Nearly
75 per cent of delegates at the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba annual
meeting held in Winkler on March 4 voted to revoke Jubilee Mennonite Church’s
membership in the denomination by July 1, 2023, unless it returns to “an active
embrace of MBCM member church expectations by June 30.”
But Jubilee Mennonite Church stands by its policy to welcome people regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, ability or economic status, said moderator Chris Friesen.
“We have no intention of altering our statement of inclusion that we prepared,” he said.
Read
the full article about Jubilee’s removal from membership in MBCM in the Winnipeg
Free Press.
Who is following who? It has been argued that churches who become inclusive and affirming of persons who identify as LGBTQ2S+ are just going along with society and current culture. The recent vote and subsequent expulsion of two black politicians in Tennessee for protesting against the most liberal gun laws in the USA begs the question of who is really following the lead of secular society? The recent recommendation and vote to expel Jubilee Mennonite Church from the Mennonite Brethren Church bears chilling resemblance to the vote in Tennessee where the majority can silence the voices of those who raise questions about injustice. Yes, LGBTQ2S+ advocates have been somewhat successful in gaining certain rights in Canada and the US and in raising awareness of the challenges sexual minorities face. They have raised their voices against discrimination and harassment. They are still excluded, bullied and harassed. Suicide rates among persons who identify as LGBTQ2S+ are still much higher than average, especially when raised in Christian homes. This seems to indicate that the church is right on cue with secular society. Expelling, banning, releasing, excommunicating, are all similar terms to describe the refusal to do the hard work of listening to each other, of finding common ground and of having difficult conversations about controversial topics. Who is following the lead of Jesus Christ, who lived, died and rose so that ALL persons would be welcomed, included and affirmed as God's children?
ReplyDeleteOn Easter Sunday, I think of a church service I recently attended in downtown Winnipeg, EvenSong, at Trinity Anglican Church. It was the first Queer EvenSong service where we celebrated the Christ who identifies with Queer folk. We heard words like "diversity is divine" and "queer is sacred" because everyone is created and equally beloved by Creator God. This service, though sparsely attended, gives me resurrection hope for a different way of doing church, of blessing church leaders to pursue their Christ honouring ways of welcoming, including and affirming all persons equally just as Christ does! There is hope for all who have been excluded from church blessing! The resurrected Christ accepts and receives you with open arms and a knowing smile - for Christ too was bullied, harassed, rejected as 'queer' by the religious people of his day.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I walked with a church member who had a gay son. On the advice of a church elder they decided to have nothing to do with him any more. Every Christmas, Easter, birthday, was an agony. Their hearts were broken. I advised her to get in touch with her son, to love him, to relate to him. They could disagree lovingly and still remain a family. Shortly before she passed away she told me that she had reconciled with him. We do not have to reject those with whom we disagree theologically. We can learn to walk together in love. I believe that is the Jesus way.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of River East Church about to be expelled from the Mennonite Brethren Church for the same reason that Jubilee Mennonite Church was, I feel the sting of being expelled en masse, anonymously, impersonally without any personal contact with those who are doing the expelling. The Mennonite Brethren Church was the theological womb that nurtured me, protected me and challenged me to grow in following Christ. And now the Mennonite Brethren Church is pushing us out of the nest. It occurred to me that there comes a time when being pushed out of the nest is a good thing! After all, every growing bird needs to learn how to fly on their own two wings! For the sake of obeying Jesus' call to "follow me" being kicked out of the nest can prompt us to use our wings to discover new, more nourishing spiritual pastures. Those wings can allow us to join "birds of a feather" and flourish through the encouragement of a more sympathetic flock. We can use our wings and new freedom to accompany and welcome birds of all colours, publicly, without fear of reprisal and censure. After all, our Anabaptist spiritual ancestors were also expelled from their "spiritual nest" as they chose to follow Jesus in a new way! In spite of (some historians would say 'because of') being beaten, drowned, killed and burned at the stake, the Anabaptist flock flourished and changed the course of history. And so I take heart when I look at all the spiritual heroes - odd birds - who learned to fly a new way, in new flight patterns that are just, compassionate, and redemptive. Thank you members of Jubilee Mennonite Church! You are showing us how to fly!
ReplyDeleteOn the day of exclusion
ReplyDeleteOne of the most significant books in my spiritual journey is Miroslav Volf’s “Exclusion and Embrace”. Winner of evangelical Christian book awards his book poses the important question of why we exclude the other.
“Why do we hate others or turn our eyes from them? Why do we assault them with the rhetoric of inhumanity? Why do we seek to eliminate, dominate, or simply abandon them to their own fate?”
Among Volf’s many answers to his important question is one that seems especially pertinent as yet another MB Church faces exclusion by its own denomination:
“We exclude also because we are uncomfortable with anything that blurs accepted boundaries, disturbs our identities, and disarranges our symbolic cultural maps (Douglas 1966). Others strike us like objects that are “out of place,” like “dirt” that needs to be removed in order to restore the sense of propriety to our world…. We assimilate or eject strangers in order to ward off the perceived threat of chaotic waters rushing in.”
Miroslav Volf concludes that in the end there is no logical reason for exclusion.
“The need to control and the discomfort with internal and external “dirt” go a long way in explaining the practice of exclusion. Yet even after the explanations are given, the “why” question keeps stubbornly resurfacing. Why do we want to control everything alone instead of sharing our possessions and power, and making space for others in a common household? Why do others strike us as “dirt” rather than “ornament”? Why cannot we accept our shadows so as to be able to embrace others instead of projecting our own unwanted evil onto them? Ultimately, no answer to these questions is available, just as no answer is available to the question about the origin of evil.”
I do not believe that the practice of exclusion will help to build the church of Jesus Christ. Whether it is a matter of divergent views of LGBTQ2S++ inclusion, or current issues like universal salvation, M.A.I.D., patriarchy, colonialism, AI, reconciliation with our Indigenous sisters and brothers, earth care, etc…the solution is not exclusion! The more people we exclude the more impoverished we become in our ability to love our neighbour. If we look at Jesus’ solution it was the opposite of exclusion. Jesus embraced us in all our diversity and decided to become one of us, refusing to exclude anyone. Instead Jesus welcomed and accepted and included everyone who approached him. Let’s not become like the religious leaders who opposed him, becoming more and more exclusive until we are left with no one but ourselves.
Keith Poysti