Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

missional

Franconia Conference board and staff gather together to listen, dream and heal at Blooming Glen

by

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

Blooming Glen, Pa—Franconia Mennonite Conference board and staff gathered at Blooming Glen Mennonite’s pavilion on August 22 for a time of healng prayer, sharing and dreaming for the future.

According to Conference Executive Minister, Ertell Whigham, the retreat was designed to develop a common sense of ownership and understanding of the conference’s purpose.  “Strategy without passion or commitment doesn’t get an organization anywhere,” he told the group, inviting them to share experiences that have excited them about Conference life and direction.

Noah Kolb (right) laughs with Ertell Whigham and Marta Castillo at the Franconia Conference board and staff retreat. Photo by Emily Ralph.

“Part of my deep passion is seeing young leaders develop and do all that God has created them to do,” said Noah Kolb, pastor of ministerial leadership.  He smiled across the room at Joe Hackman of Harleysville, Pa, board member-at-large.  “I look across here and see Joe, who I blessed as a baby—I followed his fascinating growth in leadership.  It’s that kind of thing that just really excites me.”

Finance Committee chair, Randy Nyce of Hatfield, Pa, sees that kind of formation as central to the church’s purpose.  “The core problem in society is our separation from God,” he said.  The role of the church is to “help people to build healthy relationships, both with each other and with God.”

Noel Santiago, LEADership Minister for spiritual transformation, asked each person to imagine that they were walking their dogs and heard someone in the park sharing a testimony of Christ’s transformation in his life.  “That’s John’s story,” he said, smiling broadly.  Just two days before, John and seven others had decided to follow Jesus after hearing the Good News at GodQuest’s Souderton (Pa) Worship in the Park (photo gallery).

And these are only some of the lives that have been touched as Franconia Conference congregations have stepped beyond their walls and entered their communities.

For Philadelphia Praise Center, said Steve Kriss, director of leadership cultivation, being missional means that, “at their block party [last week], vegans were flipping burgers for their neighbors.”

Board member Beny Krisbianto prays blessings over Conference staff. Photo by Emily Ralph.

Many of these kinds of events are made possible through conference missional grants.  Conrad Martin, director of finance, oversees the grant process.  Each grant application includes the congregation’s desired outcomes, he told the group.  “This little grant that we’re giving them,” he said excitedly, “if it’ll end in their ‘expected results,’ was well worth it!”

Rina Rampogu, board member-at-large from Quakertown, Pa, reflected on how apathetic she was to the conference’s work when she was a lay leader.  All that changed when she was nominated to her current position, she said.  “When I became a board member, it became vibrant for me. . . .  God has brought us together to see what congregations are doing.”

The board members have been introduced to congregational activities through individual gatherings with church leadership teams.  “Congregational visits are huge,” agreed Nelson Shenk of Bally, Pa, Ministerial Committee chair.  “Those visits have made us a better board,” added Jim Longacre of Barto, Pa, board member-at-large.

The conference board and staff were particularly struck by the width of cultural differences within the conference, beyond those of ethnicity: cultures of wealth, technology, generation, or theology.  “We have many different paradigms for how we understand God’s work in the world,” said Joe Hackman, “yet we can still partner together.”

“We don’t need to think alike,” pointed out LEADership Minister, Ray Yoder, “but we do need to think together.”  This means open, candid, and often difficult conversations, he added.

The foundation of these conversations is developing a culture of prayer—which could be an intercultural experience in itself, suggested Marta Beidler Castillo of Norristown, Pa, board member-at-large.  “This is a growing cultural edge for us,” she said.

Conference board and staff gather for healing prayer as the sun sets. Photo by Emily Ralph.

Conference board and staff gathered for a prayer of healing and commissioning together as a step toward a hopeful future, recognizing the last months of conflict, struggle and leadership transitions.  As the sun set quietly over Bucks County fields, board member Beny Krisbianto of Philadelphia prayed that the Conference would recognize together that a new day was beginning.  A final blessing included Ertell Whigham’s prayer, which was based in Philippians 1: 9-11: that love would overflow and that knowledge and understanding would increase toward continued fruitfulness in a way that brings glory to God.

