(posted March 21) Risen and Sent is an Easter-to-Pentecost devotional podcast from Mosaic Conference. New episodes are released three times a week—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—from March 23 through May 22. Each day carries a distinct focus: Monday (Formational), Wednesday (Intercultural), and Friday (Missional). The first episode airs on March 23!
Pentecost
The Holy Spirit’s Movement in Mosaic Congregations at Pentecost and Beyond
A few weeks prior to Pentecost 2025, Sandy Drescher-Lehman, Pastor of Methacton (PA) Mennonite, reached out to 13 other Mosaic pastors, asking them to share how they see the Holy Spirit alive in their congregation. Many of them wrote back, and Mosaic communication staff reached out to some additional pastors for their congregations.
On Pentecost Sunday, Methacton lit a candle and prayed for many Mosaic congregations who had shared about where the Holy Spirit was moving in the congregation.
Here are the responses of some of the congregations, along with a few photos of other joint Pentecost worship services.
The Holy Spirit is alive among us in welcoming the congregation into a new day of multiplying our pastoral leadership as the congregation has unanimously invited Jordan Luther to become a co-pastor with me, beginning June 1. We’re excited about how the Spirit will use the combination of our ages, giftedness, interests and vision to lead us into the weeks and years ahead in mission and ministry. – Sandy Drescher-Lehman, Pastor of Methacton (PA) Mennonite
We have experienced the Holy Spirit’s nurture and care through provision and some new and committed members. We have enjoyed partnering with multiple Mosaic congregations and the two Spanish speaking congregations that also use our building. A new intergenerational Bible study on Wednesday nights has been a blessing. Our Friday prayer team not only prays for our congregational members but has been called on to pray for many beyond our doors. And God keeps surprising us with new situations and people we didn’t know to expect or pray for. – Rose Bender Cook, Pastor of Whitehall (PA) Mennonite
God is sending more children to our Sunday school, so that we need a bigger space for them. Many individuals take part in serving the community. The Spirit is comforting many families who are vulnerable. They show up every Sunday, praising Jesus and are active in the church. – Aldo Siahaan, Pastor of Philadelphia (PA) Praise Center
We felt the Spirit’s nudge as we coordinated a second annual End Gun Violence walk and Memorial to the Lost t-shirt display with Zwingli UCC in Souderton. It was a rainy day, and we were wondering if attendance would be low, but at least 100 people came out to join publicly witness for peace and to write letters advocating for reasonable gun control legislation. The diversity of the group, and the various faith traditions represented, reminded us that in a time of division and polarization, a testimony shines through when we work together to proclaim peace and justice. – Mike Ford, Pastor of Zion Mennonite (Souderton, PA)
We’ve seen the Holy Spirit leading us to fruitful partnerships and connections with our neighbors and local organizations as we’ve hosted the reopening of the Ambler Community Fridge in March. – Michelle Curtis, Pastor of Ambler (PA) Mennonite
We have been experiencing the Holy Spirit’s nudging us to spend the fifth Sundays as an opportunity to be more involved in community engagement. In March our members visited six mostly Mosaic congregations. We hope the fifth Sundays can continue to grow and that others can find it to be a fruitful way of discovering what the Holy Spirit is doing in the community and throughout the world. – Bev Benner Miller, Pastor of Plains Mennonite (Hatfield, PA)
We have been experiencing the movement of the Spirit through the voices and energy of our children. They ask good questions, share their enthusiasm during worship, and bless us with their artwork on our bulletins each Sunday. I’m also experiencing the Spirit move through our older persons and the way they share about God’s faithfulness in the past that gives us hope for our future. – Laura Alderfer, Director of Music at Salford (PA) Mennonite
Refuge has experienced the Spirit when we explore gospel stories together. Every time we gather, even when we feel tired or stressed, we experience the Spirit’s whisper through the stories of Jesus, imaginative prayer, and silence. We see the things we hear from God taking root in our lives and neighborhoods—changes in our relationships, ways of relating to our community, and expectations of ourselves. Often, we hear God reminding us we are loved! – Emily Ralph Servant, Pastor of Refuge (virtual)
At Alpha we know that the Holy Spirit is alive and well in our church in the ways God is revealing our spiritual gifts and reconnecting us to our community.
