Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Zion Mennonite Church

Zion Mennonite Church and Indonesian Light Church Worship Together

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On June 11, Zion Mennonite Church (Souderton, PA) invited Indonesian Light Church (Philadelphia, PA) to join together for worship and communion. 

Zion created a special sign to welcome the Indonesian Light congregation. Photo by Hendy Matahelemual.

“It’s a natural thing if we’re around people who share the same culture, language, and background,” Pastor Hendy Matahelemual of Indonesian Light Church said at the opening of the joint worship. “But we worship a supernatural God, the One who will unite us to a new spiritual family that enriches us in fraternal love, mutual cooperation to build and complete each other.”

After the worship service, the two churches enjoyed a picnic lunch together.  

Pastor Sonya Stauffer Kurtz (Zion) preaches the sermon while Pastor Hendy Matahelemual (Indonesian Light) interpretes into Indonesian.
The joint worship band of Indonesian Light and Zion.
Indonesian Light Church members posed for pictures in Zion’s courtyard.
Indonesian Light Church and Zion Mennonite Church join for a photo after their joint worship in June. 
The service was followed by a picnic together, including cupcakes with Indonesian flags.

Zion’s Bean Bag Program Receives Grant

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Everence Stewardship Consultant, Randy Nyce, presents a check to Donna Halteman, founder and coordinator of the Zion Bean Bag Food Program. Photo provided by Everence.

Zion (Souderton, PA) Mennonite Church launched the Bean Bag Food Program in 2016 to offer a steady supply of food for students who rely on school lunches. The program has grown to serve students at ten schools.  Recently, the program received a $3,500 Everence Financial® chapter grant to help provide local students food to take home on weekends.

The Everence chapter grant program supports organizations that help people with basic needs such as food, housing and health care. The grants are made possible when members purchase many Everence products.

“We’re happy to encourage a program that we know is so important to many local families,” said Randy Delp, Managing Director for Everence in Souderton.

Anyone interested in helping to provide meals for kids to take home may contact Zion Mennonite Church, 149 Cherry Lane, Souderton, PA 18964. Please make checks out to Zion Mennonite Church with memo: BBFP.

A Joint Sunday School Experiment

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by Jordan Luther, Zion (Souderton, PA) congregation

If your congregation is like mine, then you are familiar with the revolving door of Sunday school attendance most summers. This summer, however, the situation was different. With most of our congregation still worshiping from home, we needed to rethink how we do Sunday school—especially for our children.

Pastor Jordan Luther waits for virtual Sunday school to start.

Our youth group has been meeting virtually for youth group and Sunday school throughout the pandemic. One day I floated the idea about meeting as a joint Sunday school class of all ages, K-12. I was clear from the beginning that I could not teach this class alone. I needed help. 

When I asked the youth group if they would be willing to help, I was amazed with their response. Not only did they agree to help, but they agreed to be co-leaders and share responsibilities with me!

The following week at youth group we built our five-week summer Sunday school curriculum from the ground up. The youth were really helpful during the planning process, sharing what they believe is most important for Sunday school from a kid’s perspective. I learned two lessons that I hope never to forget from these sessions.

The first lesson the youth taught me is that stories are important. Stories are easier to remember than Bible memory verses. (Sorry Psalms and Romans … maybe another unit!) The youth shared with me about which Bible stories are relatable and memorable to them. 

We took notes on our favorite Bible stories and made a plan. Thankfully, all of the stories the youth chose were featured in Shine On: A Story Bible curriculum which made reading and sharing the story much easier for our younger classmates.

Second, the youth taught me that Sunday school should be a fun experience. “Don’t be boring,” was one youth’s advice to me. “Adults like to talk; kids need action.” This comment made it crystal clear that playing games is important to our faith development too. 

A different youth suggested that we should create original prompts in Quiplash 2 and Drawful 2, two online games that we play regularly together, as a way to have fun while going deeper into the Bible story. The youth and I created the prompts ahead of time after reading the Bible story together. Our prompts were meant to inspire everyone’s imagination and give us permission to wonder about some of the missing details of the story. Think Jewish midrash meets Family Feud. That was our Sunday school environment.

Our joint Sunday school sessions had their hiccups too. Sibling rivalries are just as apparent on screen as they are in-person. Poor wifi connections meant the occasional robot voice and frozen screen. 

Even with these hiccups in mind, I am still grateful for this joint Sunday school experiment. It was a great opportunity for our younger kids to reconnect, our youth to lead and participate in the planning process, and for me to consider fresh approaches to family ministry.

