Report on Charlotte 2005, Part 2
by Tim Rice
In part 1 of my report on Charlotte 2005, I highlighted most of the resolutions
approved by Mennonite Church USA delegate sessions. But just as important
were the presentation and discussion times in which we just shared ideas
over various issues. Among these presentation and discussion times were
the topics of anti-racism, speaking to government, and a joint youth and
adult delegate dialogue on what kind of church we want to be. Unfortunately
due to schedule conflicts, I missed the anti-racism presentation and discussion.
However, in the presentation it was highlighted that the church needs
to take two steps to fight racism – (1) recognize the reality of white
privilege in our society and our church and (2) to work as individuals
and a church together to insure equal access to resources and positions.
I also heard a comment that most of us have learned the language of anti-racism
but that our heart is not always in it.
Regarding speaking to government both as individuals and as a church,
the discussion began after brief presentations by Daryl Byler, director
of MCC Washington Office, and John Roth, professor of history at Goshen
College. Daryl Byler noted four reasons to be actively involved in speaking
to government. (1) It's Biblical as reflected by the Hebrew midwifes
in Egypt, Moses, Daniel, Esther, and Peter. (2) It's part of our
Anabaptist practice and theology with Menno Simons as an example who
supported policing but without bloodshed. (3) Our brothers and sisters
around the world are asking us to speak up with the church in Colombia
being one example. (4) And people of faith need to speak up so that
their prophetic imagination and vision (seeing possibilities outside
the box) are heard.
John Roth however advocated that the church needs a five year sabbatical
from politics noting how that politics is dividing the Mennonite Church.
We in the church are becoming more of a larger cultural movement than
being people moving forward as the representatives of Christ. Activists
within the body of Christ both from the left and the right are expecting
from the government what in reality should come from the church. We
need this five year sabbatical from politics to help us re-discover
our church's focal point - what and who we are all about. This will
give of the basis to work as one body of Christ reflecting His mission
rather than being caught up in our culture's divisive political philosophy.
This sabbatical is not to be a retreat from ministering to those who
are suffering. Instead, it is to be a time of grass roots work ministering
directly to those in need rather than being advocates for political
change to cure the wrongs.
In this discussion, it was noted that both Daryl Byler and John Roth
were working at the question of how to speak to government given the
diversity of views and political divisiveness that exists in our churches
today. Some of the comments from the delegates included the following:
Involvement in partisan politics has a tendency to spill into divisions
within the church. We won't solve this issue until we agree on how to
understand and apply Scripture to our lives today. We are called to
be the kingdom of God without being Republicans or Democrats. We need
to apply the "Agreeing and Disagreeing in Love" churchwide statement
as we work at ways to speak to government. Speaking to social justice
requires us to be involved in politics. We should encourage people to
use our "Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective" as a basis
to speaking to government and being involved in politics. Partisan politics
tries to polarize while Christ calls us to pull together.
In the youth and adult delegate discussion time, about a hundred youth
(who during the week had simulated the adult delegate discernment and
discussion times) sat with the adult delegate body. During that time
we worked in table groups to share a variety of ideas as to what kind
of church we want to be. Among the ideas expressed was that we need
to be a Christ-centered church living out the Sermon on the Mount. We
need to be more accepting of differences and be more inclusive. We should
be a praying and a noisy church. We need to work at being multi-cultural.
We need to bring both youth and adults together more in making decisions
and carrying out the work of the church. We dream of a church that might
actually get us in trouble as in the book of Acts and other parts of
the world. We need to be faithful to God, courageous, and have Christ
set our agenda rather than society.
Among the seminars, I attended were "Healthy Ministry Teams" by Linford
and Mary Etta King, "Patterns in Nature as a Design for Leadership"
by Luke Gascho, "The Person of Jesus: An Interactive Bible Study for
Postmoderns" by Paul Miller, "Connecting Across Traditions: Mennonite-Catholic
Bridgefolk" by Weldon Nisley and Marlene Kropf, and a seminar on the
reconciliation process between many European Swiss Reformed Churches
and North American Amish and Mennonites by Charles Ness. I also attended
a concert by piano player, singer, and composer Ken Medema and a program
put on by the Canadian group House of Doc. I recommend both if you have
a chance to hear them. And if you have a chance to see the movie "Pearl
Diver" written and directed by a Goshen College graduate Sidney King,
don't miss that either. It powerfully presents the conflict between
traditional Mennonite values and the influences of modern day culture
in a story that brought multiple emotions to the surface within me. |
