Delegates approve plan for pastors
Also vote to join Christian Churches Together and elect new leaders
by Everett J. ThomasPrint Article Email to a Friend
Delegates to the San José 2007 assembly voted overwhelmingly in their final session on July 6 to continue working at a plan that could provide health insurance for all pastors and church workers in Mennonite Church USA congregations (see "addtional note" below on right). Of the 752 delegates who voted, 700 voted in favor, for a 93.4 percent tally.
Mennonite Church USA leaders huddled during the delegate assembly to decide the next item. From left: 2005-2007 moderator Roy Williams, executive director Jim Schrag, 2007-2009 moderator Sharon Waltner, and moderator-elect Ed Diller. Photo by Everett J. Thomas.
“This is a four-lap race,” Mennonite Church USA’s executive director Jim Schrag told the delegates before they voted. He explained that the first lap was their vote. The second lap is working with denominational agencies and schools to enlist their participation. The third lap will be working with area conferences.
The fourth and final lap will be the most important: inviting congregations to participate.
“Enough congregations have to opt in,” Schrag said, “for the plan to be feasible. If critical mass is not achieved, it’s not worth trying to implement it.”
Schrag said he hopes to know within two years whether such a plan will work.
According to the proposal, congregations would be charged rates “recognizing the characteristics of each pastor.”
Congregations would also be asked to make “mission” contributions “to subsidize the purchase of health insurance for pastors serving in lower-income congregations.”
Apology to Native Americans
The delegate assembly was scheduled to consider a resolution on July 3 that called for Mennonite Church USA to support a bill before the U.S. Congress apologizing to Native Americans for their treatment throughout U.S. history. But during the adult worship service earlier in the day, Steve Cheramie Risingsun, a Mennonite Native American leader, told several stories about how his people were massacred and described the history of Native American suffering.
Risingsun’s speech evoked a long and emotional standing ovation. Several hours later in a delegate session, Mennonite Church USA moderator-elect Sharon Waltner declared that the church had shown its support for the resolution.
“We … support the joint U.S. Senate and House bills,” says the resolution, “that acknowledge a long history of official depredations and ill-conceived policies by the United States government regarding Indian tribes and offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States.”
Christian Churches Together
Delegates also supported a proposal to join Christian Churches Together (CCT), a fellowship of Christian churches in the United States. All but six of the 752 delegates voted for the action.
“CCT is unprecedented in including significant participation from Pentecostal, Evangelical, Roman Catholic, [underrepresented] Racial/Ethnic, Orthodox and mainline Protestant churches,” said Andre Gingerich Stoner, director of interchurch relations in his report to the delegates. “The vision for CCT began in 2001, when a diverse group of Christian leaders met and lamented the divisions within the body of Christ.”
Mennonite Church USA participation in CCT will mean a $1,000 contribution and that Stoner and two other members of Executive Leadership will attend CCT meetings twice each year.
National identity
One resolution emerged from the delegate body and required action by the delegate assembly.
Doug Kauffman, from Benton (Ind.) Mennonite Church, sponsored a resolution that calls the Executive Board to “formulate a process that helps us explore our identity as Mennonites living in what many consider the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.”
The resolution called for conversations with Mennonites in Canada and Mexico in the process. Delegates suggested that any task force created to work at this issue also have conversations with Mennonites in Colombia and Northern Ireland.
“This is an opportunity for us to stop making assumptions about what it means to be Mennonite in the world,” said Dawn Landis, Lancaster, Pa.
The resolution passed with 564 voting yes and 95 voting no, for an 85 percent tally.
Agreeing to disagree
In table groups, delegates were asked to respond to a point-counterpoint presentation about conference discipline of congregations when there are differing interpretations of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.
Lloyd Miller, conference minister for Central District Conference, represented a group of 21 delegates who signed a statement proposing that Mennonite Church USA limit the actions an area conference can take when it decides to discipline a congregation.
“What is the purpose of congregational discipline?” Miller asked. “Often the discipline is to relieve the fear of the majority.”
Kurt Horst, conference minister for Allegheny Conference, responded to the statement.
“This proposal is at variance with the bylaws [of Mennonite Church USA],” Horst said. “It treats sin as if it were only an individual problem and not at work in churches or conferences.”
Most delegates who responded during the open-mike time said the church needs to have discipline and accountability but also expressed concerns about expelling a congregation.
Others said the action being requested would change Mennonite Church USA polity.
“We come as a federation of area conferences with traditions of [discipline and accountability],” said John Rohrer, Plain City, Ohio. “If we would change the polity now it would [be disruptive].”
Delegates were not asked to take an action on the proposal because “voting would create deep divisions within the delegate body and in the church,” said Jim Schrag.
Other reports included a joint presentation from Mennonite Church USA agencies, a statement from young adult members (see page 14), introduction of a six-year review of Mennonite Church USA structures (see page 23), additional information from Church Member Profile 2006, a lifestyle and sustainability report from Mennonite Creation Care Network, a report from the Mennonite Church USA delegation that visited Congolese Mennonites in February, a report from the Executive Board’s antiracism team and a combined financial report for Mennonite Church USA agency budgets that ended Jan. 31.
Delegate sessions concluded with outgoing moderator Roy Williams giving a framed picture of a John Deere tractor to new moderator Sharon Waltner. Waltner and her husband are farmers in Parker, S.D.—Everett J. Thomas
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Additional Notes
Health insurance for pastors
Mennonite Church USA delegates first began working on the issue of health-care access at the Atlanta 2003 assembly, where it authorized the Healthcare Access Initiative. Delegates at Charlotte 2005 identified priorities for Executive Leadership staff to work on in the two years between Charlotte 2005 and San José 2007. One of those priorities was improved access to health care for pastors and church workers. The other two priorities entailed promoting health and wellness and advocating to government.—Marathana Prothro for mPress
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