At Ripple we know the Holy Spirit is at work in our church in the many ways we witness and experience transformation in the lives of our members and in our own lives. – Charlene Smalls, Pastor of Ripple Church (Allentown, PA) and Alpha (NJ) Mennonite
I see the Holy Spirit at work in our congregation by changing people from the inside out—healing hearts and shaping lives. – Stephen Zacheus, Pastor of Jemaat Kristen Indonesian Anugerah (Sierra Madre, CA)
I see repentance and a longing to pray and draw closer to God and others, regardless of ethnicity, race, or background. As the Holy Spirit moves, we have added more prayer meetings to our schedule and church collaboration. – Hendy Matahelemual, Pastor of Indonesian Light Church (Philadelphia, PA)
I know the Holy Spirit is alive and well through guidance, comfort, and inspiration. As a very small congregation, it’s easy to question whether you are valued and even to wonder if you will make it another year. Yet in times of struggle there have been glimpses of the Spirit’s encouragement, in the form of a small group new folks joining the congregation, new possibilities for connecting with our community, and people’s willingness to share their gifts with the church and try new things. The congregation is actively pursuing physical upgrades to make the meetinghouse more accessible, which will allow the space to be a “meetinghouse” for church and community. – Chris Nickels, Pastor of Spring Mount (PA) Mennonite
God’s Spirit is stirring in many ways at Souderton Mennonite: we celebrate Spirit’s work within our women’s Bible Studies and in the lives of loved ones who are passing to their eternal home; we celebrate the addition of new families, young adults and friends from various countries in Africa; and we look forward to an interdenominational worship service in the Souderton Park. – Jenifer Erikson Morales, pastor at Souderton (PA) Mennonite
Our congregation is blessed with prayer warriors. It is a gift to see and feel the Holy Spirit at work as we pray for each other, our families, the community, and the world. Our time of Selah, reflection, and sharing during our “Words From The Lord” time in our service enriches our lives. – Beth Davco, pastor at Wellspring Church of Skippack (PA)
Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.
Reflections from Pentecost Together / Bersama / Juntos 2024
At least 36 congregations within Mosaic Conference participated in the 2024 Mosaic celebration of “Pentecost Together / Bersama / Juntos.” The time together emphasized connecting across congregations of different cultural and theological perspectives to develop and deepen relationships.
The ways of connecting included worshipping together, pulpit exchanges, shared sermons, praying for each other, shared youth group time, shared worship teams, exchanging video greetings, fellowship meals, and more. Check out the highlights video, as well as a few reflections from participants, below:
“On Pentecost, the youth group from Salford (Harleysville, PA) got to go to Philadelphia Praise Center for worship. This opportunity gave me a chance to see how different cultures can be integrated into church life. One special thing about the service was the inclusive space created by the encouragement and participation from the audience. I loved how passionate all the PPC youth were in leading the singing. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and thought that the generosity and liveliness of the church community was a great example of seeing God move through people.” – Aubrey Gehman, Salford youth group
“On Pentecost, two very different churches came together and laughed, sang, ate, talked, and played. Yes, we are different people with different ways of doing church, but if neither is actually wrong, then it’s possible that in Christ there doesn’t have to be anything that keeps us apart.” – Susan Alloway, Director of Media & Worship for Redemption Church of Bristol (PA)
“Perkiomenville and Frederick (PA) met at Perk for a shared worship service followed by a potluck meal and talent share. Members of both churches formed a worship team. Pastors Grant Price and Mike Spinelli preached “podcast style” on the story of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring in Acts 2 and how we can live in the Holy Spirit’s power today. In the talent share, people were encouraged to bring hobbies or interests they pursued and display them for others to enjoy and ask questions about. This time was a great reminder of our congregations’ shared roots and shared power in the Holy Spirit.” – Pastor Mike Spinelli, Perkiomenville