Franconia Conference contributes, leads, speaks at Pittsburgh 2011

by

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org, and Steve Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

Members of Franconia Conference descended on Pittsburgh last week for Mennonite Church USA’s Convention, “Bridges to the Cross.”  In addition to participating as delegates and youth groups, Franconia Conference members contributed to important conversations about the life of our church.  A few highlights:

Yvonne Platts, a leader from Nueva Vida Norristown New Life, spoke up at a delegate session on holistic witness. “Usually in Mennonite circles we hear of peace as keeping kids out of the military,” she said. “What I don’t hear is how we keep our kids on the streets from killing one another, from fighting one another.”

The first gathering of the North American Indonesian Mennonite Leaders group from all over the United States met at Franconia Conference member congregation Greensburg (Pa) Worship Center about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh to fellowship and dream for the future.  When he introduced Franconia Conference (which helped to sponsor the event), LEADership Minister Steve Kriss challenged the California Indonesian churches, “We look forward to the networking and vining of Indonesian Anabaptist congregations that will link from both coasts across the country.   Like the transcontinental railroad, we’re bulding inward from both sides and to our brothers and sisters in California, we hope that we will meet somewhere in the middle.” Conversations included discussion of the possible new congregations in Denver and Birmingham, AL.

Pastor Aldo Siahaan addresses North American Indonesian Mennonite Leaders during Convention. Photo by Emily Ralph.

Jim Ostlund, youth pastor at Blooming Glen, taught a workshop on technology and communication, encouraging teens that the greatest technology ever created is our human body.  “We can use new media to connect,” he said, “but it will not replace face to face in real time.”   The Blooming Glen youth group was the largest at convention this year.

Michael King, member at Salford Mennonite Church and dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, presented on the need for Biblical literacy: “We tend to operate within a Bible that fits our lens. On God’s level, the Bible is big enough for us all.”

Franconia Conference Youth Minister Marlene Frankenfield delighted youth sponsors with goodies and giveaways as part of a workshop she co-led with Merv Stoltzfus on creative ways of using resources to enhance youth ministry.

Michael Bishop, part of the pastoral team at Blooming Glen, helped lead hymns and international music during adult worship and hymn sing.  He led alongside a worship team from the largest Mennonite Church USA congregation– Calvary Community Church of Hampton, Va.

Beny Krisbianto, pastor at Nations Worship Center in Philadelphia, led a workshop on being a relevant church.  “The mission of evangelism is about persuading people to stop, look, and listen,” he said.   Maria Byler and Aldo Siahaan of Philadelphia Praise Center helped to lead a workshop on building healthy intercultural relationships and communication along with Virgo Handoyo, pastor of Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Anugerah (Sierra Madre, CA), a member congregation of Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference.

Franconia Conference Executive Minister Ertell Whigham served on the convention listening committee, providing feedback to the convention’s organizers. “It has been said that with every experience in life we continue to learn.  This is especially true when it comes to the gathering of God’s people.  We learn something about ourselves, other people, and especially about God.”

What other Franconia Conference voices did you hear at Convention?

Community Home Services: Caring in the name of Jesus

by

by Mary J. Tidey, Souderton, mtidey@communityhomeservices.org

Community Home Services is now beginning its 17th year of providing home care to those in need in this community. Founded on Anabaptist principles, CHS provides well-trained and supervised staff to meet the needs of the elderly and disabled in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia in their homes.

CHS was founded in 1995 with Ruth Mumbauer as Administrator. Ruth did the initial hard work of hiring workers, establishing policies and procedures and marketing the services offered in local churches and throughout the community. In 1997, Diane Tihansky began to serve as Executive Director. Building on the foundation laid by Ruth, the company saw much growth under Diane’s direction. The scope of services was refined and expanded to meet the changes and challenges of the 21st century.

