Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Pathway Process

Surrendering Our Desires, Becoming Fully Mosaic

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by Danilo Sanchez

September 14 was the start of the series of the 2024 delegate preparation meetings for Assembly delegates to have conversations regarding Mosaic’s Strategic Plan, Pathways Recommendation on Affiliation, and learn about the Vibrant Mosaic Program. Prior to and in these meetings there is a lot of information to absorb.  

In working with our consultant, Grovider, the Pathways Steering Team (PST) created a strategic plan that would guide the work of Mosaic for the next three years. The strategic plan was borne out of the listening tour and Grovider compiled the data from that listening and gave the PST five clear themes which we used to develop the Pillar Statements for the Strategic Plan. Those five pillars are Reconciliation, Relationship Building, Clarity and Identity, Leadership Development, and Communication.  

The PST devoted several months to crafting objectives and activities aligned with them. It was hard to imagine what Mosaic could look like in three years and what was necessary to reach those goals. We recognized that as a conference we are conflict avoidant, so we listed activities that support communication and conflict resolution skills. For clarity and identity, we devised ways to live into our three priorities and help everyone in the conference understand them. We wanted to move the conference to a more “centered-set” model rather than a “bounded-set,” so we included reviewing our conference documents and statements. For leadership development, we included elements of the Vibrant Mosaic Program, trusting that we would receive grant funding to do so.  

Our hardest work was on the recommendation for affiliation. We spent a lot of time hearing from one another and discerning together. Ultimately, we decided “partnership, rather than membership” was the best approach for affiliation with MC USA. As stated in the rationale, our recommendation gives space for those who disagree to covenant as one body, while maintaining some level of relationship. Some congregations in Mosaic want to remove themselves from MC USA because of the Repentance and Transformation Resolution, while others affirmed the resolution and are excited about being members of MC USA. As a newly reconciled conference, it felt most important to figure out how to live into our name “Mosaic” and find space for each of those groups to belong.  

Another dynamic in our recommendation is that as Mosaic has worked at its missional and formational priorities, new global, Spirit-led relationships have emerged naturally. Mosaic Conference has a history of being experimental and entrepreneurial. Being a member of MC USA has posed a challenge to us that limits establishing those new relationships. As members, we would not be able to credential those leaders or have those communities join our conference. Being a partner with MC USA would let us live out our priorities and form deeper local and global relationships. 

I recognize that being on the PST has allowed me to process this recommendation and my emotions about it before others in the conference. I entered this process wanting very strongly to remain members of MC USA. I was going to fight for it. I value the relationships, networking, and resources the denomination provides. I have positive memories of attending various events and Convention.  

My stance changed during this process as I learned to practice “holy indifference” which calls us to set aside our own will and desired outcome and allow the Holy Spirit to transform in ways we need to be transformed. I heard concerns from affirming pastors and traditional pastors about the direction of our conference and how we should affiliate with MC USA. On the PST, I had to wrestle with different viewpoints and concerns of my teammates. In the end, the Holy Spirit took over the Pathways process. We all surrendered our desired outcomes to discern what was best for us as a conference and our pathway forward.   

We are excited about the strategic plan and how it will transform us as a conference. We are excited about the Vibrant Mosaic Program and the new opportunities it will create. And we are hopeful about the recommendation that it will shape new models for relating in institutions and allow us to be fully Mosaic. 

Danilo Sanchez

Danilo Sanchez is the Leadership Minister for Intercultural Transformation for Mosaic Conference. Danilo Sanchez lives in Allentown with his wife Mary and two daughters. He is a pastor at Ripple and leads in the areas of leadership development, discipleship, and teaching. Danilo also works part-time with the housing program of Ripple Community Inc as the Community Life Director.

A Pathway Doxology 

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by Marta Castillo

“O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’  
‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’  
For from him and through him and for him are all things.  
To him be the glory forever! Amen.”  

– Romans 11:33-36, NIV 

When our children are young, we limit their choices. We say, “Do you want the red cup or the yellow cup?” As their world expands, they realize that there are blue cups, green cups, and all kinds of cups to choose from. Having many choices can be lifegiving and can be overwhelming. 

When Mosaic’s Pathways Steering Team was charged with developing a strategic plan and bringing a recommendation of affiliation with MC USA, I went in with a two-path mentality. In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, he suggests that there are two roads and that we can choose only one of them. The less-traveled road would lead to another, and it is unlikely we could go back. 

