Questions for the Director of the National Faith and Life Team about LGBTQ+

Last month, I posed two questions to Ken Esau, Director of the National Faith and Life Team, asking for a response for this blog.

Ken—who has always been open and responsive to questions from me on the subject of LGBTQ+ welcome and affirmation—asked if he could reply in the MB Herald Digest.

I said yes; you can find his answers in the most recent issue.

Here are the two questions I asked him.

Question #1: I am aware of a family with a trans child who has been in an MB church for a very long time but were struggling with whether they should stay in that church. The last straw for them was Iain Provan being invited to speak at Equip. How do you feel knowing this family has now left the MB conference because of how Provan considers them to be dangerous to the church? (Read about that family here.)

Question #2: Someone asked me a question the other day: Do those who want certain MB churches out of the Conference consider them to be Christians? That is, do they think people in these churches will be in heaven when we all get there? And if we can eat together at the great supper of the Lamb in heaven, why can't we eat together here in on earth as members of the same denomination?

You can find Ken’s answers here. (Starting on page 12.)

Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches planning a resource on gender identity

The National Faith and Life Team (NFLT) of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (CCMBC) is planning to develop a position and resource on gender identity.

That’s the word from Ken Esau, who directs the NFLT.

“Since its approval of the ‘Loving Well Our LGBTQ+ Family, Friends, and Neighbours’ document, the NFLT has planned to produce a resource on the important questions of sexual identity and gender identity,” he said. 

“Unfortunately, this resource is not even in draft stage yet, but is near the top of our ‘to do’ list with a hopeful completion date in the next 12-18 months.”