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Strangers No More statement for Phoenix 2013

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in General

This is the statement we are sharing with the delegate assembly of Mennonite Church USA on July 5, 2103 in Phoenix, Arizona.

We come to you as Mennonites who are burdened by our church’s practices of exclusion, silence, and violence towards gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people. We carry with us not only the faces of lgbt sisters and brothers, but also their hopes and dreams of a church whose language of welcome and justice matches its actual practices.

It is right that as a church we carefully and prayerfully examine the meaning and disparities of race and citizenship as it is practiced in our country and in our church. We seek to understand the ways that our prejudices and privilege have hardened our hearts to the suffering of immigrant people. We repent of the ways that we have contributed to the diminishment of others by our votes, indifference or blatant support of injustice. Lives matter to God, and the cries of the marginalized do not go unnoticed.

In this same spirit, we call upon the Mennonite Church to repent for its harsh and unwelcoming treatment of the sisters and brothers, parents, teachers, leaders, friends and family among us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. As Pink Mennos, we refuse to allow our leaders to pit marginalized groups and people against one another in the name of unity or convenience. We reject the premise that our church is incapable of understanding the insidious connections of oppression and privilege as they are played out on the bodies of immigrants, women, children, people of color, lgbt people and the many who are excluded from full participation in our church and society. We bear witness to the pain and loss that accompanies the violence of rejection, exclusion, silencing, condemnation and complacency. We affirm MLK, Jr.’s jailhouse words that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Today we bring before you our faces, our yearnings, our bodies, our dreams, our faith, and declare that we refuse to be strangers to one another. As followers of Jesus, we cannot, and will not rest until the Mennonite Church abandons its exclusionary impulses and embraces the width and breadth of God’s welcome, so that all may participate fully and God’s kin-dom is made whole.

Video of statement

Jump to 28:00 to watch Katie read the statement in the convention live stream archive:

Pink Menno surprise action on Friday morning

Posted on by pinkmenno Posted in General

Pink Mennos: It’s time to make our cause more visible at Mennonite Church USA Convention. We’re planning a surprise action for Friday morning (July 5). Come to the hospitality space (here: http://www.pinkmenno.org/locations/)at 10pm tonight to join.

Please share widely and like to get the message out!

Phoenix T-shirts

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in General

It’s only a few days until we gather for convention and I know you have all been anxiously waiting to see what the t-shirts look like this year.  Well I’m happy to say that Pink Mennos will once again be some of the best dressed at convention!  Check out the designs below and get ready to purchase your tee in Phoenix!

PO3066866-frontPO3066866-back PO3066866-frontlPO3066866-backl

Reuben

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in Pink Perspective

Phoenix is the fifth Mennonite convention I’ve attended. Why am I going?

Back at the 2005 Charlotte Convention, it was there that the Holy Spirit moved me to “come out” to my family. Fittingly, the convention theme was “Can’t Keep Quiet!”. Several years prior to the convention, I began to draw close to God as I was coming to terms with my sexuality. It was during that time I first felt God call me to the ministry. I increasingly shared with others that I felt this calling, but God was the only one who knew that I was gay. This was soon to change.  At the 2005 convention, I felt a call to greater authenticity, which included “coming out” to family. A week later, I came out to my family at the dinner table. They took the news well, and continue to be supportive!

When I look back at that time, it would have been great to have visible people at the convention to process this calling to “come out.” Being “in the closet” already was stressful, but with this new urgency to tell my family was added even more stress. I was excited and scared and didn’t know with whom I could share this news. Also, in my head at the time, was an awareness of the exclusion of lgbtq people in the church. I felt a calling to go into the ministry, but I knew Mennonite Church USA policies and practices didn’t (and still don’t) allow openly gay people to be pastors.

There have always been lgbtq people and their allies in the church present at conventions. Brethren Mennonite Council has had representatives present at conferences for the last 37 years and there have been other welcoming people and groups too, but they have not been as visible as the Pink Menno Campaign.

I’m going to convention to continue being a gay ally! I’m there to advocate for the removal of exclusionary policies and practices toward the lgbtq community. I’m also there to be a visible and supportive presence for those that need to talk with somebody. Whether you need to talk with someone about “coming out”, how to be an ally to a lgbtq friend, or anything else, several people will always be available in the Pink Menno hospitality room!

