Many of my college friends have worked their same respective summer jobs for years. Though I worked for the same company through four years of high school, I have considered my summer arrangements quite varied.
But I came to a striking realization this summer: I have been a Franconia Conference intern for four straight summers. Most interns serve somewhere, process their experience, and move on. For me, after four years, I’m still serving, processing, and only beginning to move on.
All I’ve done every summer since my first year at Goshen College is work as a Franconia Conference intern. I mean this in the best way possible. My work has varied, though my title as an intern has not. Some would say I’m an internship addict. Maybe I am. But through what other organization could I gain such diverse experience?
I road-tripped through numerous cities including Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Pittsburgh; New York City; Bethany, Ver.; New Haven, Conn.; Goshen, Ind.; Minneapolis; Des Moines, Iowa.
I sat at the desk of Peter Jennings and Charles Gibson (the closest I will likely get to my childhood dream of becoming a television news anchor).
I served meals and listened to stories from homeless persons in downtown Toronto
I sloshed through the rain with Anglican brothers and sisters in England, and spent more time getting to than being in Northern Ireland.
I heard prayers in Spanish and Arabic as I visited Ancient Andalusian mosques, synagogues, and cathedrals.
I sipped sugary mint tea with fellow interns along the southern coast of Spain and deserts of Morocco; and I sipped cafe con leche with a Bergey brother in Barcelona.
I commuted through traffic, toll booths, and potholes, from my house in Telford to ASSETS Montco in Norristown almost every day for eight weeks during summer 2008.
I worshipped with an emerging congregation of Indonesian immigrants at a house church in Western Pennsylvania
I revisited my roots with trips to the historic Germantown Mennonite Church; and the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, a place I had never been, even though I knowingly pass by it every Sunday on my way from Telford to Salford Mennonite Church.
I agonized through the pains of a sore back, wrists, and rear-end after countless hours in front of my computer at home and at the conference office in Souderton.
I spent more time in Philadelphia than along the Route 113 corridor.
I caught glimpses of God through these experiences (and many others which go unnamed), a testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit.
I have been part of four different groups of interns, but none as cosmopolitan as the summer 2009 crew. This summer, we spoke English, Spanish, Indonesian, and Burmese. We served from South Philly, up the Northeast Extension to the suburbs, and out Interstate 80 to Goshen and Denver. The females outnumbered the males for the first time in my interning career.
Some interns have completed one year of college, while others will soon hold graduate degrees. Some are considering what it means to be Mennonite, while others are considering how to explain what it means to be Mennonite. Our vocational aspirations vary as well, though we have all confirmed the possibility of ministry.
Though initial forecasts were down, Franconia Conference supported 18 young adult interns this summer, which matches the same record-setting number from summer 2008. We are the summer 2009 class of interns. We caught glimpses of God. At times, we wondered where God was. Hear our voices:
Jordan Delp…I was out for a walk and felt that I should walk up a street. I turned the corner, and saw what looked like a man sitting on a chair on his porch. I figured I would go talk to him. As I approached, it became clear that the person was a woman. She was on the phone. I walked past the house, crossed the street, and turned around. As I loitered, unsure of what to do, she finished her conversation and called out to me, beginning a very wisdom-filled conversation that was exactly what I needed. Two days later, I returned to this woman. The previous day, she had told me to soul-search and ask God for direction, because I told her that I was confused about important things (heaven, God’s will, integrity). I returned with a general idea, but sure it wasn’t what she was looking for. It didn’t matter, she was under the influence of something and had trouble stringing sentences together. As I left, I think she yelled to me that I’m a “lost soul.”
Bianca Prunes…I saw God in one child in the camp whose name is Lee. Lee consistently got into fights. At one point is was daily; he saw any chance to fight. Then one day, an argument broke out, and Lee just turned away and said, “I dont want to fight you. Fighting is stupid.” Lee walked away from the fight. It was amazing. After that, Lee was the first to break up fights and inform counselors if one was starting. Total transformation. However, I didn’t see God when a young man in the neighborhood was shot and killed in a drive-by.
Yonathan Setiewan…While at PPC, God gave me the chance to help others and share my belief in Christ. I worked as a translator, in the church office, with the ESL ministry, and with immigration. I know I am following God. The love of God and a way to minister through it all, God fills me so full every time I serve people and the Lord. Living in a big city like Philadelphia felt so crowded to me. I cannot think and live in a big city. In Indonesia I grew up in a suburb. And now I go to a small college. I feel more comfortable and see God in the small town rather than in the big city.
