Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Sharon Williams

Belonging: On Paper, In Community, and In God’s Image

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by Sharon K. Williams

We may take it for granted, but one of the keys to lifting people out of poverty is to possess one’s identity documents, such as birth certificates, state-issued photo IDs and driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and voter registration. This has been the mission of Nueva Vida Norristown New Life’s (NVNNL) Photo ID Clinic for the past 13 years.

Along the way, we have assisted fire and flood victims; survivors of domestic abuse, addictions, and human trafficking; returning citizens; young people applying for their first jobs; and low-income families seeking housing and registering their children for school. We have built partnerships with various ministries in our city and trained other agencies to do what we do. It’s a great way to build connections and strengthen our ability to share the love of Jesus.

Society’s way of honoring each person’s presence and worth starts with these identity documents. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, writes,

I always start with the concept of imago dei [the image of God]. Genesis 1:26–27 says that God created human beings in God’s own image and likeness. While democratic systems are always imperfect, I still strongly believe they provide the best way to honor and affirm every person’s dignity, prevent the abuse of power, and advance the common good. Voting [registration is based on these identity documents] is our voice; it’s what lends our democratic system its legitimacy and what enables us to hold our elected officials accountable. (“What Most Concerned Me About Trump’s State of the Union,” February 25, 2026)

Finding good, affordable housing in Norristown is a challenge, as it is in many places. We are praying with several people who are seeking better places to live. Recently, we went to special lengths to help a person in our congregation get an elusive birth certificate—only to discover that the birth had never been recorded. “But I’m a real person!” this person exclaimed. This situation is unimaginable but it’s not the first time we have encountered it. It resulted in the person’s inability to apply for government-aided senior housing. But God had another plan—an apartment owned by someone associated with our congregation. Talk about connections!

We are also praying for the Norristown Hospitality Center which, ironically, is seeking a new home for its ministry to the unhoused and persons with very low income. In 1990, NVNNL was one of the founding congregations of the Hospitality Center. Last year, the center lost its lease in a facility close to our church that is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Philadelphia. The Hospitality Center actively partnered with us in the Photo ID Clinic, providing hosting, staff, and financial aid to supplement our volunteers and funding, including a Missional Operations Grant from Mosaic Conference. It was a perfect partnership. But the center’s tenuous situation in a temporary location has caused the clinics to be put on hold.

All of this is happening at a time when people in our pews and communities are being pushed and stretched more than ever. We are praying every week in an interfaith gathering for God’s protection and provision for the people of our city. Please pray with us for new, effective ways to extend God’s love to our neighbors and those in need.

Sharon K. Williams

Sharon K. Williams serves as the minister of worship with the Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life Mennonite congregation.

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.   

Not Afraid to Think: Finding Faith in the Questions

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by Sharon K. Williams

Lareta (Reta) Halteman Finger grew up in a Mennonite family that was deeply committed to following Christ and serving the church. They regularly attended the Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA) congregation. Reta’s 8th-grade-educated father was a thinker and constant Bible reader. But this did not prevent humor from pervading Sunday dinners. A beef roast at the table meant two things: a tasty meal and a not-so-shy roasting of the preacher’s sermon!  

One of the older preachers filled out many sentences with the phrase, “You might say…”   

“The sermons could have used some help,” Halteman Finger recalls. 

For church meetings or other formal events, her family observed the traditional dress code for Franconia Conference Mennonites: a “plain coat” without a tie for men and a cape dress for women. Once baptized, all girls and women wore a prayer covering over long hair braided or pinned up. The concern, enforced by bishops and ministers, was modesty in dress, not being captivated by fashion, and that women should follow Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthian 11:2–16. The Haltemans observed these practices, but more as a tradition than out of deep conviction. 

These expectations were practiced to varying degrees in Franconia Conference congregations until the 1960s or later. Clothes, movies, television, and car tires with white walls were the cause of much angst within Mennonite churches and families. Dress code issues had predated and contributed to the 1847 split in the Franconia Mennonite Conference.  

But the Halteman family experienced a different reality. A Moyer family of “new Mennonites” (a nickname for Eastern District Conference congregations) were the Haltemans’ closest neighbors and dearest friends. Although “old Mennonites” might have considered the Moyers as worldly for not dressing plain, “we loved them, and they loved us!” Halteman Finger recalls. 