~Reuben Sancken

Healing and Hope

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in Pink Perspective
Healing and hope abound at convention.  It’s a safe place to worship, have fun, and feel the spirit, all in one short week.  During high school and college, I remember the power of 5,000 voices singing in the arenas in Charlotte and Columbus, the joy of the amusement park and recreational areas, and seminars that bring people of the church together in hopes of furthering the kingdom.

Pink Menno furthers the kingdom of Christ and more immediately, the Mennonite Church.  I have seen it provide a safe and welcoming place for those who feel uncomfortable with the tenuous conversation and positions about the place of LGBT individuals within the church.

I met my best friend, who I consider a brother, early in college.  He led a hall of young men as Hall Chaplain at a Mennonite college.  After graduation, he came out to me as gay, and as any friend and sibling would, I responded with love, respect, and support.

Pink Menno provided a loving, caring, and peaceful presence at Pittsburgh, which was especially helpful for the focused seminars with the LGBT topic.  On one special night, the circle discussion began and stories were shared.  My brother ended up in the center chair, and it was his turn to talk.  I was sitting a few rows away, and could see the weight lift off his shoulders as he spoke about everything the church had done.  His mother passed away too soon and his home Mennonite church had provided years of support, and the Mennonite college had given him a great education and spiritual connection.  As he finished sharing, emotions poured out.  I sat there crying quietly as well, but a certain pastor in the front row went up to embrace him as he sat down.  I saw her love, as a Mennonite pastor, the same love of a parent, the same love of Jesus, as the most beautiful example of how the Mennonite church can welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals.

Do we all agree?  No.  Do we know what the church will look like in 10 years?  No.  But we do know:  the peace foundation of the Mennonite church and the belief that all members of the church hold spiritual value.  Pink Menno has helped heal a rift, where certain members’ voices were excluded.  We are on the path of reconciliation, and we move forward to complete healing where you and I welcome and love, as straight or gay, furthering the kingdom of Jesus and promoting the mission of the Mennonite church.

~John Badertscher

Four years later and still here

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in General, Pink Perspective

It has been nearly four years since I first considered walking away from the Mennonite church. The urge came on a Wednesday night, the June after my high school graduation, sitting in youth group preparing for another MCUSA convention.  It was my sixth national Mennonite convention, each prior one a cherished memory of my childhood.  This time our destination was Columbus, Ohio.

We sat as a youth group, preparing for the upcoming trip, discussing travel itineraries and setting expectations for the week.  After covering many mundane details the Youth Pastor took a deep breath and the demeanor of the room changed.  The room got very serious and the warning he was about to give us, I’m sure, felt very serious to him.  “Leave your pink at home.”  These words, referencing Pink Menno’s initial presence in Columbus, changed my relationship with the Mennonite church forever.

It had been almost six months since I had started self-identifying as gay.  Most of my close friends knew, but only one or two people at church knew.  While Pink Menno would eventually come to be a symbol of hope for me in the Mennonite church, it was a difficult road to my being able to claim my own ‘pinkness.’

I timidly went out a purchased a pink polo for convention so that I could wear it, making my first attempt at standing with the oppressed – standing with my own identity.  I wore it that week in Columbus, but avoided all the other Pink Menno events to the best of my ability.  As the Youth Pastor was also my father, I was afraid to make too public a statement about the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the church.

Columbus was not a hopeful convention.  That week was awful.  I felt like I had no one to talk to about what I was going through.  As convention speaker after convention speaker spoke about the love of God and God’s desire to be in relationship as we are, many in my youth group made it crystal clear that who I am as a gay man was not welcome in their church.  I was ready to walk away from the church.  I saw the church as a place of great pain, exclusion, and hypocrisy.

It wasn’t until a month later, at the Mennonite World Conference that I found a sense of healing and hope in the Mennonite church.  It was MWC that renewed my appreciation for the church community and the work that was happening around the world.  As I shared in worship with global church members, I knew I wasn’t ready to walk away from the church.  MWC reminded me that even though the church sometimes fails to show Christ-like love, for many the church provides a place of sacred community and serves as the hands and feet of Christ around the world.

Now, almost four years later, I am preparing for yet another convention.  Since the convention in Columbus, I have found healing and reconciliation with parts of the church community.  I have found welcome at a small congregation in Harrisonburg, Va.  I have also found my voice as a member of the church.  For much of this, I owe a great deal of thanks to Pink Menno, which has continued to be a source of hope when life has been rough.