Danilo Sanchez…I was asked to help with the Community Outreach program on Thursday nights. I soon learned that not many kids are interested in coming during the summer. One night I was surprised to have about eight or ten kids. Things quickly got out of hand. They rode their bikes in the gym, went into the kitchen, and beat up on each other. They didn’t feel like listening to me and thought they could take over the place. It was a challenge for me to establish authority and control. I felt abandoned being the only one there, but I did my best to remain calm. I was glad to have help come later but left that night wondering if I was really cut out for youth ministry. It had been a long week, and I felt very overwhelmed and helpless. Afterward, I went to the prayer room. I needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and find rest in God. It felt good to be wrapped in his arms and be reminded that I don’t have to rely on my own strength, but can accomplish all things by his power.
Crystal Zook…I saw God in the people of the church. In the little boy who would give me a thumbs up and say “chido” (cool) when I asked how he was doing. In my host family who let me share their house for two months. In the many conversations we had with the ladies of our English class. In the blending of languages and cultures in Philadelphia Praise Center. In all the members of the church who accepted me as part of the family, and graciously helped me when I forgot my Indonesian and Spanish. In all the smiling faces at church on Sunday morning and throughout the week, even though their lives are much harder than mine. In working with other interns and seeing how we changed over the summer as we got to know each other better. I saw God in each and every person I interacted with this summer.
I have been hard pressed to find a clear and concise way of saying what I did for my Ministry Inquiry Program assignment.
I worked for the Mennonite church –– but I didn’t work in a church. I worked with a group of people of faith who care about recent immigrants and I worked with immigrants who are people of faith. I tried to help discover how Franconia Conference congregations can align their practices regarding immigrants with their values of welcoming the stranger and loving our neighbor as ourselves. And I tried to fit my own thoughts into the already buzzing conversations in this diverse and changing conference.
Though I can’t express the work I did in a few sentences, one theme keeps calling my attention: issues are more real to us when we live them or when people we know live them.
Here are some examples from my summer…
Part of my time was spent listening to stories of people of faith who are from other countries.
The people in our churches who have come here themselves from Mexico, Indonesia, China, India, El Salvador, the Congo can give those of us who were born in the U.S. a lot of insight. They have personal knowledge of values and customs that we can benefit from. Their stories of coming to the United States and experiences of the immigration process give our conference areas to act. I saw all of this happening this summer.
Through hearing these stories, I became friends with the tellers. Through our relationship, the stories became more significant to me. The excitement they bring and the problems they face have shaped what I care about.
One example in particular has affected me very much. I got to know one church family very well. I heard about the village in Mexico where they grew up, and the difficulties they faced that drove them to leave. I heard about their struggles with English, with immigration, and with paying their rent. That relationship is a huge part of why I care about immigration. It’s also a huge part of why I think personal experiences are important.
I also spent a lot of time hearing what experiences move those born in the United States to care about the issue of immigration. Some who are born in the U.S. see the issue through the teachings and stories of the Bible, which emphasize hospitality. Some want fairness for immigrants because of the experience of their ancestors – many Mennonites share a history of immigration in search of religious freedom, and feel they can personally identify. And others who are from the U.S. have relationships with immigrants as I did, hear their life experiences, and are moved.
We each have had different experiences, and we know different stories. Even the experiences we have move us to see issues differently.
What experiences have you had that have changed what you care about? What stories have you heard that have changed what you care about?
I thank God for the ways we are changed by the stories of our brothers and sisters, and I pray that our individual experiences shape us as a body to be more and more Christ-like.
Maria Byler served as a Ministry Inquiry Program participant this summer through Franconia Conference working on issues of immigration awareness and solidarity. Nearly half of Franconia Conference congregations are faced with issues of immigration and migration on a daily basis. She worked with a variety of initiatives based in Philadelphia and worshiped with Cento de Alabanza de Filadefia (Philadelphia Praise Center) who helped provide housing for her this summer.
• Benjamin Bergey (Blooming Glen) spent his summer with his home congregation as part of his studies at Eastern Mennonite University. Bergey will enter his junior year at EMU as a double major in church music and vocal performance.
Church of the Overcomer
• Julianne McDonald (Church of the Overcomer) interned with the Church of the Overcomer this summer. McDonald will begin her sophomore year this fall at Cabrini College, where she studies business management and social work.