Pathway Process Steering Committee Members

  • Brandon Bergey – Bethany (Bridgewater Corners, VT)
  • Brent Camilleri – Deep Run East (Perkasie, PA)
  • Bronwyn Histand – Blooming Glen (PA)
  • Cherokee Webb – Faith Chapel (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Danilo Sanchez – Ripple (Allentown, PA), Mosaic Staff
  • Jenny Fujita – Upper Milford (Zionsville, PA)
  • Jim Musselman – Zion (Souderton, PA), Mosaic Board
  • Haroldo Nunes – Seguidores de Cristo (Sarasota, FL)
  • Kiron Mateti – Plains (Hatfield, PA)
  • Mark Reiff – Doylestown (PA)
  • Marta Castillo – Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life, Mosaic Staff
  • Regina Valensia – Philadelphia (PA) Praise Center

Learn more

That may be true. However, when a group like our diverse Pathways Team works together, the choices of pathways become much more complex and roundabout. There are not just two paths but a city with miles of streets. It’s possible to turn right, left, or go around the block to return to the same place. There are some one-way streets we can’t enter, and we must go around the block and choose another way. 

Our team knew that finding a path forward would be difficult and would mean committing to God, one another, and the journey. We believed our desire to seek God’s will would please God, and that God would be faithful to show us the way. We kept saying to one another, “If our group can come to agreement on the way forward, then there is hope for the conference to come to agreement.” 

Our team was asked to focus first on the strategic plan and our identity as Mosaic, and then consider our recommendation for affiliation with MC USA. We were asked to consider but decenter the LGBTQIA conversation and instead center on our identity as a conference, our vision, mission, and priorities.  

The focus areas that emerged were clarity/identity, communication, relationship building, leadership development, and reconciliation. When we learned of the probability of receiving the Vibrant Mosaic Program grant, we incorporated those activities into the plan. Many of us felt excited about all that could happen over the next three years. 

After turning the strategic plan over to our consultants for refinement, we turned to discernment on our recommendation for affiliation with MC USA. It was a disconcerting moment, and we asked ourselves, “How do we decide? What process do we use?” 

We gathered information and had direct and deeper conversations with groups in Mosaic around the three options that had emerged – independence, renewed commitment, or partnership and collaboration. We considered the implications of each option.  

From our conversations, we heard that a split to independence was supported by only a few, a renewed commitment to MC USA was encouraged by a higher percentage, and the option to leave as a member but continue as a partner brought the most energy and felt mostly lifegiving by a wide margin. 

After processing the feedback, our last step was to discern and decide which recommendation we would make to the Board. In a meeting, each team member presented and explained their recommendation, from their own areas of influence and connections within the conference. There was a clear majority recommending collaboration and partnership, with several advocating for continued commitment, so we decided to take additional time for discernment.  

Two weeks later, we met and received a more detailed list of ways we might be able to collaborate with MC USA, and each team member again shared their recommendation. That evening we came to consensus to recommend collaboration and partnership with MC USA. 

For me, it was a joyful culmination of the work the Holy Spirit had done in our group. We had committed to each other and to the work, even in disagreements. Each person’s gifts were used, and each person remained engaged throughout the almost two-year process. The ebb and flow of the process showed us who we can be in community. Together we wrote our final recommendation and rationale. 

We offer it to you as a labor of love, representing many hours of prayer, conversation, and discernment. To the delegates, it is now your choice!  

“For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Romans 11:35, NIV

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.

August Board Meeting Sets the Pathway for Mosaic’s Future

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by Jennifer Svetlik

On the evening of August 19, 2024, the Mosaic Board met with a full agenda for their bimonthly meeting. Grounded in Psalm 118:1-4, the Board received a positive net income finance 2023-24 report and a report on the recent Thriving Congregations Initiative grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Additionally, they set the annual Assembly schedule and prepared to receive three new congregations and one new Conference-Related Ministry (Ark of Christ [Orange County, CA], Bethel [Levittown, PA], Resplandece [Miami, FL and Baranquilla, Colombia], and The Worm Project. These will be introduced in Mosaic News prior to Assembly).

The Board also affirmed and adopted the strategic plan that the Pathways Steering Team has crafted with the support of consultant Grovider.

The strategic plan, which will guide the work of the conference from 2025-2027, includes five pillars: Clarity/Identity, Communication, Leadership Development, Reconciliation, and Relationship-Building. These pillars were based on the key themes that emerged from the listening tour findings and will be interwoven with Mosaic’s missional, formational, and intercultural priority areas.  

