Elfrieda and Hardy Schroeder are members of Jubilee Mennonite
Church. They came to the dual-conference congregation (both Mennonite Brethren
and Mennonite Church Canada) from the Mennonite Brethren side of things.
For them, the ability to live together with differences is a
hallmark of healthy Christian life. Now they lament being removed from the
Mennonite Brethren conference over Jubilee’s decision to welcome and include LGBTQ+
people and affirm same-sex marriage.
Elfrieda provided a few thoughts for delegates to the March 3-4 assembly
where they
will vote on a resolution to remove Jubilee from membership.
Both my husband Hardy’s and my family were refugees after WWII.
We both experienced homelessness and trauma at an early age. As children, we
knew what it is like to be different and we haven’t forgotten.
In 1947, my family ended up in Paraguay where my father helped
build the village of Einlage and became a pastor there. The school in the
middle of the village turned into a house of worship on Sundays. Our village
was made up of both Mennonite Brethren and General Conference Mennonites. They
worshiped together. It was more important to talk about the things that united
us than what separated us
When I was nine years old, we emigrated to Canada. The small
Albertan town in which we settled did not have a Mennonite church. We attended
an Evangelical United Brethren church, founded originally by Pennsylvania Dutch
Mennonites.
Our family was treated with love, kindness and respect. We did
not have to change to belong there. Everyone was welcome!
My family eventually moved again and I was baptized at
Springfield Heights Mennonite church by sprinkling. When I met Hardy, who was
preparing to go to Congo with Mennonite Brethren Missions, Pastor Quiring of
Brooklands Mennonite Brethren church, where Hardy was a founding member, asked
if I would consider being rebaptized by immersion.
I declined, and the church voted to accept me. The mode of
baptism had been an ongoing debate for at least 20 years in the Mennonite
Brethren conference.)
When we returned from Congo, the debate among Mennonite Brethren
was about women in ministry.
To those of us who worked long and hard with this issue, it was
disappointing to have it defeated in the early 1990s. After 20 years, there is
now no problem; it is left up to individual churches to decide.
In 2023, we at Jubilee Mennonite church are being denied
membership in the Mennonite Brethren Conference because of our decision to
fully accept LGBTQ+ in a committed relationship.
Hardy and I were so happy when we moved to Winnipeg to discover
a church that had membership in both conferences. Now this will be taken from
us.
The Confession of Faith is not written in stone. It will have
changed twenty years from now. That will be too late for us.
Is there a pattern here? Please think about the significance of
your decision!
Read
an interview with Elfrieda and Hardy titled “I hope the MB conference would
give us their blessing” from 2022.
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