A Very Grateful Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving break just around the corner, I finally get the opportunity to relax from all the usual stresses of being a seminary student and take some time—FINALLY—to write another blog post. And in the typical Thanksgiving fashion, I want to take the time to reflect on what I am thankful for.

The past three months (my-goodness, has it really been that long already?!) of my first semester at Princeton Theological Seminary has been a roller coaster of a trip. It hardly seems like that long ago I was packing my car as a new college graduate to drive off for the next chapter of my life in New Jersey! But yet, here I am.

Homosexuality in the Mennonite Church: The Pittsburgh Experiment

Every two years, Mennonite Church USA holds a biannual convention to bring together Mennonites from all over the country. It is an opportunity to reunite with old friends, to worship God, and to celebrate a religious heritage that goes that goes all the way back to the Reformation in Europe. 

This convention also gives Mennonite Church USA’s delegate body—composed of representatives from member conferences and affiliated organizations—a chance to decide the direction that the broader denomination will take. And where I was always more concerned with the other aspects of the convention, it is the workings of the delegate body that I now find interesting.

And it is specifically the issue of inclusion of homosexuality that I particularly direct most of my attention.

Homosexuality in the Mennonite Church

One of the primary issues facing the Mennonite Church in North America today is the issue of inclusion for homosexuals in the church. 

Granted, this issue has been discussed for a long time now; but prior to 2009, a gag order had been in place, essentially putting this particular discussion on hiatus for decade or so (that is, at the denominational and conference levels anyway. Individual congregations could still have discussions as they so pleased).

The gag order understandably came into place due to the newly forming Mennonite Church USA—presumably to allow the new denomination to settle-in after the merger from two separate denominations, and iron out all of the kinks that goes along with that before engaging in such a divisive issue. 

So, for ten years, no one was allowed to express their opinions openly concerning homosexuality…that is, until Columbus ’09.

A Letter to My 13-Year-Old Self

Dear younger me,

I know what you are thinking, what you are feeling. Even though you may not want to admit it, I know what you are going through.

I know what is buried down deep inside you which you are scared to let out. I know how conflicted you feel; how confused you are with the situation you live in; how frustrated you are that things could not be different.

Message to an Inconsiderate Reader

Recently, I have been getting some comments on some of my blog posts (FINALLY!); and one of these posts, Critique: “Gay Marriage NOT Gay Culture,” has been getting some additional attention—and not of the friendly kind.

There is a particular person (who I don’t know because he/she persists to be identified as “Anonymous”) who is being inconsiderate and overly inappropriate. He/she sent me a comment on that post—I regulate all comments that go onto this blog—which I did not publish for two reasons:

The Olympic Spirit

I do not think it is a big surprise to anyone who knows me that I am a sports fan (particularly when it comes to the sport of soccer…or as I like to call it: football). So naturally when international competitions come around every other year, invariably my eyes are always glued to whichever screen I can get them gazing upon; and this year’s Summer Olympics in London, England was no exception.

Of course there are specific events that I prefer over others, but our television was primary tuned in regardless over the last two weeks. And I would never want to miss one of my favorite spectacles of the Olympic Games: the Closing Ceremony.

The Importance of a Supporting Community

Since coming home, I have been reminded of something important, something I already knew of, but had become so accustom to that I took it for granted: Community.

A novel idea, I know, coming from a Mennonite; but do not let my sarcasm fool you. Having a support network around you to help you is very important…especially when you are gay.

Manifesto to Love

Society favors the few: the ones who fit into ALL the right categories. Only they have it easy; only they are special.

Gay vs. God

If you were to ask me what the current state was between homosexuality and Christianity, I’m not entirely sure how to answer that one. I would say it is encouraging to see how many churches are becoming openly affirming and accepting, but there are still far too many yet that are not anywhere close; and that makes for a very polarized confrontation surrounding the issue of the level of acceptance.

However, if there is one thing I could say about all of this—if I were to, say, write a paper on it—my thesis would essentially be this: Homosexuality is the one issue that—in order to survive—I feel the church, as the universal body of Christ, will have to admit defeat and learn from secular culture that homosexuality is not wrong, but is instead something to be accepted as a natural part of life and (for some of us) to be embraced.

Critique: "Embrace Gay Marriage NOT Gay Culture"

In my last student newspaper article at my university, right before I graduated, I wrote an article that generally made the point that affirming gay marriage does not automatically also affirm gay culture. Now since then, I have realized the error of my ways in writing that article—which is why I am posting an altered version of that article in my blog.

To be honest, I would prefer for you just to read this one and forget about the other one. But for those of you who did read my initial article, it may be good to realize that you will recognize many portions of this post. Do not be alarmed. (I am pretty sure this does not count as plagiarism…I think….)

Musing on CPMC Annual Meeting

Not too long ago the Central Plains Mennonite Conference (CPMC)—which my church is a member congregation of—held its Annual Meeting. This was actually my fourth time in attendance to the delegate sessions, although this was my first time not actually being a delegate but simply a guest.

Attending Annual Meeting is always one of the most enjoyable parts of my summer. I like it because I always seem to leave feeling like I am a part of something bigger. This year, in particular, saw the end to a long and painful saga as St. Paul Mennonite Fellowship finally withdrew their membership from CPMC and instead joined the Central District Conference (CDC) of MennoniteChurch USA.

MCH 301: The Origins of Mennonite Church USA

This blog is supposed to be about how being gay relates to being Mennonite today, but it has occurred to me that I have not had a post about Mennonite history in quite awhile.