• Morgan Moore (Church of the Overcomer) was an Ministry Inquiry Program participant this summer with the Church of the Overcomer. This fall, Moore will be a senior elementary education major at Kutztown University.
First Mennonite of Denver
• Jordan Delp (Swamp) spent his summer at First Mennonite Church of Denver through the Ministry Inquiry Program. Delp will enter his fourth year at Goshen College, where he is an English education major.
Franconia Conference
• Sheldon Good (Salford) spent his fourth consecutive summer as a Franconia Conference intern. Good graduated in May from Goshen College with degrees in communication (public relations concentration) and business. He is currently an intern with Sojourners Magazine in Washington, D.C.
• Maria Byler (Benton Mennonite, Goshen, IN) interned this summer with Franconia Conference through the Ministry Inquiry Program. This fall, Byler began her senior year at Goshen College as a social work major.
New Hope Fellowship/Nueva Esperanza
• Claudia Esmerelda Sanchez (New Hope Fellowship/Nueva Esperanza) served for the second summer with New Hope Fellowship/Nueva Esperanza in Alexandria, Virginia through Mennonite Central Committee. Sanchez is a student in international relations at Northern Virginia Community College. She plans to attend George Mason University after graduation.
• Monica Solis (New Hope Fellowship/Nueva Esperanza) is a high school student who learned and served through Eastern Mennonite University’s LEAP365 program. This summer she traveled to New Orleans to learn of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the community. During the school year she will participate in a mentorship and a service project next summer.
Oxford Circle
• Bianca Prunes (Oxford Circle) served at Oxford Circle this summer through the Mennonite Central Committee summer service program. Prunes will graduate next year from Carver High School of Engineering and Science.
• Annali Smucker (East Chestnut Street Mennonite, Akron, Pa.) interned this summer at the Oxford Circle congregation and Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association through the Ministry Inquiry Program. Smucker will return to Goshen College this fall to finish her degrees in art and interdisciplinary studies (Bible and religion, history, and psychology).
Philadelphia Praise Center
• Evelyn Kurniadi (Philadelphia Praise Center) served at Philadelphia Praise Center this summer through Mennonite Central Committee. Kurniadi is a graduate student at Philadelphia Biblical University.
• Yonathan Setiawan (Kudus/Central Java/Indonesia, Muria Indonesia/GKMI) was an Ministry Inquiry Program participant at Philadelphia Praise Center this summer. Setiawan will begin his senior year this fall at Bluffton University, where he studies youth ministry.
• Crystal Zook (James Street Mennonite, Lancaster, Pa.) interned this summer at Philadelphia Praise Center through the Ministry Inquiry Program. This fall, Zook will be a senior at Goshen College, where she is a double major in history and peace, justice, and conflict studies.
• Pa Yaw (Myanmar, Baptist) was an intern at Philadelphia Praise Center this summer. Yaw is a graduate student at Princeton Theological Seminary.
• Mun Pan (Myanmar, Baptist) interned at Philadelphia Praise Center this summer. Pan is a graduate student in theological studies at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Souderton
• Danilo Sanchez (Boyertown) interned for his second consecutive summer with Franconia Conference, this time with the Souderton congregation through the Ministry Inquiry Program. Sanchez will graduate in May 2010 from Eastern University with degrees in youth ministry and theology.
Walnut Hill
• Lauren Derstine (Blooming Glen) lived in Goshen, In. this summer as an intern with the Walnut Hill congregation. Derstine will remain in Goshen this fall as she begins her junior year at Goshen College as an American sign language interpreting major.
Zion
• Greg Yoder (Perkasie) was an intern at Zion Mennonite Church this summer through the Ministry Inquiry Program. Yoder graduated in May with a music education degree but will return to Goshen this fall to complete his student teaching.
In February of 2008, urban minister Jim Kilpin gave Blaine Detwiler (conference Moderator and pastor of Lakeview Mennonite Church), Steve Kriss (conference Director of Communication and Leadership Cultivation) and myself a tour in of East London. He shared how his family had moved to this neighborhood a decade earlier to plant a church (connected with Urban Expression, part of the Anabaptist Network, U.K.). As they became familiar with the neighborhood, they began to look for where God was already at work, wanting to be part of what God was already doing. In other words, to be missional.
