banks along with Al Taylor, pastor of Infinity Mennonite Church (Harlem, NY), and Ertell Whigham, associate pastor of Nueva Vida Norristown New Life (Norristown, Pa.) and executive minister of Franconia Mennonite Conference, shared “best practices” from their ministries.

Whigham spoke about the need to develop personal connections in culturally diverse contexts. “To be intercultural in the church of God today means that I will recognize how God has blessed you in your life, and I will recognize the gift that you are to me,” he said. “I will allow the Jesus in you to be the Jesus in me.”

Workshop leaders drew from first-hand experience to facilitate sessions on youth and young adult ministry, education for urban leaders, immigration, developing community partnerships and dismantling oppression.

Additional event sponsors included the African American Mennonite Association, Cookman at Emerging Ministries Corporation, Franconia Mennonite Conference, Goshen (Indiana) College, Kingdom Builders Anabaptist Network of Greater Philadelphia, Mennonite Mission Network and Philadelphia FIGHT.

Symposium organizers hope that participants will continue to connect and collaborate with one another. “I’m excited about the relationships that were forged here,” said Guyton. “This gathering showed that we can all benefit from the expertise of Anabaptist leaders who are carrying out practical ministry in their own contexts.”

Ben Walter, one of the pastors at Ripple, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said the conference was one of the best he’d ever attended. He appreciated that voices often on the margins were given ample space and emphasis, and found it “helpful and enlightening” to hear the diverse perspectives and experiences represented among attendees.

Todman Moore hopes that urban Anabaptist leaders will convene in other cities in coming years. “We’d love to hear from Anabaptist leaders in other urban areas who are interested in discussing practical ministry in their contexts,” she said. She invites leaders to contact her (215-535-3624, ChantelleTodmanMoore@mcc.org) or Guyton (574-524-5282, GlenG@MennoniteUSA.org) to discuss planning similar initiatives in other cities.

Human Trafficking: Cultivating a Christian Response to Modern-Day Slavery

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Human trafficking“Few of us know someone who has been trafficked.  So to step out and care for someone who has been trafficked is a true expression of God’s love.”

Today’s resourcing breakfast featured Debbie Wright,  fromlibertytocaptivity.com.  Debbie is a former advocate for International Justice Mission who is currently working on a documentary about human trafficking in Pennsylvania.  Debbie shared statistics about human trafficking globally and locally, pointing out that Pennsylvania is a hotbed for trafficking because of the highway system that connects so many portions of the country.  But Pennsylvania, and Mennonites in Pennsylvania, also has a history of abolition … and can again.

“Make no mistake.  God sees and God is angry….  He hears [the victims’] cries and he wants to bring rescue.  So this heaviness you feel inside is God calling….  We are his plan of rescue… to step into the dark places.”

Listen to the podcast:

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Human Trafficking.mp3[/podcast]

During her talk, Debbie recommended the book Just Church by Jim Martin and referred to the 1688 Protest Against Slavery.

New Anabaptist ministry starts at Penn State

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by Lora Steiner, managing editor

As college students head to campus this fall, one congregation, University Mennonite Church in State College, Pennsylvania, is beginning a new initiative: an Anabaptist campus pastor, called by the church to minister to students.

University Mennonite Church is located just a few miles from Penn State University. It began over 50 years ago, when faculty and staff of Penn State began gathering in a classroom on campus.

Until about four years ago, the congregation was involved in an ecumenical effort known as United Campus Ministries. But it dissolved, and the congregation began talking about the need for an Anabaptist presence on campus. For about three years, University Mennonite worked at how to make it happen, clarifying the vision for that ministry, figuring out how to fund it, and also determining how it connected larger denominational needs.

Ben Wideman
Ben Wideman

This year, they hired Ben Wideman as Anabaptist Campus Pastor, and helped to establish an officially-recognized Penn State club known as the 3rd Way Collective.

The goals are varied: To connect with Mennonite students at Penn State who want to stay connected with their faith tradition; to connect with Christian students who may be frustrated and looking for an alternative like Anabaptism; and to connect with those who are interested in peace and justice but don’t necessarily know how faith connects to that.

“There are a lot of groups [at Penn State] talking about faith formation,” says Wideman, “and a number of groups talking about peace and justice issues. But there’s almost no one pulling these two groups together.”

Wideman hopes that the 3rd Way Collective will be a bridge for such groups, and help make something new in the gap.

Wideman will have office space at the church, and is on a waiting list for an office at Penn State’s Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, which offers meeting space to some 65 multi-faith student organizations on campus.