Her goal in high school was to be a good Mennonite girl—”but not too good!” While a student at Dock Mennonite Academy, a friendly rival invited her to a student-led prayer meeting. She went reluctantly. The students prayed to Jesus conversationally; they were speaking to a real person in the room! The experience was so liberating and joyful—unlike the “group conviction” she had experienced at the 1950s Brunk revival tent meetings. “It was like being born again!” she recalls.  

Photo by Carolyn Rothwell

After graduating from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) with a degree in elementary education, Halteman Finger served at Eastern Mennonite High School as dean of girls. The school had many rules, including cape dresses for women employees. To comply, Halteman Finger’s mother sewed three dresses—with snap-on capes. Compliance without conviction was hard. 

Halteman Finger yearned for more biblical study, so she spent a year at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. Nothing sharpens one’s Anabaptist theology like immersing in a different theological tradition! The covering and cape dresses were gone for good. Her father did not complain. 

When the Finger family moved to Chicago in 1976, Reta worked for and then became editor of Daughters of Sarah, a periodical about Christian feminism. Upon turning 50, she took a leap of faith to study at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with Dr. Robert Jewett, a Pauline scholar. Although the apostle Paul was not popular with feminist women in the 1990s, Halteman Finger took a deep dive with Dr. Jewett into the multi-cultural realities and challenges of the early church. This revolutionized her view of Paul. 

In 1995, Halteman Finger began a 14-year calling to teach New Testament at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. After retiring, she returned to EMU and Seminary as an adjunct professor to teach New Testament, with a specialty in First Corinthians. She is the author or co-author of four books, including Creating a Scene in Corinth: A Simulation (Herald Press, 2013, 2nd edition) and was a regular contributor to Sojourners magazine.  

Several of Reta’s faith stories are included in A Church Divided: A Study of 1 Corinthians, the Spring 2025 Salt & Light Bible study curriculum (MennoMedia). 

Sharon K. Williams

Sharon K. Williams serves as the minister of worship with the Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life Mennonite congregation.

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.   

Following Jesus Means Becoming Intercultural

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by Sharon K. Williams

Editor’s Note: Faith and Life Gatherings are designated meetings for credentialed and retired leaders in Mosaic Mennonite Conference to study scripture together and build relationships across the conference. The next Faith and Life Gathering will take place on September 25 and will focus on another of Mosaic’s priorities.  

Mosaic Conference’s Faith & Life team recently invited credentialed pastors and leaders to reflect on our intercultural priority (Mosaic’s two other priorities are being formational and missional).  

We reflected on Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician mother (Matthew 15:21–28). We noted Jesus’ willingness to playfully engage with this Gentile woman who stood strong in her faith—that she and her people could access the same blessings from God as the Jewish believers. Jesus even affirmed her in flipping the script with her bold sassiness! We marveled at the transformation that happened for them both because of their willingness to stay engaged with each other.   

We also reflected on Paul’s teaching that “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord is Lord of all, who gives richly to all who call on him” (Romans 10:12). This biblical affirmation is well known, but what challenges does it hold for us today?   

As we examined the scriptures, reflected on our ministry experiences, and prayed together, we noted the following: 

  • Culture is a way of life shared by a group of people who are bound together by ethnicity, food, values, religion or theology, politics, and many other aspects. A deeper dive into a perceived culture often reveals diversity within a culture.   
  • In the past, as Franconia Conference and Eastern District embraced their missional calling, we had to start learning how to minister across cultures.  
  • Being intercultural is different from being multicultural. We need to be aware of and respect the values that people of other cultures hold. We can recognize our culture and others’ cultures without judgment, by giving and receiving, and experiencing mutual transformation.  
  • God works through intercultural encounters to shape us and our communities. An important part of intercultural ministry and relationships is to not minimize differences between cultures but to curiously embrace the differences and be open to the transformation that can happen. 
  • Being intercultural takes work. We must seek ways to develop curiosity about other cultures as we build relationships. Then we will recognize the image of God in ourselves and others.  
  • Being intercultural includes doing the long-term, hard work of being antiracist. We must learn to recognize systemic racism and its dynamics and work together to create different ways of ministering together and respecting others. It requires commitment to stay in the struggle. 
  • Being intercultural requires the daily practice of empathy, humility, and flexibility. 

The group curiously raised these questions: What is the vision for the conference’s intercultural priority? What are our expectations? How can this priority strengthen our conference and beyond? 

Love like Jesus, preach the character of Jesus—and be transformed. 

What can we do? Loving like Jesus transforms our relationships with him and others. Preaching the character of Jesus can help us move beyond our propensity to be difficult or stuck in our ways. Like the Syrophoenician mother, people are looking for authentic transformation and healing and will cross cultural boundaries when they find it.  