I asked Jim, “How do you recognize where God is already at work?” He thought about my question and then replied, “I think it is where you find people of peace.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen offers a similar observation in his book, Life of the Beloved, “There is no clearer way to discern the presence of God’s Spirit than to identify the moments of unification, healing, restoration, and reconciliation. Wherever the Spirit works, divisions vanish and inner as well as outer unity manifests itself.” Through God’s Spirit and collective discernment, we join hands with like-minded believers where we find and give encouragement, we equip leaders to empower others and we look for opportunities to join in what God is already doing – where there is unification, healing, restoration and reconciliation.
Recently, delegates of Franconia Conference have shaped our work together through these actions:
Developing relationships with Partners in Mission as an expression of the missional character of Franconia Conference (2002)
Establishing the Conference’s mission: “Equipping Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission” (2004)
Affirming the Conference’s Vision/Core Processes: Identity Formation from a Biblical/Anabaptist perspective, Leadership Transformation from cradle to grave, and Healthy Relational Patterns—passionately living out our callings; and Strategic Values as to be missional, intercultural, and formational (2005)
And clarifying that Franconia Conference’s five-year Vision and Financial Plan should result in more healthy and growing leaders, congregations, new believers and connections to the world. (2007)
Together, we are cultivating a community of “people of peace” in this framework of action and discernment. Matthew 7:16 says, “You will know them by their fruits.” What fruits from these decisions are evidenced in this issue of Intersections?
Healthy and Growing Connections to the World
As you read you will discover stories about three of our Partners in Mission–the Anabaptist Network in the United Kingdom, Oxford Circle Mennonite Church and Peace Fellowship Church. Nearly half of our conference’s member congregations connect with one of these three partners.
Equipping Leaders and Identity Formation
Elaine Moyer’s reflections on her leadership at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School remind us of the important identity formation work and legacy of leaders who have been equipped and are equipping others through their ministry. Dock’s role in these areas precedes Franconia Conference’s mission statement and is an important piece of our collective work.
Bob Helverson’s ordination is another specific example of a young leader, called, equipped and empowered for ministry.
Strategic Values In Action
“Creating Ripples in the Lehigh Valley” tells the story of the Whitehall congregation’s missional experiment, led by Tom and Carolyn Albright. The growing ministry of Ripple is Anabaptist in character with an untraditional expression of worship, learning from other “emerging” groups, including the Anabaptist Network, U.K.
Healthy and Growing Congregations
The story of Philadelphia Praise Center’s expansion into Spanish worship is a beautiful expression of a healthy and growing congregation. The congregation meets an important need for South Philadelphia, living into the Revelation 7:9 vision of “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation” standing before the Lamb of God.
So what does Franconia Conference do? Together we are living into the vision and mission that we have set. We’re embracing God’s mission, continuing to be and become people where the fruit of God’s peace is manifested.
I know I am a child of the 1980’s when in the midst of a moving worship event, I am drawn to a line from the A-Team, “I love it when a good plan comes together.”
At the time of the first Sunday morning worship of Centro de Alabanza de Filadelphia in June, I couldn’t remember where the line came from. but it was what came to mind. After years of planning, preparing, waiting and building relationships, a Spanish-speaking Anabaptist worshiping community is evidencing itself in South Philadelphia.
To use the more biblical Pauline framing, it was a recognition of the many parts that bring the community together and extend the Good News with each person in the Body of Christ carrying out a task, using a gift. To be in the midst of that expression made flesh was to be overwhelmed by the movement of God around the globe, across the connections that make up Franconia Conference from Jakarta to Mexico City to Blooming Glen to Kansas to Philadelphia to Washington. And on the first launching date of worship, we gathered together to celebrate, to listen, to wonder, to worship, to rejoice, to move ahead.
Centro de Alabanza is the Spanish-speaking expression of Philadelphia Praise Center. Begun less than five years ago, Philadelphia Praise was birthed among immigrants from Indonesia with an intent to “reach the nations” according to Pastor Aldo Siahaan. It was a journey begun in earnestness with a sense of calling but not a strong sense of how to actually accomplish this Pentecost vision of many people of different tongues, tribes and nations worshipping together.
Soon after it’s birthing, Philadelphia Praise Center connected with Franconia Conference through friends at Souderton Mennonite Church via Mennonite connections that ran back through Indonesia as well. Philadelphia Praise Center has become the largest Mennonite congregation in Philadelphia, a group of people living, working and worshipping in South Philadelphia, which has likely emerged as the urban neighborhood with the highest percentage of Anabaptist congregations in the country—speaking Indonesian, Cantonese, English and Khmer. And now Spanish.
