“We practice here for what is already happening around the throne room: many nations, many languages, many tribes praising the living God.”
Rose Bender
Board Welcomes Smita Singh
By Angela Moyer, co-pastor at Ripple and Conference Board Member Smita Singh was appointed to the Franconia Conference Board by delegate affirmation at the Fall 2016 Assembly, beginning her first […]
Lehigh Valley congregations partner to support youth minister
by Sheldon C. Good HARLEYSVILLE, Pa. – Some of the most diverse growth in Anabaptism along the East Coast is occurring in Allentown, Pennsylvania’s fastest growing city and now a […]
Franconia Conference gathers to celebrate, pray, confer, listen
Franconia Conference delegates and leaders gathered November 2 at Penn View Christian School in Souderton, Pa. to celebrate God still at work. With a packed auditorium for a third united assembly with Eastern District Conference, representatives gathered to listen and pray, to celebrate newly credentialed and ordained pastoral leaders, and to work alongside one another after an over 150-year rift created two separate Mennonite entities. The theme “God still @ work” was an extension of the 2012 theme, “God @ work.”
Can enemies become friends?
I guess I started thinking about this earlier in the summer. I was acting as ‘crowd control’ at a peace camp at Franklin Park in Allentown. The story teller had the kids acting out Acts 10—where Peter and Cornelius move from historic animosity toward friendship and salvation. A Jewish fisherman, a Roman Centurion, and their respective cohorts took on a decidedly urban, Latino flavor. The kids seemed to enjoy the story, but when they were asked to think about why someone like Peter would be friends with someone like Cornelius their answers were painfully honest. When asked to imagine creative ways to respond to bullies—they couldn’t seem to think of anything but fighting back. And I could see why a white woman of privilege, suggesting Jesus would have them do otherwise, didn’t necessarily sit well with them.
Ministerial Update (June 2012)
An update from Noah Kolb, Pastor of Ministerial Leadership, on behalf of the Ministerial Committee:
- Derek Cooper, assistant professor of Biblical studies and historical theology at Hatfield (Pa.) Biblical Seminary’ was approved for a two-year license toward ordination. He and his family are members at Deep Run East (Perkasie, Pa.). The seminary, through his congregation, requested a ministerial license for his work in preparing pastors.
Update from the Ministerial Committee (April 2012)
April update from the Ministerial Committee on ordinations, licensings, installations, and closings.
May our stories abound
Emily Ralph, Salford, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org Unexpected hard places seem to be more common these days. No matter where we turn, we’re surrounded by hard stories—budget cuts, layoffs, natural disasters, school shootings, […]
Unexpected mutual aid helps save church building
Why did we do this? Plains has a history of assisting members in time of need and this was an opportunity to extend assistance at a conference level. This action […]
Allentown Mennonites gather for Tet worship celebration
[singlepic id=3001 w=320 h=240 float=right]The Mennonite Church USA congregations in Pennsylvania’s third largest city hadn’t to anyone’s recollection gathered for worship together until Sunday, January 29, at the Vietnamese Gospel […]
Casting out all fear: In God’s hands
Rose Bender, Whitehall rosebender87@gmail.com I was seven and afraid of hell. On the last night of a Billy Graham sponsored revival, in the gym of the public high school, I […]