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MCC, be guided by your core: an open letter from Luke Miller
Dear Ann and Ron,
MCC has a history of drawing people from diverse Christian backgrounds together to do good work in the world. There are three requirements for MCC workers: commitment to Christian faith, active participation in a Christian church, and commitment to peace & nonviolence. Sensitivity to the local context of service work is an additional factor that MCC wraps into discussions of moral life. The firing of Wendi Moore-O’Neal, the petition for inclusion of LGBTQ people, and the updated policy guidelines document have highlighted the challenge of trying to work as one body amid strongly differing understandings of LGBTQ people. I believe MCC could serve as a model of wisdom if it acted out of its fundamental identity and the strength of its tradition by building on its three core faith requirements.
Let’s speak of alcohol as an example of how these faith criteria can be applied. Workers come to MCC with personal faith commitments from home church communities with different beliefs and teachings about alcohol. Abuse of alcohol (addiction, overuse) is violent toward one’s body and can lead to violence against others. In some cultures where MCC workers serve, alcohol use would hurt the witness of MCC, whereas in other cultures, activities such as sharing a glass of wine with dinner are an important part of hospitality and social connection. I see in MCC’s documents and policies space for wisdom that contains all of these complexities, and allows for a living morality that takes into account a worker’s personal faith, accountability to home church communities, nonviolence, and sensitivity to witness in different cultural contexts. This wisdom guides MCC in a way that a policy that imposes an absolute binary ruling on the morality of alcohol would fail to capture. Read more ›
Open Letter to Ann Graber Hershberger and J. Ron Byler on Policy 152 of MCC
To Ann Graber Hershberger and J. Ron Byler,
I am writing to express my discontent with Policy #152 that requires sexual celibacy for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) personnel outside of heterosexual marriage. On March 16-17th, your organization affirmed this statute for all those in leadership positions, workers with significant interactions with MCC’s constituency and service workers on international assignments. You went on to state that some exceptions will be made, though it is incredibly vague around what and who those exceptions will be.
I have been following this story, but felt somewhat disconnected to any feelings around it. So much so that my partner commented to me, “You don’t even seem upset about this. Your friends are more upset than you are.” I told her that at this point, I am just used to it. However, this morning I felt something again when I read the letter written to you by Wendi Moore-O’Neal. MCC fired O’Neal, by email, in 2014, after “becoming aware of actions that violate MCC’s requirement of sexual celibacy for personnel outside of heterosexual marriage.”
This caused me to feel something on behalf of Wendi, who identifies as a “Black, butch, dyke.” These are desperately missing identities in all places of work, particularly Mennonite institutions. Because of this, we/you miss out on people who are able to see things that you/I do not see, from our/your positions of privilege and majority. In an organization that does cross cultural outreach, this is just negligent. Read more ›
A love letter to the scattered pink siblings, from Orlando
by Luke L Miller
My beloved pink siblings everywhere, so many of you weren’t with us in Orlando at the 2017 Mennonite Church USA convention. Orlando was an experience of an aching, haunting absence, an absence experienced most acutely through the beautiful joyous faces and hope-filled eyes of the queer youth who thrived under the sheltering wing of what all of us have built.
Last night, Saturday, after all the convention was packed and done, I was still riding that surge of creative, soul-shining, beloved-community-soaked (and giddy extreme-exhaustion-addled) energy that that I’ve experienced at every Pink Menno, the inhibitions were gone (that was so awesome hanging out last night Kate and Annabeth!) and my brain was connected pretty directly to my mouth, and the phrase that came out was something like “we’ve ripped a hole in the heart of the church with space for queer kids to thrive.” I wish you all could have seen how their eyes shone and their faces beamed safe, relaxed joy as they stood at the center of our hymn sings outside the delegate/summit hall. You weren’t there to see it, but I saw you in there, in those eyes, saw you shining through them. That’s how I knew you were absent, because I looked for you – I wanted to see you so badly – and the only place I could find you was in those eyes. Read more ›
Notes from Pink Youth Summit, July 6, 2017
Notes from the Pink Youth Summit
July 7, 2017
At the Mennonite Church USA convention in Orlando in 2017, 40 youth and young adults met for three hours together and in break out groups to discuss on their visions of the future church related to healthy LGBTQ involvement. These are the main themes.
~Youth articulated their visions, and we’ve tried to make that accessible to Future Church Summit participants~
What Makes it Difficult to Communicate with Older Generations
- people under ~24 have a different, more innate way of understanding complex sexual identity and gender
- There are also cultural differences b/t sex-positive younger generation & sex-negative older generations
- We want adults to be patient and try to learn these concepts:
- Gender vs. Sex. Sex is the biological difference b/t males and females; Gender refers to one’s perceived role in society and/or individuals. These often align in people but not always
- Bisexuality. a person who is attracted to more than one gender
- Gender Fluidity. Understanding gender is a spectrum & how we perceive it evolves
- Gender Identity vs. Gender Expression. GI = innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend, or neither. GE = external appearance of one’s gender identity which may or may not conform to social norms
- Queer. a formerly-derogatory term now used as general term for LGBTQ people
- Intersectionality. The interconnected nature of social categories like race, class, gender, etc.
- Tips for Older People: Ask Questions. Listen to their experiences. Being willing to share your experiences. Find ways to recognize genders other than male/female (third gender, gender queer, etc).
How do queer Mennonites interact with the Bible?
