Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Salford

Peace Nights Connect Mosaic Youth

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by Rachel Mateti

 

The fall 2024 Peace Nights were funded in part by a Mosaic Conference Missional Operations Grant (MOG) requested by Salford (PA) Mennonite. The grant helped to cover expenses for food, supplies, and transportation for the Mosaic youth groups who participated. 

 

This fall, youth from around the southeastern PA congregations of Mosaic Conference have the unique opportunity to come together to learn about the peaceable way of Jesus through fellowship, formation, worship, and games.  

The original idea for the Fall 2024 series of four Peace Nights was a collaboration between Ambler (PA), Salford (PA), Zion (Souderton, PA), Whitehall (Allentown, PA) and Plains (Hatfield, PA), with the support of Mosaic’s youth formation team.  

A slide from the teaching portion of the “Peace with God” session on Sept. 14. Photo by Rose Bender Cook.  

 

The first Peace Night of the series took place in September at Zion, on the theme of Peace with God. Around 70 persons were in attendance, including youth and leaders from the above-named congregations and Souderton (PA), Ebenezer (Souderton, PA), Indonesian Light Church (Philadelphia, PA), and Deep Run East (Perkasie, PA). The second meeting took place on October 6 at Plains with the theme “Peace with Self.” 

“The idea for Peace Nights started as a way for churches in southeastern PA in Mosaic Conference to share resources and provide programming for youth faith formation,” shares Andrew Zetts, Associate Pastor of Youth and Outreach at Salford.  

Youth and leaders from Whitehall (PA) Mennonite. Photo provided by Rose Bender Cook. 

 

“As I ran the idea by other Conference youth leaders, a few goals emerged. In addition to sharing resources and gathering a critical mass of youth in one place, we wanted to live into Mosaic’s intercultural priority and bring youth from various geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds together to develop meaningful relationships; and to teach peace theology as a foundational part of living out the ways of Jesus.”

At Plains, the youth group is small but growing, with grades 6-12 together. It can be hard to provide spiritually invigorating activities for a large age range. Peace Nights are one of the few places they can interact with other Mennonite peers in a church setting. 

Youth from eight congregations work together during the games portion of the first Peace Night. Photo by Rose Bender Cook.  

 

Instead of one shared culture, multiple cultures are represented at Peace Nights. Instead of most kids knowing each other, the majority are meeting for the first time. Awkwardness abounds, but a willingness to participate has prevailed. Through games like 9 squares (provided by Bloomin Glen [PA] Mennonite), and “Get -to-Know-You” Bingo (crafted by Andrew Zetts) youth have opportunities to make connections while having fun. Good food energizes everyone to talk and fellowship around tables deepens relationships. 

Loud voices singing together in worship has been a blessing. Youth seeing other youth singing boldly invigorates the whole group and creates a spirit of readiness for our teaching time. Teaching is followed by discussion groups that give youth a chance to come together and internalize the message they have heard. It is beautiful to observe. 

Participants from Deep Run East led worship. Photo by Hendy Matahelemual.  

 As Andrew Zetts shared, Peace Nights have a many purposes (sharing of resources, teaching peace theology, making connections outside our own congregations) but I also see Peace Nights as a place for youth to belong. Even those who might have held back in the beginning of our gathering seem to find their place throughout the night.  

Being Mennonite in our modern world can sometimes make a person stick out or feel different. Being a Christian youth can also feel alienating at times. Finding a place of belonging is, therefore, vital in keeping our youth engaged, connected, and inspired to follow Jesus. 

Peace Night worship. Photo by Mike Ford. 

The third Peace Night took place at Zion on Saturday, Nov. 9, 5-7:30pm; the theme was Peace with Creation. Our last gathering will be on Sunday, December 8 at Plains where we will look at Peace with Others; all Mosaic youth in 6th-12th grade and their youth leaders are invited to join us.

Plans for future gatherings in 2025 are underway and will be shared with congregations soon. As a leader, I am encouraged to see this vision come to fruition and to hear other leaders express their sense of energy and hope for the future of these gatherings. 

Participants gather outside for games. Photo by Hendy Matahelemual. 

