Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Oxford Circle

Intentional and Insightful Fellowship

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In the light of the racially charged events of the past year, some members of Blooming Glen (PA) Mennonite Church studied Jemar Tisby’s book, How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice.  One of the ways Tisby suggests fighting racism is to visit with and learn from people of color.

Our book study group contacted Katie Gard, Development Director at Oxford Circle Christian Development Association (OCCDA), and asked if a group of us from Blooming Glen could listen and learn from our brothers and sisters of color, share a meal, and worship together. We wanted to embark on a learning trip. 

Members of Oxford Circle and Blooming Glen Mennonite Churches gather to talk and listen about race and prejudice on June 13, 2021. Photo provided by Mike Ford.

On June 13, twenty-one of us from Blooming Glen traveled to Oxford Circle (Philadelphia, PA) Mennonite Church. We spent hours listening, learning, and eating a delicious Colombian meal together. We engaged in intentional conversation to build understanding and gain a new perspective on the difficult topic of racism. We ended our visit by worshiping with the Oxford Circle congregation at their evening service.

Our experience was rich with opportunities to listen, learn, and grow and gave us lots to consider, such as …

  • Would you change your name to make your neighbors feel comfortable? You are a US citizen in the US, but your name is unfamiliar to the people around you. Would you change your name to one that sounds familiar to your environment? A person that we met at Oxford Circle changed their name for our comfort. How important is your name to your identity?
  • One Oxford Circle participant explained that as a child, they learned that there are three reasons why a white person would come into their community – to recruit kids to sell drugs, to use girls for sex, or to buy drugs. How distrustful and fearful of white people one might feel if those were your experiences? What messages or experiences inform our ideas about race? How can we help each other to put aside our fears?
  • If shots were fired in your neighborhood, would you call the police? If yes, how long would it take your local police to respond? For a person living near Oxford Circle, the police did not arrive until the next day. Is that your experience with the police?
  • If you were attacked and stabbed, how likely would it be that the police would interrogate your children? The police questioned a participant’s children, without an adult present, while they waited to be picked up from school and accused them of being part of the attack.  Further, the media misrepresented the facts about the attack. After this terrifying event, the victim reached out to offer forgiveness and reconciliation to the perpetrator’s family. Could you?

We learned how our brothers and sisters are following the way of Christ amidst persecution, prejudice, and violence.

Desiring to learn more about overcoming racism, 21 members from Blooming Glen Mennonite Church traveled to meet with members of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, PA. Photo provided by Mike Ford.

Together we courageously discussed the difficult topic of racism. Can Mosaic churches be beacons of Christ’s love amidst all of the division within us and around us? How can we take steps towards one another to build understanding and unity?

One Oxford Circle member shared, “I want you to love my color people as you love your neighbors, as you love yourself. If we loved each other as God asks us to do, we wouldn’t be having the issues we have in this world. Recognize and educate yourself. Spend quality time being part of the solution, and finally, PRAY.”

We are blessed with diversity in Mosaic Conference. Let us seek ways to build on the blessing of our diversity as we witness together.

Paint a Piece of History!

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by Liz Einsig Wise, Executive Director, Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust

Germantown Historic Meetinghouse
Volunteers from around Pennsylvania helped paint the historic Germantown meetinghouse in June. Photos courtesy of Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust.

The historic 1770 Germantown Mennonite Meetinghouse is a powerful symbol of the origins of the Mennonite experience in America and an important touchstone of the Anabaptist faith.  Now cared for by the nonprofit Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust (a Conference Related Ministry of Franconia Conference), the Meetinghouse hosts hundreds of visitors each year, from school groups learning about early Mennonite history to genealogy enthusiasts and others generally interested in American colonial life.  Others discover the Meetinghouse in the context of visiting Historic Germantown, learning for the first time of the Mennonites’ central role in early Pennsylvania  and  about the Mennonite influences contributing to America’s first written protest against slavery.

With a very small staff (less than one full time equivalent) and a modest budget, most of the grounds upkeep for this historic site is done by volunteers.  On June 9-12, GMHT’s Paint a Piece of History! Work Week hosted 50 volunteers from all over the region who donated over 237 hours of labor to spruce up the Meetinghouse and grounds.

Two primary tasks awaited:  repainting the 1908 Sunday School Room and the wrought iron fence that runs the length of the property.  With ready enthusiasm, volunteers from Souderton Mennonite Church, Boy Scout Troop 1719, Frazer Mennonite Church, Oxford Circle Mennonite Church, Germantown Mennonite Church, Circle of Hope Brethren in Christ Church (Broad & Washington and Frankford & Norris campuses), VolunteerMatch, and others all pitched in.  Skilled volunteers also began work on the exterior wood trim of the Meetinghouse.

Germantown 1Even with so many hands, work remained unfinished at the end of the official work week.  Fortunately, during the last week of the month, another group from Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church, in Philadelphia for a work week with Kingdom Builders Construction, helped finish the project (and even more grounds work!) with another 175 hours during one of the hottest weeks of the summer.