I joined CHS in 1998 as Operations Director. I was attracted by the Christ-centered mission of the organization which describes CHS as a ministry charged with giving care to elderly and disabled persons in the Mennonite/ Brethren tradition of caring. This felt like a good fit for me from the beginning. When Diane resigned last year, I was happy to take up the reigns as Executive Director.

It has been a busy and challenging first year. CHS employs 100 workers and has provided care to approximately 4000 clients in this area. I am humbled by the task of leading this organization and grateful for a Board of Directors which provides direction and guidance to me and the CHS Management Team.

I am extremely proud of our employees who work so hard to bring the care our clients need to their doors. Our staff can be a bright spot in the day of someone who spends too much time alone or respite for overwhelmed caregivers. Sometimes they are eyes and ears of children who live a distance away. More times than I can count, they have intervened to prevent a true crisis for someone living alone.

I came to faith in a Christian home, raised by parents who were active members of Souderton Mennonite Church and then BranchCreek Community Church. My personal faith was deeply influenced by watching my parents. They were a wonderful example of faith in action. The example they set taught me that doctrine and theology pale in importance when compared to living Christ-like. Allowing others to see Christ in you is being light in a world that can be very dark.

My work experience prior to coming to CHS was with Grand View Hospital as a Registered Nurse for 24 years. Working in various capacities including Emergency Department, nursing management and Hospice gave me many learning opportunities. I have learned that life is very precious and sometimes we do not get to choose our own path. Sometimes, the only control we have is our response to the hand we are dealt.

I have also learned that most people are hurting, even if it’s beneath the surface, most of the time. This is what each of us has in common with every other human being: we are all vulnerable. Knowing this helps us understand those around us and makes us a little more patient. This is why caring in the name of Jesus is the most effective way to reach out to someone.

Celebrating Souderton: A missional direction

by

by Scott Hackman, Salford, scott@myohai.com

Celebrate Souderton was a missional faith experiment birthed from the imaginations of the Open Hand Initiative, a group of people who want to help local communities become places of belonging, using generosity and collaboration.

The context of society has shifted over the past several decades and the church has been pushed to the margins. Many people believe this offers an opportunity for the church to reclaim its mission. Celebrate Souderton gave Mennonite leaders the opportunity to take risks and experiment with missional impulses, as we attempted to answer what it might look like to express our faith in a local context during Lent.

The goal of this event was to collaborate with local faith communities, businesses, and non-profits to create space for belonging and opportunities for generosity. On Friday, March 11th we started by hosting a concert and coffee in downtown Souderton. Over 200 people participated in the evening, which included free local music and the opportunity for conversation at Main Street Java. From there, we continued the conversation at Main St. Java with Sunday evening gatherings to share stories about faith in the neighborhood in the context of themes from the Sermon on the Mount. Over 150 unique people came out during these weekly gatherings.

Our final event happened on April 23rd when 12 churches, 13 business sponsors, and several Main Street businesses joined together to celebrate the people in their neighborhood. Over 1,000 neighbors showed up. There were three art galleries displaying art by local high school students, local artists, and those in the community with disabilities (through Peaceful Living). A kids’ station was presented by Salford Mennonite and congregations like Blooming Glen and Souderton Mennonite provided free food. We also took over the main street parking lot for a large KidsZone managed by BranchCreek Community Church, complete with inflatables, hot dogs, cotton candy, and face painting. The youth group of Franconia Mennonite starting things right by dressing up as Scooby-Doo and Elmo to invite the neighbors to join in the fun.

The vision for this faith experiment comes from the underlying impulse to participate in the reign of God by following Jesus. We do this through sharing stories, events, and education. Together we’re exploring the next steps for the common good in the neighborhood whether that’s in Souderton or beyond.

The Worm Project: The power of “one”

by

by Diana Gehman, Worm Project, dianagehman@yahoo.com

His forwarded emails had all the intriguing elements of an obscure drug dealing story: ‘international searches for the cheapest manufacturer; purchases of the drug in bulk quantities for lower prices; recruitment and networking with distributors in the United States and third world countries; research for ways to get the drug into countries where customs posed barriers or required monetary bribes; and leaving a paper trail showing 100% of all donations going to a nonprofit charity. I was drawn into the contagious passion that this 80-year-old man breathed into every word, a passion that beckons others to join him.’This inconspicuous man is Claude Good. His passion is The Worm Project.’

