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We Will Be Okay: what my youth taught me about the future of the Mennonite Church

Posted on by Annabeth Roeschley Posted in General

I returned from Pittsburgh with, like many convention goers, quite a mixed array of experiences, thoughts, and emotions to process. I was energized; I was exhausted, having had the honor of attending convention as both a high school youth sponsor and a Pink Menno organizer.

I was still more or less in this “post-convention daze” when I showed up at Hyattsville Mennonite Church one week after Pittsburgh for our Convention Reflection Sunday. In hearing and re-hearing the stories of my seven high school students, I was left with a clarifying urge:

We Will Be Okay. We, the Mennonite Church, will be okay.

Here’s why.

It is not that it wasn’t okay — the explosion of pink in Pittsburgh, the steady flow in and out of the Hospitality Room, the sound of pink four-part a capella, the fluid boundaries of our circle encompassing singers who might otherwise not have joined our cause but found harmony, the way the skylights made sun descend on us like heaven while the waters rolled like justice under bridges – it was more than okay; it was something divine.

But what grounds my hope for the future of the church? What makes me recommit in a single Sunday to this treacherous mess of Anabaptism?

It is hearing youth who ask honest questions. Youth who digest convention sermons that preach theology very different from their own and, while they might find it disturbing, come away grateful for a chance to get a taste of the “Mennonite buffet.”  Youth who proudly where pink in true community alongside one who comfortably does not. Youth who love both directing hymns and moshing to Christian punk-rock. These are youth willing to live with[in] difference.

We certainly need the movers, the shakers, the agenda-pushers to keep the church going where it needs to go; some of my youth are these movers, as well. But they are also young people who are grounded in a reality of difference in the church, and they are okay with that. In fact they seem more than okay with that – they articulate what is positive in their experience of difference in the church. The different theology of “the other” – or the one among – is not a threat to their Mennonite church. They call it confusing, curious. They are still in community. They are still talking.

If this doesn’t look like Anabaptism, I don’t know what does.

And if this kind of Anabaptist theology shapes the youth who are and will continue to lead our Mennonite body, we will be okay.

~Annabeth Roeschley, Hyattsville Mennonite Church

Get it while it lasts: “Columbus Vintage”

Posted on by philipkendall Posted in Pink, Take Action

"Pink Laundry" (photo by Tim Nafziger)

Pink Menno all started with the idea of wearing pink in Columbus two years ago.  Since then, we’ve sold 100’s of official Pink Menno t-shirts, bandannas, and bracelets and you’ve found countless other ways to show your pink.  I joked with visitors in the Hospitality Room that one day, the original Pink Menno “Columbus Vintage” T-shirt will be a collector’s item.  (…which reminds me of a hopeful short story by Jeni Heitt Umble “Remembering Pink Mennos: A story from 2029“)

Well time is running out to grab your own piece of history.  For a limited time only (basically until we sell them all) get your own Columbus Vintage Pink Menno shirt from the Pink Gear Store for only $16!

And if you shop the Pink Gear Store now through the end of July, you’ll get 10% off your order of $25 or more when you use the coupon code “pinklove”. We’ve run out of many sizes, but fear not, we will print more soon!

Honestly, the little-kid-who-likes-to-play-store is SO dorkily excited by the fact that I figured out how to make a coupon code.  So I hope someone will indulge me by using it!

available in the Pink Gear Store!

Oh, and by the way, (also, too,) if you haven’t seen or heard about our awesome “Pink Menno Power” design, featuring none other than (pink) Menno Simons himself, please consider raising an eyebrow or two at your next family reunion, church camp week, or regional conference gathering.  It’s fierce and it’s guaranteed to get conversations started.

Pink-Every-Day update: I’m not going to lie.  I went on a Michigan cabin trip this weekend and I did not wear pink every day.  But I’m back to it now that I’m home.  I’m keeping my eye out for a sweet necklace or ring that features some tasteful pink.  If you see something online somewhere, let me know.

-p

Stepping Out of Shame

Posted on by philipkendall Posted in Education, Pink Perspective, Pittsburgh '11

Kirsten Freed shared the following reflection on her experience in Pittsburgh, originally posted on the Coming Out Strong blog. She is currently the volunteer intern with BMC (Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests) and supports the Kaleidoscope program.

