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2010-05-04 issue:

Central Plains hosts hermeneutics seminar

Described as ‘conversation where we actually agreed and disagreed in love.’

by Shana Peachey Boshart

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A bout 120 people attended a Central Plains Menno­nite Conference seminar for congregational leaders, "Come, Let Us Reason Together: Developing Common Understandings for Discernment," held Jan. 8-9 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Last summer at Central Plains annual meeting in Freeman, S.D., the conference council shared with the delegates a plan to appoint a unity task group to study the conference’s policy on variance. Then at Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, the delegates approved a resolution calling for the development of resources for discernment around divisive issues.

Central Plains ministry staff considered these events and thought a good starting point for discernment would be Scripture and how we interpret it. Several pastors in the conference had also expressed a longing for more theological reflection around issues of variance. 

Conference minister Tim Detweiler worked with pastors David Boshart, Kent McDougal and Mathew Swora to plan a seminar for congregational leaders on the subject of hermeneutics, or how we interpret the Bible. 

"The purpose of this seminar was to help us reflect on our common understandings for discernment as we address issues of variance in our conference," says Detweiler. 

"In my memory," says Boshart, "this is the first conference that was called for the purpose of Scripture discernment. We began by looking to the Bible as our common foundation for faith and life under the rule of Christ."

On Jan. 8, Detweiler and moderator Diane Zaerr Brenneman opened the meeting and introduced the communication "ground rules."

Kent McDougal, pastor of Christ Community Church in Des Moines, presented “The Rule of Christ in His Church,” a paper that examines how obedience to the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew equip us for ethical discernment.  

On Jan. 9, Mathew Swora presented "Biblical Roots, Interpretive Connections," in which he traced the scriptural roots of Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective and how the church has arrived at its current position regarding human sexuality. Swora is pastor of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Minneapolis.

Cynthia Lapp, pastor of the Hyattsville (Md.) Mennonite Church, presented “Living Side by Side with Difference,” in which she proposed allowing a diversity of views and following the Gamaliel principal from Acts 5, "If it is of human origin it will fail, but if it is of God …"

Each of the papers and the conference’s policy on variance are available at www.centralplainsmc.org.

"Too often when we talk about issues of faith and life, participants begin by speaking to the issue primarily from their own experience," says Boshart. "That's a conversation, but it isn’t hermeneutical discernment. This meeting began with the establishment of a common foundation from which our experience could be tested and corrected through the lens of scriptural interpretation."

Participants spent the last session in table groups of about eight people responding to these questions: What have you heard that represents the best of who we are as a faith community? What have you heard that raises concerns/fears for the future of our common life as a conference? What have you heard that will move us toward our highest hopes as God’s kingdom people? 

In their written reports, many tables expressed appreciation for the respectful tone of the gathering, noting especially the humility of all three presenters. There was wide affirmation for starting with the Scriptures and "what unites us." Some expressed feeling more confident that the church can do the work of discernment. “This is the church doing its job,” one person commented.

Concerns expressed most often by the table groups had to do with fears of division and of losing our witness because we get bogged down in controversies. 

"I was impressed with the level of discourse," says Lapp. "It was evident that we all take the Bible seriously and we all love the church. I was grateful to be part of a conversation where we actually agreed and disagreed in love."

'I confess I entered this weekend with a bit of fear and trembling and lots of prayer," says Detweiler. "But I left praising God for the way in which I saw God's Spirit bring us together."

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