He isn’t worried at this point about having an office to call home: he won’t need a desk to write sermons or respond to emails, and, as he notes with broadly accepted truth, “You can do a lot with coffee.”

He says that the position is so new, and so outside of the traditional box of pastoral ministry in the Mennonite church, that it still isn’t clear exactly what it will look like. One of the biggest challenges is building awareness: There are 46,000 students at Penn State, and no particular way of knowing who the Mennonite students are unless someone lets Wideman know, or shares about the 3rd Way Collective.

Pastor Marv Friesen says that University Mennonite is committed to covering all expenses for the first three years, and is exploring ways to expand that support. They’re also talking about how the initiative might be expanded in the future: owning a community house, or creating a collaborative structure where Mennonite-related university communities could connect to each other.

Wideman is finishing his role as youth pastor at Salford Mennonite Church in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, and will start his new position in State College at the end of September. He says he’s excited to see what the transition brings.

“I’ve been thinking about [campus ministry] for a long time, but never expected it to look this way.”

Christ-centered organization works to develop, empower in the Congo

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by Lora Steiner, managing editor

For much of its existence, the small village school in Ndalu had no windows or doors—or even benches for its students. In the evening, goats and pigs took shelter in the building. The elementary and middle school-aged children who studied there during the day used bricks as chairs. They got sick often, and no one knew why. Some blamed witchcraft.

Ndalu is a rural community about 100 miles from the Atlantic coast in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Like many African communities, it doesn’t have much money, but it is rich with other resources—in this case, skilled craftsman and thick trees.  A small organization known as the Congolese Christian Development Network (CCDN) bought a bench in Kinshasa that was a combo desk and chair, able to fit two students. They met with village elders, got community members to contribute trees from their back yards, and had local carpenters give an estimate for additional benches. After some bartering—nearly everyone is related to a child in the school in one way or another—they settled on the cost and found a donor in Maryland who paid for 100 benches.

Eggs
After a 2011 talk on poultry, some of those in attendance began raising chickens in their backyards. Here, they sell eggs at very affordable prices at the 2014 forum in Kinshasa.

A little bit of money, and empowering local leadership: It’s a model that Joel Nsongo, member of Rocky Ridge congregation and co-founder of CCDN, hopes to replicate across the Congo.

Nsongo was raised in a small village not far from Ndalu. He came to the United States in the late ’80s,  at the age of 27, as a part of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) visitor exchange program; before that, he had worked as a purchaser for MCC’s Congo office, procuring tools that development workers needed in the field, such as machetes and other basic supplies. While in the States, he did maintenance at Rockhill congregation (Telford, Pa.).

Nsongo returned home, where he worked for a number of years as a computer network technician for Chevron. But a rebellion and regime change in 1997 had created turmoil in the country, and it seemed like a good time to leave, politically and economically. Nsongo brought his wife and two girls—who later attended Christopher Dock Mennonite High School (Lansdale, Pa.) and Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, Va.)—to the United States. He chose to relocate his family to an area he already knew.

CCDN is partnering with this suburban Christian congregation and Congolese expats to build walls and floor for the roof-only church building.
CCDN is partnering with this suburban Christian congregation and Congolese expats to build walls and floor for the roof-only church building.

In the U.S., Nsongo continued to work in computers, but returned home frequently. He kept seeing things that he knew could be improved, but not much changed. He thought, though, that he had to try.

Nsongo entered Eastern University’s graduate program in international development. When he finished his degree, he went home again—to the Congo—got together with friends, and created the CCDN.

Nsongo says that CCDN is about  more than formal schooling or tangible projects like desks, windows, and doors for schools.  Instead, they promote “mass education,” which includes informal talks on health, nutrition, sexuality, and renewable energy. The talks, held in the capital city of Kinshasa, have drawn around 100 people to each event, allowing attendees to hear from experts they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.  After one speaker came to talk about raising poultry several years ago, local residents started a movement equally popular on this side of the Atlantic:  raising chickens in the backyard.

“We realized that education is a base for any kind of development,” says Nsongo. “When people are educated, they are more likely to move forward.”

CCDN describes itself as a “Christ-centered community development and networking effort to … motivate and empower men and women with entrepreneurial drive to fight poverty through job training and creation, by providing individuals with business links, appropriate technology development and guidance to achieve innovation with sound management.” Or, simply put, a platform to launch activities for development.

What is most important to Nsongo is that leadership come from within: “True development for the Congo is going to come from the bottom up,” he says.