Rachel Mateti

Rachel Mateti is the Children and Youth Minister at Plains Mennonite (Hatfield, PA). She is married with three kids and lives in Telford, PA. She enjoys reading when she finds the time and recently picked up running as a hobby.

Supporting Prometheus School for Children with Special Needs in Ukraine

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by Joe Landis

Approximately a month after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Anabaptist World published a story of how MCC had to leave the region and the building that MCC had used was now used for military purposes. The article had one sentence about a special needs school in Zaporizhzhia, which caught my attention.

On the cover of that March 4, 2022 issue was a picture of Dasha Bardus, an 11-year-old girl using arm crutches to walk. After some phone calls I learned the school had 167 students and was started 17 years ago by parents. Many students with special needs cannot attend public school in Ukraine although the government provides the school building and some teachers.

To me, this was a flashback to how Mosaic Conference, (then Franconia Mennonite Conference) got involved in providing services to individuals with special needs.

The cover of Anabaptist World in March 2022.

Because there was very little in the way of services for these children, it was mothers who stepped up and decided to do something. In the early 1960s, local parents, with Anna Gehman as chair, started the Wrens Nursery School in Lansdale, PA. In 1965, Gehman organized Hilltop Sunday school class at Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA) for 22 children with special needs, gathered from families in Lower Salford Township, allowing the parents to attend church since their children with special needs were not welcome there.  

Gehman also organized a day program and convinced Franconia Conference to start and fund a sheltered workshop for people with disabilities to do light industrial work, which ran from 1968 until 1983, when it was absorbed by the Conference-Related Ministry Indian Creek Foundation (Souderton, PA). All these services laid the groundwork for Indian Creek Foundation to emerge in 1975.  

Remembering the strenuous effort it takes to begin and maintain these programs in peacetime, I was struck by the fact that people in Zaporizhia are continuing to operate the Prometheus school in wartime, even as the Russian front is only 20 miles away. They hear bombs and artillery fire every night. I decided there must be some way we can offer support to these parents and their children: spiritually, morally, and hopefully financially.

Some children of Prometheus School for Special Needs in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 20 miles from the Russian front.  

On Sunday, February 2, 2024, after seeing the artwork created for Transfiguration Sunday by Salford’s Hilltop Sunday school class (the continuation of the class that started in 1965), I envisioned that this artwork could help build a relationship with fellow Anabaptists in Ukraine. I shared the idea with Salford’s Accessibility Ministry Team and Justice and Peace Team, and they both supported the concept. 

As a result, we created greeting cards and posters with prints of the Hilltop Class’s artwork to sell and raise funds for the Prometheus School. This week after selling 880 greeting cards, nine posters and including donations, we mailed a check to Prometheus for $1,000. 

The Hilltop Sunday School class creates group artwork, titled “Be Transformed” on Transfiguration Sunday 2024. Photo provided by Joe Landis.
The Hilltop Sunday School class creates group artwork, titled “Be Transformed” on Transfiguration Sunday 2024. Photo provided by Joe Landis.

“Being part of Hilltop Class means being accepted as you are, heard when you share, singing when you are off tune, and finding beauty in creativity,” shares Lisa Yoder, who led the creation of the art piece the Hilltop Class created.  “The image is a mixed media collage created to depict Jesus’ appearance to the disciples before his resurrection. The artwork reminds me of how I find Christ in each member of Hilltop. My hope is the children of Prometheus will evoke the transfiguration of Christ through our support.” 

The children participating in Salford’s summer peace camp also learned about the Prometheus School and sent video greetings and songs to the children in Ukraine.  

The Hilltop Sunday School class packages notecards with prints of the artwork they created. Photo provided by Joe Landis.

“Being involved in the Hilltop class for nearly three decades, I was very moved to learn about the Prometheus school in Ukraine,” shares Janet Bartholomew, a leader of the Hilltop Class. “As our hearts ached for the Ukrainians when the war broke out, I remember several Sundays that the Hilltop class added our prayers for the people there. From a small class in Pennsylvania to another group with special needs and their caring parents, it really felt like the hand of God was directing each step!”

We invite other Mosaic Conference congregations to join this effort of relationship building with the parents and children with special needs in Ukraine, by selling greeting cards and posters. At least one other congregation in southeastern PA has joined our efforts, and we are looking for one person from each congregation to facilitate this.

