For The Record

Submit birth, marriage and obituary records online.

Personal Ads

Meet new friends today!

Advertising

Put your message in front of 19,000 readers.

PDF documents on this site require the free Adobe Reader:

Get Adobe Reader

2009-04-07 issue:

Open letter calls for 'radical hospitality'

by Everett J. Thomas

Print Article

GOSHEN, Ind.—Thirty-eight current Mennonite pastors joined 68 other leaders and retired pastors in signing a letter asking congregations to provide "radical hospitality" for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members. Concerned primarily about pastoral care, the letter does not ask Mennonite Church USA to change its teaching position on homosexuality and avoids any mention of the membership guidelines adopted in 2001.

"We must acknowledge that the church is already divided," the letter says. "We have been willing to sacrifice our LGBT brothers and sisters, their families and friends to preserve a presumed unity."

The letter was drafted by three pastors over the course of a year: Sheri Hostetler, pastor at San Francisco Mennonite Church; Cynthia Lapp, pastor at Hyattsville (Md.) Mennonite Church and Weldon Nisly, a pastor at Seattle Mennonite Church.

See the Web site for more information:  www.openlettertomcusa.org.

Read below for the Open Letter:

An Open Letter to Mennonite Church USA
Passion Sunday 2009

We are writing as pastors and people who have ministered in the Mennonite Church.  We are distressed by our Church's exclusion of sisters and brothers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). Our hope for a Church guided by the radical hospitality of Jesus compels us to invite us all to confession and healing.

Our vocation as ministers is to proclaim and embody the Good News of Jesus Christ, which is the Gospel of radical hospitality and extravagant love (Luke 15, John 4). We are all sinners in need of God’s grace. We believe that we can not deny that grace to anyone seeking to be part of the Body of Christ. We are each called to faithfulness to Christ, accountability in the Church, and integrity in human relationships. We believe that all people are invited to faithful fellowship in this Body, blessing for our deepest relationships of love and care, a spiritual home for ourselves and our children, and the opportunity to fully express the gifts for ministry that God has given us.

Through our unwillingness to extend full hospitality to LGBT people, we believe the Church has lost sight of this Gospel vision and, in so doing, has seriously compromised its witness. Jesus often confronted religious people with their spiritual blindness and offered healing so that they could see not only with their eyes but with their hearts (Matthew 23, John 9). Jesus offers the same challenge and healing to us today.

We believe that now is the time for us to confess and be healed of this spiritual blindness. Some of us, out of love for the Church, have remained silent for the sake of unity. However, we must acknowledge that the Church is already divided. We have been willing to sacrifice our LGBT brothers and sisters, their families and friends to preserve a presumed unity. While some of us may caution to "go slow," we are reminded by prophets such as Martin Luther King, Jr. that going slow only perpetuates the injustice. We are also reminded by Jesus and our Anabaptist forebears that the faithful path is not easy or without pain.

As ministers in Mennonite Church USA, we invite all members of Christ’s body in MC USA to join us in this call to confession and healing. If you desire a Church that offers Christ’s radical hospitality and extravagant love to everyone, please sign on to this letter by going to the Web site, www.openlettertomcusa.org.

Let us seek a new unity where all are welcome and all are called to an abiding "faith, hope and love ... and the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13).

