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.
