By Andrea Dean, Administrative Coordinator

North Goshen Mennonite Church is in Goshen, Indiana, and Wildwood Mennonite Church is about 400 miles away in Engadine, in Michigan’s upper peninsula, yet since September, attendees at North Goshen have waved hello to Wildwood members on the first Sunday of each month.

North Goshen and Wildwood were recently matched through IMMC’s Sister Churches project. Over the past several months, the two churches have been exploring how to engage as Sister Churches. The relationship is still new, but a feeling of mutual blessing and enjoyment was clear in my recent conversation with Becky Helmuth, pastor at North Goshen, and Meredith Sommers and Janice Wagner, lay leaders at Wildwood.

The congregations’ leaders were first put in touch by email, but it was when Becky was able to visit Wildwood in person that the connection came to life, and they came up with ideas for how to connect. Becky, Meredith, and Janice agreed that meeting in person was pivotal.

Wildwood is a small congregation that Meredith describes as “somewhere on a continuum from unsettled to nimble.” For the past 10 year, they haven’t had a pastor, but have been lead by lay leadership teams. One of the first ideas that came up was that Wildwood could join North Goshen’s worship service virtually once a month. This was easy to implement since North Goshen already shares their service on YouTube, and Wildwood was already used to meeting on Zoom when necessary, especially in the winter.

This arrangement has already been a huge blessing to both congregations. In fact, during my conversation with them, each church said they felt they were getting the better end of the deal. For Wildwood, being part of a larger group and hearing a sermon is a real treat. And it’s a relief for Janice and Meredith as lay leaders to have a week off each month from preparing worship and just come to worship instead. For North Goshen, knowing that Wildwood is joining on the first Sunday gives a different energy to whoever is worship leading. The congregation takes a moment during every first Sunday to wave hello to Wildwood.

Sharing a service has led to other ways of connecting. During a recent first Sunday, North Goshen’s youth announced that they were doing a food drive for the community pantry at Center for Healing and Hope, a Goshen organization that provides care for low-income people and recent immigrants. Wildwood was inspired to help and put in an order at the Goshen Meijer. Those from North Goshen who went to pick up the order were astonished—Wildwood’s contribution filled the tiny pantry and overflowed into storage, leaving North Goshen deeply touched. Wildwood, in turn, was inspired by a Mission Sunday held at North Goshen to plan their own Mission Sunday, realizing they hadn’t done that in a while.

Looking ahead, the churches are talking about ways to make in-person connections. Wildwood has invited North Goshen to visit in the summer, camping on Wildwood’s property and using the informal retreat center in the basement. And North Goshen invited Wildwood members to participate in the pie booth at the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale, although no one was able to come.

The leaders acknowledged that the distance is a real challenge, and they need to think creatively to bridge that distance. They would love to “steal” good ideas from other Sister Church pairings, and hope their experiences and ideas can inspire other pairs as well. Both congregations agreed that they are still in early days of the relationship, and just “feeling their way through,” but they have already been richly blessed.