If you are interested, please contact Joe Landis; jglandis@gmail.com for more information. Learn more and purchase cards and posters here. 

Joe Landis

Joe Landis is former CEO of Indian Creek Foundation and founder and former CEO of Peaceful Living, both Conference-Related Ministries. He is a member of Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA).

Joint Prayer Service for the People of Palestine and Israel

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by Eileen Kinch

A version of this article originally appeared in Anabaptist World and is reprinted with permission.  

On March 17, five Mosaic congregations, Ambler (PA), Methacton (Norristown, PA), Perkasie (PA), Salford (Harleysville, PA), and Plains (Hatfield, PA), held a joint service of prayer, singing, lament, and hope for the people of Palestine and Israel, as the humanitarian crisis in war-ravaged Gaza worsens. 

Pastors of the five congregations, Jacob Curtis (Ambler [PA]), Sandy Dresher-Lehman (Methacton [Norristown, PA]), Wayne Nitzsche (Perkasie [PA]), Dave Greiser (Salford [Harleysville, PA]) and Mike Derstine (Plains [Hatfield, PA]), offer the call to prayer. Photo by Joel Alderfer. 

Several Palestinian-American Christians and Muslims, and Israeli Jews from the Philadelphia area were invited to share their griefs and hopes for Palestine and Israel, including representatives from Philadelphia Palestinians of America, Prayers for Peace Alliance, Friends of Sabeel North America and If Not Now. 

Ambler’s co-pastor Jacob Curtis was the lead organizer. In his opening remarks, he reflected on how Jesus grew up under occupation, and blessed the poor, the grieving, the weak, those hungry and thirsty for justice, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. “When people are powerless, hungry, and thirsty, that is the side Jesus is on,” Curtis emphasized.  

Samuel Kuttab, a Palestinian-American Christian and Mennonite shares his grief and hopes for Palestine. Photo by Jeremi Tumanan. 
Singing together was a key feature of the worship service. Photo by Kiron Mateti. 

The idea for the service emerged from a conversation between Curtis and Samuel Kuttab, a Palestinian-American and former member of Ambler. Curtis asked if Ambler could hold a prayer service for Kuttab and his family. He envisioned a small gathering, but Kuttab said, “throw the doors open.” Nearly 250 people were present in the building, with 50 more attending via livestream. 

Curtis reflected on the suffering and trauma that Israelis have experienced since Hamas’s attack in Israel on October 7, and on how, in Israel’s response to that attack, “Palestinians are hungry, thirsty, sick, and unable to go home. Arabs around the world are increasingly afraid that they will also become targets.”  

A small group lays hands on and prays for Amer Raja, a Palestinian-American, one of a number of guests who shared during the service. Photo by Joel Alderfer. 

“As Palestinians and Arabs grieve, Jesus is with them,” Curtis said, addressing those gathered. “And so are we…As Israelis and Jews grieve, Jesus is with them. And so are we.” 

Readings from Lamentations 5 were interspersed with reflections from Palestinian and Jewish friends. 

Ahlam Kuttab pointed out widespread American culpability in the war in Gaza, given that the U.S. is a leading arms supplier to Israel. Amer Raja shared that the current Muslim month of Ramadan is a joy-filled time of fasting and feasting, but in Gaza, people can’t have these festivities. He finds it hard to be joyful when not everyone can participate. 

Becca Feidelson, a representative from If Not Now, an American Jewish group that organizes for a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis, read the words of a fellow organizer, Ella Israeli. 

“How could we let our pain [from the Holocaust] become this?” Feidelson asked. She reflected on how Jews believe humans are made in the image of God, and each life is sacred. 

The second half of the service offered readings from Matthew 5 paired with reflections about hope. Dina Portnoy, a teacher in Philadelphia who grew up on an Israeli kibbutz that was built on a Palestinian village, said she finds hope in confronting difficult truths. She said some Israeli soldiers are refusing to serve in Gaza, and Israeli activists have lost jobs and are going to jail. 

Around 40 people, mostly children and their grownups, watched the service’s livestream from the basement, while making Birds for Gaza and praying for children in Gaza. Photo by Kiron Mateti. 


