After votes to remove Jubilee, Southridge and FreeChurch from membership, where do Open Space organizers think things should go from here?

Now that Southridge, FreeChurch and Jubilee have been voted out of the Ontario and Manitoba Mennonite Brethren conferences, what’s next for those who want to keep the conversation going about LGBTQ+ welcome, inclusion and affirmation? I posed that question to the four people who organized the Open Space event in Winnipeg in January. Here’s what they said.

For David Wiebe, a new goal is to convince Mennonite Brethren pastors and leaders to read materials produced by marginalized people so they understand how they think and how they are impacted by decisions made about them. 

Another is for them to understand the changing nature of theological revelation. 

In so doing, Wiebe referenced Randy Woodley's book titled Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview where he quotes John Underhill, a seventeenth century colonist in America who slaughtered as many as 1,500 Indigenous people in raids. 

Underhill justified that killing by referring to wars in the Old Testament, saying “We had sufficient light from the scriptures." 

That phrase, said, Wiebe, has been used by some who oppose welcome and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people—that the Bible provides sufficient light on the matter. 

But just as people in the past claimed they had sufficient light on things like slavery, denying women the opportunity to be clergy or excommunicating divorced people who remarried, the light they see about LGBTQ+ welcome and inclusion may not be as sufficient today as they think, he suggested.   

“Saying there is no new light is a mistake of the highest order,” Wiebe said. 

Wiebe also thinks it’s time to address the Confession of Faith and argue “it is not equal to the Bible. So many people seem to conflate the two. This has to be addressed.” 

He also thinks it is time for pro-inclusion and affirmation individuals and churches to create a network of some kind. 

“It’s too soon to say what that will be, but several of us are connecting about steps going forward,” he said. 

Wiebe also sees signs of hope as more churches explore the topic of LGBTQ+ inclusion and affirmation. This includes a church he knows about where young and young adults in that church see LGBTQ+ welcome and inclusion as not a big deal. 

“Those young adults are leading the way with clarity,” Wiebe said, adding that church is planning some listening sessions this year. 

Finally, he said, it’s time to hear more from Queer people themselves—not just talk about them. 

“It’s time to listen to them, not just talk about the Confession, the Bible, and our politics,” he said.  

For John Unger, the immediate goal is to support churches that have been removed so they know they aren’t alone. 

He also wants to look for positives, wherever he can find them. This includes being assured by CCMBC leadership that no Mennonite Brethren pastor will be de-credentialed and no church have its membership revoked by simply asking questions about the topic. 

“It's only at the point where individuals or congregations make public statements contrary to the Confession that the processes toward exclusion begin,” he said they told him. 

For Unger, “this gives us room to work by connecting individuals, and perhaps congregations, that are looking for more conversation.” 

For James Toews, an urgent need is “to stop the bleeding. Emergency room action is needed before the much needed, longer-term solutions can be undertaken. There are wounded people lying beside the road, apparently unattended. What a travesty!” 

As for a future network, “I hope something mobilizes, and suspect it will,” he said. 

Finally, Dan Unruh had this to say. 

“I read in the Lenten offerings provided by our Mennonite Brethren seminary that ‘Jesus . . . is perfectly righteous and perfectly loving at the same time, not leaning one way or the other as we so often do.’”   

For Unruh, “this necessary juxtaposition of Jesus'  seemingly contradictory leanings are what I have so deeply missed in our Mennonite Brethren journey these past few years vis-a-vis LGBTQ+ and the Mennonite Brethren Conference. 

“I felt that Winnipeg Open Space event was the beginning of the possibility of bringing these two central characteristics of Jesus-following back together at every level in our Mennonite Brethren community. 

“To not do so will be damaging to our faith, our witness, and our mission; to do so would find us walking faithfully in the reality and the mystery of the Jesus way.” 

So, what do you think? Leave a comment with your ideas.