“We learned that as we prayed together, ate together, shared experiences and concerns together, the differences in language and customs, the apprehensions, and self-consciousness didn’t matter. We had all we needed. The blessing of God’s Spirit rested in our hearts. We will do this again.” – SarahAlice Zimmerly, Homestead Mennonite
“When Whitehall (PA) asked if Lakeview (Susquehana, PA) would join them to celebrate Pentecost, we were delighted. It wasn’t long before we agreed that it was time for a road trip! We arrived wearing red, yellow, orange, and blue to match the Whitehall crowd. What a joy when we were also happily reunited with Lakeviewers who had moved away. We were quickly caught up in Pastor Melky’s exuberant welcome. We worshipped in English and Karen.The Whitehall Youth Dance Team worship dance was filled with grace. Lakeview’s pastoral minister, Sister Brigid, shared a challenging message. The service closed with a blessing and a prayer in Haitian Creole and downstairs we went to eat and connect. It was great fun!” – Dorrie Mininger, Lakeview Mennonite
Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship (Woodstock, VT) was happy to host members of the Mosaic Board and the Executive Minister. The scripture was 1 Cor 14:1-13 and the message included words from both Steve Kriss and Pastor Steve McCloskey. Kriss reflected on the movement of Mosaic congregations joining, leaving, and merging. McCloskey spoke of the hope of maintaining unity and integrity within the Body of Christ, globally and locally. Afterward, a potluck fellowship meal and rich conversation took place. – Pastor Steve McCloskey, Taftsville Chapel
Redemption and Bethel Pentecost 2024 – #MosaicTogether2024
by Susan Alloway, Director of Media & Worship for Redemption Church of Bristol (PA)
Whenever you go into someone else’s space, there is always anxiety. Will we be received? Will we offend? Will we be too insistent on our own traditions or blind to our own habits and come across as invaders?
All of this was certainly going through my head as I created the service slides in both English and Haitian Creole in preparation for our joint service with Bethel Church in Levittown, PA. Our church, Redemption, meets only 15 minutes away in Bristol. But none of us speak a word of Creole and we had only just met a few folks from Bethel weeks earlier. We would be going to their meeting space, bringing our preferences, our understanding of punctuality, and our style of dress. How would it go?
On Pentecost Sunday, we had a beautiful service filled with laughter, graciousness, and generosity. I learned how lovely and enjoyable it is to sing in Haitian Creole. We all learned that a Celtic image for the Holy Spirit is “the wild goose,” which Bethel translated as “zwa savage” (the savage swan), and now my husband Gary and I will call geese “zwa savage” for the rest of time. We all accidentally rubbed hand soap instead of sanitizer into our hands before communion because everyone was too bashful to say anything until Bethel’s pastor, Sam, who was last in line, pointed it out (and we all had a good laugh). We ate wonderful, abundant Haitian food. And some of the kids from both churches got into a pillow dodging competition, and then asked if we could keep meeting together each week.
But what was most meaningful to me was when a man from Bethel sat with my family for lunch and told us a story. He said: “I once went to Niger, and I had my shirt tucked in because that is what is seen as the good thing in Haiti. But there, an old man told me that I should untuck my shirt because that was seen as the good thing in Niger, never tuck in. So, I came to understand that a lot of things don’t matter. Neither was actually wrong.”
On Pentecost, two very different churches came together and laughed, sang, ate, talked, and played. Yes, we are different people with different ways of doing church, but if neither is actually wrong, then it’s possible that in Christ there doesn’t have to be anything that keeps us apart.
The Hard Work of Pentecost
by Stephen Kriss
Editor’s note: Executive Minister Stephen Kriss began a sabbatical on May 22. He will return to his Mosaic role on August 30. He wrote this article before he left on sabbatical.