There are many days when I want to simply be content with the welcome that I have found for myself, but there has been a continued voice that tells me that there is still work to do.  I really thought I was done with national conventions after Pittsburgh.  Yet here I am, preparing for Phoenix, because I know that there are many who still feel marginalized in their churches.  Like I felt in Columbus, there are those who feel like they have no one to talk to about their identity and that they cannot be accepted for who they are.  Now, four years later, as a part of Pink Menno, I look forward to holding out my hand to make sure that all people find their welcome at the table and find the church to be a place of hope, rather than marginalization.

~Darian Harnish

Why Pink Menno and BMC?

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in Pink Perspective

I’ve been involved with Pink Menno since before Columbus in 2009 and before that, I worked for Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests and I’m now on the organization’s board. BMC has been doing this work for nearly 40 years. Once in awhile a friend will ask me, “why are you still doing this work?” I often have to ask myself the same question. I guess it is that I still care about my broken church and I want to do what I can, while I can still have some hope and faith left that it can be better. I still have that hope and faith despite the setbacks, the ignorant statements, and the hand-wringing leadership, because I can also see that positive change is happening, ploddingly slow at times, but happening. Allies continue to come out and speak out and congregations are standing up for welcome. We know “that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice” (MLK Jr), but we will not wait for the inevitability of change, we do our work to try to shorten the arc so less young people are harmed in the process. I’d like the Mennonite Church to “get it right” before it’s too late and has completely lost its integrity and credibility.

I bring up integrity and credibility because, more and more, that is what younger generations say they are missing from The Church. We learned Mennonite values growing up in our Mennonite churches. We learned that Mennonites and Anabaptists are exceptional because we stand for nonviolence, peace, justice and hope for the downtrodden. We were taught that the Sermon on the Mount was central to our faith and what set us apart from the “World.” We are then dismayed to find that the Mennonite Church itself and it’s agencies taking part in the violence, discrimination, and marginalization of lgbtq people and our friends and families. We watch as openly queer people are pushed from their families and congregations, as welcoming congregations and pastors are disciplined, as Pink Mennos are publicly shamed by church leaders, and we are troubled. What is more troubling is the deafening silence, ignorance, and lack of interest from those who believe they can be “neutral” while the queer community is stepped on. We feel the pain of that violence in the queer community but we know there is also dire harm to the very soul of the church. For every queer person and our friends and family who are pushed out of the church, there is a wound. We speak out not just for ourselves and queer and questioning youth but to offer an opportunity to the church to heal itself and to regain its moral authority.

We hear our proclaimed church leaders struggling to hold the “Unity” of the church together as they are afraid to be torch bearers for welcome, even when some may agree with our purposes. The LGBTQ community is excluded completely from that supposed “Unity” while others hold it hostage with threats to withdraw their presence or their support. As these church leaders hold onto this Unity tighter and tighter, it seems to slip through their fingers because it is a false unity. True Unity can hold itself together with the bonds of our common faith, care and love for eachother. When we can extend the table to make room for the diverse rainbow of the Mennonite church, we can share in a communion that respects and values our differences and we will find that we hold more in common than we know. Openness and welcome is the beginning of that journey towards Unity, not the end. If church leaders cannot carry the torch because they lead in fear, the least they can do is make room for those of us who will carry the torch.

As Pink Menno, we go to Mennonite conferences to be visible. It is to let lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth and their friends see that you can be Mennonite and queer or allied. We go to be seen by the larger Mennonite community so they know we will not go away and can not be silenced. We are the church, even when the church tries to tell us otherwise. Many of us grew up in the Mennonite Church and it made us who we are. The church taught us to pray and act for justice and peace in the world and is quick to support and laud those involved in this work. But when we call for peace and justice within the church, we are scornfully branded as “activists,” “outsiders,” or “advocacy groups” in order to dismiss and discredit us.”

In spite of the challenges, we will continue to call on the church to look to the margins because that is where the church will find Jesus working. The margins where oppressions of classism, racism, sexism, ableism, violence, heterosexism are found, and where the church can find its faith and the credibility it is losing. For the unity and sake of the whole church, including the possibility of a vital future, we invite leaders to join us there.

~Katie Hochstedler

Pax

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in General
The MCUSA Conventions have forced me to think about identity. During my teenage years, the MCUSA Conventions played a central role in how I came to understand my identity as a Mennonite in the larger context of the denomination. It was at Convention that I met other young Mennonites from all over the country. It was at Convention that I first started thinking about my upcoming college education. It was at Convention that I was forced to realize just how far the Mennonite Church has to go in practicing what Jesus teaches us.

