Dear Church:
I’m away this weekend for a quick trip. Los Angeles Faith Chapel, a Mosaic Conference congregation, is having its annual church conference, and I’m leading at the ordination of Pastor Effiem Obasi, one of several pastors in the congregation.
A trip like this serves to remind me that Mosaic Mennonite Conference is not the same thing as the former Franconia Mennonite Conference. Our conference of churches, nonprofits, and partners in mission now total over 100 separate ministries, with over 7,500 church members. We are in ten states, with relationships in six countries, and speak at least eight languages in worship. We are diverse – racially, ethnically, linguistically, theologically, and geographically. There is an increasing cadre of young adult leaders across our diversity. We are conservative and progressive politically. We are quietly Anabaptist, and boisterously Pentecostal in faith. The one certain thing you can say about Mosaic Mennonite Conference is that we are full of differences. The days of Franconia Conference unity expressed in the reading of the ordinal in every congregation, supervised by the bishops, is over.
And yet, we seem to have a mixed set of feelings about the emergent diversity of our conference. We seem to be glad we are not being told how to behave by the bishops, but we seem to crave a conformity – a view of unity based not on union of relationships, but of uniformity of practice.
And there’s the rub. Mosaic Mennonite Conference is, like any other mosaic work of art, a collection of shards of color that form a pattern that can only be discerned at a certain distance. To be part of Mosaic Mennonite Conference requires not a common history, or geography, or ethnicity, or church practice. It requires a deep commitment to Jesus-centered nonconformity. It is discerned from together reading and interpreting the scriptures, following Jesus in our unique environments with a desire to be both candid and generous with each other. It’s hard work, but it’s the Way of Jesus, the story of the book of Acts, the vision of the letter to the Galatians, and the promise of Revelation.
In 1835, a London based pastor, Rev. Thomas Binney, wrote words that continue to inspire me today: “I am a dissenter because I am a catholic; I am a separatist, because I cannot be schismatical; I stand apart from some, because I love all; I oppose establishments, because I am not a sectarian; I think little of uniformity, because I long for union; I care not about subordinate difference with my brother [and sister], for Christ has received him [and her], and so will I.“
I’m in LA this weekend for a quick trip to hug four of my six grandsons, and to live out an expression of a Mosaic church that craves union over uniformity. As I fly to and from Los Angeles this weekend, I’ll sleep on the plane and dream that we will become more like Rev. Thomas Binney in our life together as a congregation, a conference, a denomination, and a global communion.
Let’s go, Church (and seek union over uniformity)!
Pastor Jeff
jeff@bgmc.net
PS | I’m returning on the red eye from Southern California on Monday morning, October 14. Arriving at Philly around 930am, I’ll miss our weekly breakfast at the A&N. But y’all should meet up and listen to each other a bit. I’ll be at the Broad Street Grind for coffee and listening on Friday, October 11, and October 18, 330pm-445pm. And I’ll be back at the A&N on Monday, October 21, 730am-845am.