With the migration of members of the LaPaz congregation in Mexico City, formerly pastored by Franconia Conference Leadership Minister, Kirk Hanger, the foundation was established for Spanish-speaking outreach alongside the primarily Indonesian congregation. The Spanish-speaking home groups and possibilities have continued to proliferate, opening the possibility of a new expression of praise in this barrio of 8,000 Spanish-speaking immigrants, mostly from Mexico.
On the first Sunday morning worship, all the parts of the body carried out their role. Members of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church who have been supporting the Spanish-speaking initiative joined in worship. Maria Byler, a Goshen College student working in South Philadelphia for the summer, provided translation from Spanish to English. Indonesian members of the congregation played instruments for the worship while the songs were sung in Spanish. Spanish-speakers from across the neighborhood and from sister congregation New Hope Fellowship in Alexandria, Va., made the trek northward on I-95 along with their pastor, Kirk Hanger, who was preaching for the kick-off worship in Spanish.
Afterward, the 60 of us ate together, speaking in Spanish, English and Indonesian. We celebrated over food from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. It was a spicy table of communion. And its all the Lord’s doing. And it’s marvelous in our eyes. Gloria a Dios.
Philadelphia Praise Center continues to worship bilingually in Indonesian and English on Sunday at 9:30 am. Centro de Alabanza worship in Spanish and English begins at noon. A multilingual fellowship and food time begins around 11am. Home groups meet throughout the week in Chin (an indigenous language from Myanmar), English, Indonesian and Spanish.
Jessica Walter,Communication and Leadership Resources Manager
Over the last few years I’ve asked and been asked the following question: What comes after “being saved”?
I grew up with a theology that centered almost completely around the salvation experience. Over and over again I was told that what really mattered was whether or not I had committed my life to the Lord, so much so that I often questioned my own salvation. Long after I had made the choice to follow Christ and “accept him as my Lord and Savior” I would continually feel drawn to respond to altar calls. Eventually a voice inside me said, “Enough already, when will you ever feel completely perfect in your faith? The answer is never and responding to every altar call won’t change that.”
In that moment I realized I was missing an element of Christianity and I started to look for it. Soon I began to better understand faith as a journey and salvation not as the destination but rather a part of the beginning.
I discovered that discipleship comes after salvation and began looking at Christ’s relationships with his disciples with more probing eyes. This helped me see how Christ meets us where we are and then nudges, sometimes shoves, us forward. Suddenly I encountered discipleship in a more meaningful way.
In Chris Nickel’s reflection on Harold S. Bender’s The Anabaptist Vision he notes Bender’s explanation of the early Anabaptists’ understanding of discipleship as “a concept which meant the transformation of the entire way of life of the individual believer and of society so that it should be fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ.”
Our theological ancestors understood that when you welcomed the transforming power of Christ’s salvation into your life that it was the beginning of a commitment to walk the journey, to “fashion” your life after Christ.
In Matthew 25: 31-46 Jesus tells us how the Son of Man will come and separate the people of all nations to his left and right; judging them by whether they gave the hungry food, the thirsty a drink, welcomed the stranger, clothed the needy, looked after the sick and visited those in prison. “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me.’ (verse 40)”
In these verses Christ outlines some of the expectations he has for his disciples. Bender later notes that the early Anabaptists’ also understood discipleship as the “outward expression of the inner experience.” The following pages of Intersections are filled with the stories of fellow disciples who are expressing their salvation and fulfilling the Matthew 25 expectations.
A congregation is providing financial “water” those who are experiencing the current economic “drought” through raising support for families who have recently lost their livelihoods.
Behind prison walls, inspired disciples are defying past barriers centered around fear to visit those in prison. They are finding a people hungry for a different way of life.
Immigrant disciples who share the bond of being strangers in a new land are providing each other with hospitality. Worshiping and fellowshiping together despite the distance between them.
Those who have heard the cry of the hungry, starved by intestinal worms, are working together to combat the parasite, hoping someday to rid the world of it’s existence.
Men and women are standing up for the children in their neighborhoods, speaking and acting against gun violence so that their neighbors have a chance to life long and full lives.
A dedicated disciple reflects on her years of leadership at Franconia Conference. She has seen its members through many changes and has empowered and provided space for many other disciples along the way.
