I recently helped write a letter to leaders of my denomination, Mennonite Church USA. This letter asks that the denomination make space for congregations and pastors who welcome and bless LGBTQ people. Over 150 credentialed (and formerly credentialed) Mennonite pastors have signed it. I shouldn’t be surprised that there have been letters in response to…
In one of my Mennonite Facebook groups the other day, someone asked who would be the first to blog about the “elephant in the room.” That elephant would be the recent licensing toward ordination of my friend and colleague Theda Good. Theda is called by God and gifted by the Spirit to serve a church…
If you are of a certain age, you might remember “Church Chat” on Saturday Night Live. Dana Carvey’s character, the Church Lady, manifested all of the stereotypes of old, religious women. She thought very highly of herself and quite poorly of everyone else. I can imagine being interviewed by the Church Lady: “So, you married…
Here is the second post in my “Ask the Pastor” series. As a pastor of a congregation that has a public statement of full inclusion for gays and lesbians, and as a pastor who has officiated at a same-sex wedding, I have been asked (more than once) how I reconcile my views on homosexuality with…
Spacious Faith 