For the healing of Christ's Body and the sake of the Church,

Anita Amstutz, Michelle Armster, Wes Bergen, Carolyn Blosser, Donald Blosser, Stanley Bohn, Anne Breckbill ,Mitchell Brown, Libby Caes, Robert J. Carlson, Sylvia Shirk Charles,
Karen Cox, Sara Dick, Pam Dintaman, Mary Jane Breneman Eby, Elaine Enns, Amy Epp, Jason Evans, Jake T. Friesen, Duane Friesen, Matt Friesen,Walter S. Friesen, Ray Gingerich, Steve Goering, Marlin Good, Ted Grimsrud, David Habegger, Joanna Harader, Leland Harder, Ruth R. Harder, Rachel Nafziger Hartzler,Cheri Herrboldt, Sheri Hostetler, Doug Hostetter, Ron Hunsicker, Gary Isaac, Norma J. Johnson, John Kampen, Renee Kanagy, Donald D. Kaufman, Gordon Kaufman, Robert Kauffman, Beth Miller Kraybill, Ken Kraybill, Harold Kreider, Heidi Regier Kreider, Clarice Kratz, Lawrence Kratz, Kathleen Weaver Kurtz, Cynthia Lapp, Chad Martin, Pat Hostetter Martin, Eric Massanari, Brenda Meyer, Bryce L. Miller, Joel Miller, Lloyd Miller, Marilyn Miller, Phil Mininger, Ched Myers, Jonathan Neufeld, Melanie Neufeld, Bert Newton, Weldon Nisly, Helen Wells O’Brien, Ruth Penner, Stephen Penner, Vicki Penner, Vern Preheim, Megan Ramer, Steve Ramer, Steve Ratzlaff, Carole E. Ricketts, Garland Robertson, Carol Rose, Willard E. Roth, Juel Yoder Russell, Michael Schaadt, Melvin Schmidt, Myron Schrag, Rhoda Schrag, Gayle Sheller, Karl Shelly, Ann Showalter, Joyce Shutt, Marlene Smucker, Stan Smucker, Randall Spaulding, Muriel T. Stackley, Donald Steelberg, Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Ed Stoltzfus, Gene Stoltzfus, Karla Stoltzfus, Marie Stoltzfus, Vic Stoltzfus, John K. Stoner, Hubert Schwartzentruber, Kathleen Temple, Adam Tice, Mark Van Steenwyk, Paul Versluis III, Frank Ward, Tonya Ramer Wenger, Tim Weaver, John Zimmerman

_________________________________________

The Executive Committee of the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA responded to the the Open Letter with a letter to area conference leaders. Read below:

April 2, 2009
   
Re:  Responding to the open letter
Area Conference Leader of Mennonite Church USA:

We value all of our pastors and their leadership in the congregations of Mennonite Church USA. Pastors do their pastoral work mindful of the intimate and sometimes difficult stories of people in their congregations. Pastors are committed to being faithful to scripture and to the teachings of the church.

Pastors also need to be committed to their covenant with the conference body that credentialed them. The congregation calls and the conference credentials.

As leaders of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board and its churchwide agencies, we are grateful when leaders seek a pastoral response to concerns in the church, such as the inclusion of gays and lesbians, where the context of congregational discernment and the broader voice of the conference help shape this response.

Our churchwide documents, including the Membership Guidelines which were accepted in the formation process of Mennonite Church USA in 2001 and reaffirmed by the Constituency Leaders Council in 2007 and the Executive Board in 2008, affirm the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective which says that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman for life. The Membership Guidelines and the earlier denominational documents on human sexuality also call for continued discernment and dialogue with our brothers and sisters who disagree with the church’s statements in this area. 

We believe that God calls us to share the teachings of the church as we understand them and to walk alongside people in our congregations who are gay or lesbian, or their family and friends. This is a necessary part of pastoral ministry in congregations.

While we believe that discernment can and should happen in larger circles beyond congregations in conferences and in churchwide settings, we believe that discernment in congregations deserves respect for its integrity and its effort to be faithful to scriptural teaching.
 
We believe that our call to be a missional church requires us to ask what God is doing in the world around us, and that means asking what God is doing in the lives of those whom God sends to our congregations. We pray that God will guide and bless the entire body of Mennonite Church USA and help us focus on building a faithful witness to the world and avoid what has the potential to tear us apart.

These days, we are challenged on many fronts. We are called to set our minds on the higher things of our faith and our living. We want to live our lives in humility and in relationship with Jesus, depending on God’s grace and the Spirit’s leading, so that we can become an effective witness to Christ within our body and to the world

Sincerely,
Executive Committee of the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA:
Sharon Waltner, moderator
Ed Diller, moderator-elect   
Addie Banks
David Boshart
Terry Shue

Reader Comments

Add Comments
  • Posted by adaming at Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 08:28 PM

    Dear Sharon, Ed, Addie, David, and Terry: Your position is perfectly clear. Unfortunately it is horribly misguided and illogical. Worse, it's essentially non-responsive. You simply cite prior established guidelines. I have long admired the Mennonite church in most respects, so it is with sadness that I predict that history will not look kindly upon those who held on to these discriminatory beliefs and positions towards GLBT people. You really didn't address the question of why. Here is a list making the rounds on the internet. Perhaps it will prompt you to just for a moment consider the absurdity of your position and how insulting it is to so many people. Adam Ingersoll 10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong 1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning. 2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall. 3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. 4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal. 5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed. 6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children. 7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children. 8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America. 9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children. 10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

  • Posted by tmadmin at Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 02:41 PM

