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2011-07-01 issue:

Pittsburgh 2011 delegates decide to experiment

by Everett J. Thomas and Matthew Amstutz

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After two open-mic periods where table representatives offered both objections and affirmations, the 2011 Delegate Assembly overwhelmingly supported the “Pittsburgh Experiment” on July 6. This means that few, if any, resolutions will be placed before Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) delegates this week.



Mennonite Church USA moderator Ed Diller (right) congratulates Mennonite Publishing Network leaders Phil Bontrager (center) and Ron Rempel during the July 6 session of the Delegate Assembly. Bontrager, outgoing MPN board chair, and Rempel, retiring as MPN director, were honored for their years of service with MPN. Photo by Everett J. Thomas.

In introducing the document, MC USA moderator Ed Diller explained that the Executive Board “thought [the Pittsburgh Experiment] gives more authority to the Delegate Assembly rather than less.”

Diller also said discernment, in the fashion prescribed by the proposal, would be counter-cultural. “Our meetings on the work of the church should look less like the world around us.”

But some delegates were not happy about a change that would disallow resolutions.

“If I can’t bring a resolution, I can’t express what my folks, my peeps, are thinking about,” said Audrey Roth Kraybill, from Lancaster, Pa. “I will express things in my (table) group. But I’m restless about it. I’m just not getting it.”

In a later open-mic session, others expressed support for the proposal.

“Resolutions tend to cut off discernment,” said Matt Weaver, from Millersburg, Ohio. Terry Deiner, from Goshen, Ind., agreed and said, “I had a sense of relief when I read about [the proposal], because statements cause polarization.”

Several delegates, however, suggested the new protocol may be a form of denial. Without resolutions, there would “not be a way for the prophetic voice to be heard,” said Stan Harder, from Omaha, Neb. “Second, it may delay discussion of homosexuality.”

Ron Copeland, from Harrisonburg, Va., thought resolutions “might capsize the agenda, but the language seemed Orwellian” and the Executive Board was saying, “By not allowing you to have a voice, we are giving you more voice.”

Although the Delegate Assembly was determined to hear as many voices as possible—it voted down an early motion to cease debate—770 of some 800 delegates voted for the Pittsburgh Experiment, a 96 percent plurality.

The July 6 delegate session also kicked off “We Are the Church Day.” Delegates spent the most time in their second session focusing on the work of the Racial Healing Task Group, an all-white group of leaders.

“All are Anglos,” said MC USA Executive Board member Charlotte Hardt, “at the request of our racial/ethnic brothers and sisters.”

“Our ultimate goal,” said task group member Ruth Yoder Wenger, of New York City, “is to help Mennonite Church USA view our [racial/ethnic diversity] as assets.”

Although the task group’s proposals retained the language of anti-racism, it also introduced a new primary term: multicultural transformation.

“We find the language more Biblical,” said Todd Jones of Freeman, S.D.

But Leslie Francisco III, of Hampton, Va., representing his table group, protested the change. “We think anti-racism should be the priority. Anti-racism is the diagnosis; multicultural transformation is the treatment.”

Others had other reasons to dislike the new language: “‘Multicultural’ does not reflect issues of power, and ‘anti-racism’ does,” said Nina Lanctot, of Bristol, Ind.

The delegates took no action on the priorities established by the Racial Healing Task Group.

In other business, delegates said farewell to two Mennonite Publishing Network leaders who are retiring: board president Phil Bontrager and executive director Ron Rempel (see photo).

* Matthew Amstutz is a Goshen (Ind.) College student helping with mPress reporting duties at the Pittsburgh 2011 convention. Amstutz contributed to this report.

Reader Comments

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  • Posted by mcastillo at Saturday, July 09, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    The new language was "intercultural" transformation, not "multicultural".

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