These are a few examples of the many ways we live, transformed by our faith, as disciples. What are the Matthew 25 stories that surround and inspire you? How is your life being fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ?
Jessica Walter, Communication and Leadership Resources ManagerOver a meal of well seasoned red beans and rice in a packed banquet hall more than 200 people sat down to hear about the work Claude Good and the Worm Warriors are doing to fight the infestation of intestinal worms that plague whole populations of children and adults across the planet.After all had a chance to enjoy the free meal and the company around their tables Good began the presentation on the Worm Project with a story of how his mother prayed that baby Claude would one day become a missionary. With a thankful spirit he asked, “Where would I be if my mother had not prayed that prayer?”The Worm Warriors then shared their stories of how they came to know Good and how they are fighting intestinal worms all over the world.The Worm Warriors who were able to attend the event included Andrew Crawford of Food for the Hungry, Howard Schiffer of Vitamin Angels, Dr. Priscilla Benner and Dr. Herman Sagastume of the MAMA Project, Sid Gholson of WOW (Wipe Out Worms) Now, Carol and Jeff Morgan of Change a Life International, and Gary Delp a member of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church and fund-raising volunteer for the Worm Project.Andrew Crawford began his portion of the presentation by awarding Good and Franconia Mennonite Conference with a plaque from Food for the Hungry for Good’s efforts to fight intestinal worms.Many stories and facts were shared about malnutrition not only in third world countries but also in the US. Plans for future distributions were also presented.Shiffer recalled his first encounters with Good and noted his respect for Good’s unreasonableness when it comes to fighting hunger.Dr. Benner shared the story of the malnurishment of a young girl named Abuole who’s mother unwittingly contributed to her debilitating disease due to lack of food and by following unhealthy traditional practices.The Morgans inspired the crowd with their determination to not only get rid of worms in Peru but also to find one plant that would feed everyone in the country.By the end of the evening $9,481 was raised for The Worm Project. Good expects more to come in as the month goes on. Good also noted that there was a 1/3 increase in attendance from last fall’s dinner and that the average donation check was almost 40% greater in spite of the current economic situation.Because Food for the Hungry pays for and handles all shipping expenses, all monies raised will go directly to purchasing the de-worming medication, Albendazole. So far this event has raised enough money to purchase 616, 200 treatments. According to research roughly five pounds of food is saved from worms with every six month treatment. So far this event has saved over 3 million pounds of food.When you ask Good how the Worm Project began and how all the Worm Warriors came together he opens with a wide smile and a joyful laugh saying, “I think that was a God thing.”
Jessica WalterKingdom Builders Anabaptist Network of Greater Philadelphia, in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) Philadelphia office, has launched Kingdom Builders Construction a new renovation and construction project for the various Anabaptist churches and ministries in Philadelphia.Dan Umstead, a Spring City, Pa., resident and recent Eastern University graduate, will serve the Kingdom Builders and MCC Philadelphia office for the next two years as project coordinator of Kingdom Builders Construction. Dan is an experienced volunteer construction team leader and jobsite foreman. He has worked in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and in the Dominican Republic.J. Fred Kauffman, MCC Philadelphia Program Coordinator, explained that this building project started very quickly beginning with a discussion of the needs of many churches and ministries in Philadelphia and an inquiry on available positions with MCC from Dan. “In a period of about a month we went from nothing to enough work to say let’s go,” said Fred.Along with immediately taking on the role of building caretaker at Franconia Conference Related Ministry Philadelphia Mennonite High School (PMHS), Dan will also work on renovating Philadelphia Praise Center’s basement to add a kitchen, renovating Oxford Circle Mennonite Church’s new building, renovating Vietnamese Mennonite Church’s fourth floor, helping a newly developing Ethiopian church purchase and renovate a building for their congregation and working with several city-based Anabaptist community ministries to assist in renovating the homes of community members in need.“Kingdom Builders Construction (KBC) is now in full swing aiding the Philly churches in their rehab projects,” says Dan, who is now a few months into the project. “KBC is actively working with Oxford Circle Mennonite Church doing a large scale remodel and has a full schedule for the next few months, between jobs with Philadelphia Praise Center, Cross Roads Community Center, and the Vietnamese Mennonite church - we will be very busy.”In addition Dan will solicit and coordinate volunteer groups to assist him in the renovation and construction projects.“All the work done by KBC is facilitated through volunteers and they are the heartbeat of this project,” notes Dan. He is making a wide appeal to all local church groups, including youth groups on up to older groups, to come and spend a week or so with him in Philadelphia building and renovating in these projects.“Through pulling volunteers from within the city as well as the outlying areas KBC has been already been a catalyst for forming relationships.”In the future Dan will also be holding construction and home improvement workshops open to all interested and a Friday Elective Service Learning class for PMHS.The congregations employing Dan have already committed funds toward the project and Fred was very excited to note that Kingdom Builders and MCC Philadelphia has already received more than half of the money needed to fund this initiative. The project’s biggest needs now are tools, funding for operating expenses and volunteers.For more information on Kingdom Builders Construction and on volunteering contact Dan Umstead at 610-574-2959.