The Strategic Plan overview from Grovider is available here. Additional framework for this report will be forthcoming. 

The Pathways Steering Team, made up of 13 individuals from congregations across Mosaic Conference, includes two board and two staff members. The team was charged with a two-year process of overseeing a listening tour, reflecting on the tour’s feedback, aligning the feedback with existing priorities, and creating a three-year strategic plan and a recommendation on the question of Mosaic Conference’s affiliation with Mennonite Church USA (MC USA).

The Pathways team brought to the August 2024 meeting this recommendation for the Mosaic Board:  

We, the Pathways Steering Team, recommend a pathway forward of partnership and collaboration for Mosaic Mennonite Conference’s relationship with MC USA.  

We believe that partnership, rather than membership, allows our diverse conference to focus on our vision, mission, and priorities as we engage with each other and the broader body of Christ in each member’s unique context. 

We believe a partnership can help MC USA and Mosaic congregations and Conference-Related Ministries discover innovative ways to journey together toward healthier relational patterns. We believe Mosaic has much to offer in shaping a new model of relationship. 

We believe a partnership gives space for those who disagree to covenant as one body while we continue to learn and grow together in Christ-centered discipleship and peacemaking. We desire to avoid the schisms of our past and acknowledge that neither this recommendation nor any other will resolve all tension with recent MC USA resolutions and the diversity of belief within Mosaic.  

We thank the Holy Spirit for empowering us as we have worked together in our discernment and decision making. We have sensed the Spirit leading us forward through our times of listening and sharing, agreeing and disagreeing, praying, silence, and Scripture. Partnership was the pathway the majority of the Pathways Team was drawn toward, and where we found consensus. This recommendation comes with a sense of peace, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and indeed it is a “pleasant place” (Psalm 16). 

After extensive conversation, the Mosaic Conference Board, with strong support, “affirmed the work of the Pathways team and recommends the affiliation proposal to the delegates.” 

“We deeply appreciate the dedicated, faithful discernment process of the Pathways team,” shared Conference Moderator Angela Moyer Walter. “We look forward to who we are becoming as we commit together to do the work of the strategic plan.”  

Moyer Walter continued, “Each piece of our mosaic is valuable and contributes to the whole. There are many perspectives, but God unifies us, even in disagreement. I invite us to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and recognize the breadth of God’s beauty represented in all of us.” 

Each piece of our mosaic is valuable and contributes to the whole.

angela moyer walter, mosaic moderator

“The Pathways team was very successful in what they were asked to do,” shared Mosaic’s Assistant Moderator Roy Williams. “No one approach will satisfy everyone. We as a board accepted this recommendation as such. We invite the Assembly delegates to wrestle with this recommendation and come together at the delegate preparation meetings to share their feedback. We’ll take all of it under advisement.”  

In reflecting on the affiliation recommendation, Executive Minister Steve Kriss shared, “This ‘third way approach’ will require work, patience, and creativity as we discern a possible new pattern of relating with our siblings across Mennonite Church USA. We value the space a new arrangement might give toward both focused and expanded possibilities within the global Anabaptist community.” 

“I feel grateful to be part of the Pathways Steering Team, though our time of prayer and discernment was not easy,” shared Haroldo Nunes (Seguidores de Cristo [Sarasota, FL]), who joined the Pathways Steering Team in January 2024. “We had disagreements, worked on many language changes, and needed to listen to each other well and compromise. We worked with respect and love for each other, knowing that the results will benefit the conference.” 

Also reflecting on her experience on the Pathways Steering Team, Bronwyn Histand (Blooming Glen [PA] Mennonite) offered, “I recognize that our path was difficult; we did not initially know one another, we primarily worked virtually, and our task grew out of a significant conflict. However, with persistent listening, scripture, prayer times, and lots of emails, both the strategic plan and the affiliation recommendation became clear. I particularly felt the Holy Spirit leading us as we grappled directly with the affiliation question. We talked openly, shared perspectives, agreed and disagreed, asked questions, and ultimately came to consensus. I felt a sense of God’s creative spirit flowing like a river as we embraced a ‘third way.’”

Feedback from the delegate preparation meetings in September will help to shape the action that the Conference Board will bring to the annual Assembly. The next meeting of the Conference Board will take place on Sept. 30, 2024.  

Jennifer Svetlik

Jennifer is Editor / Development Coordinator for Mosaic. She also serves as Children’s Faith Formation Director at Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA).