Water the Seed

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by Jordan Luther, Zion congregation

I was told that I would become a pastor. Not by any one person. Just by everyone. In the tight-knit, southern community of my upbringing, it is not uncommon for adults to forecast the vocations of children.

Grade school teachers would send notes home to my parents with remarks like, “He’ll make a good pastor someday.” The babysitter often mentioned to my parents how the way I played with the other kids reminded her of a pastor. My aunts and uncles, several of whom are pastors themselves, would defer to me to say grace before family meals.

No matter where I went, the comparison followed. My recollections of childhood are fundamentally linked to friends, family, neighbors, and strangers telling me that I will become a pastor.

Though many noticed pastoral gifts in me in my early childhood, I did not interpret these gifts as a call. I insisted to everyone that my call was more likely to the Major Leagues as a professional baseball player or in the rodeo as a bull rider. Those seemed like more attractive options to me. However, unbeknownst to me, a small seed had been planted in my heart.

The adults in my life did not plant the seed. Rather, I believe God had planted it there and entrusted my community to water it and give it a chance to grow. Every time someone affirmed pastoral gifts in me, this seed received life-altering rain.

Eventually, this seed emerged from the depths of my heart into the forefront of my consciousness. It was time for me, and the rest of the world, to see what God had planted in me.

I remember I was in church the first time I truly felt God calling me into a life of ministry. Our children’s minister was teaching a lesson on the different gifts Christ left the church. He began by reading, “The gifts he gave were that some would be…” (Ephesians 4:11, NRSV). When the phrase, “pastors and teachers,” was read aloud, I felt a warm sensation start in my chest and consume my entire body. It was as if hearing those words awakened the seed that was buried deep within me.

I remember sharing with our children’s minister what I felt; I remember explaining that I believe God is calling me to become a pastor. He agreed. So did my parents and our pastor when I shared the same experience with them later that same day.

This is the moment when I felt called to ministry.

The rest of my story of call is best summarized as watering the seed. I am grateful that my church, family, and community did not stop watering the seed after I expressed my initial sense of call. The church in particular has been there for me as I continue to grow into my calling, giving me space to learn and fail through the support of encouraging relationships.

If I can recommend any advice from my call story, it is this: water the seed. Water the seed in yourself and others. For who knows what God has planted in our hearts until we give it a chance to grow.

God is Present: Introducing Ebenezer Mennonite Church

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by Jennifer Svetlik, Salford congregation

Ebenezer Mennonite Church began in June 1958 as part of the Hispanic ministry of Grace Mennonite Church in Lansdale, PA. It started as a community for Puerto Ricans who came to the area to work in summer agriculture. Rev. Guillermo Chewing was the first pastor and Earl Stover also played a vital role in the church. In 2005, the church became independent from Grace, moved to Route 113 in Souderton with a new pastor, and changed its name to Ebenezer Mennonite Church. In November 2009 the church moved to the Zion Mennonite Church building in Souderton, PA, where they continue to meet, with Bible study at 11:00 am and worship at noon on Sundays. 

“God in his mercy has been present in our congregation, manifesting his power and sovereignty in the midst of trials, in the process of changes in our church,” says Hilda Vinces, a leader in the church.  “We have had sick members in which God has manifested his power by giving them healing, and we feel his Holy Spirit in our midst because he has strengthened us when church members have passed away.” 

In addition, Hilda shares, through technology, “Ebenezer has been able to reach other people internationally. Although the church has diminished in number of members for different reasons, the Lord has brought new members. God has blessed us for being firm in our faith in Christ.”

Iglesia Ebenezer had previously been a part of Eastern District but left when Grace congregation became independent. Now the church seeks to join Franconia Conference because they recognize the value of relating to and uniting with other local Mennonite Churches. 

“Through the Conference we can … acquire resources that will help us grow as a church and to learn from others and their ministries, and apply these ideas, led by the Holy Spirit, to our own church,” Hilda adds. 

Iglesia Ebenezer represents some of the initial work in Eastern District Conference ministering alongside Spanish speakers. We are glad to welcome Ebenezer as a congregation of Franconia Conference at the same time as we are in the process of reconciling with Eastern District,” Franconia’s Executive Minister Steve Kriss reflects. This is all reconciliation work, he points out—learning from shared history, honoring a shared story, and believing that God is bringing the congregation and the two conferences together to do a new thing.