We need to lean into the character of Jesus, set aside our norms, and look for the transformation. Sometimes we miss it because we operate by our blind spots. What draws our attention and what might we be missing? We must preach Jesus and be as caring and loving as him so we can recognize what is happening. We must be willing to hear and acknowledge each other and their truth.  

Intercultural transformation is a mystery, and it is beautiful! Let us press forward to learn together and receive what God has for us. 

Recommended resource

The New Testament in Color: A Multiethic Bible Commentary, edited by Amy L. B. Peeler, et al, InterVarsity Press, 2024.  

Sharon K. Williams

Sharon K. Williams serves as the minister of worship with the Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life Mennonite congregation. 

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To contact the author(s) of this article, please email communication@mosaicmennonites.org.

The Kick to Preach

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by Sharon K. Williams

A young girl sat quietly in a prayer meeting, listening to several men expound on the scriptures. Then her mother rose to speak, “I just want to say I love Jesus.” The girl was both surprised and proud of her mother’s courage to speak her profound truth in mixed company.  

Catherine Longenecker grew up in this church culture, one in which men spoke publicly, and women listened. 

Longenecker sensed the Holy Spirit’s gifting for ministry early in her life. When asked what she wanted to be, she would respond, “A pastor’s wife.” But she felt called by God to be a pastor. She knew she had the spiritual gift of preaching. On Sunday afternoons she would recreate the morning’s sermon and preach it to her bedroom walls. 

The cultural expectations for being a faithful Mennonite Christian woman weighed heavy on Longenecker. The dress code. The idea that women can’t be leaders, nor can they teach men in Sunday school. To preach? That was out of the question, even for those who were a co-pastor with their husbands.  

Why would the Holy Spirit give Longenecker a spiritual gift she was not allowed to use for the edification of the church? 

Longenecker helps in the church office in 1972. Photo provided by her family. 

In 1987, Longenecker wrote in her journal: 

Oh, I need help! Perhaps someone else could put my life together for me and help me get off this kick to preach. Or would they possibly say something different? Hardly! I am so confused and so depressed that I would never measure up to be affirmed as a minister. Then it happens. My anger comes out, my sadness comes out, my insecurities come out! [My counselor] says I am a minister. That’s what I am. It’s in my heart. She sees it. She affirms it and she gives me balance to believe it and accept my calling.1 

Longenecker pursued her calling in every acceptable way possible. She attended Bible training courses, took clinical pastoral education (CPE) training, and eventually graduated from seminary.  

She married a pastor, Daniel Longenecker, and supported him in three congregational ministries, including Line Lexington (PA) Mennonite Church. She volunteered in the mission of Bethel (PA) Mennonite Church in Norristown.  

Their daughter Chris recalls, “I don’t know if Mom wrote sermons for Dad, but I’m sure she helped him. I remember her typing his sermons, and I assume editing may have been a part of this. Dad could be very long-winded and could take a long time to get to a point.”  

Longenecker leads at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in 1993.  Photo provided by her family. 

CPE opened the door for Catherine’s ministry to shine. Dock Woods Community (now Mosaic Conference-Related Ministry Living Branches) called her to serve as a chaplain. Her son Fred recalls that on her first day, David Derstine, the CEO, met Longenecker at the door.  

She immediately noticed a woman on the housekeeping staff and began to doubt herself, because she had done housekeeping work for many years. She looked at Derstine and said, “I’m a cleaning woman, like her.” Derstine reassuringly replied, “No, you are my chaplain!” 

Longenecker thrived as her preaching went beyond her bedroom walls to real people. In 1989, she was among the second women to be licensed for ministry by Franconia Conference, alongside Joyce Hedrick and Marianne Zuercher at the Spring Assembly.

In 1991, Catherine and Dan were called to a co-chaplaincy ministry at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia. When Virginia Conference leaders wanted to debate whether Catherine should be licensed or ordained, she claimed her calling once again and asked for ordination. It was granted.   

Today, Mosaic Conference and our congregations stand on the shoulders of Longenecker and others like her who refused to withhold their spiritual gifts from the body of Christ. Let us give thanks for Longenecker’s obedience to Jesus and her example of how to serve the church in the face of cultural barriers. 

Sharon K. Williams

Sharon K. Williams is the minister of worship at Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life Mennonite Church. She was the first ordained woman minister in Franconia Conference (also in 1988) and served on the conference staff for 15 years. 