In mid-May, Rose Bender and I taught an intensive “Introduction to Mosaic” class. This Mosaic Institute class is for recently credentialed Mosaic leaders or those who are exploring credentialed ministry in our Conference. It’s a quick immersion into Anabaptist theology, intercultural practice, Mennonite history and polity, and our Mosaic story.
In this class, students shared their life stories with each other. Because of the diversity of this group, the contexts took us from Africa to Argentina, California to New York. Listening to each other’s stories requires calmness, attentiveness, and curiosity. There were stories of trauma and hope, of hurt and healing. I continue to be amazed by the depth of faith that new leaders in our Conference bring to our community.
This past Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, which also marks the third anniversary of naming ourselves “Mosaic Conference.” Pentecost seems full of possibility. I’ve often thought that Pentecost is about sharing and expressing, receiving and speaking. But it is also about listening. It is about hearing in a language that is familiar but not to all. It’s about the Good News being expressed in multiple ways (see Acts 2).
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The hard work of Pentecost is listening. We imagine the vigor of tongues of fire, the forceful rush of wind, the murmur of words spoken in our preferred language. But it also required attending our minds to listen to the words in the midst of it all.
We are now in our third year of being Mosaic, and it is hard work. We have experienced shared joys and traumas. We face the risks of both secularism and Christian nationalism, which in very different ways, can make authentic, Jesus-centered witness controversial and difficult. In this last year, we lived into our brokenness more than I would have hoped and have been challenged by differences in decision-making and disagreements.
Yet, I strongly believe in the possibility of Mosaic, and I believe that it is Good News of reconciliation and welcome. We are now in the work of the fruit of the Spirit of Pentecost. That fruit consists of listening, discerning, and understanding how to be together across cultural, language, political, economic, geographical, and theological differences. For some of us, this can seem like a lot to bear, for others, it’s ongoing joy. It can be both.
It takes concerted effort to not jump to conclusions but to allow stories to unfold and to hear perspectives that are usually more complicated than we originally imagined. The hard work of listening allows those who are wounded to also find ways to speak, to be heard.
The hard work of Pentecost is welcoming holy hope and curiosity in wondering what the Spirit is doing in bringing and binding us together. May we continue to be transformed by the Spirit of Pentecost.
Don’t miss the Conference-wide Pentecost Worship Service!
Sunday, June 11, 2023
7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT
Organized by Mosaic Worship Cohort
Stephen Kriss
Stephen Kriss is the Executive Minister of Mosaic Conference.
Is Pentecost Still Relevant Today?
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, as promised by Jesus, descended on the followers who gathered together — in one accord — in Jerusalem.
That day, they were transformed from a body of believers to the first church of Jesus Christ. People visiting Jerusalem from all over the world could hear the invitation of the gospel in their own language. It was an invitation to come, as well as an invitation to go share the good news.
A new narrative of the power of Jesus was written that day. Jesus keeps his promises! The promise of the Holy Spirit had been fulfilled. Language barriers had been broken, and now, all people could share in the gospel. The gift of truth had been loosed into the atmosphere to teach us, empower us, bind us in relationship, equip us for the work of reconciliation, convict us of injustice, guide us into all truth, and help us to live a life more like Jesus.
So if you were to ask me if the power of the Holy Spirit is still relevant and at work in our lives today, I would say, “yes,” in spite of ourselves. God is still renewing our minds, convicting our hearts and leading us to repentance. Yes, the Holy Spirit still draws us to God for the work of the kingdom, even when the work seems too hard. God still guides us into all truth, so that our hearts hear and understand the need of all people to be one, as intended. The Holy Spirit enables us to consider the hopes, dreams and conditions of others, even when popular culture dictates that we don’t.
Each Sunday at our church, we light a Christ candle to remind us that Jesus is the light of the world and that God is still among us. That light stood in unison with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, giving power to the powerless and hope to the hopeless. That power is still at work in us today, guiding us to a timeless God, to do a timeless work. Peace and blessings to all who labor for the glory of God.