From BMC’s website:
Kaleidoscope is a supportive and resource-sharing network for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), questioning and allied people on peace church campuses, but includes those in high school, young people in general, and those young in spirit. Kaleidoscope provides opportunities to make connections, receive support, and be active in local communities. Faculty, alumni, and supportive individuals are also involved within the church and beyond. Ways Kaleidoscope provides support for students on campuses and young adults include:

  • Establishing educational programs for residence life staff and interested individuals.
  • Keeping the lines of communication open between faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
  • Connecting students, young people and recent alumni via its email listserv, K-Scope.
  • Increasing youth and young adult presence at BMC gatherings and retreats by offering scholarships.

photo by Lisle Bertsche

Kirsten contributed to our work in Pittsburgh by being a supportive and resourceful presence in the Hospitality Room and by leading a number of workshops.  As always, we are grateful for our collaborative relationship with BMC and we recognize that without the foundation of decades of advocacy, education, and peaceful presence, our current experience would be very different.

Thank you Kirsten for sharing this thoughtful post!

 

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“Stepping Out of Shame”

by Kirsten Freed

I wanted to write a reflection about the recent Mennonite Church USA convention in Pittsburgh that highlighted the positive. Indeed, there were deep currents of strength, resilience, and hope, sprinkled with moments of joy, anger, laughter and sadness. I could tell you about the Pink Menno hymn sings where I felt more connected to “my” faith community than I have in years. I could share the experience of attending worship services organized by Open Letter pastors where many shed tears of deep emotion. I could paint a verbal picture of Ruby Lehman proudly sporting a homemade button identifying her as a “Pink Menno Grandmother.” I could describe the big smile on my face when amongst all the roaming groups of colour-coded youth-group-identifying T-shirts, I saw one group who had chosen to put their church name on a pink shirt. I could try to remember and list all of the positive, encouraging, and hopeful interactions I had with other convention attendees. But with all these experiences to choose from, I find myself dwelling on one of two negative encounters – one that tried to use shame to put me in my place.

I am having no trouble putting aside the more obviously aggressive encounter with two middle-aged business-looking men who approached me and my pink-clad buddy to direct us to a change ministry website. Perhaps I dismiss it as ridiculous because it is so overtly offensive.

The encounter I can’t get out of my mind was a very brief exchange I had with a motherly looking woman on the street. Read more ›

statements and Spirit

Posted on by MeganRamer Posted in Pink Perspective, Pittsburgh '11

Pittsburgh 2011 seemed to be a week in which I was called to have difficult conversations with people who have a very restrictive view of sexuality. Though it was exhausting work, I did find moments of respite with good friends along the way, in an effort to stay energized.

We experienced something new this year: the conversation room. Our teaching position on sexuality in the Mennonite church has included a “dialogue” clause for as long as we’ve had one. And yet, dialogue has rarely (if ever) happened in a healthy and constructive way at the denomination’s gatherings. Dialogue DID happen in Pittsburgh thanks to the conversation room.

I was invited to be one of the first speakers the afternoon we discussed “The Church and the Role of Teaching Positions, Dialogue and Discernment.” I am posting my notes for the 4 minutes I prepared. Please be warned: these are NOTES, and not a polished, finished piece…

Read more ›

pink: a daily practice

Posted on by philipkendall Posted in Pink, Pink Perspective, Take Action

(photo by Lisle Bertsche)

T-Shirts and other PinkGear available in the Pink Gear Store! (photo by Kerry Bush)

I spent some time Friday morning updating the Pink Gear store, adding our Pittsburgh t-shirts and updating the stock levels for sizes and such. Unfortunately for folks who weren’t at Pittsburgh, we have very few left. But the good news is that we sold a lot of pink! And that means that pinkmenno gear will be showing up in communities, schools, family reunions, baby showers, Targets, and county fairs all over!. And I know from personal experience that wearing a pink menno T-shirt, or even a little bit of strategically placed pink in public is bound to prompt at least basic conversations of explanation and in some cases opportunities to engage friends and even strangers.