Celebrating Ministry & Service with the Tamayos 

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By Sharon K. Williams

Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life celebrated Pastor Angel Tamayo’s 15 years of pastoral ministry with our congregation on August 28, 2022. Sister Lisa Caban Tamayo was also celebrated for serving as the congregation’s administrative assistant for 11 years.

Pastor Angel’s passion for ministry took him to some places where other angels might fear to tread. He loved to walk the streets of Norristown to share the good news of the gospel with anyone who would listen. His genuine care for people, friendly teasing, and quick smile are welcoming to new friends. He preached his first English sermon on a Palm Sunday, challenging us to be ready to offer our “donkey” when the Lord has need of it. Pastor Angel also participated in several mission trips to Cuba, and he went most recently to Honduras to train and support pastors and congregations.  

Pastor Angel and Sister Lisa Tamayo. Photo by Christine Raines.

 

Pastor Angel and Sister Lisa, both worship leaders with our Spanish and bilingual teams, anchored our worship ministry during the pandemic. They began with recorded bilingual services until we could transition to livestreamed and then hybrid services. 

Sister Lisa held a key role in managing Nueva Vida’s church office. During her time of service, Nueva Vida’s ministries expanded, as did the responsibilities for managing our church campus along Marshall Street. 


Pastor Angel Tamayo preaches at an outdoor worship service. Photo by Tim Moyer.

Pastor Angel regularly encouraged our congregation to love the Word of God, to read and study it, and to live by its teachings. His parting sermon encouraged us to be faithful, humble servants of the Lord, serving each other and our community. The word retirement is notably not found in the Bible. Even though Pastor Angel and Sister Lisa Tamayo are concluding their ministries with Nueva Vida, they are open to the next season of service to which God will call them. With gratitude, we pray for God’s blessing to fill their lives. 

Sharon K. Williams

Sharon K. Williams is Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life’s minister of worship.

Norristown Congregation to Receive Sacred Places Grant

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by Sharon Williams, Nueva Vida Norristown New Life, with Carrie Hagen

One hundred years ago, the Franconia Mennonite Conference planted its first mission in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The Norristown Mission began with an awareness that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for all people. Today, Nueva Vida Norristown New Life Mennonite Church draws from twelve different countries. Earlier this fall, Norristown New Life was honored as the first Mennonite congregation accepted into The National Fund for Sacred Places, a national historic preservation grant-making program launched by the Lilly Endowment.  Norristown New Life was one of 13 congregations selected from a field of 178 for the 2018–19 cohort.

Norristown New Life’s capital campaign, “Enlarging Our Place in God’s World,” includes the restoration of its 1907 Gothic Revival building, located in Norristown’s historic district, one block from the county courthouse. Built from Valley Forge marble, the sanctuary features two large stained glass windows and seventeen smaller ones. In addition to restoring the windows, the building needs stone pointing, new flooring, a new roof, interior and exterior painting, and HVAC work. Norristown New Life also seeks to make the meetinghouse more accessible to those with physical disabilities by installing new restrooms and an elevator.

The congregation purchased the historic Bethany United Methodist Church building for its meetinghouse in 1990, when three independent Mennonite congregations—First Mennonite, Bethel Mennonite, and Fuente de Salvación—came together to form Nueva Vida Norristown New Life Mennonite Church.

Since 1990, three associate pastors representing the three major ethnic groups represented in the church body—Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian— share all pastoral duties.  This leadership system of power-sharing is Anabaptist, a key commitment for the congregation’s leadership model. Bilingual worship services are shared in English and in Spanish.

The National Fund for Sacred Places team, says Director Chad Martin, was struck not only by the congregation’s history of interracial and intercultural membership and leadership but also by its community ministries.

Norristown New Life has developed partnerships with Precious Life Childcare Center, the Montgomery County Association for the Blind, Narcotics Anonymous, and the county’s addiction counseling services. It operates a discipleship housing ministry for single women and trains adults and youth in restorative justice practices utilized by the school district.  At the photo ID clinic held in the congregation’s youth center, trained volunteers assist people with the paperwork and money orders they need to acquire state-issued IDs, birth certificates, and Social Security cards in order to obtain jobs, medical services, bank accounts, and apartment rentals.

Prior to its admittance into the National Fund, the congregation had raised over $500,000 of their capital campaign’s $2 million target. Its goal now is to leverage the highest matching grant offered by The National Fund—$250,000—as part of the effort to raise the remaining $1.5 million. The grant requires 2:1 matching funds of $500,000.

Acceptance in the National Fund program, says Pastor Ertell Whigham, is a gift for Norristown New Life’s mission to serve its community.