Don’t Miss Mosaic’s Pentecost Worship Service!
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT
This article was reprinted from Mennonite Church USA with permission. To view the original article, please click here.
All Together in One Place
by Chris Nickels, Pastor at Spring Mount Mennonite Church
On Sunday June 4, five Franconia Conference congregations (Wellspring, Methacton, Spring Mount, Frederick, and Providence) gathered in Skippack to worship together and have a picnic. Skippack has some historical significance, being the place where Mennonites first settled in Montgomery County. A few centuries later we are still here, seeking to live out a vision of faithful witness to Jesus Christ.
In the beautiful surroundings of Hallman’s Grove, tucked within a residential neighborhood just east of the village, I was reminded of the life and Spirit that surrounds us. One’s senses could pick up the sights and sounds of creation as well as a gentle breeze— especially meaningful on this day of Pentecost that was the focal point of our gathering.
We celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit to the first followers of Jesus (Acts 2), and the gifts of the Spirit present among us today. Worship included speaking and singing in different languages, and a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer included nine languages (Spanish, Indonesian, English, German, Greek, Italian, Kannada, French, Vietnamese). Pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman of Methacton Mennonite Church presented a children’s story about the birth of the church—complete with birthday cake! —and she and the children led us in a fun birthday song.
We prayed for each other, for our pastors, and also for a local food pantry, all of which reminded me of our common mission in central Montgomery County. Our pastors took turns giving a short message about how we have been living out God’s mission and how we are being empowered for ministry by the Spirit. The picnic, organized by members of each church, provided plenty of delicious food and space to build relationships with one another.
The event was a team effort among our congregations, and I think we are discovering that we really enjoy working together and are being blessed in our common activities and growing relationships. Despite the small size of our individual congregations, we are noticing that we benefit from diverse membership and from the wisdom of our elder members. We are realizing that our small congregations can be a blessing to our conference and also to our local communities. We have unique gifts to offer, and by the end of our time together I felt energized for how we might continue to share the love and light of Christ together.
Thy Kingdom Come
By Aldo Siaahan
As a part of an annual event of Kingdom Builders network of Philadelphia, the Pentecost Worship service was held at Philadelphia Praise Center on July 2, 2016. The service started with a fellowship over different traditional meals. There was a Vietnamese noodles and meatball dish, traditional tacos, Indonesian empanadas, sushi and much more. We did not expect to have a big crowd because it was a holiday weekend. Yet, to our surprise so many people came and brought food to the point where we were overflowing.
We opened the service at 6:30 pm with a prayer, followed by songs in Creole, Spanish, English, and other languages. We listened to a short message by Chantelle Todman Moore, Philadelphia Program Coordinator at Mennonite Central Committee. The service was divided into 3 sections. The first was, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, then “Thy Kingdom Come”, and lastly “Thy Will Be Done”. During the service, Fred Kauffman, Methacton Mennonite, and Calenthia Dowdy, Professor and Director of Faith Initiatives at Eastern University, led occasional conversations by throwing a question to discuss in small groups about why our ancestors came to the United States. Some reasons given were “escaping persecution”, “economic opportunities”, “education”, and “slavery”. A big lesson learned was that we are all displaced (desplazados, terlantar, verschoben). We closed the service with a holy communion led by Bernard Sejour, pastor at Eglise Evangelique Solidarite and Harmonie, and Fernando Loyola and Leticia Cortez, co-pastors at Centro de Alabanza.
I am very grateful to be a part of a diverse community in the city of Philadelphia that can give me a little sneak peak of Heaven.
Note: The Kingdom Builders Network is a Mennonite Anabaptist Network around Philadelphia. They have meetings every month on the second Thursday. During the meetings, they read scriptures, discuss the word of God, and pray for each other. They have meetings in different locations although most of the time the meeting is held in Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.
Aldo Siaahan is a LEADership Minister and Pastor at Philadelphia Praise Center.