That passion started out of a scenario of desperation. While serving as a Franconia Conference missionary in Mexico with the Triqui Indians from 1960 through 1985, Good became increasingly frustrated that children were suffering and dying from malnutrition from intestinal parasites, or “worms.” He set out to find a way to alleviate their condition. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worms ate up to 25% of what little food the already malnourished children could obtain. Infections from intestinal parasites caused stunted growth, weight loss, asthma, diarrhea, low immune systems, learning disabilities, and even death. After diligently searching, Good found a miracle drug called Albendazole, which given every 6 months for 3 years would eradicate the intestinal parasites and enable a child to benefit from the nutritional value of all food eaten. Thus, out of desperation came inspiration: eradicate malnutrition in children in impoverished countries by wiping out worms through the distribution of Abendazole tablets. The Worm Project was born.

The scale of the challenge was formidable. WHO estimates that over 2 billion people around the world are infected with common intestinal worms and over 150,000 are estimated to die every year. Before long, Claude was able to find established nongovernmental organizations that were eagerly looking to form partnerships. These partnerships provided the most efficient method for the distribution of Albendazole and provided necessary education, skills, and other resources to reduce morbidity in these desperate countries.

From The Worm Project’s inception until today, abundant giving has enabled the purchase of over 75 million Albendazole tablets, which roughly equates to 375 million pounds of food saved from worms. During 2011, The Worm Project will purchase 30 million tablets and reach out in some form to approximately 70 countries. Currently The Worm Project is able to purchase one tablet for 1.4 cents. That means 6 tablets given over 3 years costs less than 10 cents. The multiplied power of a contribution can be seen from these World Health Organization figures: $10 will treat 700 children and save 3,500 pounds of food from worms.

Please join us at The Worm Project Banquet held at the Franconia Heritage Restaurant in Franconia, Pa. on Wednesday, September 14 at 6 pm. See for yourself how God uses His power in you and others to change the lives of His hungry children forever. Feast on simple and delicious third world foods. Learn how you can be a part of The Worm Project’s 2012 goal to distribute 60 million tablets. The banquet is free, but please register by contacting Claude Good at (267) 932-6050, ext. 136 or cgood@mosaicmennonites.org. You can also visit WormProject.org.

In the gospels, Jesus commands the disciples to feed 5,000 hungry people in a remote location. Andrew responded: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Andrew asks a legitimately human question in response to a seemingly absurd command. Jesus responded to Andrew’s question not with words, but by modeling how to surrender our will to the infinite, miraculous power of God’s love. It is God who does the work through us. One small hungry boy gave all that he had to eat that day. Looking to the Father, Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread, and then gave it away. One boy. One lunch. 5,000 people fed. Be “The Power of One”.

Prayer network “adopts” street in Perkiomen Valley

by

by Peter Smith, Upper Perk Prayer Evangelism Network, peteresmith4@comcast.net

“Adopt A Street,” in its simplest form, is a prayer strategy that focuses on changing the spiritual climate in your community. What would happen if 100% of the streets in your community were being prayed for daily for the next 12 months? The “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy brings unity to churches in any given community or city, energizes the local church in prayer, and it begins to bring transformation to the church and community that is visible and to a large degree, measurable. Prayer evangelism in its most basic form teaches that God wants us to talk to God about people, BEFORE we talk to people about God.

Prayer evangelism and the “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy, over time, contribute to the reduction of systemic poverty in the region where they are implemented. The strategy is one of the most effective ways for local church pastors to physically implement Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8. The strategy is much more than a “prayer strategy;” it is a comprehensive missions strategy that allows the Holy Spirit to lead the transformation process. It can impact and transform every segment of a community including the church, businesses, education, government, media, arts and entertainment, and the family. One of the keys to its effectiveness is unity among churches in any given community or region. The greater the unity, the greater the possible transformation.

