Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Nations Worship

Growing by grace: From coast to coast, Indonesians diversify, enrich U.S. Anabaptism

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by Eileen Kinch

Originally published on July 3, 2024, in Anabaptist World, and reprinted with permission.  

Pastor Aldo Siahaan prays during a Christmas service at Philadelphia Praise Center in December 2023. Photo by Haris Tjio.

Indonesian Mennonites began coming to the United States in the 1980s, and their numbers increased after 1998. Today 19 Indonesian Mennonite congregations are located on the West and East coasts. 
 
Some of their people were already Mennonite, part of the Anabaptist movement in Indonesia that counts 107,000 members today. Others were not. 
 
One who wasn’t is Aldo Siahaan, pastor of Philadelphia Praise Center. The congregation was independent when Siahaan founded it in 2005. Today, Siahaan is a leader and connector of Indonesian Mennonites in the United States. 

Of the eight Indonesian congregations affiliated with Mosaic Conference of Mennonite Church USA, almost all joined because of a connection with Siahaan. Indonesian churches now make up more than 10% of Mosaic. 
 
Siahaan learned about Mennonites when a member of the church asked if his Mennonite pastor from Indonesia could visit Philadelphia Praise Center for a few weeks. That pastor was Bastian Yosin, a Mennonite pastor from Java. After learning the congregation was unaffiliated, Yosin recommended Siahaan contact Franconia Mennonite Conference (now Mosaic after joining with Eastern District Conference). 
 
Following Yosin’s advice, Siahaan went to the Franconia Conference office. Staff invited him to the next MC USA assembly in San Jose. 

Virgo Handojo, pastor of Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Anugerah (Indonesian Christian Congregation of Grace) in Sierra Madre, Calif., did not know Aldo Siahaan until they met in San Jose in 2007. 

Handojo formed the Indonesian Mennonite Association, which includes Handojo, Siahaan and Beny Krisbianto, pastor of Nations Worship Center in Philadelphia. The association is a member of MC USA’s Racial Ethnic Council, which brings the perspectives of people of color to MC USA leadership and planning. 

But the relationship between Handojo and Siahaan bore other fruit. 

In 2017, Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Anugerah was looking for an affiliation after Pacific Southwest Conference reorganized. Handojo’s congregation, which numbers about 50, could have chosen to join the five Indonesian congregations that remain affiliated with the Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Mennonite synod in Indonesia. Instead, it joined Mosaic, as did two other California congregations: International Worship Church in San Gabriel and Immanuel International Church in Colton. 

When Handojo came to the U.S. to attend Fuller Seminary in 1987, he intended to return to Indonesia after completing his education. Handojo, then a member of the JKI synod in Indonesia, desired formal study to increase his effectiveness as a minister there. But “God closed the door” to his returning to Indonesia, Handojo said in an interview. 

He got involved with Mennonites in the United States after he received a phone call from Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor of Mennonite Mission Network. Someone had nominated him to serve on the board of directors. “To this day, I don’t know who nominated me,” he said. 

Sandrie Wahyu, front center, leads worship at Philadelphia Praise Center. Photo by Haris Tjio.

Serving on a mission board appealed to him. Handojo was influenced by Adi Sutanto of the JKI synod, who believed in “planting a church everywhere in the world,” Handojo said. “After that [phone call], I became deeply involved in Mennonite Church USA.” He served on the board for more than 10 years. 

Not all Indonesian Mennonites in the U.S. share Handojo’s experience. He came to the U.S. for education, but others, including Siahaan, came fleeing riots in 1998. 

The riots began as student protests to economic conditions, but the military incited the looting of Chinese-descended Indonesian businesses and violence against women. Many Chinese-descended Indonesians are also Christians. 

Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country, with Christians comprising 11% of its population. The country’s constitution allows freedom of worship for Christians, but Siahaan is grateful for the freedom he experiences in the U.S. In Indonesia, he was nervous about going to church. “Something could happen,” he said. 

The riots also played a role in the lives of Graciella Odelia’s parents, who moved with Odelia and her sister Marciella to the U.S. in 2011. Amid the violence, their parents were locked inside a building that was about to be burned down. 

Odelia, recently licensed to youth ministry at Nations Worship Center, came to the U.S. when she was 10. Her family made NWC their church home. She went to Dock Mennonite Academy and Eastern Mennonite University and is earning a master’s degree in Christian leadership at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. 