 
Samuel Kuttab admitted that being a Mennonite and a Palestinian can be tough. Mennonites emphasize love, and Palestinians are suffering. 

“My faith goes into conflict,” he said. But he believes the Mennonite church has “woken up.” He is encouraged by the work of Mennonite Action, a new peace-advocacy group, and feels Mennonites have legitimacy in political action because “we are a peace church.” 

After the reflections, participants gathered to lay hands on the speakers and pray for them. An offering raised $5,500 for Mennonite Action. 

Following the service, participants shared refreshments and were invited to participate in Mennonite Action’s Holy Week Action to send postcards to local government representatives, urging them to support peace and diplomacy. 

Eileen Kinch

Eileen Kinch is a writer and editor for the Mosaic communication team. She holds a Master of Divinity degree, with an emphasis in the Ministry of Writing, from Earlham School of Religion. She and her husband, Joel Nofziger, who serves as director of the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, live near Tylersport, PA. They attend Methacton Mennonite Church. Eileen is also a member of Keystone Fellowship Friends Meeting in Lancaster County.

An Act of Civil Disobedience

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By Tori Jones Long, Salford (Harleysville, PA) congregation 

Tori Jones Long reflects on why she participated in an act of civil disobedience that led to her arrest during the Jan. 16 Mennonite Action demonstration for a ceasefire. Republished with permission from MC USA. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, I was arrested with 134 other Mennonites by Capitol Police for demonstrating inside the Cannon House Office Building in Washington D.C. The group that was arrested inside the building was supported by a group of 200 Mennonites and allies demonstrating outside. Many more were with us in spirit and virtually. Mennonite Action organized our peaceful demonstrations, and hundreds of us travelled to Washington from across the U.S. We were calling for our elected officials to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a release of all hostages, and an end to the occupation of Palestine. 

Capitol Hill police arrest 135 Mennonites in the Cannon office building of the Capitol. Photo provided by Mennonite Action. 

We made our voices heard in a quintessentially Mennonite way – through hymn singing. We gathered in the rotunda of the Cannon building, unfurled banners that read, “Let Gaza Live,” “Free All Hostages,” “Mennonites for a Ceasefire” and “Send Food Not Bombs.”

The Capitol police were quick to snatch our banners and arrest our song leaders, wading into the center of our encircled bodies to grab them. They must have thought or hoped that without our initial song leaders, we would fall silent. But we sang, and we sang, and we sang. 

New leaders would emerge as the group in the middle dwindled, but the design of the rotunda was to our advantage. Those who were already arrested wrapped around the perimeter and continued to carry the songs coming from the middle. Reverberating throughout the building was a unified voice, singing songs of lament, hope and liberation. The words echoed off the literal walls of power. Eventually, we were all arrested and put in zip-tie handcuffs, but still we sang, and we sang, and we sang. 

We were split up and shuffled around the building in smaller arrest groups, and we sang, and we sang, and we sang. 

We were invasively searched, had our belongings taken and were made to wait, and we sang, and we sang, and we sang. 

My arrest group only stopped singing when we were loaded into transport vans and taken offsite for processing. Hymns and liberation songs rang through the halls of power for hours, until every one of us was removed. 

Why I participated

I had multiple motivations for participating in this act of civil disobedience. One was the words of Seth Malone and Sarah Funkhouser, who are directing Mennonite Central Committee’s Palestine-Israel-Jordan program. Several weeks ago, they wrote, “We ask for your action in this moment. Do not let this government rest from your letters, calls and protests. We cannot be complicit nor complacent in this moment – now is the time to act.” Their words continue to ring in my ears. 

Tori Jones Long is seen at center wearing a kaffiyeh. Photo provided by Mennonite Action.

I had been calling, emailing, faxing, posting online, signing petitions, donating money, demonstrating, and organizing legislative visits for months. All I could show for that hard work was dissatisfying form responses from my elected officials. 

Despite pressure from so many, the U.S. continues to send billions of dollars in military aid to Israel and rejects any accountability measures to ensure that the money is used in accordance with human rights and U.S. laws. These are my tax dollars at work. The blank checks to Israel make Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, and Arab peoples in the region and around the world less safe. More bombs and munitions are not the answer. 

