May 11, 2009 issue
New Philadelphia bishops add diversity to Lancaster conference
By Jewel Showalter Eastern Mennonite MissionsPage:
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CHESTER, Pa. — The stately old sanctuary on the corner of Edgmont and 23rd Street overflowed with more than 500 Mennonites and their friends April 26.
Outgoing bishop Freeman Miller consecrates the four bishop couples who will give oversight in the Philadelphia District: Leonard and Rosalie Dow, Tuyen Nguyen and Aileen Van Nguyen, Maxine and Alvin Motley, and Dawn and Tim Darling. — Photo by Richard Showalter/EMM
They had come to Way Thru Christ Community Fellowship from the 14 churches of the Philadelphia District of Lancaster Mennonite Conference to ordain a new bishop team for the district.
The team includes the conference’s first Asian-American bishop, Tuyen Nguyen, and the district’s first African-American bishops, Leonard Dow and Al Motley.
All are pastors — Nguyen of Vietnamese Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, Dow of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, and Motley of Way Thru Christ. The other new bishop, Tim Darling, is pastor of Norma (N.J.) Mennonite Church.
Conference moderator Keith Weaver said the bishop board was already feeling enriched by the new racial and ethnic diversity from Philadelphia.
“Our largely Germanic bishop board now has a little color,” he said. “Together we must focus on the message of reconciliation to which God has called us.
“We need to feel a sense of urgency about the walls that must come down. How can we help our congregations get outside the walls of our churches to spend ourselves on behalf of the needy?”
Freeman Miller, retiring bishop of the Philadelphia District, led in the ordination charge. He invited the four men and their spouses to “celebrate, consecrate and commit” themselves to their new role of spiritual oversight.
“Your service shows that God has already blessed your ministries,” he said.
Miller plans to retire from bishop work June 30 after 15 years as bishop of the Philadelphia District. The men have already begun to accompany Miller to monthly bishop board meetings in Lancaster and to work as team under his leadership.
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Comments
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I am the Director of the Meals on Wheels Program in Pottstown, PA. Do you know how I would get a hold of mime artist, Taneera Motley referenced in your article? Thanks.
Lou Wentz
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The Way Thru Christ Community Fellowship is listed in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference directory. That may be the best way for people to reach Taneera Motley, mime artist. If not, Lancaster Conference staff may know how to reach her.
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