Marta Castillo, associate executive minister of Mosaic Mennonite Conference, anoints and prays for Graciella Odelia, licensed for youth ministry at Nations Worship Center in June. Photo by Joe Byakko Bongs.

When Beny Krisbianto, the pastor of NWC, felt a concern for the next generation, he and his wife and co-pastor, Angelia Susanto, tapped Odelia to help with youth ministry. Odelia now organizes a weekly youth service on Saturday afternoons. The youth service, conducted in English, draws youth from other Indonesian Mennonite congregations nearby and also a few youth who have no church home. 

NWC worships in Indonesian, with interpretation for English speakers, on Sunday morning. But the youth service is in English because most of the youth were born in the U.S. 

“They only speak a few words of Indonesian,” Odelia said. Many youth hear Indonesian spoken at home by their parents. “They still have some practice but [not] complete fluency,” she said. 

Marciella, who helps with the youth service when she is home on break from EMU, added that sometimes youth prefer not to listen if the service is in Indonesian. 

Odelia shared her testimony in Indonesian before being licensed for ministry but found the experience challenging. She volunteers as an interpreter at a health clinic to improve her Indonesian sentence structure and to increase her formal language skills. But she has another tool. “Duolingo helps,” she said with a laugh, referring to a language-learning app and website. 

The youth at Nations Worship Center help to pack grocery bags for the congregation’s service ministry. The bags support members and attenders struggling financially. During COVID-19, many Indonesians lost factory and restaurant jobs, and the grocery distribution reached 90 bags weekly of eggs, noodles, rice and canned goods. Today the situation is more stable, and NWC is preparing only 30 bags. 

But the congregation finds itself helping another wave of Indonesian immigrants. Many are seeking better financial opportunity. Krisbianto said that the pandemic limited immigration and travel, so many are making the choice to come now. 

Siahaan said motivation for current immigration may have a political angle. Indonesia’s newly elected president, Prabowo Subianto, played a major role in the 1998 riots. 

“There is uncertainty,” Siahaan said, explaining that some people want to leave Indonesia “before something bad happens.” Instances of Muslim individuals disrupting church services have occurred in 2023 and 2024. 

Krisbianto, who came to the U.S. in 2001 for education, felt a call to minister to immigrants. His ministry began as social work, since he interpreted for Indonesian patients at a health clinic. One person said to him, “Pastor, where is your church?” Krisbianto replied that he was trying to plant one. Some people at the clinic said they would like to come. 

The church began with nine people in 2006. The offering was $90 — $10 short of the rent. Krisbianto added $10 to make the ends meet. “By the grace of God, [the church] is growing,” he said. Nearly 300 come to worship during three services. 

Nations Worship Center celebrated its 18th anniversary on May 19. From left are Beny Krisbianto, Angelia Susanto, Graciella Odelia and elders Theresia, Nengah and San-San. Courtesy of Beny Krisbianto.

Yet being an immigrant in another country is challenging. Uprooting oneself from family is hard. Legal processes can be slow and difficult, and adjusting to a new language and culture takes time. 

For Siahaan, feeling happy about the move comes in retrospect. 

“After I do my flashback, yes [it is worth it]. My relationship with Jesus is stronger here,” Siahaan said. He has no close family nearby, so he must ­“really depend on God.” But he is satisfied with his life in the U.S.: “God gave me so much.” 

Many Indonesian Mennonites gravitate toward Anabaptism’s Christ-centered message and its reconciling work. Krisbianto said Indonesians did not receive a warm welcome from some neighborhoods in Philadelphia. But the Mennonites in Franconia Conference were different. 

“They’re very nice, calm, simple, humble. And they’re very welcoming,” Krisbianto said. “We feel like we are part of their families.” 

Stephen Kriss, Mosaic Conference’s executive minister, appreciates what the Indonesian congregations bring to the conference. 

“The vibrancy of worship while holding together mutual care, evangelism and justice-seeking that occur within Indonesian context continues to influence our Mosaic community broadly,” he said. 

Of the 19 Indonesian Mennonite congregations in the U.S., eight are affiliated with Mosaic. Six remain ­with a Mennonite synod in Indonesia, and others joined conferences such as Pacific Southwest and LMC. 

Eileen Kinch

Eileen Kinch is digital editor at Anabaptist World. She holds a Master of Divinity degree, with an emphasis in the Ministry of Writing, from Earlham School of Religion. She and her husband, Joel Nofziger, who serves as director of the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, live near Tylersport, PA. They attend Methacton Mennonite Church. Eileen is also a member of Keystone Fellowship Friends Meeting in Lancaster County.