    From Philip E. Friesen on April 10:As a missionary for the past 30 years, I certainly can appreciate the concern of Mennonite leaders who want to welcome homosexual people into the church. The history of missions might have avoided a dark chapter if polygamous families had been welcomed intact into Christian fellowship 100 years ago. The way in which many African churches now accept polygamous families may be instructive as to how practicing, sexually active GLBT people could be included in church membership today. The people are accepted as they are without demanding a breakup in existing relationships, but the teaching of the church can remain the same, and no polygamous or gay marriages need be performed. Leadership roles may also be restricted. Acceptance does not mean endorsement. As a Mennonite church, we do not support military service, but we have soldiers as members. We do not bless these members with a military band and prayers for victory when they go to war. They may feel unsupported and unblessed without this support, but the best we can do is to follow them with our prayers. This model is transferable to those in inappropriate sexual relationships. The African church accepts such members as already described, but it does not offer ceremonial blessing or allow a man to marry other women after baptism. Homosexual couples already in relationship may come in, but we do not perform such marriages or permit them after baptism. This would be the African model, and leadership may be restricted. There is another aspect to this model I will call the military model. In the New Testament soldiers were never told to resign their commissions, but in coming years many did. Soldiers should always be welcome in the Mennonite church, but we can not bless their activities with ceremony and prayer, and may need to restrict some leadership roles. In the same way, homosexual couples can be baptized without dissolving existing relationships, until the Holy Spirit tells them to do so. Some will experience the miracle of a change in orientation and some will not. The Holy Spirit is leading us to higher ground as a church, and I pray we will not miss the "paths of righteousness" for our time.

  • Posted by tmadmin at Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 02:42 PM

    Sanford C. Oyer of Wooster, Ohio: This is in response to the “Open Letter to Mennonite Church USA” published with signatures through the April 6 TMail. Dear Brothers and Sisters, The question before us today is, “What in the world is the Church coming to?” The Mennonite Church with other denominations has just finished several quarters of Sunday school lessons of Old Testament teaching on the history of Israel with the warnings of the prophets of God to avoid the evil influences of the pagan cultures around them. We also saw the evil influence of the young false prophets of Israel, how they led Israel into sin time and time again and how the judgment of God was brought upon them. Let us be very clear as the Bible is very clear that a marriage relationship is between one man and one woman. Nothing else is laid down as a guide or rule. Do we minister to sinners and allow them to attend our services and fellowship meetings? Because of God’s love and His commissions to us we are compelled to do so. But that kind of inclusion does not condone continuation of sinful activity if that person becomes a member in full fellowship with the local congregation. If a prostitute fellowships with us and eventually accepts Christ and asks for membership the faithful spiritual Church will expect her to cease being a prostitute. Most such persons would not be comfortable attending a church unless they came in contrition. Homosexuals are welcome in the Christian congregation as seekers. When they desire full fellowship as members of the body of Christ they will stop their homosexual activity and desire for same sex relationship or remain celibate until the Lord heals the problem. When a man has a problem with lust and is in sexual relations with women the church does not baptize him and welcome him as a member of the church unless he repents and gives his mind and body to God’s control. The Church today like Israel in O.T. times is being plagued with false teaching by present day false prophets who are corrupting the Body of Christ. Brother and sisters, we need to stand strong against all spiritual warfare and the treats of the devil to deceive the Church. Rationalization id not the answer; we need a clear reading of the Bible and obedience to the Word of God. I Cor. 6:9-11, 18-20; Lev. 18:22, 29, 30; Lev 20:13; Col. 3:5-10. Do we want His blessing or His curse? We are no more favored than Israel; we will be judged if we do not obey the Lord. And His commands are for our own good. Let us come humble before our Heavenly Father in prayer, confess our sins, seek His counsel, love all sinners and welcome those who repent into the Kingdom of God. That was and is His command to make disciples of men and women from every nation and people. May God grant that we disciple the body rather than poison the body. Remember Jesus Christ is the change agent; we come to Him as we are but after we come to Him we must allow Him to cleanse us and change us into a new creation. Our Lord Jesus has incomparably great power and strength to break the chains that bind and deliver from sin anyone who believes in Him and whose heart is enlightened. To say homosexual’s behavior cannot be changed is to believe God’s power over that sin is limited and rendered powerless. To the woman at the well Jesus said in love, “Go and sin no more.” We have no special privileges over her. We pray that the beloved Mennonite Church will allow the Holy Spirit to purify us by the grace of God. Amen.