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Communion in the Midst of Diversity—the Biblical case for LGBTQ inclusion

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in General

Written by Karl Shelly, pastor at Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana.

Karl has been “charged” with officiating at a same-sex wedding ceremony in May and, as a result, is having his ministerial credentials reviewed as called for in the Mennonite Church USA Membership Guidelines.  The Credentialing Team of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference asked Karl for a written statement detailing his theological rationale for his actions, and below is the statement he submitted.

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Response to IMMC Statement of Charge against Karl Shelly  

July 25, 2014

Greetings to you, sisters and brothers in Christ on the IMMC Ministry Credentialing Team.  I greet you as a fellow servant in God’s kingdom and on behalf of my congregation, Assembly Mennonite Church, where it has been my privilege to pastor for over 15 years.

My congregation

Assembly has been a part of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference for all of its 40 years of existence.  Today it is the spiritual home to over 300 members and participants, one-third of whom are youth and children.  It is a place where God’s Spirit is alive and doing wonderful things.  In fact, our growth is leading us to expand our building in order to accommodate all those who want to worship with us.  But more important than numerical growth is the work of God’s Spirit in people’s lives.  Here at Assembly, youth and young adults are getting baptized, families are dedicating their newborns to God, young and old are giving themselves to Christian service in the local community and abroad, and many are actively witnessing to the biblical message of peacemaking and non-violence.  We have over 25 small groups that meet regularly for prayer and community-building, and our worship is vibrant and provides opportunities for all to lead, preach, and testify to the work of God in their lives. Read more ›

Being Forced Out of the Church

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in General

Contributed by Reuben Sancken

I’ve been very busy since starting seminary. Not just with school work, but also with acclimating to a new place and making new relationships. While there have been struggles since coming to Indianapolis, overall it has been a good experience and I believe this is where God calls me to be. In my pastoral care and counseling class last semester, I studied trauma and grief. One of the things that I’ve learned is that if one doesn’t take the time to grieve, then it will eventually catch up with them. It is time for me to voice my grief. The events that aggravated this grief are important for people in the Mennonite church to know. Especially, in light of the recent statement released by the Executive Board.

I started seminary in the fall of 2013. For each student pursuing a Master of Divinity degree, they contact their denomination to begin the process of ordination. I had several conversations with the denominational minister, a member of Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) staff, who processes new ministry inquiry applicants. I wanted to be honest with her, so I was upfront with being openly gay. She told me that MC USA no longer is processing openly gay or lesbian applicants (unfortunately, bisexual and transgender people are not a part of the conversation). This ruling was made quietly in January of 2013 by the MC USA Executive Committee. I’m astounded that the MC USA Executive Committee could make a decision to exclude a group of people from being considered from leadership. It is especially of concern that this decision was not made public knowledge.

The denominational minister then told me that I could go through the ministry process if I was in the closet. She told me she would not tell anyone that I was gay. I was horrified that she even suggested this. I told her that I was not going back into the closet. I don’t think she had bad intensions by suggesting that I go back in the closet. Still, it is not good to suggest someone go back in the closet for several reasons. One, it can be harmful to the person’s sense of who they are if they are forced back into the closet. A person’s sexual orientation (also gender identity) is an important component to who they are. Making someone go back in the closet could harm their mental health. Another reason that suggesting someone go back into the closet is not helpful is that it is potentially harmful for the congregation to have a leader who is closeted. Authenticity and honesty are important components of leadership. I believe the best option is not encouraging someone to go back into the closet. If LGBT people desire to be “out,” then walk beside them and encourage them to be honest about being a member of the LGBT community. Read more ›

Pink Presence at Leaders’ Breakfast with Ervin Stutzman

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in Pink

Pink Presence at Leaders’ Breakfast with Ervin Stutzman embedded from Storify.

Read more ›

Naming Violation: Sexualized Violence and LGBTQ Justice

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in General, Pink Perspective

Contributed by Stephanie Krehbiel

This is a strange time to be writing about Mennonites and sexuality. In less than a year, I’m scheduled to defend my dissertation on sexual diversity, LGBTQ Anabaptist activism, and the effects of heterosexism in Mennonite institutions. And just following the news cycle is keeping me so busy that I have to force myself to write.

Anyone who reads this blog is probably aware of all the things that have been happening in the Mennonite Church USA lately that both challenge and reaffirm the dominant heterosexist practices of its institutions and communities. What I’d like to talk about here is how those practices intersect with the enormous and still largely unrecognized problem that Mennonites have with sexualized violence.