Staff at a clinic that partnered with CCDN in 2013 to set up at two-day health fair. CCDN has collected rubber gloves and over-the-counter medicine for the clinic, a luxury in many developing countries.
Staff at a clinic that partnered with CCDN in 2013 to set up at two-day health fair. CCDN has collected rubber gloves and over-the-counter medicine for the clinic, a luxury in many developing countries.

The challenge? CCDN has no regular funding. It collaborates with churches in the Congo, and with funders in the United States, as well as Congolese expats living here. When funding comes in for a particular project, says Nsongo, they tackle that project. For the other projects on the table, they pray.

For a two-day health clinic, CCDN recruited doctors who volunteered their time to screen for diabetes and dispensed medical advice and medications to newly-diagnosed diabetics and others. There’s a scholarship fund for 20 children, and projects involving two orphanages in Kinshasa. CCDN hopes to increase the “mass education” talks in Kinshasa to four to six events per year, including Christian topics that will anchor people in their faith.

As for the village school in Ndalu, it now has benches for the students, as well as doors and windows. CCDN is fundraising to build a well for water, and to lay a cement floor in the building.

You can contact Joel Nsongo at jnsongo@juno.com.

Philadelphia Mennonite High School merges: Update from Dr. Barbara Moses

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Barbara Mosesby Dr. Barbara Moses, Philadelphia Mennonite High School

It is a joy for me to announce that Philadelphia Mennonite High School has merged with The City School. The City School is a Kindergarten-12 Christian school in the heart of Philadelphia, committed to making a Jesus-honoring, college-preparatory education accessible to families in the city. Our mission is to train students’ minds, disciple their hearts, and bring light to the city—one child at a time. You can see that we are natural partners in ministry; In fact, PMHS and The City School have been serving together since we opened our doors in 1998. We have exchanged best practices, pursued dual-enrollment opportunities together, learned alongside one another at professional development conferences, and prayerfully helped each other through seasons of difficulty. This year it became clear that we could honor God and serve his people better together than we ever did apart. So, after months of prayer, discussion, debate, and careful deliberation, we are pleased to announce to you that PMHS is now The City School.

As we grow, our Mennonite heritage will be honored and will continue to guide our mission. We will continue to cultivate relationships in the Mennonite community and draw inspiration from the rich social and theological distinctives of the Mennonite church. As always, our first love and priority is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As The City School, we have adopted five core commitments: to Jesus, the city, shalom, excellence and accessibility. Our commitment to shalom, in particular, is inspired by our Mennonite heritage. The great theme of peacemaking, which was central to our identity as PMHS, lives on in this commitment. Shalom means peace, but it means so much more: harmony, wholeness, justice, unity, and completeness. With these commitments guiding the practical, day-to-day decisions we must make as educators, I believe our school will continue to honor the Mennonite tradition as strongly as it ever has, in new, creative, far-reaching ways.

As The City School, we have been received as members of the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA). In addition to strengthening our relationships in the Mennonite community, MEA’s senior director Elaine Moyer is working closely with us to pilot a program that will allow us to better serve students with learning difficulties. We have hired a full-time learning support coordinator, whose passion for serving students with learning challenges was a driving force in this decision. Through this program we will make an excellent Christian education accessible to more children who have historically not had access to good educational options. This is new territory for us, and it is a testament to the blessings that follow our decision to grow and merge.

Our high school has been a place of joyful learning for 16 years, and I can tell you with full confidence that our students will continue to thrive in The City School community. Our current students will join their City School peers this fall at our Rittenhouse campus, in the heart of Center City Philadelphia. Many of our teachers and administrators will join them in this exciting transition, and I will be serving alongside them as an advisor and community liaison. Our beautiful PMHS building is being transformed into The City School’s second elementary school campus and will house our very first preschool class. Pooling our resources together, we have taken everything excellent about our schools and, in unity, submitted it to our faithful Lord, who continues to bless our mission.

Thank you to our friends at the Franconia Mennonite Conference and everyone who has prayed for and partnered with Philadelphia Mennonite High School over the years. I hope your generosity and faithfulness will follow us into new terrain as The City School. Now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth, to our city—one child at a time.

Nations Worship celebrates new space, all invited

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by Samantha Lioi, minister of peace & justice, Franconia Mennonite Conference

Pastor Beny Krisbianto and other leaders of Nations Worship Center in Philadelphia are celebrating a milestone in their long journey toward a new space for worship.