Now I know I have previously said:

"I promise that any future history will only be discussed in this blog when it is necessary."

But I feel that in order to understand some things I am going to write about in the future, it would be good to know a little bit more about how we, as a denomination, have become what we are today.

MCH 101: So... Menno-what?

At this point, I recognize that most people do not have a clue about who Mennonites are. For most people, the first images that come to mind are closed communities with dress codes, horse and buggies, no electricity, and family farming—basically, the Amish. While not entirely off base, such images would be considered quite naïve by most Mennonites today. 

After all, I fall into none of those categories. If I walked down the street of your town or city, you probably would not even know I was Mennonite. Now, I do live in a small rural town in the Midwest, but my family not only has electricity but also television and computers and cell phones—mine is a smart phone to be exact—and neither my parents nor any of my aunts and uncles farm (my grandparents did…a long time ago). And I have a college degree, currently pursuing a Master’s (and dare I say, a Doctorate?)—which is something most Amish would never consider trying to obtain. 

But yet I am Mennonite. 

The Littlest Things Make All the Difference

I quite often play soccer whenever I am home with one of my best friends, who is currently engaged. Recently, after one of our scrimmages, he offered to give me a ride home.

This particular time around, I had decided to walk because I only live 5-ish blocks from the field; so I did not really think a ride from my friend was necessary. Nevertheless, he had offered, so I thought…why not? I’ll be courteous.

On the drive to my house he asked, “Do you like men?”

Civil Unions vs. Gay Marriage

Many people in the United States of America think that by offering civil unions or domestic partnerships, they are doing LGBT individuals a favor. A large portion of this comes from the belief that marriage is a religious ceremony, and homosexuality is a big taboo for a lot of religious people.

But this actually ignores one very important thing: marriage is not just religious, it is also civil. Now for years this has been wrapped up into one thing, but ever since the separation of church and state they have become two different animals. Basically you can be married without a religious ceremony, and you can be married without recognition by the government (the situation currently tied to cases of polygamy).

Preaching To The Choir...Almost...

I am always surprised when I come home how much opposition I DON’T get for being gay. If you read my previous post, “Land I Cannot Love,” you may have gotten the impression that this is an awful place to live as an openly gay man. But the truth is, it is not as bad as you or I would assume.

Now maybe I am just special because I actually do  try to juggle my faith with my sexual orientation. Is it possible that my continued interest in religion—more than most I might add—in an area of the country that is highly religious gives me some leeway that I would not have been given otherwise? It seems odd for that to be the case, because most of the opposition gay people get comes from religious people…and it is not like this is a religiously liberal area of the country either.

The Narnia Inside My Closet: Part 3

< Part 1  |  Part 2 >

In my first two posts, I wrote about my life growing up. I was a gay teenager who did not know how to process the fact that I was gay. The fact that I did not know anyone else around me who knew what I was going through put me even further into a rut.

The whole situation was actually quite simple: underlying my whole rejection of my own attraction to boys was my faith.

Green Lantern is Gay?

Hal Jordan

If you know me fairly well, you know that I am into comics; and my absolute favorite superhero is DC Comics’ Green Lantern, one of the founding members of the Justice League—alongside other notable members like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash. 

Recently, all of the comic book producers have been on a kick to make their stories more LGBT inclusive. DC has already told us that Batwoman is a lesbian. In fact, Marvel is just about ready to have Northstar, their openlygay Canadian member of the X-men, marry his gay partner Kyle Jinado. If there was ever a time to be gay and reading comics it is now!

The Land I Cannot Love

After going back to live with my parents were I grew up, I recently realized something that I did not like: inevitably, probably not in the too distant future, I will be forced to move away from here for good.

This scared me; the thought of packing up a U-haul with everything I own and going to live in a new place—although it sounds exciting—brought tears to my eyes. Tears not of joy, but of sadness. I, very much down to my deepest bone, want to love this place—to call it home. The problem is I cannot. Being gay is just too much of a burden.

The Narnia Inside My Closet: Part 2

< Part 1  |  Part 3 >

In my first post, I describe how I lived alone with my questions of my sexual orientation. I had no one to turn to, no one to trust in; I was alone. So I hid it away, pretending it was not there. And anytime anyone came close to figuring it out, I gave them excuses that led them in the other direction.

I hoped that when I got to college, I would know what to do; hoped that something would have changed. But when I finally got there it was not like anything had changed, and now I started to run out of excuses.

The Narnia Inside My Closet: Part 1

< Part 2  |  Part 3 >

When someone starts to openly tell other people that he or she is gay, it is typically said that they are “coming out of the closet”—or simply “coming out.” I have never liked this analogy. To me, it implies you were hiding something, as if you knew who you were all along.

But for me, it was not that simple. Telling other people I was gay was not a “coming out”; for me, it was a “coming-of-age.”

Historic Presidency Makes Step Forward

In case you have been living in a shell this past week, here’s what you missed: both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden came out in the media this week in favor of same-sex marriage. This is historic as this is the first presidency in U.S. history to openly affirm LGBT individual’s rights to marry.

This comes as good news for LGBT rights advocates as the Obama administration has thus far had a bumpy roller coaster ride of a presidential term. 

They were able to pass the Matthew Shepard Act in 2010 finally recognizing violence against LGBT individuals as a hate crime. And they successfully repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in 2010 allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. All of this was bolstered by marriage equality being legalized in Connecticut in 2008; Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire in 2009; Washington D.C. in 2010; and New York in 2011.