When I got back from Pittsburgh, I decided to leave my pink shoelaces in my favorite pair of shoes, at least for a while. And I found myself with new courage to accessorize with a pink sweatband on my arm that I wore most days in Pittsburgh. “What’s with the sweatband?” people ask. Then I tell them. And I’m proud to.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t proud of my pink in Columbus two years ago. I was terrified in fact.

Read more ›

Running

Posted on by StephanieKrehbiel Posted in MCUSA, Pink Perspective, Pittsburgh '11

somewhat random pink photo: Pink Finish Line? PK

I have trouble deciding what to do on Thursday evening. I’m registered for the MennoNight Fun Run and for days I’ve looked forward to this escape, 6.2 beautiful miles of running on the trail by the Allegheny River through downtown Pittsburgh. Running river trails is one of my passions; I put in miles every week on the wooded trails by the Kaw River back home in Lawrence, Kansas.

But then I read my schedule again and see that the Conversation Room on Sexual Orientation was scheduled for the same time. At first I think that is it for my running plans, but by the end of the Conversation Room on Teaching Positions (oh, how weary I am of that phrase) I am mentally spent and physically restless. Eventually I decide that I need the run more than I need another Conversation Room experience. I put on a Pink Menno t-shirt, tie my cell phone and hotel key onto my arm with a pink bandanna, and add another pink bracelet. I tell myself that doing the race in all that pink is a field experiment, but mostly, I admit, I just want to run. Being a pink witness is a bonus. Plus I can run at least part of the way with my friend Ruth, a pastor, one of the few people here from my “real life” outside of this convention and my running partner whenever I go back to North Newton to visit my parents.

In the beginning of the race it is hard to pace myself, surrounded by fast teenagers–I’m a 35-year-old woman and much better at endurance than at speed (there’s a metaphor for social change in there somewhere).  Read more ›

we are knit together

Posted on by philipkendall Posted in Pink Perspective, Pittsburgh '11

Deb Bergen sent this reflection to us at [email protected].  (If you have a story, reflection, or creative writing to share with the Pink Menno community, please don’t hold back! We would love to publish it here!)  Deb was not at the Pittsburgh convention, but sent two prayer shawls for us to have available in the Hospitality Room. (I understood them to be prayer shawls; please correct me if I’m wrong, Deb).  Annabeth texted me as she was beginning to set up for this communion service on Thursday asking me to bring Pink Menno bandanas to brighten up the communion tables.  I grabbed Deb’s beautiful pink/orange piece and brought it along (pictured below).

Please enjoy Deb’s beautiful description of her work, her vision, and her pink perspective.  [PK]

Deb's orange and hot pink knitwork on the table, part of a communion of sustenance that took place on Thursday.

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a reflection by Deb Bergen

We are knit together. Sharing a geography, a passion, a skill set, a history or any other circle of connection pulls us in; members of MCUSA are knit in multiple ways. For the last year, my prayers for Pink Mennos have been channeled through yarns gathered from our local MCC store. God speaks to me through my hands, reminding me of the wonder of textures yielding or firm, flowing smooth or gathering in bunches. None of us come to church fresh out of the package; we are mysterious fibers brought out of our pasts. We ache to be relaxed together, but often enough it seems our interlocking strands will tear in the tension.

Two particular prayers emerged: soft rose and blues in waves to wrap around someone feeling the chill, and a dance of hot pink and orange in silk and cotton to celebrate gay Pentecost flames (and when what’s there for the main work can’t last till the end, others pick up, ending and beginning this prayer in the dark from which we come and into which we commit our own ends). These and some little pink roses were the only presence I could offer in the crucible where love would be offered and tested. They went with a friend, and with a prayer that good use would find them.

My daughter returned from conference last night with a story of passing the person carrying my prayer of/for celebration (a story knitting her and me closer to this Spirit-led movement). I could not have dreamed it would lift up the elements of our communion. Read more ›

Lasting Impressions

Posted on by KerryBush Posted in Be a Bridge, Pink Perspective, Pittsburgh '11

On the last day of convention, three teenage boys, an adult from their church, and another man came into the hospitality room and asked if there was someone with whom they could have a legitimate theological discussion about what the Bible – specifically a certain passage in Corinthians – had to say about homosexuality. We of course agreed and fetched Caitlin Desjardins, a seminary student with us that week.