“As ambassadors of reconciliation, the gift of this grant enables our congregation to offer our place of worship as a continued presence for community partnerships, service, commitment, and hope.”

Nations Worship Center Celebrates Mission: I’m Possible

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By Sharon Williams

nations-1Joyful, heartfelt praise to God filled the new home for Nations Worship Center (NWC) on Sunday afternoon, November 20. The house was packed as the congregation gathered with sister congregations and friends to dedicate their newly renovated building at 1506 Ritner Street in south Philadelphia. Pastor Beny Krisbianto and the NWC worship team led a full house of worshipers in songs and prayers.

The congregation has faced many challenges in establishing a home base for worship, discipleship, and mission in their south Philly neighborhood. In August 2012, they purchased Paradise Gardens, a catering hall with offices and an apartment on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The building had been abandoned and empty for 12 years. With much prayer and faith, NWC faced strong opposition from the local community, red tape from city government, contractor woes, and financial challenges. Each step was embraced with grace and dignity, trusting that God would accomplish the impossible mission.

nations-2Steve Kriss, Franconia Conference Director of Leadership Cultivation and Congregational Resourcing, offered a greeting from the conference. He connected the congregation’s testimony to that of the first immigrant Mennonites in Philadelphia who embraced an ethic of “work and hope” as part of their witness. In a recent meeting with community residents, someone inquired about the use of government funds for the building’s transformation. “Oh no,” Kriss replied, “this is a result of the congregation’s hard work, prayers, and partnerships — all made possible by God’s grace.”

nations-3Pastor Timotius Hardono, Beny’s pastor from Indonesia, shared a message about God’s impossible missions made possible through immigrants such as Moses and Daniel, and Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). NWC will continue to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission, making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Many worshipers rededicated themselves to being used for God’s mission: I’m possible!

Sharon K. Williams is a musician, editor and congregational/non-profit consultant. She serves the Lord with the Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation as minister of worship.

Pray, Fast, Lament, and Bear Witness: Nigerian Brethren Give Testimony

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Mark Baliles, pastor, Indian Creek Church of the Brethren
Sharon K. Williams

In April 2014, the world was stunned by the abduction of more than 200 school girls in Chibok, Nigeria.  Most of the girls are still in captivity, sold as brides in other countries, or dead. The violence perpetrated against Christians and Muslims by the Boko Haram before that incident has continued and escalated over these past eight months: murders, kidnappings, rapes, and the destruction of homes, businesses, and church properties.

a-displaced-family-in-nigeriaThe Church of the Brethren has a close connection with the persecution and suffering in Nigeria.  Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) is one of the major Anabaptist denominations in that country. The majority of the schoolgirls are members of EYN congregations. Over 170,000 church members and 2,094 pastors and evangelists are known to be displaced, 8,083 members killed, and 1,390 (of 2,280) local churches destroyed. Many other persons are feared to be dead.[1]

Indian Creek Church of the Brethren, Harleysville, is hosting Nigerian church leader Rev. Dr. Musa Mambula and his wife, Sarah, for a first-hand information session on Sunday, January 11, 5-6 pm. An author, speaker, and the Spiritual Director of the EYN, Reverend Mambula will share about the suffering of the Nigerian churches, and how they have sought to survive and to live with love and compassion in the midst of such violence.

EYN has issued a fervent call for all Christians to join them in prayer, fasting, lament, and bearing witness to the power of Jesus Christ in addressing this crisis. Mennonite World Conference has called “for its churches to offer a shower of prayer, blessing, solidarity, and financial support for the suffering church in Nigeria.”[2]

children-rejoice-over-bowlsThe Church of the Brethren in the U.S., under the guidance of EYN leaders, is assisting with resources for the distribution of food and supplies, temporary housing, relocation of Kulp Bible College and EYN headquarters, establishment of Care Centers, and trauma healing ministries. Few international relief organizations are working in Nigeria. A week of prayer and fasting was observed by the denomination in August. This practice continues in many congregations.

Rev. Mambula will also share with the Christopher Dock Mennonite High School community in the chapel service on Monday, January 12. An online interview with Musa and Sarah Mumbula is also available (start at 29 minutes).

The Indian Creek Church of the Brethren is located on Route 63, one mile west of Route 113.

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[1] Roy Winter, “Brethren Disaster Ministries Leader Returns from Trip to Nigeria,” December 22, 2014.

[2] “MWC Issues Urgent Appeal for Prayer for the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria,” December 2, 2014.