People respond to missing pages in On Holy Ground

After posting the story about the missing pages in On Holy Ground, along with the missing pages themselves, a number of people from across Canada and the U.S. left comments on Facebook. Find them below. 

Also, don't forget to buy the book! It's a good way to show your support women in the Mennonite Brethren denomination. If you want, you can copy the missing pages and put them in your copy of the book.

“Thanks for writing this important story. So ironic that without the book thousands will now read the three pages.”

“Ugh.”

“I hear your Ugh and add my Aaaaaahhhhh!”

“Me, too. Ugh, ugh, ugh. So glad I left the MB conference many years ago; so sorry so many good women are struggling with this.”

“So a woman’s voice was silenced in a book commissioned to feature women’s voices, and the CCMBC destroyed books in their office. May I suggest that MB leaders learn from a Mennonite Church USA resource: MC USA Women in Leadership introduces dismantlingpatriarchy curriculum.

“I extend my heart to you and to all who continue to suffer Mennonite patriarchy grounded in 17th century values.”

“I wish I could be surprised by this. She is not the only voice to be shut down.”

“So women can speak as long as they say what someone wants them to say? So often in history women were on the forefront of prophetic word and leadership . . . but sure, lets keep ignoring them and censoring their thoughts. This sucks.”

“Shame on the conference.”

“Very sad. Thanks for the story and for the 3 pages.”

“The missing pages were a crucial element of contributor Mary Anne Isaak's story.”

“How disheartening and disappointing—and maddening! When will the blinders be removed?”

“Thanks for writing about this John, and for sharing the missing pages.”

“After reading the article, pondering the missing pages, and thinking about the theologies and anxieties that animate a decision like this, my mind goes to Brueggemann's work in The Prophetic Imagination. On the prophetic work of articulating the pathos of God and grief of creation: ‘Both prophets and now Jesus after them bring to expression and embodiment all the hurt, human pain, and grief that the dominant royal culture has tried so hard to suppress, deny, and cover over.’ On the necessity of the royal consciousness to eternalize the current status quo, ‘The great dilemma is that religious functionaries are expected to use . . . ‘forever,’ to attach it to things and make it sound theologically legitimated. But ‘forever’ is always the word of the Pharoah, and as such it is the very word against which Yahweh and Moses did their liberating thing.’ God is on the side of the oppressed. Those who resist are kicking against the goads and thwarting the flourishing of all.”

“Isn’t that the great irony. Much of what the evangelical/fundamental community describes as ‘eternal’ is pretty modern—19th and 20th century.”

“Deep sigh.”

“This is such a terrible episode in the MB conference engagement with women in leadership. I have a desire to purchase a box of the books, attach the censored pages and make a dissenting version available for sale. Specifically at this time in general feminist history, the term ‘righteous indignation’ seems to be descriptive of my mood.”

“Thanks for sharing, John. Critical insights from Mary Anne. Such an unfortunately sad choice by the broader church.”

“Mary Anne’s gracious and generous spirit is profound.”

“Thank you for sharing your story, Mary Anne. Your vulnerability in sharing your journey (and graciousness here) are inspiring.

“If you’ll print many hundreds of copies of those pages, I’ll personally glue them all back into all of the new published copies that don’t contain them. It will be my pleasure.” 

“Sad, angry and disheartened. “When will they ever learn?"

“I consider myself blessed to attend REC with Mary Anne as our pastor and spiritual leader. Her compassion, intelligence and courage are and will continue to be a inspiration to me. This treatment from MB Church leadership is beyond any reasonable response and borders on discrimination. For the voice of Women leaders to be silenced is just another example of abusive behaviour.”

“Wow. Still judgement on rightness and wrongness.”

“Speaks volumes to the whole world about the MB conference, doesn't it!”

"I am grateful this is being shared, and will look forward to reading the entire book!”

“Thanks tons for sharing words that need to be spoken. Removing sections regarding crucial issues is not healthy in a church community.”

“Destroying books is what fascists do.”

“Thank you for sharing this!”

“God's family includes all. How BADLY the church understands this.”

“And they'll know we are Christians by our patriarchy? It doesn't fit well into the rhythm of the song”

“A powerful story that needs to be more broadly shared.”

“It's a discouraging turn of events in what is a beautiful, timely, and obviously still painfully relevant work. Who's allowed to speak and about what? Who decides who and what is an MB perspective and who/what is not?”

“I'm hoping readers of this blog post will turn discouragement into action of solidarity by purchasing a copy of the book. It is important reading.”

“How brave to try and tell her truth. How afraid they must be to try and destroy it. I’m glad you shared this. The experience of truth telling is a sacred and I appreciate the bravery to share the truth here.”

“I am glad this is being shared after reading the article about its removal and wondering why. What a thoughtful journey this describes. As one who has many friends and family of a a variety of persuasions, I wish we could just drop the labels and see each other as Imago Dei.”

“So the way to ‘hear’ this important female leader’s perspective is to silence it by censorship?”

“Wow.”

“I have been mulling over what they took out, and I think it is significant that it was not just the LGBTQ references they took out but also Mary Anne talking about her body as a ministering woman. Why can't women talk about our bodies? Did God not create our bodies? I have heard MB male conference leaders talking about their wive's bodies from the conference stage, "my smokin' hot wife.’ Women's bodies can be spoken of, but only if men define the terms apparently.”

“I agree. That part struck me as well as the comparison between women having to make ourselves smaller in many ways and LGBTQ inclusion; it is all connected. All patriarchy and misogyny is still alive and well in these (and many other) spaces.” 

“Thank you, Mary Anne, for sharing these ‘missing pages’ with us and for your courage to be faithful to the Spirit's leading as you follow your understanding of Scripture.”

“Thank you! It is good that this is shared.”

“Well said.” 

"Classic evangelical power move: give the illusion of support, only to squash the voice of those you pretend to support. US and CDN Mennonite Brethren leadership fund a book that attempts to give voice to women in the Mennonite Brethren context--a context that has and continues to be quite patriarchal and hostile to women exercising leadership. Progress, right? Until said leaders discover after the book has been published, that one of the contributors to the volume drew a parallel between patriarchal suppression of women and denominational suppression of LGBTQ+ people in Mennonite Brethren congregations. The result? The funders mandated that 270/300 copies of the initial print run were required to be destroyed. (30/300 were already distributed and escaped denominational control.)"

"MBism is, to me, yet another lifeless, joyless 'ism' that I don't need. The freedom from chains of fear and conformity let so much more air and light in. Ahh . . . refreshing!"