Delegates pass resolution on human trafficking

Print Article Email to a Friend

COLUMBUS, Ohio--During this morning's business session at Convention 2009, Mennonite Church USA delegates unanimously passed "Statement Against Human Trafficking, Modern Day Slavery." Mennonite Women USA executive director Rhoda Shenk Keener presented the resolution, which Mennonite Women USA, Mennonite Central Committee and Executive Leadership had prepared.

Citing the unnamed concubine in Judges 19 who was raped and killed her body divided among the 12 tribes of Israel the statement uses the biblical text, "Consider it, take counsel and speak out."

"If we don't speak out," Keener said to the delegate body, "the traffickers will win."

Although there was unanimous support for the resolution, many delegates raised concerns about the broader context.

"Trafficking is a symptom of underlying economic problems," delegate Janie Beck said, "and will continue until those problems are addressed."

One table group proposed amending the resolution to create a task force to follow up on the action. That proposed amendment failed.

The delegate assembly also passed a second resolution entitled "Resolution on Healthcare Access: Next Step." Prepared originally by Tim Jost, Harrisonburg, Va., the statement is a follow-up  to a 2007 action by the delegate assembly to provide health-care access to all pastors.

"The key moral issue," said Jost, "is whether all Americans should have access to health care."

The resolution asks members and congregations to urge their congregational representatives to support legislation that would extend access to health care to all Americans, particularly the poor and disadvantaged, while we engage local health-care needs.

Seven delegates among the 850-member body voted against the resolution.

Current Stories

Articles

• 'For I was a stranger and you invited me in'
• Vacationaries
• God has come near
• Professional saviors
• Strangers became friends

News stories, digests and Meno Acontecer

• Junior youth raise 'seed money' for Convention 2010 scholarships
• Delegates pass resolution on human trafficking
• Young Adult Fellowship strategizes to be part of church today
• Mother-daughter team speaks at joint worship
• Dow charges youth to worship radically
• Speaker tells youth not to hide from fear
• First delegate assembly of 2009 focuses on interchurch relations
• Breathing helps us understand the nature of God, Hipps tells youth
• Executive Board meets with Open Letter leaders
• The same Spirit in Jesus' life is present today, Nuñez says
• Boyts leads young adults in massage techniques
• Pastors' Day precedes Convention
• Young adult interest in service spikes
• CPT reservist, others face littering charges
• Executive Leadership sees major staff transitions
• Mennos in the News: Mennonites accused of mass rape in Bolivia
• Waltner completes her two-year term as Mennonite Church USA moderator
• Ivonne Díaz new IMH executive director
• MC Canada reports $200,000 deficit
• Hope for those affected by violence, AIDS
• Danzig church books return to Europe
• Graduates challenged to 'cultivate caring' caring'
• Holy Spirit will be with them, grads told
• Mennos in the News: Top Cincinnati lawyer to take on national role in Mennonite Church
• ¡Bienvenidos al Meno Acontecer de julio, 2009!
• ¡Excelentes becas, si tienes buenas notas!
• Cruce de Caminos
• "IBA en las iglesias"
• ¡IBA celebra 21 años de servicio!
• Educación Continuada
• ¡Vívelo!
• De las noticias
• Reflexión Pastoral - Ultima parte
• De nuestros lectores y colaboradores

Columns

• What's right with Mennonite Church USA
• Whose church is it anyway?
• Books on following Jesus
• June book and film reviews
• Open up to Millennial women

Readers Say

• U.S. is an out-of-control principality
• Do not be afraid
• Prisoner offers suggestions
• Teach signs of sex abuse
• Don't have to be a club to grow
• Commends Eastern Mennonite University
• Where we have come from and 'whereto'