We still eat Mrs. Benner’s funny cake* from Landis Supermarkets at the Mennonite Conference Center, though some days Claude Good or other staff banter in Spanish and someone could be caught decked out in Indonesian batik. In these pages, you’ll see not only the stories of who we are becoming, but who we are—an increasingly polyglot people ministering and witnessing through the strengths of a historic community. Diversity is more and more not a message we preach, but a reality that we live. We find ourselves both invigorated and challenged with the pushes and pulls that diverse communities encounter. For those of us who are legacy Mennonites with deep biological roots sometimes this is disorienting. For those of us who find our lives newly woven into the Anabaptist fabric, the navigation can be confusing as well.
These are exciting days to be a part of Franconia Conference, I think. Though it’s not an easy time, it is a time of re-imagining and re-discovery. In the pages of this issue of Intersections, we see how some of those possibilities are incarnated with gifted leaders who are responding to God’s call toward credentialed pastoral ministry. We see how Conference Related Ministries extend the mission of the church through ongoing work and new partnership. We can read about how the Ambler congregation responds to the pain and possibility in their community and about new opportunities to engage with our British partners through the Anabaptist Network.
It’s a different time in Franconia Conference. We haven’t any bishops and our newly credentialed ministers are as likely to be Asian as they are to be a Derstine. We’re invited to negotiate together differently, understanding differing priorities of time and money, ways of leading and following, of saving and giving away. And these differences don’t just exist on the conference-wide level, it’s the reality in the life of our congregations as well. Our leaders have a unique challenge to listen well and lead with clarity in the midst of changing dynamics.
As I read these stories and as I have traveled among diverse Franconia Conference congregations over the last few months, I wonder what it is that we need to learn. I’ve just started an Italian language class. It’s a few hours a week that pushes me to say things in new ways, to watch for patterns, to listen carefully. I know that these days, my Italian is about as fluent as a toddler’s. I need to keep focused on my work as I struggle to learn, following up on assignments and listening to Italian when I can during the week. This educational venture requires both my careful attention and a bit of vulnerability.
One of the things this issue of Intersections suggests is the hopeful possibilities that are out there when we keep learning, responding to our communities, to God and to the faithfulness of the past, the potential of the present and the mystery of the future. Slovene thinker Slavoj Zizek says that when everything seems to be askew we need to learn, learn, learn. In the midst of a time when diverse experience, background and perspective is our everyday encounter, we find ourselves pulled closer and closer to the realization that to glimpse the reign of God requires childlike openness as Jesus suggested in the Gospels.
Openness to learn—whether it’s learning to like new foods, speak new languages or respond to unfamiliar situations—requires both humility and boldness. It’s an opem admission that we don’t exactly know what we are doing and the boldness to be able to learn even in the midst of possible failure. In my Italian class, the more I speak the familiar words of Spanish, the less Italian I actually learn. It’s easier to fall back on the more familiar than to press into the struggle of learning something new. Learning requires us to confront what we don’t know and to move away from assumptions of our own omniscience, which we say belongs to God alone anyway.
Intersections continues to highlight how and what we’re learning and who we’re becoming. We tell these stories to offer hope for the journey, to equip us for the path we’re on and to strengthen our faith for the road ahead. May we continue to learn as we live the stories of fruitfulness from humble beginnings and illuminate the lessons that emerge in the midst of striving toward boldly embracing God’s mission in these days when some of us are learning to like funny cake and others are finding ways to sing God’s praise in languages we have never imagined.
*A vanilla cake and chocolate syrup breakfast pie distinct to the suburbs just north of Philadelphia.
