Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Pastor's Breakfast

Sharing Breakfast and Life

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by Emily Ralph Servant, Interim Director of Congregational Resourcing

“I was not really looking forward to the morning event.  I wasn’t even sure it had much to do with my call and work,” confessed Joy Sawatzky, a chaplain at Living Branches.  “What happened was a nice surprise.  I like surprises.”

The “morning event” was a breakfast sponsored by Living Branches and Franconia Conference exploring questions of spirituality across generations.  On February 14, a panel of leaders answered questions about calling, spiritual practices, and hope.

“What happened was heart-felt sharing from three different generations around call and how that was and is lived out, not just in the lives of those on the panel, but in the table conversations afterwards as well,” reflected Sawatzky.

Panelists Krista Showalter Ehst, John Ruth, Paula Stoltzfus, James Krabill, Josh Meyer, and Ray Hurst expressed curiosity about other generations, pondered over advice they would give to their younger selves, suggested practices that are important in the life of the Church, and confessed how their priorities in ministry have been shaped by their life experiences (listen to the podcast).

After the panelists shared, pastors gathered around tables to share their own stories, challenges, and questions.  The take away—a hope for the future of the church and a hope for more of these conversations.

Living Branches began to explore sponsoring conversations on aging after a pastor told them, “Our church is aging, however our energy is focused on family and youth; we would appreciate thinking and talking together about issues of aging. Help us.”   Living Branches believes that as a member of the community and a participating ministry of the Franconia Conference, they have a calling to connect with and resource their community and churches around the issues of aging, says Margaret Zook, Director of Church & Community Relations at Living Branches.  “We believe that joy and purpose in life is enriched through conversations at all stages of our life.”

Credentialed leaders are invited to two breakfasts this April:

  • April 19, 8-10am, at Souderton Mennonite Homes. Chaplains from Living Branches will present the documentary “Being Mortal” and facilitate a conversation around faith and end of life issues.  (RSVP to Margaret_Zook@LivingBranches.org).
  • April 25, 9-11am, at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church. Anne Kaufman Weaver will lead a conversation around her research in resiliency for women in pastoral leadership.

“Taking time to be together to learn, to network, to eat together, to drink coffee and tea together helps keep our leadership and relationships vibrant and lively,” says Franconia Conference executive minister Steve Kriss.  “While our schedules are busy, this time apart, even for a few hours, is an important respite and a significant time to strengthen both skills and relationships among us as credentialed leaders in our conference community.”

For questions related to upcoming events or to request resourcing for your congregation, contact Emily (email or 267-932-6050, ext. 117).

On Becoming a Church Invested in Racial Justice

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Ewuare OsayandeEwuare Osayande, anti-oppression coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee, joined us Thursday for a pastors breakfast entitled “Proactive Pastorship: On Becoming a Church Invested in Racial Justice.”

Ewuare challenged congregational leaders to understand the concept of “race:” a social construct emerging out of colonialism and slavery.  Once congregations understand race, they can begin to have a conversation about racism and the impact racism has had on all people.

Ewuare also encouraged pastors to study the way that race has impacted the development of the Mennonite church in the United States and the communities that Mennonite immigration displaced.  Mennonites have their own history of suffering but somewhere along the way, they became the “Quiet in the Land.”  When they came to the “New World,” the Quiet in the Land were silent in the face of injustice and benefited from it.  “This is also a part of your history,” he said.

Hear Ewuare’s entire presentation, his suggestions on steps congregations can take to invest in racial justice, and an insightful question and answer time:

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Racial Justice.mp3[/podcast]

Read Ewuare’s blog and register for the upcoming MCC webinar on Renisha McBride, race, and gender: http://mccantioppression.wordpress.com/

Ewuare suggests that white pastors and congregations read A Testament of Hope as a way to begin understanding African American thought and theology.

Worshiping our way into God's future

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James KrabillJames Krabill from Mennonite Mission Network stopped by our Pastors and CRM Leaders Breakfast on September 26 to guide our leaders in imagining an intercultural future, beginning with the way we worship.  You can pick up a copy of his book at the Conference Center and listen to the podcast below–he used these handouts.