Since the congregation purchased a building a few years ago in an historic Italian neighborhood in South Philly, renovation has been slow and relationships with their new neighbors challenging. Now, Pastor Beny has moved in to the renovated apartment above what will become the congregation’s new worship space, and the tone of interactions in the neighborhood has shifted. On July 19, they will celebrate this next step with a parsonage warming in the new space! Brothers and sisters of Franconia Conference are invited to come tour the building, see the parsonage apartment, and eat and worship  with Nations Worship Center. Tours start at 5:00 p.m., and a light meal and worship will follow.

Members of Nations Worship Center and Salford Mennonite Church share food and worship on Thanksgiving Day, 2012.
Members of Nations Worship Center and Salford Mennonite Church share food and worship on Thanksgiving Day, 2012.

Beny took some time—just after moving in—to talk with me about the changes, hope, and opportunities the congregation is seeing.

Samantha Lioi (S): I hear you’ve moved into your new living space, the “parsonage” section of your new building. How does that affect you, the congregation, and your ministry?

Beny (B): I did move last week; it finally happened, and the congregation is excited. We’ve been waiting and praying for this. We waited longer than we expected, but God always has a perfect time for us. When we moved to the new parsonage, I connected with some nice people in the neighborhood. [Now that I’m living here] I have the chance to know more people and more families—so those are good things that have been happening.

S: Some folks may remember that your neighbors were not excited to welcome you at first. Can you talk a little more about this relationship with your neighbors and how that’s going?

B: We have a saying in Indonesian: “If you don’t know them, you will never love them.” Once the people got to know us—that we are good people, that we are Mennonite, Christian people, then people started responding nicely to us. When we first came, people had false information, or maybe they were just uncomfortable with new people coming to their community. Eventually, people came to us and wanted to know us. Now that they’ve gotten to know us, everything is better.

S: How you have seen God moving throughout this experience?

B: He is faithful. One-and-a-half years ago we were facing a very difficult situation—discrimination, injustice, rejection. But God is faithful when we respond to rejection the right way: we didn’t get mad, we didn’t scream, we just prayed and loved them and showed up and showed them we are good people, not doing anything wrong (and of course we fulfilled all the city codes for the property and construction).  And God opened up the door for us move.

Now I feel the congregation has more energy to finish up the worship space of the building. We have felt God with us the last few months, and that same strength, that same grace will be with us to continue the work.

Last Sunday the congregation was so excited because we moved into the new parsonage, so they were more ready to pledge and give toward finishing the project. We do believe that God will not leave us in the middle of the journey.

S: I know you still have a lot of renovating to do. What are your hopes and dreams for the new space, and what stands in your way at this point?

B: Our dream is to celebrate Christmas in the new space. We want to see more souls come to know Christ. Now we are only able to gather for worship on Sunday morning, but in the new space, we can have youth worship, music practice, midday prayer—many possibilities during the week.

We want to reach out to the neighbors. We have already opened our building for free on Saturdays for music lessons for the local kids—and we have plans to host dancing lessons as well.

S: How did that happen?

B: Three of our youth went to music school, and they found out that their teacher lived a half block away from our building—so we had some conversations about having them use our facility without charge for music lessons. So we can be a blessing to the community as well.

S: And as for what stands in your way…

B: We’re using Kingdom Builders Construction, which is connected with Mennonite Central Committee, for the renovation. They estimate we need an additional $120,000 to finish the worship space. So we have to raise that money.

S: Is there anything else you would like brothers and sisters in Franconia Conference to know or pray about as they think of you and others in Philadelphia? 

B: Please pray for us that God will give us provision in trying to finish. If they have the desire or heart to support us, they could send people, send youth to work in our building—they are very welcome. This summer we hope to be busy with construction—so the more volunteers we have, the more it will help us stick to our budget.

Lots of people from Asia and other parts of the world have come to Philadelphia. Many different nations have come to the city—pray they will come to worship and come to know Christ. That’s why we called ourselves Nations Worship.

You’re invited!

  • What: Tours of Nations Worship’s new space, a light meal and worship service.
  • When: Saturday, July 19, 2014. Tours start at 5, and a light meal and worship service will follow.
  • Where: Nations Worship Center, 1506 Ritner St., Philadelphia

Salford's Peace Camp joins Tom Chapin on Souderton stage

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Salford's Peace Camp joins Tom Chapin on the stage during one of Souderton's Sundae Concerts in the park.
Salford’s Peace Camp joins Tom Chapin on the stage during one of Souderton’s Sundae Concerts in the park. Photo courtesy of Sundae Concerts.

by Bob Keeler, Montgomery News (reposted by permission)

When Tom Chapin took to the stage for his June 29 Concert Sundaes performance in Souderton (Pa.) Community Park, it was expected he’d have some friends along, so it was no surprise that fellow musicians Jon Cobert and Michael Mark were there.