Gay Brunt Miller, Spring MountThe Atlantic Ocean is getting smaller. No, I’m not referring to the impact of global warming but to Franconia Conference’s partnership with the Anabaptist Network in the United Kingdom. As this partnership grows deeper and wider, the Atlantic Ocean feels like it is shrinking.Ten Franconia Conference congregations are participating in the partnership which includes connecting with and supporting Franconia Conference’s intern, Krista Ehst (Perkasie), who is serving in East London until April of this year. But the goal of this partnership is more than supporting one intern—it is intended to develop relationships with Anabaptists in the U.K. that are meaningful, life giving and provide opportunities for mutual learning.Krista’s internship embeds her in a place that may represent the cultural future of the United States. Moving from a time when the church and state were inseparable (known as Christendom), it is increasingly common in the U.K. to find people who think that “Jesus Christ” is merely a curse word or who are surprised to find that churches are open on Sunday because churches are more commonly locations for other weekday activities. How do you “do ministry” in a context where you cannot take any biblical knowledge for granted? In many ways the Anabaptist Network in the U.K. is like a test laboratory, doing “missional experiments” from which we can benefit.Congregations included in this partnership cover a wide geographic swath of Franconia Conference, including Bally, Nueva Vida Norristown New Life, Perkasie, Plains, Ripple Effects, Spring Mount and Swamp in the conference “heartland” along with Bethany and Taftsville in Vermont and Lakeview in northern Pennsylvania.In addition to following Krista’s blog, folks from several of these congregations have experienced the opportunity to “hop across the Atlantic” through recent computer technology and converse in real time with Krista and other leaders of the Anabaptist Network to hear directly about their ministry in the Post-Christendom environment of the U.K.In March Dr. Stuart Murray Williams, chair of the Anabaptist Network and one of the foremost thinkers, practitioners and authors on the subjects of Post-Christendom and church planting, will visit Franconia Conference. He will be sharing his expertise at several forums for congregations who are directly involved in the partnership and in two public meetings open to all interested.Opportunities to Connect
March 19All are invited to attend the March Pastors’ and Leaders’ Breakfast which will be led by Dr. Stuart Murray Wiliams.The breakfast, held at the Conference Center, begins at 8 am and ends at 10. If you’d like to register for this event please call Jessica Walter at 215-723-5513, xt. 114. Watch your bulletin announcements for more details.
March 29Dr. Murray Williams will preach at Spring Mount Mennonite Church. All are welcome to attend the 9:45 am service and to stay for an interactive adult Sunday School class.
Many of my college friends have worked their same respective summer jobs for years. Though I worked for the same company through four years of high school, I have considered my summer arrangements quite varied.
I sat at the desk of Peter Jennings and Charles Gibson (the closest I will likely get to my childhood dream of becoming a television news anchor).
I agonized through the pains of a sore back, wrists, and rear-end after countless hours in front of my computer at home and at the conference office in Souderton.
Jordan Delp…I was out for a walk and felt that I should walk up a street. I turned the corner, and saw what looked like a man sitting on a chair on his porch. I figured I would go talk to him. As I approached, it became clear that the person was a woman. She was on the phone. I walked past the house, crossed the street, and turned around. As I loitered, unsure of what to do, she finished her conversation and called out to me, beginning a very wisdom-filled conversation that was exactly what I needed. Two days later, I returned to this woman. The previous day, she had told me to soul-search and ask God for direction, because I told her that I was confused about important things (heaven, God’s will, integrity). I returned with a general idea, but sure it wasn’t what she was looking for. It didn’t matter, she was under the influence of something and had trouble stringing sentences together. As I left, I think she yelled to me that I’m a “lost soul.”
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I have been hard pressed to find a clear and concise way of saying what I did for my Ministry Inquiry Program assignment. 
We still eat Mrs. Benner’s funny cake* from Landis Supermarkets at the Mennonite Conference Center, though some days Claude Good or other staff banter in Spanish and someone could be caught decked out in Indonesian batik. In these pages, you’ll see not only the stories of who we are becoming, but who we are—an increasingly polyglot people ministering and witnessing through the strengths of a historic community. Diversity is more and more not a message we preach, but a reality that we live. We find ourselves both invigorated and challenged with the pushes and pulls that diverse communities encounter. For those of us who are legacy Mennonites with deep biological roots sometimes this is disorienting. For those of us who find our lives newly woven into the Anabaptist fabric, the navigation can be confusing as well.
The Atlantic Ocean is getting smaller. No, I’m not referring to the impact of global warming but to Franconia Conference’s partnership with the 