Civil disobedience seemed like the next step and the least a self-identifying peacemaker could do. 

To work for peace is at the core of who I am, particularly because I identify as a Mennonite. Jesus calls me to oppose oppression and violence, especially state-sanctioned violence. As the apostle John wrote, “to not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 

I am grateful for the many ways that Mennonites pray with their feet and value community, mutual aid and service. 

I am also deeply troubled. Christians have been largely silent. Most ceasefire and Palestine solidarity actions have been primarily led by Jewish and Muslim people. To participate with Mennonite Action on Jan. 16 was to continue our long history of peacemaking in and solidarity with Palestine and to stand publicly stand against the rising tide of Christan Zionism and nationalism. I participated in the hope that other Christians would be inspired to act for peace. 

I believe in a liberating Christ, who calls us very clearly to love our neighbor and to care for the orphan, widow and foreigner among us. To be in alignment with my faith and the teachings of Jesus is to be brave and bold. It is to grieve and hope, to act in a way that honors the truth that all life is precious, and that all people are made in the image of our loving creator. It is to dream of and usher in a new world, as we face the inhumanity of our current one.  

Tori Jones Long

Tori Jones Long (she/her) is a local organizer for Mennonite Action in Bucks and Montgomery, PA counties and an active member of Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA). Tori navigates life with her husband, Zach, and spends her time spoiling her two dogs, Frank and Eddie, and enjoying small-town life.

Where Should Our Offering Go?  

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Children Decide via Consensus

by Jennifer Svetlik

In April, the elementary Sunday School classes at Salford (Harleysville, PA) Mennonite Church spent several weeks learning about decision-making via consensus. Then, they used the consensus method to decide where to dedicate the children’s offering that has been collected since last September. 

During the pandemic, the congregation had stopped passing offering baskets. When basket collections were brought back last fall, the worship team invited children and youth to serve as ushers. These same ushers then separate all the coins and one-dollar bills from the offering to serve as a children’s offering. 

During the Sunday School classes, the students learned that consensus decision-making differs from voting because instead of the majority winning, the desires and needs of the whole group are considered. 

One participant shares his thoughts while holding the “talking rock” while another participant listens attentively. Photo by Jill Drummond.

The students first practiced deciding via consensus about what snack to have.  There were three possible snack choices. It took almost the whole class time, but once the group came to a consensus, it was the most creative snack ever served during Sunday School! 

Then the group learned about three different local Conference-Related Ministries (CRM): Bike and Sol (East Greenville, PA), Crossroads Community Center (Philadelphia), and Ripple Community Building Center (Allentown, PA). They looked at photos, websites, and videos showing the impact of the work of each ministry. Then the children talked about which ministry should receive the offering. The conversations about this were extensive because each ministry does such good work.  

Participants raise a colored card to indicate whether they agree with the proposal (green) or that they can “live with it” (yellow). Photo by Jill Drummond.

Some students had given or purchased bikes at Bike and Sol and were able to speak first-hand about the work. Some students were moved by the welcoming space and the art therapy that is offered at Ripple’s Community Building Center. Other students, convicted about the prevalence of gun violence and that all kids and youth should have safe places to play and hang out, passionately advocated for Crossroads Community Center. 

In the end, the group decided to split the money three ways. This was hard for some students who felt like a particular group was doing the most important work, but it was a way to include everyone’s interests. 

The whole process took two and a half class sessions. “We learned that consensus decision making takes a lot longer than voting! But it felt good because everyone felt included,” one participant shared. 

“Being able to be the ones to decide where this money goes felt really important,” another student shared. 

Observing these children learn, listen well to each other, and creatively generate solutions was a real joy and a unique faith formation opportunity. 

Some of the guidelines used in the Salford children’s decision-making process. Photo by Jill Drummond.

Jennifer Svetlik

Jennifer Svetlik (she/her) directs children’s education and justice Initiatives at Salford Mennonite Church and works in fundraising and marketing for Roots of Justice. She and her partner Sheldon have two young children and live in Lansdale, PA.

Disarmingly Effective 

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Book Review of: Disarmed: The Radical Life and Legacy of Michael “MJ” Sharp 

© 2022 Menno Media

The first words of the tribute to Michael “MJ” Sharp are disarming, “There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” The brutal death, likely assassination, of MJ Sharp at age 34 while working for the United Nations Group of Experts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), urging rebels to lay down their weapons, is also disarming, in many ways.  