You might be nodding now, if you know from experience how bad that problem is. Or you might be wondering, “Is it really as bad as all that?” Or—the question I sometimes get when I tell Mennonites about my research—“Are Mennonites really any worse than anybody else?”

Here’s how I want to respond, sometimes: Are you asking because you don’t believe there’s anything interesting to say about Mennonites on this subject, or because you’d rather that people who write about Mennonites restrict themselves to topics that make Mennonites look good? Read more ›

Pink Reflections on a Town Hall Meeting

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in General, Pink Perspective

Contributed by Justin Yoder

A few months ago I attended one of two “town hall” meetings with MCUSA Executive Director Ervin Stutzman which were hosted at churches in my home Franconia Conference. The meetings were billed as a chance for churchgoers to hear a report from Ervin on the current denominational “turmoil” over LGBTQ inclusion and to engage him with questions about the church-wide processing of Mountain States Mennonite Conference’s decision to license Theda Good for pastoral ministry. The town hall meeting was well attended, with a wide spectrum of theology and practice represented in the audience. While Ervin’s introductory review of the current situation and its history took up a good portion of the allotted two hours, the subsequent question and answer session drew numerous contributions from those in attendance. The full two hours was used, and some of us who attended continued to speak with Ervin after the formal session was over.

This week there are three similar town hall sessions scheduled to take place in Ohio Mennonite Conference, and I imagine there will be other such gatherings to follow across our area conferences in the weeks and months to come. I would urge any Pink Mennos who feel so inclined to attend, and for those who are comfortable giving input at these gatherings, I encourage you to raise some pointed questions about the denominational process and how our leaders are choosing to engage “the issue.” While Ervin did offer a lot of historical context and a detailed analysis of the current dynamics within the denomination, everything was framed and articulated from the viewpoint of a white, straight, cisgender man who holds a lot of power within MCUSA. Two things struck me as especially problematic in what Ervin presented:

1) Although denominational leadership has been hearing repeated calls for the inclusion of LGBTQ voices and “votes” in any formal decision-making process that affects the lives of LGBTQ Mennonites, there was nothing in what Ervin said that acknowledged these calls or indicated any plans for answering them. The exclusion of LGBTQ Mennonites from the decision-making table has, of course, been going on for years, and it was recently highlighted with painful irony at the March Constituency Leaders Council meeting, where the one group of people most affected by the questions at hand (LGBTQ people) remained unrepresented on the council. LGBTQ Mennonites are already a part of MCUSA; we are members, song leaders, Sunday School teachers, committee chairs, and pastors. It is vital that LGBTQ Mennonites be included in denominational decision-making processes about LGBTQ Mennonites. Read more ›

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Carry Each Other’s Burdens

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in General

by Esther Baruja

Tonight I would like to share a text with you from the book of Galatians , chapter 6, verse 2. And it says:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

My graduation here at Chicago Theological Seminary is in less than two weeks. I am very excited for this milestone in my life journey.  How unlikely is it that a lesbian from Paraguay without financial resources, without contacts and without family in the United States can have gotten to this place?  Let me tell you… very unlikely.

I came out of the closet in 2006 after being a campus pastor for 6 years in a evangelical campus ministry in my home country of Paraguay. All the friends that I had, almost all the people that I thought were as close as my family, rejected me overnight because of my coming out. From being a beloved sister I became a wicked, lost sinner in their eyes. Kati, my partner, came from the states to live with me in my country while I was finishing my thesis for grad school. Because of the fear and anxiety I had about running into any of my old christian “friends,” I almost didn’t go out of the house for 6 months and I avoided all the most risky places. Read more ›

Dios en los Márgenes

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in Pink Perspective

de Esther Baruja

For English, click here.

Marcos 1:40-42

Vino a él un leproso que, de rodillas, le dijo:

—Si quieres, puedes limpiarme.
Jesús, teniendo misericordia de él, extendió la mano, lo tocó y le dijo:

—Quiero, sé limpio.

Tan pronto terminó de hablar, la lepra desapareció del hombre, y quedó limpio.

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Vivir en Impureza

La lepra es conocida actualmente como Mal de Hansen y según los síntomas que presenta la enfermedad no es, en muchos casos, exactamente lo mismo de lo que se habla en la Biblia Hebrea. Según las leyes de pureza cualquier mancha, furúnculo o inflamación en la piel podía ser considerada motivo para declarar “impura” a una persona y marginarla del resto de la sociedad judía (Levítico 13-14).