Submitting to God and One Another as the Pathways Steering Team

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by Marta Castillo

Every group or process I have been a part of has required submission and humility. Before I became a pastor, I thought that pastors and leaders had control in their church and organization, and they were able to get things to go their way. When I became a pastor, especially a pastor on a team with two other pastors, male, one African American and one Latino, in a congregation that was intercultural, I realized that I only got “my” way about 10% of the time. There was a lot of submission to God and to the members of the congregation where I served. It was freeing, humbling, and occasionally annoying. 

As the Pathways Steering Team, our diverse group from all over the conference has worked together over the last year and a half on strategic planning and preparing a recommendation about affiliation with Mennonite Church USA. There have been countless opportunities for us to learn to submit to God and to each other. The reality is that none of us are in control or can get our own way. All of us are seeking to honor God by being submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to the others in our group and the conference. Reverent submission is honored by God. 

Statue at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (Harrisonburg, VA) titled “Love Essence” by Esther K. Augsburger. Photo by Marta Castillo. 

We seek to follow the way of Jesus in Philippians 2 which asks, “Does belonging to Christ help you in any way? Does his love comfort you at all? Do you share anything in common because of the Holy Spirit? Has Christ ever been gentle and loving toward you? If any of these things has happened to you, then agree with one another. Have the same love. Be one in spirit and in the way you think and act. By doing this you will make my joy complete. Don’t do anything to get ahead. Don’t do it because you are proud. Instead, be humble.  Value other more than yourselves. None of you should look out just for your own good. Each of you should also look out for the good of others. As you deal with one another, you should think and act as Jesus did.”  (Philippians 2:1-5, NIRV) 

The posture of submission to God results in humility towards God and one another. For the Pathways Team, it has created fertile ground for unique ideas, unexpected twists and turns, curiosity, and attention to the parts of the body that seem weaker, less represented with opportunities to honor their voice (c.f. I Corinthians 12:12-26). Time and again we are seeing the fruit of submission to another God and the “other,” not in forming the perfect strategic plan, but in honoring God and one another. The way of the Lamb of submission to God leads to honoring God and being honored by God (c.f. Revelation 5:9-12). 

Copyright ©2024 InterVarsity Press

I am currently reading Humility Illuminated by Dennis Edwards (which I highly recommend). In Chapter 3, he writes about how “indispensable humility is for establishing and maintain Christian community…humility is how love blossoms.” (p.12) 

In every meeting, in decision making, in conflict, and transition, we must strive for submission to God, considering others better than ourselves, remaining silent so that others may speak, waiting on God, and believing the intercultural value of mutual transformation open the door to God’s way being revealed and to obedience. We submit to one another to honor each other, and we are changed by the experience. We die to self and end up producing fruit of righteousness.   

The Pathways Steering Team was set up to be representative of the conference. I have heard it said that if we can work together, hear one another, and together present a plan and recommendation to the rest of the conference, then there is hope that the whole of Mosaic can do the same. Walking humbly with God and with each other will be essential for the pathway forward. 

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.

The Pathway Towards Shaping Our Future Together, Phase 2 

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by Marta Castillo

Pathway Steering Team members present at the 2023 Conference Assembly.

During the Pathways presentation at the November 2023 Assembly, I blurted out a request to the delegates, on behalf of the team, that I never intended to share out loud, even though it had been a prayer in my spirit. It was a request for trust from the delegates, to trust in the work of God’s Spirit through our team in the Mosaic strategic planning process.  

Last fall, during one of our delegate preparation sessions, Steven Hunsberger, a delegate from Blooming Glen (PA), mentioned a business concept of “know, like, trust” as a process we go through to get to the point where we are comfortable enough to associate with or do business with someone. 

As we enter the second year of our two-year strategic planning process, imagine the implications of knowing each other, liking (loving) each other, and trusting each other as congregations and Conference-Related Ministries choosing to walk together.

In Phase Two of our strategic planning, we are focusing on clarity around our identity, clear and kind communication, the work of building relationships, building leadership capacity in our leaders, and acknowledging and reconciling our differences. 

On January 22, Haroldo Nunes of Seguidores de Cristo (Sarasota, FL) was appointed by the Board to join the Pathways Steering Team. The Team is meeting every other week with Grovider, our consultant, to set goals around our three priorities (missional, formational, and intercultural) as outlined in the Pathway Towards Shaping Our Future Together document, and to identify strategic initiatives, performance indicators, capacity needs, and more. 

