After declining each other’s proposals about affiliation and process, leaders of Mennonite Church USA and Mosaic Mennonite Conference offered explanations and expressed regrets.

Mosaic, which is reassessing its affiliation with the denomination, had proposed to become a program-entity partner rather than a member conference. On May 8, the MC USA Executive Board responded that this was “not viable within our structure” and offered a mediated conversation. The Mosaic board declined the offer “at this time.”

In a June 4 letter to the denomination, MC USA moderator Jon Carlson expressed sadness and asked for patience.

“The Executive Board has recognized a need to think through MC USA’s structures and is developing a Structural Task Force to facilitate the process,” Carlson wrote.

“. . . We believe Mosaic may have insights that could benefit the whole of MC USA, so we welcome their participation as a member conference. We also know that mutual transformation often takes time — particularly in large, complex organizations — so we ask for Mosaic’s patience, too.”

He said Mosaic was one of two conferences “asking questions about global partnerships,” and MC USA will seek answers.

“In a highly networked, relationally dense world, does it make sense for a church or denomination to define itself by national borders?” he asked. “What happens when area conferences seek to welcome member congregations or extend credentials in other countries?

“To help MC USA think through these dynamics more deeply (and to pay particular attention to the history of colonialism and the complexity of global power dynamics), the Executive Board is convening a conversation on global partnerships as part of the next Constituency Leaders Council meeting.”

He acknowledged that the May 2022 special delegate assembly — when MC USA delegates approved an LGBTQ-affirming resolution — was “difficult or painful for some parts of Mosaic,” including people of color and majority-immigrant congregations.

“We have invited conversation to better understand this experience and hear directly from those most affected, but Mosaic leaders have so far been unresponsive to that invitation, which remains open,” he wrote.

Carlson concluded: “We believe that reconciliation, not separation, is the most faithful path forward. While we know that this path could be difficult, we invite Mosaic Conference to walk in it as part of MC USA.”

The Mosaic board, announcing its decision to decline MC USA’s invitation, cited a desire to seek “organizational transformation to address deeper systemic issues” and said it did not want to “rush into a mediation process before there has been acknowledgment of the existing difficulties within the MC USA structure.”

It noted that its proposal to become a program entity included “services Mosaic would offer to MC USA at no cost, in youth formation, church planting accompaniment and intercultural leadership development” and that it also “proposed possible ways to manage credentials within this new framework.”    

Also, “throughout the process over the past year, board members expressed frustration that their voices and concerns felt minimized.” 

The Mosaic board said many leaders of color in Mosaic “feel unheard and dismissed by MC USA. Entering mediation now would require some of them to revisit these experiences and continue retelling their stories in a context marked by power imbalances, both historic and ongoing.”

The board said it “must now redirect its focus toward discerning next steps and clarifying ministry partnerships to the delegates” before the conference’s assembly Nov. 1. At that meeting, the board will propose bylaw amendments that could alter Mosaic’s relationship to the denomination.

“We remain saddened and disappointed by the structures within MC USA that are rigid and painful for many of us,” Mosaic moderator Angela Moyer Walter said in the announcement. “Our world and nation are changing rapidly, and so the church must adapt to the shifting realities in our communities and congregations. The inflexible response to the perspectives of Mosaic congregations has been disheartening, especially given that relationships with sibling conferences are mutual and supportive.” 

In a June 5 interview, she added: “Mosaic needs space at this time, and we are committed as a conference to embodying the reconciling love of Jesus.”

Mosaic has about 7,500 members in 60 congregations. Based in Lansdale, Pa., it was formed in 2019, uniting Franconia and Eastern District conferences.