In the book, Disarmed: The Radical Life and Legacy of Michael “MJ” Sharp, Marshall King gets to the heart of the disarming mission that cost Sharp and his colleague, Zaida Catalán, their lives on March 12, 2017. At the outset, King wrote, “I never felt that I would be the one to unravel this international murder mystery, and I did not attempt it in this book.”  Instead, King wants to help the reader understand why Sharp felt called to be in, “the country that remains one of the world’s poorest and most dangerous places to live.”  

The reader is taken on a journey through Sharp’s life: raised in a Mennonite home in Indiana with Mennonite pacifist values and ethics grounded in the Sermon on the Mount. Sharp attended Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) and was a good student and athlete. However, sprinkled in this traditional Mennonite upbringing was a flare for flashy cars and over-the-top pranks, an attraction for cards and gambling, and a restlessness with the safe and traditional. A professor and advisor at EMU said that Sharp, “thrived on risks.”  

King guides us as Sharp comes of age with friends and girlfriends, travels and adventures, times of exuberance and depression, always following a thread of peacemaking – daring, disarming peacemaking. Sharp did peacemaking stints in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel/Palestine. Eventually, Sharp accepts the invitation of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) representatives, Suzanne and Tim Lind, to teach nonviolent ways of peacemaking.

This invitation leads Sharp to the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he will serve, learn, and die. King provides a bit of Congolese history and his own pessimistic understanding of the DRC and situation in which Sharp operated, with layers of violence, corruption, and distrust among groups. In contrast, King presents Sharp’s optimistic approach to engaging combatants, government officials, rebel leaders, with his working belief, “You can always listen.”  

Sharp’s approach included: arriving on a motorcycle, not in a motorcade; speaking French along with self-taught Swahili, not just English; respecting each person with whom he talks – listening to them; speaking up and speaking out when he saw injustice and unjust treatment. Sharp proved to be disarmingly effective. King follows Sharp’s successes in the DRC that will lead him deeper into conversations and investigations, eventually deeper into the bush for his final walk.  

MJ’s family and friends also have their part the book. An account of John and Michele Sharp, MJ’s parents, seeking answers about MJ and Zaida from officials as high up as UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is poignant. Others recalled how they marveled at MJ’s combination of wit and intellect, humor, and humility.

At the end, King cannot help himself as he probes the “What happened?” question, including a chapter with information gathered and disinformation circulated about Sharp’s last mission. Who can meet this young man – so concerned with justice and just treatment of others – and not want to “seek justice” for his and Zaida’s deaths?                  

King invites full engagement with Sharp who ended up in one of the world’s challenging places to make peace. King also invites us to consider our place in the world of peacemaking and to find our place to be peacemakers today.

Marshall V. King, author, will be preaching at Salford Mennonite Church (Harleysville, PA) on Sunday, June 19, at 9:30am.  

Join Marshall V. King, author, at a book signing and presentation on Sunday, June 19, from 2-3:30pm at Mennonite Heritage Center.   

Creating Helpful and Spirit-Filled Community

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by Jennifer Svetlik, Salford (Harleysville, PA) congregation

Margaret Zook

“How lifegiving it is to recognize that our congregations are not just alive on Sunday morning,” shares Margaret Zook, Director of Collaborative Ministries for Mosaic Conference. This new part-time role serves as the team leader for accompaniment relationships with Conference Related Ministries (CRMs).  

“There is such a richness in our CRMs,” reflects Zook. “They each have a unique origin and focus on meeting a particular community need.”  Zook anticipates assisting congregations and CRMs to bring their skills and knowledge together more intentionally in order to create a more helpful, just, and Spirit-filled community.

Zook brings a wealth of experience to this new role, having worked for and leading several CRMs in southeastern Pennsylvania. For over 20 years she served as Executive Director of Souderton Mennonite Homes, a CRM that was created in 1917. Then five years ago, after Souderton Mennonite Homes merged to become part of Living Branches, Zook was called back to serve as Director of Church and Community Relations. She has also served on numerous boards of community organizations, including 10 years on the board of Penn Foundation, another CRM.