How Shall We Gather?

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by Sue Conrad Howes, West Swamp congregation

Lynne Rush (center), music director at West Swamp Mennonite (Quakertown, PA), leads music during the June 14 drive-in service in the church’s parking lot. Pastor Michael Howes (left) and sound tech Tim Scheetz (right) stand with masks on, at least six feet away. 

In March 2020, many churches were struggling with the need to close their doors for Sunday worship due to COVID-19. Now, three months later, some churches are struggling again: When and how do we begin to gather for corporate worship while still caring for the physical health of our congregation?  Churches throughout the conference are trying a variety of approaches. 

Some, typically smaller, congregations have begun worshiping in their church buildings while taking precautions. Wellspring Church of Skippack (PA) is gathering in person, but with written instructions to participants encouraging physical distancing and other guidelines. Offering is collected in plates at the exits, bulletin announcements are sent via email so there are no handouts, and hand sanitizer and masks are available to all. Persons who use the restrooms are asked to wipe down the surfaces after each use.  

Mennonite Bible Fellowship (Morris, PA), has been meeting together since May 17. Congregants sit in every other pew, wear masks, and don’t shake hands. Pastor John Brodnicki commented that the “most inconvenient part of this arrangement is singing. It’s difficult to sing with a mask on.” They continue to monitor the number of COVID-19 cases in the area (their county has had relatively few). “If COVID cases were to spike, we may reconsider meeting together until the spike subsides,” Brodnicki added. 

Since June 7, Franconia (Telford, PA) congregation has been gathering in its parking lot for worship. Using an outdoor sound system,  FM transmitter, and a large LED screen to display the worship leader, musicians, and preacher (who are inside the church sanctuary), congregants sit in socially-distanced lawn chairs or in their cars.  “The outdoor service,” according to Pastor Mark Wenger, “has been a great experience.  This is the first step of gathering in person.” 

Franconia has also utilized the rental of the LED screen to show family-friendly movies on the weekend, including many movie attendees who were not from the congregation. As a result, the church plans to continue offering movies periodically in the future as an opportunity for outreach. 

Congregants attend drive-in church at West Swamp (Quakertown, PA) via their vehicles. The worship service was available on car stereos via an FM transmitter. 

Pastor Beny Krisbianto shared how his congregation, Nations Worship (Philadelphia, PA), held worship in the park on June 14. When 40 people showed up for worship, church leaders decided to divide the group into two, as area restrictions limited gatherings to 25 people. Congregants wore masks and practiced social distancing while older members were encouraged to stay at home and participate virtually. 

Some congregations are holding two services to limit the numbers in attendance. Perkiomenville (PA) congregation set up chairs in the worship space for appropriate distancing. They implemented a limit of 80 people per service and masks are expected for all who attend. 

Meanwhile, Methacton congregation (Norristown, PA) has decided to wait until their county goes “green” before even considering meeting in person in any form. According to Pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman, “We don’t have a plan yet for how to re-open since so much changes all the time.” Meanwhile, Methacton’s worship services are emailed to the congregation on Saturday afternoons, inviting people to worship on their own time. For Methacton, the question now is, “How much do we need to gather?” says Drescher-Lehman. “We’re still the church,” she reflects. “Sunday mornings are a great celebration that everyone will be happy to have again when the time is right, but I don’t think anyone is drying up spiritually.”

Going to the Margins: A 10 year experiment in South Philly

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by Stephen Kriss

south phillyI’ve been in a lot of meetings where there’s discussion about decline in the church.  But every time I hear it, I think about the churches I work alongside.   While I know numbers are down in a lot of places, that is not the reality in most of Franconia Conference churches in Allentown and Philadelphia. In South Philadelphia alone, among three conference churches we have 500 members, almost 10% of the conference.  This past Sunday I spent the day visiting these congregation.

First I worshipped with Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC), which is my home congregation.   I was the oldest person on the platform during worship.   There’s a growing number of children and lack of Sunday school space.   Worship was energetic and bilingual.   The congregation counts about 150 people as part of the community.

After worship, I migrated down to the new building for Nations Worship Center (NWC).  The long delay with the permitting process is frustrating, so the congregation continue to meet in rented space on South Broad Street.   Worship attendance can go as high as 150 people not including special programs.  They’re anxious to finish the building on Ritner, about six blocks South of PPC’s building.   While they will be close to PPC, both churches reach different demographics among the 5000 or so Indonesian speakers in South Philadelphia.

