Sandy and I have been church conference junkies since the first one we went to in South Dakota as junior highers (if I remember correctly). We have gone as youth, as general adults, as young adults, as delegates, and (me) as a youth sponsor. We have been to Philadelphia, Wichita, Phoenix, San Jose, St. Louis, Orlando, Columbus, and more. Usually conference has things like adult worship and youth worship with fun bands, skits, and stuff. It has learning sessions to go to with a variety of topics. There are booths and “shops” set up with information about Mennonite organizations. It is just plain fun.
This time it was different. This time there were no learning sessions. There were no fun little booths. There were no energetic worship bands.
There was a business session where we sat in table groups to discuss four resolutions. There was a woman, who was sometimes joined by a man, leading music. There was an excellent speaker, Samuel Sarpiya, who shared the message on Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Here is a website about Samuel.) There was a delicious buffet for lunch. There was a meeting of many Mennonites (over 500) from across the states.
There was also tension, dread, excitement, outrage, sadness, willingness to try, stubbornness to listen, tears, rejoicing, and more. There were a wide spectrum of viewpoints, theology, agendas, and thoughts. With all of that, I think we did a pretty good job of being in the same room, staying respectful, and speaking our thoughts to both table groups and the body as a whole.
So, what was all the fuss about? The LGBATIA community and the church. It is an issue that is not unfamiliar to the Mennonite church, or other churches. But, man, it is so hard. So hard to balance showing love and compassion and understanding with Biblical interpretation mixed with cultural relevance. For some, it is seems crystal clear – black and white. For others, the lines are blurred. And my heart aches.
The first thing that passed by a clear majority (82%) was to retire the membership guidelines that the Mennonite church adopted in 2001 when there was a merger between the Mennonite Conference and General Conference churches to form MC USA, a separate entity from MC Canada.
The second thing that passed not by a clear majority (55%) was to accept the Resolution for Repentance and Transformation. This document, in my opinion, had way too much in it. It asked the church to repent of the harm they have caused the LBGTQIA community but also is asks the church to “Embody a theology that honors LGBTQIA people and relationships with all future MC USA theological statements…” It is too much, but it passed by a simple majority.
The third discussion was about a study resolution about justice. This asked the church to “commit to confronting the injustice within the current U.S. criminal legal system” in one or more of the ways outlined in the resolution. We will see how Salem looks to study justice more intentionally.
The final vote was a Resolution for Accessibility for those with disabilities. This resolution asked churches to “seek to remove the barriers to belonging in architecture, communications and attitudes that prevent individuals with disabilities from participating in church life; and to bring wholeness to the Body of Christ as those barriers are removed, and all people are fully integrated into the community of faith.” It will be good for us to look at accessibility within our church. We have ramps and elevators and now a automated door. But there are other things we can and should consider at Salem.
---Deep breath.---
Here we are leaving on the plane – on the only flight of four that we sat next to each other.
This is our very nice hotel room, workout facility, and swimming pool.
One night we came back to a symphony playing across the street, live cannon fire, and fireworks.
And our selfies – twinning (I look a little rough in this one… don’t judge), eating Indian food, and random.
The fun that we included in this trip were my cousins – Kristin and Matthew. They picked us up at the airport, ate lunch with us, dropped us off at the hotel, picked us up on Sunday for dinner out, and then picked us up on Monday at the end of the conference to stay with them until Wednesday before flying home.
It was so good.
We spent time processing with them what happened at conference. It was helpful.
We spent much time eating, talking, and sitting on the screened-in porch.
We (I) spent some time petrified of their hissing cat, Lola. Seriously, I have never in my life been scared of cats, but I have a healthy respect for the hiss. Lola never did anything but hiss; I was just a big baby.
That’s the end.
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