Esta declaración de cual persona era digna de permanecer en la comunidad y quien no la era se dictaminaba de forma a veces arbitraria. Incluso la cicatriz de una quemadura podría ser señal de impureza.

En algunos casos la “lepra” desaparecía y el Sacerdote declaraba a la persona “pura” de nuevo, según el Código de Santidad ser puro tiene que ver con condiciones requeridas para seguir participando de la vida comunitaria (en todos sus roles) y acceder al templo para adorar al Dios de Israel. Ser puro implicaba ser aceptado/a en la sociedad. Read more ›

God in the Margins

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in Pink Perspective

by Esther Baruja

Para español: haga clic aquí.

Mark 1:40-42

A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. RVSV

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Living in Impurity

Leprosy is now known as Hansen’s disease, and depending on the symptoms presented, not many cases are exactly the same as that we read of in the Hebrew Bible. According to the laws of purity, any stains, boils or skin inflammations could be considered a reason to declare a person “unclean” and marginalize him/her from the rest of Jewish society (Leviticus 13-14).

This statement about which person was worthy of staying in the community and which was not was sometimes an arbitrary decision. Even the scar of a burn could be considered a sign of impurity.

In some cases the “leprosy” disappeared and the priest declared the person “pure” again. In the Holiness Code, being pure has to do with the conditions required to continue participating in community life (in all possible roles) and to have access to the temple to worship the God of Israel. To be considered pure implied being accepted in that society. Read more ›

If an elephant has its foot

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in MCUSA, Pink Perspective

Crossposted from Coming Out Strong

by Katie Hochstedler

As the current Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests (BMC) Board President, a founding member of Pink Menno, and a young queer Mennonite involved in the movement for a more inclusive and welcoming Mennonite Church for the LGBTQ community for 10 years, I received Ervin’s most recent letter as a more savvy and carefully crafted message than some we have seen in his previous messages. While I appreciate a thaw in tone and a shift towards more respectful language for the LGBTQ community (from “non-celibate gays” to “LGBTQ” for example), this abrupt shift indicates to me a continued need among church leadership for more education led by those in the LGBTQ community who have been immersed in this work for years, some for almost 40 years, such as BMC. As self identified members of the LGBTQ community, we know our own experience intimately and are familiar with the dynamics of privilege and marginalization in church structures, policies and practices. Yet we are rarely called upon to provide training, information and a voice in decisions being made about us.

I continue to see a strong tendency from Ervin and others in leadership to portray this as a struggle between equal and opposing groups with strongly differing theological beliefs.  This leaves our church leaders caught in a morally neutral middle ground trying desperately to hold on to church unity and searching for a magical third way. I would suggest that the search begins by recognizing that privilege and power lie with the status quo, the leaders who continue to uphold it, and those made most comfortable by that status quo. This struggle is not about equals with strong opinions arguing about whose theological beliefs are correct. It is about how we treat each other in the church, and in this case, it is about how some are mistreated by the church. LGBTQ brothers and sisters and our families and supporters have been kicked out, pushed out, shamed, silenced, fired, not hired, refused education, credentials and ordination, told that our love was sin, and generally been treated in a shamefully unChristian way. Meanwhile, our church leadership has portrayed themselves as neutral in this struggle; as if they have not been actively participating in the marginalization of the lgbtq community and our families and friends. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminds us, “If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” Read more ›

The Violence of Mennonite Process: Finding the Address of the Present (part 2 of 2)

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in Education, General, MCUSA

Contributed by Stephanie Krehbiel

(con’t from part 1)

Let’s look at some more recent history. In 2011, in advance of the Mennonite Church USA convention in Pittsburgh, Everett Thomas, editor of The Mennonite at the time, wrote an editorial for the magazine suggesting that the MCUSA may need to reconsider its biennial convention structure in light of the “difficult experience” that Pink Menno activists brought to the Columbus convention. He quotes MCUSA director Ervin Stutzman as saying, “The experience of Pink Mennos at Columbus in 2009 introduced a new level of engagement in controversial matters. … The techniques of social advocacy and confrontation that we have taught young adults in our schools has come to haunt our church’s most visible gathering, to the end that convention-goers feel immense pressure to take up sides against one another on [homosexuality].” (http://www.themennonite.org/issues/14-5/articles/Unconventional_conventions) Read more ›

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