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| Fresno, California |
Picnic protests were held in Winnipeg, Man, Fresno, Calif., and Waterloo, Ont. July 13 so people could show their disappointment over the removal of three pages from On Holy Ground, the new book about women in ministry in the Mennonite Brethren conference.
About 70 people attended the picnic outside the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches office in Winnipeg; 30 people gathered outside the Pacific District Conference office of the U.S. Mennonite Brethren Conference in Fresno; and ten people picnicked at the Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church in Ontario.
After learning about the original Winnipeg event, Christa Wiens of Fresno organized a similar picnic protest in that city.
For the mother of four, the decision to remove the three pages prompted feelings of “hurt, disappointment and frustration,” the recurrence of an “old pattern of attempting to silence women,” she said.
“But not only women, it goes beyond that to the LGBTQ+ community,” she added.
The message she wanted to see communicated was “this is hurtful, you asked to listen and then you didn’t listen,” she said.
In Waterloo, people gathered to give the protest a “cross-continental” flavour, said organizer Isaiah Ritzmann. “We just thought it would be good to join in.”
At the events in Winnipeg and Fresno people made signs and signed thank-you cards to the book’s authors.
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| Winnipeg organizer Karissa Durant |
A request was made for comment from Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches Executive Director Elton DaSilva; this reporter was told he was not available to comment on the protest.
In Fresno, Pacific District Conference District Minister Jordan Ringhofer mingled with the picnic protestors, buying them coffee and listening to their concerns.
Below find comments from a few Winnipeg participants.
“How can you censor a book where women talk about how their leadership evolved in a book about women talking about leadership? It doesn’t make sense. Don’t ask for their opinion if you don’t want to hear them.” Anonymous
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| Jade Nayler, Winnipeg |
“I felt sick when I heard those pages were taken out
of the book, that it was censored.” Susan
Schmidt
“I was disappointed. It was life writing. Mary Anne
wrote about her life, but some of it was taken away. It felt wrong to me, especially
not to have any conversation with her about it.” Sandy Loewen
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| Waterloo, Ont. participants |
“I have a daughter who is almost two years old. I want her voice to be heard when she grows up.” Anonymous
“I’m here to support Mary Anne. We shouldn’t be
shutting down voices like hers. We need to create space for talking about LGBTQ+
welcome and inclusion.” Trudy Reimer
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| Lori Bohn signs thank-you cards in Winnipeg |
“I’m here to celebrate the stories of women in the
book. I’m sad and angry about what happened to Mary Anne’s story.” Fred Pauls
“I believe we need to read the Bible from a more
current point of view. My faith compels me to accept all, especially those on
the margins, like LGBTQ+ people.” Margaret
Froese
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| Signs in Winnipeg |
"I’m the mother of daughters. This is a very important issue to me. I can’t keep silent. This conversation has to happen. We are all made in the image of God. Christ invites all to the table.” Jade Nayler
Read about the protests in Anabaptist World. Read an interview with Karissa Durant, who came up with the idea for the picnic protests. |
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| Karissa Durant being interviewed by local CBC TV news |
 Fresno |
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| Tim Cruikshank writes a message on the sidewalk in front of the CCMBC office in Winnipeg |
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