- The traditional interpretations of some passages can be harmful, and we would like to see conscious reinterpretation of passages that have a negative connotation to us:
- Not just clobber passages
- Genesis 1 (creation of 1 man, 1 woman)
- Words like repent, submit, Rapture
- Paul and epistles
- Leviticus
- Sodom and Gomorrah
- We want to see what these passages can speak into LGBTQ spirituality:
- Eunuchs
- Mary (Luke 1)
- Ruth & Naomi
- David & Jonathan
- We understand that different translations have different biases
- We value translations including: inclusive (gender neutral pronouns for God), The Message, Common English Bible, and Young’s Literal
Creating Non-gender Bathrooms
- it is a valuable goal to build multi-stall bathrooms open to people in uncomfortable in single-gender bathrooms
- Some young Mennonites have already worked in successful campaigns for gender neutral bathrooms in their high schools and (Mennonite) colleges
- Reasons for gendered bathrooms include: modesty, false gender binary, concern that men are dangerous to women, adults dangerous to children
- All of these concerns can be addressed & are outweighed by the benefits of gender neutral bathrooms
- Some youth see male/female bathrooms as a civil rights issue similar to segregated bathrooms
How Homophobia is Manifest in the Church
- Tension in relationships due to your discomfort
- Queer bodies struggling from poor self-esteem
- Queer people being ashamed of being honest about themselves
- Physical abuse
- Tokenization/pressure to represent all queer people
- Being perceived as only queer (not as a complex person)
- High suicide rates among queer people
- Heightened negative mental health concerns due to unsupportive family and church
- Assumption that everyone is straight
- Fear, anxiety, stress around coming out
Ways to Support a Youth (adult) Coming Out
- In our experience, these practices support a person coming out:
- Having out members and people who have been through this before
- Not just a “sense of welcome,” but explicit statements of welcome
- In some environments, come out to small groups first
- Having other LGBTQ family/friends/mentors to walk alongside
- Once someone’s out, showing consistent support and normalizing
- It’s often easier to come out to non-religious people than in church
- …and beyond coming out
- Standing up for queer people to friends, peers, etc.
- Having allies in the front lines
- Listening again and again and again
- Churches use education materials (i.e., from BMC) to increase understanding
Ways to Create (More) Queer Friendly Worship
- Use inclusive language for God (multiple or no pronouns)
- When singing, use language of separating by parts, not gender
- Incorporating queer Bible commentary and theology into worship life
- Use LGBTQ person in all aspects of worship & ministry (invite them to volunteer)
- Recognize significant LGBTQ events in prayer time
- Providing space—for queer weddings, meetings, etc.
- Make space physically accessible for ppl with disabilities
- Be aware of what images of God/Jesus are in your church and what message they send
- Designate gender neutral bathrooms
- Teach about sexuality& LGBTQ spirituality in Sunday School or sermon series
What We Want to See From the Church
- Clarifying welcoming statements in individual congregations & denominationally
- Less discrimination
- Physical demonstrations of acceptance in church
- Full participation in church life
- Recognizing that Mennonite men defy gender roles through conscientious objection
- New understandings of masculinity (as not tough, unemotional, etc.)
- Recognition of the violence that has been/is being done
- More conversations about sex in general—get comfortable with it!
Help Support our organizing work for Orlando!
Dear Pink Menno supporter,
It’s been 8 years since we first came together to wear pink as a sign of our commitment to welcome and inclusivity for the LGBTQ community in the summer of 2009 at the Mennonite convention in Columbus, Ohio. A lot has changed since then. A lot has stayed the same.
This year’s convention in Orlando will bring with it some new opportunities for us as well as challenges. One of our leaders, Annabeth Roeschley, has been involved in developing a process known as the Future Church Summit, and Pink Menno is helping choose some participants in that summit. At the same time, we continue to see high levels anxiety among church leaders about fully including Pink Menno and LGBTQ people in workshops, in providing space for us to meet, and in acknowledging their own complicity in the harm that they have caused LGBTQ people. This will be particularly poignant at a convention occuring near the massacre of many LGBTQ people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
You donation can make a big difference as we continue our work to transform the church. Next weekend, April 5-7, a group of our leaders will be joining other organizations working for LGBTQ inclusion in the church at a training and strategy seminar, and we need your support to cover their travel costs. Your donation will also contribute to covering the cost of room rental for the Pink Menno space in Orlando. Please give here:
As an all volunteer organization, we depend on your support. Together, we are changing the church. Thanks for being part of this movement!
Sincerely,
Pink Menno leadership group,
March 31, 2017
Loving the tradition from the margins: What Malcolm Gladwell is missing about power in his Mennonites podcast
Contributed by Luke L Miller
Chester Wenger’s “An open letter to my beloved church” in 2014 was a beautiful, poignant reflection by a man who dedicated his life to the Mennonite Church on why he had chosen to perform the marriage ceremony for his gay son Phil. He documented the way he had come to believe the church must bless LGBTQ people’s marriages, made a powerful argument for his position, and explained that now at age 96 he was finally ready to “let this light shine.” He demonstrated humility, grace, and peace in his words: peace with his decision and peace with the consequences that it caused when his ordination was taken away by Lancaster Mennonite Conference.
I haven’t read any of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, but I’ve now listened to every released episode of his podcast “Revisionist History,” and his methodology is clear. He uses a concept in social psychology (often a recently published one) to provide a lens for reflecting on the way something about the world works. The conceit of the podcast is that he will use these concepts (ideas like “moral licensing” and “strong link/weak link”) to re-examine incidents from the past and draw surprising or compelling conclusions. Read more ›