UPPEN (Upper Perk Prayer Evangelism Network) is a growing network of churches in the Upper Perkiomen Valley school district and surrounding region that has been in existence since 2003. Currently, there are 11 churches in this network and it continues to grow. Together, through prayer evangelism and a spirit of unity, they are seeing God changing the spiritual climate of their community and the surrounding region.

The UPPEN network had been praying during the first half of 2010 for a long-term prayer strategy for the Upper Perk region. UPPEN became aware of the Adopt-a-Street prayer movement in Newark, N.J. in the summer of 2010 and began to pray about the possibility of using the strategy in this region. After much prayer, UPPEN launched the Adopt a Street prayer strategy for their region on January 30th, 2011. Lloyd Turner and a team from Newark came to Upper Perk to participate in the launch of “Adopt A Street”. They held a training class for pastors, church leaders, and intercessors. Now the seeds of “Adopt A Street” have begun to spread across southeastern Pennsylvania. Two prayer networks in Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton decided at an informational gathering in March to implement the “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy for their region. Other regions and regional prayer networks are launching or praying about launching this prayer strategy. Please pray with UPPEN for these seeds to spread across the greater region.

UPPEN leaders, Peter Smith (Hope Valley Community Church, Red Hill), Charlie Ness (Perkiomenville Mennonite Church), and Scott Landes (Frederick Mennonite Church) gave an “Adopt A Street” presentation on June 9th at a Leadership Breakfast at the Mennonite Conference Center in Harleysville, PA. They shared about the UPPEN church network and the vision for the “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy.

UPPEN leaders are available to come and speak at churches, prayer networks or pastor networks in the region. For more information on “Adopt A Street,” prayer evangelism, or the UPPEN network, contact them at PrayUpperPerk.org, 215.541.4888 or peteresmith4@comcast.net.

Editorial: Effective strategy requires passionate engagement

by

by Ertell Whigham, Nueva Vida Norristown New Life

The Encarta dictionary defines passion as “intense or overpowering emotion.”

In this edition of Intersections we have several stories and testimonies of what happens when the passion of God’s purpose gets hold of people. Passion seems to me to be at the core of any fruitful (God given) vision, mission, purpose or strategic plan. That is the element of passion.

This is not passion just within leadership but the passion of everyone who feels called to be a part of a particular organization or organism. In this time and place as Franconia Mennonite Conference, we are called to be passionately strategic about the immediate priorities of being missional, intercultural and formational.

One of the ways to facilitate engagement at a level of passion—that connects us to God’s direction and vision for our work together from Georgia to Vermont an beyond, increases clarity of understanding, purpose and commitment and gives us the energy to keep moving and growing towards transformation—is to simply deepen our community relationships through prayer, openness, clarity, collaborative leadership and sincerity.

While there are many ways to work at passionate relationships and strategic planning for living into the vision and mission of our conference, conference leaders continue to hear a call from the constituent community to: spend time in the same space; sit together and engage in relevant conversations; ask questions and share information within the context of our mutual priorities.

We hear a need to celebrate Gods message of alignment and a call to be open to the Spirit’s power to help us hear one another in spite of the distractions that entangle us. During the coming months, we must all find at least one part of the vision, mission and priorities where we can passionately connect and communicate who we are and what God has called us to be and do together as Franconia Conference. We must be willing to carry the message and have clarity of purpose that both honors God and extends the Gospel. This is a responsibility that goes beyond our organizational structure but must be owned and proclaimed by each of us.

Among many of the passions expressed by our constituency, there is a need to be heard, included and considered as we continue to plan our direction and work at decision making processes. There is a passion and need to feel appreciated and to trust that we are all called to this journey together as well as to understand our place and possibilities.

As conference leaders continue to meet with congregational and credentialed leaders, congregations, Conference Related Ministries and Partners in Mission, we are listening and moving toward clarity of commitment, direction and most importantly considering the cost of being a people called to live into the realities, priorities and understanding of being intercultural, missional and formational— transformed for the purpose of God’s reign.