Before the paint was even dry, the Meetinghouse hosted a tour group, a jazz concert and a game night!  Coming up, the “Dog Days of Summer” on August 11 will feature GMHT’s 3rd Annual Rook Tournament & Barbecue sale, as well as live music and frozen treats on the lawn.  Later this year, their beloved Christmas Candlelight Service, featuring special ensembles from several congregations as well as a cappella congregational singing, will be held on Saturday, December 8.

Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust welcomes individuals and groups for tours by appointment, or during Historic Germantown’s “2nd Saturdays” on the second Saturday of every month from May through October from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m.  A special presentation customized for your group may also be arranged at your location.  For more information or to schedule a tour, please contact GMHT at (215) 843-0943 or gmht@meetinghouse.info.

AMP conference focuses on multiculturalism and identity

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by Andrew Mashas, Anabaptist Missional Project (reposted by permission)

Anabaptist Missional Project
Leonard Dow, Oxford Circle, challenges the group to move toward the vision of the multicultural multitude in Revelation 7.

On the weekend of June 29 – July 1, 45 people from around the country gathered at Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia for the Anabaptist Missional Project (AMP) conference. Attendees experienced a time of worship, discussion, and fellowship centered on the growing and expanding diversity among Anabaptists in America, specifically within MCUSA. Throughout the weekend, attendees discussed the difficulty of embracing other cultures while maintaining an Anabaptist identity.

The conference, titled “The Spirit’s Work in Mission: Prophesying about Many Peoples,” focused on a vision of the Kingdom of God in the book of Revelation, which explains that every nation, tribe, and tongue will come together to worship the one true Lord and King, Jesus Christ.

Speakers David and Madeline Maldonado shared about the hundreds of Guatemalan immigrant workers attending their Florida congregation. As the number of immigrant attendees increased, so did the ethnic tensions between the Guatemalan workers and Puerto Rican congregants. The Maldonados explained the reconciliation that took place within the church and its example to the community.

Both Habecker and Oxford Circle Mennonite churches of Pennsylvania were able to share their stories of struggle with identity in the midst of declining church attendance and about revitalization within the church.

Leonard Dow of Oxford Circle, a Franconia Conference Partner in Mission, gave a passionate testimony on how the congregation provided a nonviolent protective community around residents who were threatened with violence, allowing for a new approach to community outreach.

In the case of Habecker, Pastor Karen Sensenig described the congregation’s willingness to become vulnerable to God’s transforming spirit. She explained how the church embraced Burmese refugees who stumbled upon their small rural congregation in Lancaster County. And now, with the church seeing a resurgence of life because of this newly found diversity among the community, they’re able to tell their story to the broader Anabaptist community.

“’New Life’ expresses my response to the conference,” said Pastor Sensenig in reflection on the dynamics of the conference. “The vitality that young people bring to the church is so full of hope. They ask questions that push us into new considerations of the movement of God among us. They are willing to be vulnerable and to take risks. The sincere engagement of the group put us all on a quest to discover just what is needed to open a way for the Spirit to blow into our midst in unexpected ways.”

Anabaptist Missional Project
Worship was led by a team from Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.

Meal times were spent in dynamic discussion around a variety of topics including the history of racism, ethnic divisions, and sensitivities in the West and among churches in America.  This discussion provided a platform for people to share their faith journeys with new people across the Anabaptist landscape.

Many of the conference organizers, including Carmen Horst, Ben Wideman and Aaron Kauffman agreed that this year’s conference lacked ethnic diversity and representation from multicultural congregations within the Philadelphia area.

“I was hoping for a diverse group of individuals who were interested in networking and entering into dialogue with each other on the subject of mission and had hopes that there would be a large contingent from the local area, but in the end only a few could make it.” said Ben Wideman, associate pastor at Salford Mennonite Church in Harleysville, Pa.

As for the future of the AMP conference, organizer Carmen Horst, associate pastor at James Street Mennonite Church, said, “I hope that those who have been leading our church for a longer time will pay attention to AMP and see a group of people who can be committed to serving Jesus together without agreeing on some of the issues facing the church. What draws me to AMP is the love for and commitment to the Church.”

Some would also like to see AMP grow to have regionally specific and more frequent gatherings. Aaron Kauffman, Global Ministries Director at Virginia Mennonite Missions said, “I would love to see this kind of thing continue to multiply in other parts of the country where local AMP networks would gather to worship, share insights, and spur one another onto greater faithfulness as witnesses to the reign of God in Christ.”

The sky seems to be the limit for a group like AMP. Creating a space for dynamic and in-depth conversation around the church and its mission while facilitating intentional fellowship among many cultures and ethnicities will serve as an example to the broader Mennonite Church. As Carmen Horst described it, “The leaders and participants of AMP recognize the many failings and brokenness of our Church, and yet desire to remain in it. Out of our love for this messy thing called church, we try to create spaces for speaking truth and growing in truth together.”