God welcomes all, strangers and friends. God’s love is strong, and it never ends.
With that song and a prayer that this “open space” be a place of welcome for all, the Open Space gathering about LGBTQ+ welcome and inclusion in the Canadian Mennonite Brethren church got underway on January 9 at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.
“This is a place where no voice is exiled,” said a worship leader. “We close the door of othering, even if it is an unsettling space.”
(Out of respect for the saftety of participants, all comments are anonymous unless otherwise indicated.)
In his opening remarks, David Wiebe, one of the four organizers of the event, asked why the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (CCMBC) is “not tackling the increased presence of Queer people in the church and the world.”
He also wondered why the traditional view marriage gets “so much airtime” in the conference, but not differing views of marriage.
And why, he asked, did the conference “not respond to a petition from 550 people for a conversation” on this topic?
In the past, the Conference has always gathered together to talk about difficult subjects, he noted. “Why not this time?” he asked.
Open Space, he said, has been created as place to have that dicussion and, like a “rock dropped in a pond,” it is hoped the ripples go out in all directions.
“This event is a start,” he said. Maybe it can lead to more conversations that “leaders can also engage in.”
After opening remarks, participants were invited to suggest topics that will be discussed over the next several days. They include:
- What are we afraid of when we talk about LGBTQ+?
- Are apologies to LGBTQ+ people and their friends and advocates needed?
- Does the Confession of Faith help or hinder this conversation?
- How do we help those who have been traumatized by the church over this topic?
- What are the gifts LGBTQ+ people bring to the church?
- How do we ensure the voices of LGBTQ+ people are included in this conversation?
- What is the role of parents and grandparents of LGBTQ+ people?
- How do we communicate about this topic to people in the pews?
- Who gets to decide who is Mennonite Brethren or not?
- Is it time to create a network of inclusive Mennonite Brethren churches?
- Who has the power and who makes the decisions about LGBTQ+?
- How can we have humble and gentle discussions about biblical interpretation?
- How do we define progress on this topic?
- How can we equip Mennonite Brethren parents to have healthy conversations about this topic?
- How can we support parents of children who come out?
- What is the good news of the Gospel for LGBTQ+ people?
- Is it time for a moratorium on suspending churches that decide to explore this topic?
When the event is over, organizers intend to pass the results of these various conversations on to conference leaders and report about them in other ways.
January 9, 2022
Click here to read the first in this series on Open Space.
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