In addition, this work will clarify our relationships with each other, other Anabaptist communities, and Mennonite Church USA. In November 2024, at this year’s Assembly, we will present our findings using the information gathered from delegates and leaders in our Conference. 

The Pathways Steering team will continue to, as it says in the Pathway document, “to share in the practice of continued prayer and fasting so that we may discern, yield, and listen to the Spirit among us.” 

We will continue “to walk together, recognizing discernment is a commitment to the community that we proclaim as the center of our life and the reconciliation that we proclaim is the center of our work. We will remain in respectful conversation and friendship as we discern God’s future for us together amid brokenness and beauty.” We ask you to join us. 

Our Pathways Steering Team will provide progress updates of our work throughout the year in Mosaic News. For now, we ask for your prayers for guidance through the power of the Holy Spirit and for your trust.  

In the words of Romans 15:5-7 (from a recent Praying Scripture), “May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.” (NLT) 

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.

Pathway Process Continues Work 

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As part of the Pathway Process that was affirmed by a majority of delegates at the November 2022 Conference Assembly, the Pathway Steering Team (PST) continues to work on the two-year strategic planning process, as developed by the Mosaic Board.  

June and July were critical months for Mosaic’s Pathway Process and the PST.  During these two months, 16 focus group sessions (which included 125 participants) and 14 individual interviews were performed by the PST. Those that were included in these focus groups and interviews were: Board members, Conference committee chairpersons, Conference Staff, Conference Related Ministry (CRM) leaders, and Credentialed Leaders.  

The interviews and focus groups provided continued dialogue and data gathering regarding Mosaic’s strategic planning process, with the purpose “to set a pathway within our priorities, to clarify our relationships with each other, other Anabaptist communities, and Mennonite Church USA.” 

The dialogue questions, designed by the Steering Team and Grovider consultants, were the next step for the Pathway Process, following the 2022 Listening Tour and feedback from congregations, leaders, and CRMs throughout the past year.  Led by members of the PST and Grovider consultants, all sessions and interviews were completed by late July.  

Moments of hope, vision, optimism, pain, frustration, clarity, and complexity were all part of the dialogue.  Stories illustrated how the Spirit is currently working through our congregations and CRMs.  While sometimes difficult for peace-loving participants to share, challenges, fears, conflicts, and disappointment were also named. Many expressed their expectations, hopes, and dreams for the future. Overall, the dialogue was rich and diverse, as leaders from congregations and CRMs, staff, and board members grappled with our calling and priorities as a conference and broader denomination, amid the challenges of this season.   

In the coming weeks, Grovider Consultants will consolidate the data from the focus groups and interviews and provide the Pathway Steering Team with a memo of the findings. The Pathway Steering Team will share feedback with Conference delegates before and during the fall Assembly on November 4 for further discernment and discussion.   

We encourage you to continue to fast and pray for listening, discernment, and yielding to God’s Spirit in the work of the Mosaic Conference and the Pathways Process.   

Pathway Forward Steering Team Update

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by Marta Castillo 

April 10, 2023 

The Pathway Forward Steering Team is up and running with a task that seems large … even God-sized!  Our mission is to lead a two-year strategic planning process to set a pathway within our priorities and in alignment with our vision and mission, which will serve to guide us for the following 3-5 years in our work together as congregations, conference related ministries, board, and staff.  This work will also clarify our relationship with Mennonite Church USA, with each other, and with other Anabaptist communities.  

We, the Pathway Forward Steering Team, are humbled by the largeness of the scope of the task.  We are also hopeful that our desire to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and keep Jesus in the center of our work will be a part of God’s ongoing kingdom work in our conference.   

Our first step was to fully invite the Holy Spirit into this work. As stated in the Pathway Forward document, we “recognize the holy possibility present in living into our vision; we have committed to embodying the reconciling love of Jesus in our broken and beautiful world as a community celebrating and extending God’s grace, justice, and peace. We recognize that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we shape our relationships and work around missional, intercultural, and formational priorities with Jesus at the center of our faith.” 

We have met as a larger team, as well as in a smaller coordinating group every other week. We have also met with Grovider, our consultants, and will continue to meet with them once a month to sort out our roles and purposes and how we will collaborate as teams. 

Currently, our Pathway Forward Steering Team is seeking to frame questions for information gathering, name key Scriptures, and create an interactive and relational framework for respectful, joyful, and honest conversations around the hopes, dreams, and challenges that we have for each of these priorities:   

Missional 

As God’s people, we are sent to heal what has been broken in our relationships, neighborhoods, and the world by sharing and living out the Good News of Jesus. 