They weren’t the only ones there to accompany the three-time Grammy winner, though.

Members of the Salford Mennonite Church Peace Camp also got to sing from the Maurice W. Foulke Bandshell.

This was the ninth year for the Peace Camp, which ran June 23 through 27, according to Meredith Ehst, who with Ashley Miller and Carissa Gredler are interim directors of children’s ministries at the church on Groff’s Mill Road in Harleysville.

The Peace Camp used a grant from the Salford Mennonite Foundation Fund to partner with Concert Sundaes to sponsor Chapin’s appearance, Ehst said.

“It was great to partner with them and the community to bring him to the area and have such a great community event,” Ehst said.

“It really was a great night for the kids and they’ll really remember peace camp,” she said. “Tom and the band were really great to work with and it worked out really well.”

Chapin was chosen because some of his songs are part of the music at the camp, she said.

“The three songs the kids sang [with Chapin], we use each year and have incorporated into the program,” Ehst said.

The children, who met Chapin the night of the concert, rehearsed with his CDs, she said.

The children also performed sign language to the songs.

They performed with Chapin just before intermission.

After-intermission songs performed by Chapin, Cobert and Mark included the Steve Goodman-written “City of New Orleans,” recorded by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson, Harry Chapin’s “Mail Order Annie” and “Cat’s in the Cradle,” and the Chapin family anthem “Circle” with a verse tailored specifically to Concert Sundaes. Tom Chapin is the brother of Harry Chapin, who was killed in a traffic accident in 1981. In addition to his songwriting and performing, Harry Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian efforts to end hunger.

“It was a wonderful concert. I think everybody had a great time,” Sam Martin, Concert Sundaes Committee chairwoman, said.

The church contacted Concert Sundaes to see if it would be possible to work together to schedule and sponsor the Chapin concert, she said.

Although there have been other types of support for Concert Sundaes, this was the first partnership of this kind that she remembers, Martin said.

“We don’t really have a policy because it doesn’t happen all that often, but we’re always open to any ideas,” she said. “Each thing, we take to the committee. It’s a committee decision.”

Peace Camp, for children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade, included a meal for the children in its 5 to 8 p.m. sessions each night, Ehst said.

It is somewhat similar to Vacation Bible School, but Salford has created its own curriculum, she said.

The youngest children learn about “Peace and Me,” the oldest learn “Peaceful Conflict Resolution” and the middle classes are taught “Peace with the Earth,” she said.

Many of those who attend are from the community and are not members of the church, she said.

Salford member Mary Jane Hershey, who got the idea for it from Quaker programs at Gwynedd Friends Meeting, introduced the idea for the peace camp to Salford, Ehst said.

“It really just goes along with our core values as Mennonites,” Ehst said.

Concert Sundaes are held 7 p.m. Sundays in the park at Reliance Road and Wile Avenue. The fifth show of the 10-concert season, Chapin’s appearance marked the halfway point. In contrast to some other years, none of the five had to be moved inside because of rain.

“We hate to go inside and this weather has just been a gift to us,” Martin said.

Attendees at the concerts are invited to take photos and submit those pictures to be posted on Concert Sundaes Facebook page.

“Luke Bennett, a member of our committee, has kind of amped up the Facebook page,” Martin said. “I think the photos entice people to come to the park, too.”

Introducing Alpha Mennonite Church

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Alpha Mennonite ChurchAlpha Mennonite Church began as a church plant in 1975 by Henry Swartley.  We are located in the quiet little community of Alpha, NJ.

Since the beginning, our congregation has been a mixture of people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and theologies who have gathered together in our common love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  We are a small congregation with a family feel who welcomes all who God brings through our doors.  In this spirit, we seek to experience the full richness of Christ’s body in our life and ministry with everyone who freely desires to join us in our Christian walk.  We look forward to the future, hopeful of what God has in store for us as individuals and a church body.

Our leadership is composed of a Congregational Ministry Team consisting of Worship, Mission and Outreach, Discipleship and Nurture, Stewardship and Administration.  You can read more about Alpha on our webpage at www.alphamenno.com or on Facebook.  We invite you to join us to worship God in our welcoming fellowship.