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Wellspring

How Shall We Gather?

June 18, 2020 by Sue Conrad Howes

by Sue Conrad Howes, West Swamp congregation

Lynne Rush (center), music director at West Swamp Mennonite (Quakertown, PA), leads music during the June 14 drive-in service in the church’s parking lot. Pastor Michael Howes (left) and sound tech Tim Scheetz (right) stand with masks on, at least six feet away. 

In March 2020, many churches were struggling with the need to close their doors for Sunday worship due to COVID-19. Now, three months later, some churches are struggling again: When and how do we begin to gather for corporate worship while still caring for the physical health of our congregation?  Churches throughout the conference are trying a variety of approaches. 

Some, typically smaller, congregations have begun worshiping in their church buildings while taking precautions. Wellspring Church of Skippack (PA) is gathering in person, but with written instructions to participants encouraging physical distancing and other guidelines. Offering is collected in plates at the exits, bulletin announcements are sent via email so there are no handouts, and hand sanitizer and masks are available to all. Persons who use the restrooms are asked to wipe down the surfaces after each use.  

Mennonite Bible Fellowship (Morris, PA), has been meeting together since May 17. Congregants sit in every other pew, wear masks, and don’t shake hands. Pastor John Brodnicki commented that the “most inconvenient part of this arrangement is singing. It’s difficult to sing with a mask on.” They continue to monitor the number of COVID-19 cases in the area (their county has had relatively few). “If COVID cases were to spike, we may reconsider meeting together until the spike subsides,” Brodnicki added. 

Since June 7, Franconia (Telford, PA) congregation has been gathering in its parking lot for worship. Using an outdoor sound system,  FM transmitter, and a large LED screen to display the worship leader, musicians, and preacher (who are inside the church sanctuary), congregants sit in socially-distanced lawn chairs or in their cars.  “The outdoor service,” according to Pastor Mark Wenger, “has been a great experience.  This is the first step of gathering in person.” 

Franconia has also utilized the rental of the LED screen to show family-friendly movies on the weekend, including many movie attendees who were not from the congregation. As a result, the church plans to continue offering movies periodically in the future as an opportunity for outreach. 

Congregants attend drive-in church at West Swamp (Quakertown, PA) via their vehicles. The worship service was available on car stereos via an FM transmitter. 

Pastor Beny Krisbianto shared how his congregation, Nations Worship (Philadelphia, PA), held worship in the park on June 14. When 40 people showed up for worship, church leaders decided to divide the group into two, as area restrictions limited gatherings to 25 people. Congregants wore masks and practiced social distancing while older members were encouraged to stay at home and participate virtually. 

Some congregations are holding two services to limit the numbers in attendance. Perkiomenville (PA) congregation set up chairs in the worship space for appropriate distancing. They implemented a limit of 80 people per service and masks are expected for all who attend. 

Meanwhile, Methacton congregation (Norristown, PA) has decided to wait until their county goes “green” before even considering meeting in person in any form. According to Pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman, “We don’t have a plan yet for how to re-open since so much changes all the time.” Meanwhile, Methacton’s worship services are emailed to the congregation on Saturday afternoons, inviting people to worship on their own time. For Methacton, the question now is, “How much do we need to gather?” says Drescher-Lehman. “We’re still the church,” she reflects. “Sunday mornings are a great celebration that everyone will be happy to have again when the time is right, but I don’t think anyone is drying up spiritually.”

Filed Under: Articles, Blog Tagged With: Beny Krisbianto, coronavirus, Franconia Mennonite Church, John Brodnicki, Mark Wenger, Mennonite Bible Fellowship, Methacton Mennonite Church, Michael Howes, Nations Worship, Nations Worship Center, Perkiomenville Mennonite Church, Sandy Drescher-Lehman, Sue Conrad Howes, Wellspring, Wellspring Church of Skippack, West Swamp, West Swamp Mennonite Church

Congregational Profile: Wellspring Church of Skippack

July 25, 2019 by Conference Office

by Marta Castillo, interim pastor

Wellspring Church of Skippack is a congregation with deep Mennonite roots but an openness to people of all backgrounds who wish to follow Christ.

The youngest member of Wellspring, Kaylee Hockman (14 years old) went to visit with the oldest member, Florence Garges (93 years old), and Mae Reinford, who has attended the church for 77 years. In their walk down memory lane, Florence and Mae told us about a horse shed that was eventually enclosed into a building that held Sunday School and Vacation Bible School rooms. Florence remembers teaching Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and the nursery class with her sister, Evelyn, and enjoying the Winter Bible Study. She remembers their Sunday School class going on a Saturday afternoon visit to her teacher’s house where they played games and got treats. Although she still thinks of the church by its old name (Upper Skippack Mennonite Church) and now lives in the Souderton Mennonite Homes, she says, “It was the only church we ever went to. I always liked it. I didn’t know any different. It was home.”

Mae Reinford, who is still very active at Wellspring, remembers the “Golden Years” of Vacation Bible School that was held for 175-200 community children. Her Uncle Jake Landis was a school bus driver who would invite the children for the event, and for a time, the church was allowed to use the public school’s buses to transport the children to Bible School. Mae’s parents, Wilmer and Margaret Reinford were heavily involved in organizing and running the Bible School. At least one of the current members at the church attended Bible School at the church as a child. Mae has watched many things change over the years and yet she continues to rejoice in the work that God is doing in and through us.

Today, Wellspring is a small, vibrant congregation with a church culture of “Come as you are and as you like. We enjoy dressing down AND dressing up.” Our average attendance is 25-30. It is easy to GET IN AND GET INVOLVED. We have a lot of potential for ministry in areas such as worship, children, and Bible study groups.

The congregation begins to gather on a Sunday morning around 9 a.m. with the worship team meeting to pray and practice. The prayer room is open for prayer and intercession from 9:30-10 am. Our worship service starts at 10 am and is a combination of prayer, preaching, sharing, and singing.  The worship style includes a rich mix of contemporary praise songs and hymns. We know that styles are different, musical tastes vary, and worship is BOTH personal and corporate. The Sunday morning worship service is informal with several meaningful opportunities for the congregation to share prayer requests, Scripture, and sermon response. We enjoy a children’s story every Sunday that is led by different members of the congregation.

We value our relationship in a group of five small churches in our area: Methacton, Providence, Spring Mount, and Frederick. Our pastors meet monthly and we worship together in several services and picnics each year.

Due to our proximity to the Phoenix (formerly Graterford) Prison, our congregation and its leaders have often been involved in different levels of prison ministry. We are currently involved in providing maps, clothing, and information for people who are seeking to visit the prison. Pastor Michael Meneses, who served as pastor here from 2001-2018, was instrumental in developing restorative justice workshops in the prison. Currently, there are four ten-week sessions based on “Restorative Justice” by Howard Zehr that run throughout the year. They are led by a group of leaders, including Jake Lentz from Wellspring and Bobbi Smisko from Methacton.

Wellspring Church of Skippack is experiencing the unending source of the grace and love of God in surprising and wonderful ways. We are being built up every day on the foundation that is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit inspires us and guides us to be who God is calling us to be. It is a gem of a congregation!

Prayer Requests:
* continue to pray for us during this year of transition following the death of our beloved pastor, Mike Meneses, as we seek God’s healing, direction, and vision
* pray for the guidance of God’s Spirit in our pastoral search process and that we can be a witness of God’s salvation and love in our prayer ministry, prison (restorative justice) ministry, and where we live, work, and play

 

Filed Under: Congregational Profiles Tagged With: Wellspring, Wellspring Church of Skippack

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