Intercultural 

As human beings made in the image of God, we acknowledge, own, and celebrate our cultural differences, allowing ourselves to be changed by the relationships we build across cultures, while we work together for racial justice. 

Formational 

As Anabaptist Christians, we are called both to know and to follow God in our lives. As we build relationships and share the Good News, we become more and more like Jesus. 

We invite you to send us forward-looking hopes, dreams, questions, Scriptures, and thoughts related to our Mosaic missional, intercultural, and formational priorities.  Email the team at pathwayprocesssteeringcommittee@mosaicmennonites.org.  

We invite you to fast and pray for us as we fast and pray for the team, the Pathway Forward, and Mosaic Mennonite Conference. 

Marta Castillo

Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.

Pathway Steering Team and Consulting Firm Announced

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As part of the Pathway Process that was affirmed by a majority of delegates at the November 2022 Assembly, the Mosaic Board continues to move ahead with the plan the Board developed following Assembly, including naming the Pathway Steering Team.  

The proposed process included naming a Pathway Steering Team made up of 6-12 members, including a mix of Board, staff, and Mosaic Conference members who bring a strong commitment to Mosaic’s missional, formational, and intercultural priorities and our shared vision.  Nominations were invited and gathered from across the Conference in December and January.  

The Mosaic Board has affirmed the following Pathway Steering Team members: 

  • Aldo Colon (Iglesia Luz y Vida, Orlando, FL)1
  • Brandon Bergey (Bethany Birches Camp, Plymouth, VT and Bethany Mennonite Church, Bridgewater Corners, VT)
  • Brent Camilleri (Deep Run East Mennonite Church, Perkasie, PA)
  • Bronwyn Histand (Blooming Glen [PA] Mennonite Church)
  • Cherokee Webb (Faith Chapel, Los Angeles, CA)
  • Danilo Sanchez (Mosaic staff; Whitehall Mennonite Church and Ripple, Allentown, PA)
  • Jenny Fujita (Upper Milford Mennonite Church, Zionsville, PA)
  • Jim Musselman (Mosaic Board member; Zion Mennonite Church, Souderton, PA)
  • Kiron Mateti (Mosaic Board member; Plains Mennonite Church, Hatfield, PA)
  • Mark Reiff (Doylestown (PA) Mennonite Church)
  • Marta Castillo (Mosaic staff; Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life Mennonite Church)
  • Regina Valensia (Philadelphia (PA) Praise Center)

To read more detailed information about each Pathway Steering Team member, please click here (updated in May 2024). 

“I’m amazed and grateful for the breadth and depth of skills and giftings in this group,” said Mosaic Moderator Angela Moyer Walter. “I’m grateful for their love and dedication for the Church and their willingness to say ‘yes’ to this work when they could share their gifts in many other places.  I’m eager to see the wisdom that emerges from this group and this process.” 

The Steering Team will contribute to the strategic planning process outlined by the Board within the two-year Pathway timeline, along with an outside consulting firm. Since December, the Board received proposals from numerous consulting options who fit Mosaic’s specific needs of experience. After reviewing these proposals and interviews, the Board has agreed on partnering with Grovider, a consulting firm based in Center City Philadelphia. 

Executive Minister Stephen Kriss worked at cultivating and receiving proposals from possible partners for the Pathway process. “We solicited proposals from consultants across the country, receiving several strong proposals,” said Kriss. “We had stipulations that consultants have experience working with communities of faith and a capacity to work with the diversity of our Conference. Grovider impressed us with their capacity, congeniality, commitments and professionalism.” 

Since 2017, the Grovider firm has partnered closely with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions to design learning agendas and provide data-informed strategic support.  A strength that the Grovider team offers Mosaic is their focus on diverse social identities and unique experiences. Their approach to data collection “invite[s] voices from a range of positionalities—seeking to use data as a means to tell stories, unearth needs, reveal complexities, and determine the pathway to more significant impact.” Grovider received strong affirmation from their previous work with faith-based institutions in the Philadelphia region. 

The Board, Steering Team, and consulting firm will at times be working independently, but also together, within the two-year timeline proposed in the Pathway Document. The Steering Team will be working diligently in the next eight months to bring their first presentation of their activity to 2023 Annual Assembly to be held on November 4 at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. 

  1. As of May 2024, Haroldo Nunes (Seguidores de Cristo, Sarasota, FL) has replaced Aldo Colon on the Pathway Steering Team. ↩︎