After conversations at NWC, my next meeting was to explore a new facility for Centro de Alabanza.  Officially a conference member congregation only since this fall, the church needs to relocate again after outgrowing their worship space just off Passyunk.  It looks like they’ll move to purchase an old United Methodist building on Snyder Avenue.   Under the capable leadership of their pastors and a leadership team from across Latin America, the church continues to grow with over 100 adults and 50 children under the age of 18.

Just up north of these three properties is Indonesian Light Church.  It’s the smallest of our South Philly congregations and just joined the Conference this past fall.  Our Executive Minister, Ertell Whigham, was preaching this Sunday.  Emily Ralph Servant is serving as an interim pastor as they immerse themselves further in Anabaptist identity, and Bobby Wibowo from PPC is serving his seminary internship with the church.  Most of the church is from the Batak tribe from Sumatra, though they speak Indonesian as well as their tribal tongue with most members from the neighborhood, with others driving from New York to attend.

Over the last decade, unexpectedly, God has built a connection between Franconia Conference and the growing immigrant population in South Philadelphia.  This is what fruitful investment and going to the margins of our communities might mean over the long haul.  It’ll have meant purchasing about $1 million in property in the city and 500 members in the neighborhood.  But this work takes time and patience.  We’ve learned some things along the way.  And we’ll keep learning.

As we explore going to the margins again, as our churches in the Lehigh Valley and in South Philly begin to fill up and to represent increasing percentages of our Conference population, we’ll be required to rethink and reimagine what it means for us to be together.   And we’ll discover, hopefully, again the God who brings about transformation and even resurrection.

Why should we wait for the impossible?

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by Beny Krisbianto, Nations Worship

Beny KrisbiantoThe words “waiting” and “impossible” aren’t fun words to discuss. The word “boring” is usually associated with the word “waiting” and the word “finished” or “dead” are often related to the word “impossible.” Why do we have to wait, if the thing that we are waiting for is impossible? It seems like acting in vain.

Not too long ago, I experienced a long period of waiting when I traveled back to my hometown of Jember, Indonesia. It takes at least twenty-eight hours in flight and four hours by car to get to this town in East Java, Indonesia. I still remember that in my time of waiting, I did everything that I could think of on the airplane, include praying, reading, reflecting, etc, to kill the time, so that I could enjoy my flight. But it still felt boring. Waiting is not fun, but sometimes it’s necessary.

In 1998, we had riot in Jakarta, the capitol city of Indonesia. In that tragedy, almost 3000 Chinese Christians were killed by radical Muslims. Since then, Indonesian Christians have been praying for justice and peace in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country on earth. For almost a decade, the Christians’ prayer has seemed impossible: no result and no progress. In some places in Indonesia, the persecution is even worse than before.

But surprisingly, God is answering the impossible prayer request of the Christians. Today, the Indonesian government passed a law that Christians should have the same opportunities as everyone else in Indonesia, and as I am writing this blog, the people of Jakarta just elected the first Chinese Christian governor. He will lead almost 15 million people in Jakarta in the next few years. Many people mentioned that he could also became the next president of Indonesia.

Nobody ever thought the day would come when a Chinese Christian would sit in the one of the most important public offices in a Muslim country like Indonesia. Indonesian Christians are giving thanks to the Lord for this historic moment. He is truly the God of the impossible. With God all things are possible.

The Word of God encourages us to wait upon the Lord. Before experiencing a great thing in life, most of the time, a process of waiting is required. Some times, God makes even his children wait, especially when we are waiting for things that are impossible for humans like us. I believe that waiting on the Lord is not passive, but an active action. Waiting on the Lord also includes praying, hoping, and believing that those things will come to pass. Several times, I’ve faced some impossible situations in life and ministry; however, when we didn’t give up, it finally changed. Let’s continue our prayer and hope in God until those impossible prayers are answered.

Our theme for this year’s joint Conference Assembly with Eastern District Conference is “Esperando: Waiting & Hoping.”  Conference Assembly will be held November 14-15 at Penn View Christian School in Souderton, Pa.  

Conference pastors pursue higher education

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by Lora Steiner, managing editor

The Lord works in mysterious ways,  and the Spirit leads in mysterious ways: sometimes to faraway lands, sometimes to stretching local ministries—or sometimes, back to the classroom.

Beth Yoder with her family at her graduation from Drew.
Beth Yoder with her family at her graduation from Drew.

