St. Mark’s Mount Joy is a Lighthouse Congregation, a faith community that chooses to shine a beacon of radical welcome into our polarized and polarizing world. No matter what you believe or which side of the political aisle you sit on, you are welcome here.
Lighthouse Congregations is a movement that began in the North Carolina and Western North Carolina annual conferences, which were rocked by a massive wave of disaffiliating churches. Those who remained after the waters of disaffiliation receded needed a faith community that could meet them in their grief and offer a safe space to process all they had been through.
More than 100 churches across the two conferences received training and signed a pledge, and St. Mark’s UMC is the first church in Eastern Pennsylvania to join the movement.
“It began with a conversation about who St. Mark’s wanted to be and who they needed to be moving forward,” said Rev. Jared Stoltzfus. “The concept of a lighthouse congregation is about being intentional in welcoming all. In our polarizing times, who do we want to be? Our intention is to be here and welcome all, and we know that one of the issues we disagree on is human sexuality.”
Through a series of listening sessions and intentional conversations, they crafted a statement of welcome that would be the guiding light for their ministry—what they call their Lighthouse Statement: “St. Mark’s seeks to embrace all individuals in search of a caring and safe community free from judgment, where together we may continue to grow in faith by sharing God’s love, grace, and joy.”
Rev. Stoltzfus acknowledges that writing the statement is just the beginning. The real work is to continue the conversation and figure out what it looks like for St. Mark’s to live together as a faith community that truly embraces all.
That work will unfold over time, but they discerned their first step: hosting a churchwide picnic.
“We had a church picnic where we were outside, worshiped together, played games, and even did Bingo as a larger congregation. We were there for four hours, and you don’t get that on a Sunday morning in the church building.”
While at first glance the idea of a church picnic might seem simple, there was deep intentionality behind the event. “We know we don’t all agree,” admitted Rev. Stoltzfus. “We want to eat together, play, and hang out so we can build relationships and connections. This way, we see each other as more than just a political cartoon, more than a caricature. When you invest in each other, it’s hard to dismiss one another because you know the story behind the soundbite.”
St. Mark’s Mt. Joy is doing the beautiful, slow work of truly getting to know each other in the fullness of their humanity by spending time together—at the table and in play. They’re also digging deep into the Gospel. Rev. Stoltzfus has been leading the church through a sermon series based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to help everyone push a little deeper—both in terms of their understanding of Scripture and how they apply it to this present moment.
A few weeks ago, he preached on how Christ invites us to follow him on the narrow way. Often, we think about the “narrow way” as being about restrictions—what we can do and what we can’t. But Rev. Stoltzfus has a different view. The way is narrow because “it’s not simple. It’s complicated. It’s gray. It takes more work to figure it out compared to what everyone else is doing. Christ calls us to live into the kingdom. This takes intentionality; it takes effort to make sure we are trying to create safe spaces for all ages. It’s not easy when we live in a world where it’s much simpler to jump to conclusions or parrot a party line. It would be much simpler, but not as authentically Christ-like.”
As we move past another contentious election season, all of us might benefit from time spent in spaces where we engage with the fullness of each other’s humanity, rather than with one another’s sound-bite selves. If you are interested in learning more about how to become a Lighthouse Congregation or about the process, you can find more information at Resource UMC.