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/James Krabill (low).mp3[/podcast]

Conversation about worshiping into God's future

James Krabill breakfast

Gathering with Elizabeth Soto Albrecht

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Elizabeth Soto AlbrechtElizabeth Soto Albrecht, the new moderator of Mennonite Church USA, recently completed a 3-week journey around the United States visiting Mennonite Church USA congregations.  Elizabeth joined pastors and Conference Related Ministry leaders on August 23 to share her learnings and challenges from that journey and hopes for the future of the church and to listen to stories and answer questions from Franconia and Eastern District leaders.

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Elizabeth Soto Albrecht.mp3[/podcast]

Preventing Gun Violence

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Gun Violence Pastors BreakfastDrick Boyd, professor at Eastern University, and Fred Kauffman from Mennonite Central Committee (both from West Philadelphia congregation) shared stories of gun violence and redemption and encouraged leaders to engage their congregations around the topic of gun violence and gun control.  There are deeper issues in our culture, Boyd said, and getting rid of guns won’t remove those deeper issues, but “at least we’ll live long enough to address them.”

Kauffman and Boyd are available to come speak at your congregation on the topic of preventing gun violence; they also recommend the book America and Its Guns.

Intercessory Prayer about Gun Violence

Listen to the podcast:

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Gun-Violence.mp3[/podcast]

U.S. War-culture, Sacrifice and Salvation

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Kelly Denton-BorhaugFollowing the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Rev. Kelly Denton-Borhaug, Associate Professor and Chair of the Religion Department at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., began to investigate the links between Christian understandings of sacrifice and U.S. militarism and war.

This morning, Denton-Borhaug spoke at the Pastors and CRM Leaders’ Breakfast about the topic of her book, U.S. War-culture, Sacrifice and Salvation.  A “war-culture,” said Denton-Borhaug, is the increasing interpenetration of the ethos and practices of war into ever-increasing facets of daily human life.  Drawing on information from economists, sociologists, and pop culture, Denton-Borhaug gave illustrations of how this war-culture has developed and overdeveloped, especially in the years since 9/11, and how the language of sacrifice fosters what can be considered a national “war religion.”

Peace advocates must talk about and study the reality of war-culture in the United States, Denton-Borhaug encouraged, to begin to diffuse the mystery that surrounds it.  This will be the topic of the upcoming Winter Peace Retreat, sponsored by the Franconia and Eastern District Conferences’ Peace & Justice Committee.

Listen to the podcast from this morning’s breakfast and view the PowerPoint presentation, which includes additional information and statistics beyond what Denton-Borhaug covered in her presentation.  Contact Kelly.

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/War-Culture-Kelly-Denton-Borhaug.mp3[/podcast]

Welcoming ex-offenders: Pastors Breakfast with Liberty Ministries

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Jonathan Lewis and Charlie Ness
Charlie Ness, pastor of Perkiomenville congregation, and Jonathan Lewis, director of the residential program at Liberty Ministries, share about their experiences with post-prison ministry.

Liberty Ministries exists to serve offenders in prison and ex-offenders in the community by showing God’s love, providing practical assistance, and supporting Biblical standards of justice.  At Wednesday morning’s breakfast, Bob Thompson, executive director, Jonathan Lewis, director of the residential program, and Charlie Ness, pastor of Perkiomenville congregation and one of the ministry’s founders, shared from their experiences of walking with ex-offenders who are moving beyond their past in the healing community of the church.

Listen to the podcast

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Liberty Pastors Breakfast (July 18).mp3[/podcast]

Watch the video

Business as Mission

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Business as Mission Breakfast
Steve Hackman from One Village Coffee and Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger from Top of the World Coffee in Nepal shared at the June 14 pastors breakfast about their vision for business as mission.

Steve Hackman from One Village Coffee and Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger, missionaries in Nepal and proprietors of Top of the World Coffee, spoke at the June 14th Pastors and Conference Related Ministry Leaders Breakfast at the Conference Center in Harleysville.

All three have a passion for using business to reach others for Christ and to bring development to impoverished communities.  Read about the Nafziger’s work in Nepal here or listen to Steve’s presentation in our podcast–at the end, you’ll also hear a little about a new coffee ministry beginning in Quakertown, Pa.

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Business as Mission (Steve Hackman).mp3[/podcast]