This year, two Franconia Conference pastors finished Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) degrees, while several others are pursuing pastoral studies alongside other fulltime jobs. The advantages to them and their congregations are many: For pastors who’ve been in ministry for many years, it can be a time to refocus and re-tool. For congregations, it’s a chance to develop new practices and to see the Gospel in fresh ways, and a gentle nudge to those in maintenance mode.

Throughout Beth Yoder’s congregational ministry, she has interspersed her work with study: a year at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, coursework at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield and Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, and classes at Eastern Mennonite Seminary as well. It was at EMS that Beth re-embraced her passion for worship and preaching—and also at EMS where she remembered her interest in doing a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) degree at Drew University,  a program that would allow her to focus heavily on those areas.

Yoder, associate pastor of Salford congregation, says her studies were invigorating, and brought a sort of freshness for her and her congregation. D.Min. programs are structured around a project that the student commits to doing in her worship setting; Yoder’s focused on embodied worship—using principles of theater and movement to enrich worship. Many—not all—she reports, were appreciated, but it let her examine a hunch about the significance of embodied worship on spiritual formation. A lot of it, she says, wasn’t brand new—but her studies and assignments carved out that space to try something different.

Mike Derstine, pastor of Plains congregation, recently finished a D.Min. at Palmer Theological Seminary in King of Prussia, Pa. He’d always thought about pursuing the degree but with commitments to family and church, the timing never seemed right. When his congregation gave him a three-month sabbatical, it was the encouragement he needed to enter the program.

Mike Derstine with his family at graduation from Palmer.
Mike Derstine with his family at graduation from Palmer.

Palmer’s program focuses on transformational leadership, the missional church, and congregational renewal. Derstine says it’s just what he was looking for, a “key area for congregational pastors who need to think about what the changing context means for ministry.”

Derstine says he’d become so preoccupied with the needs and demands of the day-to-day life of a congregation that he found he wasn’t taking enough time for personal or professional renewal. Programs like this, he says, allow pastors  space to cultivate a “deeper spirituality, as well as more disciplined  and intentional approach to what we do.”

Beny Krisbianto, pastor of Nations Worship Center in south Philadelphia, is finishing a degree at the Eastern Mennonite Seminary campus in Lancaster. Like many other pastors in Franconia Conference, he takes one or two courses a semester—that’s all he has time for—and appreciates how he is able to daily use what he is studying: “I can balance between learning the principles and theology and applying it to my context.”

Krisbianto says one thing he learned from seminary is how to care for himself.

“Before I went to seminary I didn’t know about teaching and discipline. After beginning seminary, I grew a lot,” he says. “I know my strength, I know my weakness, I know when to say no, I know when to say stop.”

Krisbianto has two classes left and will graduate in 2015. This week also saw the graduations of Tami Good, Souderton congregation, and Kris Wint, Finland congregation, with M.Divs. from Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, Pa.

Although it may seem impossible while in the midst of classroom demands, life continues after graduation: Derstine took time after he finished his studies to replace the mufflers and exhaust system on his old car, and started seeds for his garden, continuing the balance of daily life and renewal. Both Derstine and Yoder continue in their same congregations.

“I think both formal and informal pastor education are important for pastors and congregational leaders,” says Yoder, “because it gives people an opportunity to engage new material, to learn with new people, and also gives leaders a space to say ‘I don’t have all of the answers,’ when sometimes leadership roles can get us into the practice of feeling like we have to have all the answers.”

“Going back into the classroom invites you to become a learner, to engage humbly, to rethink your own leadership from a different perspective.”

Giving God our best: The Resurrection

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Beny Krisbiantoby Beny Krisbianto, Nations Worship (with Emily Ralph)

God sent His only SON, HIS BEST to come to this earth to save us. He never intended to send the second or third best from heaven to redeem us. He didn’t send angels or prophets to die for us—he sent his son! God ALWAYS gives us THE BEST.

What about us? How do we respond to God’s gift?  Are we committed to follow Christ in life?  We are not left to live this way alone—just as Christ was raised from the dead, we, too, have the power of the resurrected Christ in us.

These are just some of the ways that Franconia Conference congregations have given God their best, witnessing to the power of the resurrection in the last year:

“So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.  So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10, NRSV)

On this great Easter weekend, as we celebrate the triumph of Christ’s resurrection, I want to encourage every single one of us to always give our best to God in everything that we do.  Christ is Risen!