We’ve heard congregations ask for continued commitment to missional movement, contextual support and ongoing development of equipping leaders to empower others to embrace Gods mission from the LEAD (Leading Equipping and Disciplining) platform.

We’ve heard Conference Related Ministries ask for clarity of how we can work together in mutually beneficial ways to support one another and establish deeper relationships with congregations.

In addition, Franconia Conference continues to appreciate our Mennonite schools and the Anabaptist distinctive that directly impacts spiritual formation that cultivates values and vision for equipping future leaders. While we indeed realize that Christian formation is happening effectively beyond our Mennonite schools, we affirm the community witness our schools offer in nurturing our young people to be radical followers of Jesus Christ and instruments of God’s peace and justice.

We heard PIM (Partners In Ministry) express appreciation for ongoing support and encouragement in walking beside them as they minister in new and exciting ways.

We must continue to listen together and hear God’s Spirit calling us to find the passion that will give life to God’s strategic plan and priorities as a conference community living witnessing what it means to be missional, intercultural and formational.

On flattening the Mennonite world: a view from Singapore

by

by Steve Kriss
skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

New York Times writer Thomas Friedman suggested in the World is Flat that flourishing businesses would need to be both global and local in the emerging interconnected age.  It’s a comment that I’ve taken pretty seriously as a pastoral leader trying to imagine how local congregations might flourish and thrive in this time as well.  In my work over the past five years in Franconia Conference, it’s been easy to see lively connections that link our largely Pennsylvania-based congregations to far flung places like Jakarta, Mexico City, London and the Mekong Delta.   Sometimes, the conversations I’ve had in those places are as pertinent and relevant to congregational life in the States as what happens at the Conference Center in Harleysville.

As part of my Franconia Conference position focusing on leadership cultivation, Biblical Seminary contracts with a portion of my time to build on the foundations of our global relationships to help in the formation of their students toward missional leadership.   Several times over the last three years, I’ve had the privilege to travel for 10 days with a group of about a dozen students, most of whom aren’t Mennonite, and to offer an Anabaptist way of engaging the world.   We traveled this year to Vietnam and Cambodia.

On the way back, I stopped in Singapore—a glistening, overly perfected city/nation/island on the straits between Malaysia and Indonesia.  It’s safe, clean and tightly controlled but with a fascinating cultural mix that represents both the west and the east.   I was energized by the city despite its Truman Show-like (un)reality.  While there, I met with two young Mennonite leaders who give a hopeful and thoughtful glimpse of future church leadership.   Both embody the face and soul of global Anabaptist movement with savvy, integrity and intelligence.   It was a gift to spend time with Elina and Wilson—these cosmopolitan business leaders who travel between their Singapore residences, their respective native lands (Indonesia and China), and the United States.

One conversation that lingers for me was a request to understand where the upcoming Mennonite World Conference gathering would be, an attempt to understand the significance and importance of meeting in Harrisburg (which I said is close to Philadelphia and in the one of the world’s largest concentrations of Anabaptists and had to clarify again that it’s “close to New York”).    What I heard in this question was a desire to understand the US American church as a partner, not a parent. For global Mennonite leaders, Harrisburg and Philadelphia are just another Bulawayo or Ascunsion.  In these questions, though, I sensed a hope that the American church would understand how costly and potentially difficult this decision to meet in Pennsylvania will be for the global church community.

One thing that I’ve learned is that incarnation and making things real is costly and complicated.   After my Singapore conversations (where we also talked about partnerships to initiate new Indonesian-speaking Anabaptist congregations on the Arabian peninsula), I’ve realized that the global church is set to come to Pennsylvania not because it holds us in esteem—but because it wants to help the church here to understand a global reality.  This upcoming gathering can help the us begin to grasp how deep, how wide, how long, how far the message of the Good News has spread and rooted.   It’s an opportunity to invite US American Anabaptists to situate ourselves in this new space—not as the center of activity or authority–rather as part of a global and local movement called to be wise as serpents, innocent as doves and a glimpse of the Real Eternal One in the midst of a flattening world.