The Latinx community continues to grow in Bucks and Montgomery counties where many of our congregations have been rooted for generations. We hope that with the sisters and brothers at Ebenezer, we will continue to cultivate a vibrant Anabaptist witness and community together.

Congregational Profile: Zion Mennonite Church

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Zion Mennonite Church, Souderton, PA, asks you to pray for youth who will soon be baptized, for their new Associate Pastor of Faith Formation, Jordan Luther, who will join them in June, and that Zion may grow in grace as they follow God’s call in their community.  See the below video to learn more about Zion and their Bean Bag Food Program.

 

 

A Community of Sisters for the Journey

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(leer en español)

By Marta Castillo, Leadership Minister of Intercultural Formation

She thought for a moment then pulled off her bright pink scarf and laid it down in the rough form of a cross on the narrow space between the beds.  Then she instructed one of us to go outside and get some dirt to place by the cross.  The two symbols, the bright pink cross and the dirt lay there together as a powerful visual of life, death, salvation, and freedom.  We began to pray, attentive to the Spirit and to our sister, as she talked, wept, and prayed through a process letting go of the crippling guilt she carried after her father’s death five years before.  We anointed her with oil and with our prayers of blessings, believing that the power of Jesus would bring transformation and freedom in her life and walk with God.  I suppose we could have listened to her story and prayed for her without the symbols but there was power in the visual and physical additions to the accompaniment of her sisters. This is one story of many from a powerful weekend of sisters walking alongside one another. 

During the weekend of the Cuidandonos Entre Mujeres (Sister Care) Retreat attended by 72 women from 15 congregations, Pastor Ofelia Garcia filled our hearts and minds with powerful teaching through shared activities and symbols.  We walked in each other’s’ shoes, determined the boundaries of our personal space, and committed ourselves to caring for each other in the safety, wisdom and confidentiality of the red tent (a symbolic place of sisterhood and caring for each other we used throughout the weekend).  On Saturday night, we dressed up, celebrated our beauty as women, decorated crowns, and then gave our uniquely created crown to a sister in Christ with words of affirmation and blessing.  Then on Sunday morning, we celebrated communion together and in a ceremony of blessing we blessed one another.  I was reminded of how Jesus used parables, symbols, and ceremony to deeply root the truth in people’s hearts and minds.  The holistic ministry of teaching and practice using our spirit, mind, and body will leave an impact greater than teaching alone. 

This was the first all-Spanish SisterCare Retreat held in the United States. It was more than we had hoped for, a true experience of the joy of seeing God’s Spirit going above and beyond what we could have hoped for or imagined.  Since our own training in Sister Care (in Spanish) with Mennonite Women USA last year, Pastor Letty Castro of Centro de Alabanza de Filadelfia, and I had dreamed of an event where Spanish-speaking women in Franconia and Eastern District could come, relax, share their stories, pray together, and receive teaching about healing and self-care.  It was truly a team effort.  Pastor Ofelia Garcia agreed to come from Mexico City to be the speaker since she helped develop and present Sister Care materials in many places. Franconia Conference agreed to support our efforts to reach women within the churches of the conference and Eastern District.  Congregations like Zion, Salford, Doylestown, Centro de Alabanza, and Nueva Vida Norristown New Life supported us with scholarships for women to attend.  Pastors helped to get the word out to their Spanish speaking members.  A group from Centro de Alabanza worked hard to bring the program and details together.  Staff from Spruce Lake Retreat Center supported us through the registration process and retreat planning. 

Within hours of being together, women from over fifteen different churches and at least ten different countries were sharing with a depth that took us by surprise.  When we shared in small groups, we heard stories of parental and spousal abandonment, verbal, physical, sexual abuse, marriage difficulties, un-forgiveness, anger, loss of a child, and so much more.  We heard faith stories of God’s grace and love reaching down to bring forgiveness, freedom, healing, hope, love, and a future.   We cried, we smiled, we laughed, we hugged, and we listened.  We were encouraged not to give counsel or advice unless it was asked for specifically so we listened some more and we prayed for ourselves and for each other.  The space felt safe and we surrendered ourselves to the experience and the community.

The invitation was extended and the women came.  We enjoyed the beauty of the mountains, trees, and God’s creation.  We stepped away from our work, homes, families, and responsibilities to care for ourselves and others women like us.  We shared deeply and encouraged each other.  As we left and went home, we will continue to invite each other to “Come, walk with us. The journey is long.” 

Luke 10:27 (NIV)  He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”