"Listen, Love, Wonder, Reconcile" (from a collaborative mural by Dmitri Kadiev created/displayed at Pittsburgh convention)

The discussion ended up being primarily between Caitlin, Philip Kendall, and the boys’ youth leader, but by listening I learned a lot about the concept of “agreeing and disagreeing in love.” The boys were very polite and good listeners, remaining cool and calm when their beliefs were put to question. I really admire those kids (Carlos, Taylor, and Austin were their names, I believe) for having the guts to come deep into the territory of the people they disagreed with and having a reasonable discussion with someone whose sexual orientation they (presumably) believed was against God’s teachings.

I know it would be tough for me to have a discussion with them were I immersed in a room full of people who disagreed with me. I definitely couldn’t have done it in high school and I would probably have a pretty difficult time doing it even now. It takes courage, confidence, and a lot of maturity to do something like that and to listen for as long as those boys did. And I’m impressed. I’m very impressed.

Marginalized and Centered

Posted on by philipkendall Posted in MCUSA, Pink Perspective, Pittsburgh '11
Amy Yoder McGloughlin, pastor of Germantown Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, PA shared this reflection on her experience in Pittsburgh with us via e-mail.  At the end of this post, you can also watch the “Be A Bridge” youtube video Amy submitted before convention. Thank you Amy for sharing honestly.  (…and the rest of y’all, email us with YOUR reflections and Pittsburgh stories! Let’s keep this blog rolling!)

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Marginalized and Centered

It’s hard for me to go to convention.  As a pastor of a congregation in exile, I didn’t get an invitation.  I had to seek out the registration material and make a conscious decision to impose myself on the gathering.  This year, my youth group attended, and because we don’t have official status in the Mennonite church, we were not listed under “Germantown Mennonite Church”, but under “other”.  While I found our “other” status amusing, it was a reminder that we have no standing in the denomination, a community we love and continue to claim as our own.

The first few days of the convention were very difficult for me—I found myself lurking around the edges of gatherings, comfortable to lean against walls or sit at the edge of worship.  It felt safe, and I needed a little of that in my week.  In fact, during one especially difficult adult worship service, I felt that I had to get out–immediately.  Being on the margins was useful in that moment.

The times that I felt spiritually and emotionally safe was at Pink Menno hymn sings.  Suddenly, it felt like the church I knew;  a church that made sense to me.   Read more ›

A Reflection on the Conversation

Posted on by philipkendall Posted in Pink Perspective, Pittsburgh '11

Donna Minter originally posted the following reflection as a comment on the earlier post “The Conversation Room” by Stephanie Krehbiel. Since it can obviously stand alone as a PinkMennoPress post, I asked her permission to make it so. I’m sure there are many of who could write and share very insightful reflections on various aspects of the convention in Pittsburgh. Please consider doing so in order to continue our documentation on this site and more importantly to help those who weren’t hear to build a more complete sense of the experience, so that they may share in our hope and energy going forward.  Contact me (Philip at [email protected]) if you would like to share your writing, photos, or video with other Pink Mennos.

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“A Reflection on the Conversation”

by Donna Minter

This was my first MC-USA convention, my first time being a delegate, and my first time participating in a Pink Menno gathering as a LGBT Ally. Thank you for this opportunity to be a part of this community within OUR complicated and intense church family. I wanted to be a delegate from Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis because I wanted to represent my congregation. I also wanted very much to an active listening presence with those in MC-USA who hold traditional Christian views and often have had quite limited, if any, contact with LGBT people. I hoped to have multiple opportunities to share with these same people that, as a long time Scripture loving and reading, prayerful, playful, and active peacebuilding follower of Jesus, I respectfully have a different view. I also hoped to have the opportunity to share with them of the trauma my gay friends and extended family members have experienced in the name of their specific Biblical interpretations and practice.

While I have no doubt there were those who caste me in the Scarlet Letter role and avoided contact because of evidence of pinkness, I decided that with these folks, simply being a pink presence at a viewing/staring distance was witness enough for them. Read more ›

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