by Stephen Kriss, Executive Minister
In our commitments for credentialing as pastors within Franconia Conference, we agree to giving and receiving counsel. This week I am here in Indiana as part of our process of giving and receiving counsel through Mennonite Church USA’s Constituency Leader Council (CLC).
It’s not been an easy time in Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA). Three conferences have seceded from MCUSA and several have lost significant membership numbers. Three conferences have moved toward credentialing gay and lesbian persons which puts them at variance with our official confessional/polity positions. We are not alone in our turmoil as similar processes have been playing out among United Methodists, Presbyterian Church USA and the Episcopalians. Nonetheless we are here to keep trying to work it out. At times, it feels like we are at our wits end with each other.
Franconia Conference was a founding body in MCUSA. We remain engaged thus far because we believe that we can do more together than we can on our own. I recognize, though, that some of us question our relationship with MCUSA because of the tensions felt around our theology and practice thereof. I understand both the acts of conscience and the levels of frustration that have meant Conferences have seceded and that others have landed at variance.
I believe in the kind of love that Paul wrote about that is patient, kind and enduring. As a Conference, we have an enduring history. Unfortunately, it hasn’t always been marked with enduring love that has been witness of the reconciling power of Christ’s peace. Our current exploration of a possible reconciliation process with Eastern District Conference evidences our lack of patience with one another, that now is being addressed over a century later. Randy Heacock’s story from the last Intersectings reminds us of the sad reality that reconciliation work on an interpersonal level is still a rarity. So, I’m committed this week to sit at these tables on our behalf, and to find ways to engage constructively and generatively, along with John Goshow, our Conference moderator, and Mary Nitzsche, chair of our Ministerial Committee.
In these few days, for the sake of all of us, I commit to believing and hoping, of seeking the Spirit’s stirring. Of continuing to live into my ordination vows of giving and receiving counsel. Whether around tables in Elkhart or at the kitchen table or the communion table, this is our invitation. It’s an invitation that endures; a recognition that love never fails, a way of living God’s great shalom, even through day long meetings.
This year I joined the shared worship at Blooming Glen, jointly planned with Deep Run East and Perkasie congregations. Each of the congregations’ pastoral leaders had a part. I found my eyes becoming full as I watched them mark each other’s foreheads, after finishing marking those who came forward. There was something both beautiful and awful in the fragility of the statement “from dust you’ve been created, and to dust you shall return,” being spoken to pastoral colleagues I know and love.
Last Thursday, we honored the relationships we have with our credentialed leaders in an evening dinner with music. It was a lovely night with good food and fellowship around tables while listening to some Gospel Folk music by The King’s Strings. It felt like an extravagant night out for some of us. A few pastors incredulously and skeptically wondered how the costs had been covered. Two families from our community paid the bill as a gift, to show their appreciation for our credentialed leaders and conference. Our pastors who attended felt honored. It’s one of the ways we honor life’s fragility, through generosity and appreciation. I’m grateful for our donors and our time together.
My first communication received in the new executive minister role came as a text message on Sunday morning before I went to worship on January 1. It came from a Conference board member who told me that his congregation intended to support the work of Danilo Sanchez in Allentown for another year in the partnership between the Conference, Whitehall Mennonite Church, Ripple congregation and Mennonite Central Committee East Coast. It was a welcome communication and a gracious reminder of the Spirit’s work among us. What our board member didn’t know was that this important 
Mission to the margins means both speaking and acting. For us as Conference staff, these last few weeks have included finding ways to support when Carlos Romero, Executive Director of Mennonite Education Agency, received a racially harassing phone call. Our response to Christ and the Spirit’s work at Pentecost means we cannot remain silent as witnesses to ethnic intimidation or acts that represent white supremacy. We are the first community to have named an African American pastor in the Mennonite Church and to have an African American lead our conference. We worship in four languages. Almost 20% of our pastors are people of color. This is our story. It’s never been easy work and gets even more challenging when we are able to be more honest with one another about our experiences.
Donella Clemens from the Perkasie congregation once advised me to seek out Biblical texts that offer guidance into where to situate ourselves for difficult or transitional times. This week, I’ve settled into Micah 6.8’s invitation to “live justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God.” It’s a challenging invitation for our time even though the words can at times feel overly familiar. It seems exactly where I’m going to need to be awhile after 30 days into the new leadership role. There’s still much to figure out and to learn.
Emily has been credentialed with the Conference since 2010, and a member of the conference since her youth. She has served as a worship leader at Bally Mennonite Church, led worship and taught Sunday School while a member at Salford, and conducted interim ministry work with Swamp and Indonesian Light. She also spent time serving Sunnyside congregation in Lancaster, PA. Emily will also serve a number of Congregations as LEADership Minister while working to provide meaningful equipping events over the next six months.
Randy Heacock steps in to his role as Interim LEADership Minister while continuing as pastor at Doylestown Mennonite Church. Randy was ordained in 1991 through Virginia Conference transferring to Franconia Conference in 2001 when he accepted the position at Doylestown. Randy has a wealth of pastoral experience spanning the last 35 years and has also served on the Virginia Conference Nurture Committee and as Chairperson of the Virginia Peace Committee. He has been noted for his steady presence and ability to walk with congregations through difficult times, holding space with patience as the Spirit moves making discernment possible.
Wayne Nitzsche currently serves as pastor at Perkasie Mennonite Church. He will continue in that role as he joins the Interim LEADership Ministry team. Wayne has been a member of Franconia Conference since accepting the role at Perkasie in 2008. Originally, Wayne was ordained in 1989 through Ohio Conference where he would serve as Regional Pastor for 12 years. Throughout his career, Wayne has served in a number of ministry roles including time under Mennonite Board of Missions, now known as Mennonite Mission Network. Wayne has been noted as having exceptional listening skills and truly strives to model Jesus in his everyday life. He will be working in these next six months with three congregations who face transitions themselves.
Mother Theresa called it a “call within the call.” That’s the best language I’ve found to describe why I’ve said yes to the invitation to the role of Executive Minister with Franconia Conference. These weeks since the announcement went public I’ve felt surrounded by congratulatory support as well as honest condolences. The congratulations recognize the largeness of the role and the condolences honor the difficulty of church leadership in this time and space. I’ve received them both openly and humbly feeling strongly the sense of call between God, the world, our community and me for “such a time as this.”
In my interview with the Conference Board, I said that a marker of success for me will be collaboration. I’m not exactly sure how we’ll mark or measure this yet, but I’ve seen glimpses of it in our work together in mutuality and sharing resources that give me some clues. We have a long story together and I’m convinced that our future could be bright. We’ll need to keep learning (to keep on being disciples) and to invest carefully so that our gift of faith might not simply be safely preserved but multiplied like the resources entrusted to the servants in Jesus’ parable from the Gospel of Matthew.
For fun Sherri enjoys reading, playing the guitar, and doing “as much yoga as I can manage.” She also enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog, Jojo.