LANCASTER, PA. CONFERENCE LEAVES MENNONITE CHURCH USA OVER CONCERNS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY

 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

 LANCASTER, Pa. — The largest conference of Mennonite Church USA has parted 

ways with the denomination over concerns that include increasing acceptance of 

practicing homosexuals in leadership positions.

The Lancaster Mennonite Conference, which consists of over 170 congregations, officially left the Mennonite Church USA on Jan. 1
following a vote two years ago to no longer affiliate with the group.
“[D]ifferences over whether LMC can remain in this affiliation have
reached a breaking point,” Chairman Keith Weaver wrote to the
Constituency Leaders Council in 2014, according to the Mennonite World
Review.
He told that outlet that, at that time, the Conference Board of
Bishops wanted to reevaluate its relationship with the denomination in
light of concerning developments, such as the licensure of a lesbian
woman by the Mountain States Conference, and the decision by Eastern
Mennonite University to review—and ultimately change—its policy
prohibiting practicing homosexuals from working at the institution. Read
reports here and here.

150 Mennonite leaders had also signed a letter supporting the allowance of members to be in same-sex relationships.
Listening meetings were consequently held about the matter, and over
700 attendees submitted responses surrounding the question of whether or
not to end the affiliation. Church polity, vision and governance were
also stated reasons for the proposed departure.
In November 2015, it was announced that 82 percent of the leaders of the Conference had voted to leave Mennonite Church USA.

“[This] announcement will likely be received in very different ways
by leaders and congregations of Lancaster Mennonite Conference and
across the denomination. Leaders were encouraged to interact with others
in loving and respectful ways and to pray for the Lord’s leading in the
life of [the Lancaster Mennonite Conference] in the days ahead,”
Conference leadership said in a statement.
The separation did not take effect until Jan. 1, 2018.
“We are disappointed that Lancaster Mennonite Conference made the
decision to leave MC USA, because it is painful to separate from part of
our body in Christ. We will miss our mutual sharing of valuable gifts
and perspectives, and lament our diminished capacity for fellowship
across difference,” Ervin Stutzman, executive director of Mennonite
Church USA, said in a statement on Friday.
“The official separation does not mean that all of our relationships
with Lancaster Conference will end,” he added. “Members of the
conference will continue to participate in some MC USA program agencies
such as Everence and MHS Alliance. And there are many other ways that
members will cross paths in the coming years, particularly in
inter-Mennonite programs such as Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite
Disaster Service, and Mennonite Economic Development Associates.”
As previously reported,
in 2014, Hartville Mennonite Church in Lake, Ohio likewise decided to
leave Mennonite Church USA over concerns about homosexuality.
“We felt that Mennonite Church USA and [our church] were going in
different directions concerning scriptural authority and holiness,” Ross
Miller, pastor of the church, told Mennonite World Review.
According to the membership guidelines
of Mennonite Church USA, the denomination holds that homosexuality is a
sin and that marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman.
Pastors are also prohibited from officiating same-sex ceremonies.

“We hold the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995) to
be the teaching position of Mennonite Church USA. ‘We believe that God
intends marriage to be a covenant between one man and one woman
for life’ (Article 19),” the guidelines read. “We hold the Saskatoon
(1986) and Purdue (1987) statements describing homosexual,  extramarital
and premarital sexual activity as sin to be the teaching position of
Mennonite Church USA.”

 Citing the divide over same-sex
relationships, Stoltzfus said most people within MC USA still hold a
traditional view of marriage as between a man and a woman “but there’s
more room and space within MC USA in our polity for this diversity or
disagreement.”