Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Pentecost

Reflections from Pentecost Together / Bersama / Juntos 2024 

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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:  

The youth groups of Philadelphia Praise Center and Salford shared games and explored FDR Park after worship at PPC. Photo by Andrew Zetts. 

“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)

Read the full reflection here

Redemption Church of Bristol (PA) visits Bethel (Levittown, PA) for worship and a fellowship meal. Photos provided by Gary Alloway. 
Pastors Grant Price and Mike Spinelli preached “podcast style” while a variety of displays for the “talent share” were available in the worship center at Perkiomenville. Photo provided by Mike Spinelli.  

“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 

Read the full reflection here

Homestead (FL) interim pastor Pavel Gailans and four women from Thailand lead a song together during the Pentecost fellowship dinner.
The Whitehall youth dance team share the story of Pentecost. Photo by Melky Tirtasaputra. 

“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 

Conference Moderator Angela Moyer Walter (Ripple [Allentown, PA]) preaches at Bethany (Bridgewater Corners, VT). The Conference board visited the two Vermont congregations of Mosaic during Pentecost weekend. 

Redemption and Bethel Pentecost 2024 – #MosaicTogether2024

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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 

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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?

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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

Learn More

This article was reprinted from Mennonite Church USA with permission. To view the original article, please click here.

All Together in One Place

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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

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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.

Memorial Day & Pentecost

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by Samantha E. Lioi

candles - webEvery three years or so, Pentecost Sunday falls on Memorial Day weekend in the U.S.  I think it’s an irony worth exploring each time, but this year I had nothing to say. Maybe I didn’t have words for the gaping grief that attends every encounter I have with combat veterans who are willing to trust a room of well-meaning and mostly clueless civilians with a piece of their experiences. No words for my anger at the logic that we have to wreck human lives—our children’s and other people’s children’s—to be free.  I want to believe a new miracle of Pentecost proportions is always just around the bend, ready to answer the latest of creation’s groanings. Yet, the more I learn of the vast caverns of trauma carried in the chest and brain of every veteran…well, the more I know we need transforming power from on high. And I believe it’s none other than the Spirit of Christ who is opening Mennonites to confessional friendships and partnership with veterans.

The prayer below is adapted from one I wrote and prayed as a gathering in worship on Pentecost 2012, the last time it coincided with Memorial Day. May we face the soul wounds of people we don’t understand, and so find the Holy Breath speaking new life in all of us, a wideness of mercy that cannot be contained.

God of wind and fire,
You for whom no language is foreign—
Creator of every people—Creator of friendship among enemies—
we are here to give you praise.
Thank you for keeping us breathing, tasting, touching, seeing;
thank you for your good creation,
for the soil which gives us food,
for the people who help us feel safe and loved. 
We have come with hope,
and also with doubt that anything will be different.
On this day when you sent wind and fire,
we want to welcome you, however you might come near, but
in our waiting we can find it hard to expect very much.  Surprise us. 
Send your Spirit anyway,
through our locked doors.  We are here –
and you are God, and we are not.
And also, on this day families are gathered with food, remembering
soldiers who were sent into desert wind,
who saw and made and felt another kind of fire.
Breathe again new life in mothers and fathers and children and spouses,
and send your healing Spirit among the wounded of mind and body and spirit in Iraq,
in Afghanistan, in the United States, in Syria, in Pakistan—and send us
to participate in healing wounds of war—
send us to sit in silence, open to hear
the memories that return and return.
Keep bringing your new creation:
trust where there was fear, sharing where there was taking…
and let your fire,
which brought new words to the lips of the waiting disciples,
burn in us and open our ears
to practice listening to strangers, still curious about what you might do.
Holy One, we know we are not at the center of things.
If it were not for your Spirit, we would dry up like cracked earth. 
Send too the renewing rain of your abundant love for every kind of person,
every withering plant and trembling creature. 
We ask this because of Jesus,
with hope
and doubt
and gratitude that you stick with us.  Amen.


Samantha Lioi is the interim pastor at Taftsville Chapel in Taftsville, VT. 

Even when we doubt, God fulfills promises

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by Danilo Sanchez, Whitehall

Danilo Sanchez with his wife, Mary, and daughter Emilia.
Danilo Sanchez with his wife, Mary, and daughter Emilia.

In my experience, waiting and doubting have a direct correlation. As the length of time that we have to wait increases, so does our doubt. Over time, we begin to ask ourselves, “Is God really listening?” “Does God really care?” “Can this really happen?” “How long do I have to wait?”

So many times, we get tired of waiting for God so we begin to doubt and consider taking things into our own hands. The story of Abraham and Sarah comes to mind as an example: Yahweh promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars, but too many years had passed and doubt began to set in. In Genesis 16, the “waiting and doubting” couple decides to take control. Sarah convinces Abraham to have a son through the servant Hagar.

I find it a little strange that the Lord doesn’t intervene at this point to remind Abraham of his promise, but lets their actions unfold. Ishmael is born and blessed, and the “waiting and doubting” couple assumes this is the son that was promised. Yahweh continues to tell Abraham that Sarah will give birth to a son in her old age, however. Both Abraham and Sarah laugh at this idea as the possibility of having their own child seems impossible. Nevertheless, Isaac is born to Sarah and the now trusting couple goes on to have many descendants.

What I learn from this story is that even though Abraham and Sarah doubted God’s promise and took their own action, the Lord still blessed them and fulfilled his promise.

In Acts 1 we see a similar story of waiting, doubting, and taking action. Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit to the disciples and instructs them to wait in Jerusalem. The 11 disciples, Jesus’ mother Mary, and other women and followers gather together in a room to pray. After nothing has happened for weeks, the gathered group gets tired of waiting and praying. So Peter, who’s used to taking action, gets the idea that maybe if there were 12 disciples like when Jesus was around, the Holy Spirit would come. The group casts lots and by chance Matthias gets chosen.

The fact that Matthias is never mentioned again in Scripture makes me wonder why this story was included. What I think this story is trying to teach us, though, is that while Peter had good intentions for his actions, his solution to speed up the process of receiving the Spirit had little result. The disciples still had to wait for the Father’s timing to send the Holy Spirit.

So just as in the Genesis story, we learn that despite the actions of the “waiting and doubting,” God still fulfilled his promise.

What if, instead of being quick to take action, Peter had just waited and continued to pray with the disciples? What if in our “waiting and doubting,” God is calling us to more prayer? Perhaps that is a lesson the church needs to learn in our context today.

These stories give me hope that even when we push ahead with our own agenda or ideas, God can still work through us and accomplish his will. I know there have been times after waiting on God’s answer in my life, ministry, and call that I began to doubt and decided take my own action. It was just too hard to wait. But even if I didn’t make the right choice, God was still faithful to me. As I look to the future, I must continue to learn to wait for God. And as we are forced to wait, we must learn to commit ourselves to prayer. For it is in waiting and praying that we discern the voice of God and the activity of the Spirit.

As we go about our lives and ministries, we will have times where we are called to wait, and this waiting can be anywhere from a few days to several years. The longer we have to wait, the easier it will be to doubt and lose hope. When we find ourselves in times of “waiting and doubting,” however, we must not forget that God is still with us on the journey and is faithful to complete his promises.

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.