It was at Convention that I was told I could not be gay and Christian. I’ve engaged in difficult conversations with Mennonite siblings who could not support my membership in the Mennonite Church.

The MCUSA Conventions have forced me to think about identity—to listen to Christ’s calling in my life to build bridges, advocate for the marginalized, and to walk humbly with God. Through the MCUSA Conventions, I have learned that Christ calls us to be active—to actively seek justice in our immediate communities and around the world. For me, this is at the core of my identity as a Mennonite.

In Phoenix, I look forward to singing for those who remain silent and to express my identity as a Mennonite called to actively seek justice and peace.

-Pax Ressler

Pink Mom

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in General

I am going to Phoenix 2013, in the heat of mid-summer.

You heard me right. I am a middle aged woman voluntarily going to Phoenix, Arizona in the Middle of Summer. I’m going to be so hot I will be turning pink.But that’s exactly why I am going: I’m going to Phoenix to be Pink.

I am a student at a Mennonite seminary, but I’m not going so I can have theological debates about homosexuality. I oppose church policies that disenfranchise many, including LGBT people and their families.

But I am not going to Phoenix to accuse and alienate those who disagree with me.
No. I am going to Phoenix for one reason: to open my arms. I am going so I can be a Pink Mom.

For what I have discovered is that, unbelievably to me, there are still LGBT young people especially, who have never had a mom, or an aunt, or a dad, or a uncle hug them and say “I love you. You are known and loved by God. Every part of you is precious, exactly as you are.”

There are also young LGBT people who have never heard someone say, “You are so needed in our church. We need your gifts and your talents; how are things going for you? You are known and loved by God and you belong to us. You belong.”

Don’t get me wrong. Please, don’t. Many moms and dads, families and churches love LGBT young people. We all believe in embracing each other as Christ embraces us. But there are often parts left unloved, unaccepted and shamed.

That is why I’m trying to keep it simple. That’s pretty much it. I’m going to Phoenix because I feel called to be there.

So, if you see a middle aged woman crammed into a pink t-shirt don’t be alarmed. I’m not going to Phoenix to be a fashion statement: I’m going to be a Pink Mom. I hope other Moms will join me. You can find me in the Hospitality Room at the Renaissance Hotel. They’re all our kids after all, and they need us.

-Audrey Roth-Kraybill

Strangers and aliens no more

Posted on by DarianHarnish Posted in General, MCUSA, Pink, Take Action

After many planning phone calls and much discernment, the Pink Menno leadership team is excited to announce a theme of: Strangers and aliens no more: one humanity, for the Phoenix 2013 convention.

This theme draws from the Ephesians 2:14-22 being used for the broader MCUSA convention. The New American Standard Bible reads: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).

Pink Menno recognizes the importance and intersectionality of multiple concerns as we move toward Phoenix, with much of the denomination’s attention on immigration as we are hosted by a city in a state that continues to perpetuate injustices against immigrant communities.

Many are opting to abstain from Phoenix to stand in solidarity with the immigrant communities and we support this decision.  However, at this time, many Pink Mennos feel called to be present, drawing continued attention to the marginalization of voices in the Mennonite church.

While Pink Menno’s focus has and will continue to be the marginalization of LGBTQ voices in the church, the theme of “strangers and aliens no more” aims to underscore the importance of our shared humanity, emphasizing that no one should feel like a stranger or alien in the church.  We believe that this shared humanity includes our immigrant brothers and sisters as well

The Pink Menno site (pinkmenno.org) will be continually updated over the next two months with more details about our time in Phoenix.  As we move toward Phoenix, we renew our commitment to being a “visible, vocal presence supporting, sustaining and furthering genuine dialogue.”  We feel it is our responsibility to draw attention to the marginalized voices of LGBTQ persons in the Mennonite church, persons who have shown resiliency through years of standing in the margins.

At the same time, we renew our call to the MCUSA executive staff, Executive Director Ervin Stutzman, Moderator Dick Thomas, and Moderator-elect Elizabeth Soto Albrecht to build capacity within the church for the inclusion of all voices.

With the MCUSA Convention theme of: Citizens of God’s Kingdom: Healed in Hope, the Vision Statement of Pink Menno seems more relevant than ever.  We stand committed “to achieve healing and hope for the Mennonite Church through the inclusion and welcome of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and their supporters.”

We recognize the healing that is already taking place, and hope to continue that process in Phoenix!

 

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