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.

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.