Protester sparks look at safety practices

Faith Mennonite drafts guidelines after July ordination service experience.

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Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis has formed a task force of ushers and church leaders to draft safety guidelines. The reason: On July 12, a protester disrupted Joetta Schlabach's ordination service at Faith.

First the man carried a sign with the words in English and Spanish, "Read and obey the Gospel," outside the church building, says Ed Kauffman, Central Plains conference minister.

From left, Michael Bischoff and Joan Wing of Faith Mennonite Church speak with a protestor outside the church before Joetta Schlabach's ordination service. Photo by Dan Leisen.

Several people engaged him in conversation and welcomed him to the service, according to Schlabach. He entered the church in the middle of the service. He shouted when he saw a woman, Mag Richer Smith, pastor of First Mennonite Church of Iowa City, Iowa, preaching.

'Women aren't supposed to speak in church. This is an abomination," he shouted from the back of the sanctuary, says Schlabach.

Ushers quickly and quietly asked him to leave.

"I stopped and waited as people in the congregation responded quickly and escorted the man out," Richer Smith says.

About five minutes later he reentered and asked to be seated. Once he took a seat in a pew, someone knelt next to him and quietly asked him not to be disruptive, says Schlabach. Ushers sat in front of him to maintain between him and the speakers.

The man kept quiet, except for a loud "no" when I asked for congregational support for Schlabach’s ordination, Kauffman wrote in the October issue of the conference newsletter Scattered Seeds. After the service, a number of people talked to the man and invited him to lunch, but he declined.


Ed Kauffman and Joetta Schlabach at Faith Mennonite Church. Photo by Dan Leisen.

"To proceed as planned was powerful in light of the protester's presence—affirming the Spirit's leading in this whole event," says Richer Smith.

"While I don't advocate tight security in our churches," Kauffman wrote, "this incident did remind me that our congregations should think through what kind of response they would make if an intruder were to present him or herself."

"As we've had time to reflect on that occurrence," Schlabach says, "We realize that in some cases we may need to explicitly articulate that everyone is welcome, but not all behaviors are welcomed or appropriate. We have broadened this conversation to include the general safety, particularly of children, within our building."

Faith Mennonite held an adult education session in September where members discussed what they learned from the incident. The members affirmed the way individuals responded in a firm but loving way, Schlabach says.

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