Wib and Margaret Zook celebrate their anniversary COVID-style.
Photo provided by Margaret Zook

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with CRMs through my professional life and board work,” shares Zook. “These experiences have made me see the value of being connected to and supported by the conference.” 

In her role Zook will visit the CRMs and relate to their boards and leadership. She will listen to and share the stories of their missions, successes, and needs across the conference. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to walk along the existing and new and emerging CRMs,” Zook explains. “Hearing, seeing, and sharing the transforming work that is being done is such an honor.” 

Zook knows the value of a conference network for these organizations. “A foundation of faith and a connection to church sets CRMs apart from other nonprofit organizations,” she shares. “It gives a sense of accountability that is a stabilizing force for an organization.” 

Margaret Zook and some of her grandchildren.
Photo provided by Margaret Zook

Most of Zook’s life has been in southeastern Pennsylvania, both intentionally as well as by birth. “I have loved my congregation [Salford] and my community,” Zook reflects.  She has a fairly large extended family, which includes ten grandchildren. She enjoys visiting her family in Florida and Colorado and staying in touch with them however she can. 

Zook and her husband value walking together, and currently have a goal to walk the entire Perkiomen Trail, in sections. She is an avid reader and is a member of two book clubs. She enjoys gardening and friendships.  

Professionally and personally, Zook identifies her faith as a motivating factor for life. “My faith drives me in a way I can’t put fully into words,” she explains. “It is who I am and what I do, and it leads me to service. I believe God has placed us here to make this earth a better place, to serve the beautiful earth and its people.”

Congregational Profile: Salford Mennonite Church

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by Maria Hosler Byler, Associate Pastor for Youth and Family Faith Formation

In 2017 Salford Mennonite Church celebrated its 300 year anniversary, with the theme “Hope Meets History.” That phrase embodies the spirit of Salford: firmly grounded in our place and our story, with a willingness to embrace what’s to come. We are a joyful learning community eager to live and share the peaceable way of Jesus. Here are some of the ways we do this.

All-church retreat Dutch Blitz game

The first thing we hope you notice when you come into our congregation is our welcome and supportive presence. Salford has welcomed many who have had painful experiences in church and need a place to rest and heal. You will see and hear children in worship, both in the pews and leading the congregation. A few years ago, we adopted a welcoming statement that says: “We celebrate that all individuals are created in God’s image, in beauty and grace, no matter their age, gender, race, disability, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, and are welcome as members in our congregation.”

The garden

We also are a congregation that gives in many ways. We readily respond with gifts of support to needs around the world. Our sewing circle is one example of this; each month, 20-30 people, men and women of all ages, come together to quilt and knot comforters for Mennonite Central Committee. We partner with Advent Lutheran Church to tend a garden on our property, which provides produce for local food pantries and community centers. Salford members feel each other’s care and support in behind-the-scenes ways too – in providing meals, childcare, and accompaniment in hard times.

Doing art at Peace Camp

Salford is truly a learning community. Members of Salford have led and attended workshops through Better Angels, seeking to bridge the political divide. We have recently held trainings around racial conciliation and criminal justice, to help us discern how we follow Jesus in our specific place in the world. Workshops on the Enneagram have sparked lively conversations about our different motivations and ways of relating. Also, each summer we host Peace Camp, where kids explore Peace with Me, Peace with the Earth, and Peace with Others. Peace Camp participants include kids from within our congregation and even more from the local community.

All of these point to our continued desire for deeper relationship with God. As we are welcomed and welcome others, we can more deeply experience God’s presence with us. Our worship is rooted in Anabaptist tradition, but it’s also attuned to our modern context; when you worship with us, you will experience rich four-part harmony and also earnest reflection about current events. That’s the tone that we seek to live out when we’re together and when we’re apart.

Some prayer requests:

  • For guidance for our search committee as we look for a new lead pastor. Pastor Joe Hackman’s role ended in early December, while pastors Beth Yoder and Maria Hosler Byler continue.
  • For wise and energetic discernment of our vision for the next phase of our life. We hope to grow in our pursuit of peace, justice, and reconciliation; our connection to our local community; and our prophetic witness.