“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” ~“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  ~Ephesians 2:8–10

Mosaic of Grace Church envisions a community redeemed by Jesus Christ and transformed into a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, together pursuing the glory of God for the good of the world. Redeemed. Transformed. Sent. Prayer birthed Mosaic. A group of ecumenical pastors gathered for a twenty-four-hour retreat in January of 2019 to pray for their city and county. As they imagined God’s vision for Harrisonburg, a new Anabaptist congregation came to mind. Another Mennonite church? Yes! And not just one—many more! 

A swarm of people gathered around the vision for an Anabaptist, orthodox, evangelical congregation. Sunday morning worship began in the Advent of 2019 in a basement. When COVID hit in March 2020, we met outside in yards and parks for worship and Bible study. We saw neighbors walking by and some joined in to wash feet, pick raspberries, and hold baby bunnies.

By God’s grace, Mosaic desires to plant churches. When and how will this happen? Prayer and  disciple-making must come first. We need to consider our discipleship pathways. How is it working? Does anything need to be changed? Annual vision meetings, congregational budgets, and elder team meetings keep our church-planting vision in mind. Yet Mosaic remains small. How large do we need to grow in order to send leaders from the mother church to start new churches? Do we risk the death of the mother church in the process?

We see God moving in our middle and high school youth. They are missionaries in the public school system. Six were baptized at our annual church retreat in September. Mosaic partners with SLAQ to disciple high school youth and their families through adventure, crucial conversations, and service to immigrant and refugee middle school youth.

Redeemed. Transformed. Sent. We’re reminded of our identity in Christ as we gather weekly to enjoy God through worship. We respond to the sermon by coming to the Lord’s table. “The body of Christ broken for you. The blood of Christ poured out for you.” Taste and see. Remember what God has done. Go, bless the world in Jesus’ name!