I have been regularly blogging for about six weeks. I've thought about doing this for years, and for an even longer period of time i thought about writing a book. Two years ago, my wife Sheila and I received a Lily Sabbatical Grant and part of that sabbatical was six weeks of rest and study as a family in Costa Rica.  

We connected with two churches while we were there. The first was in neighboring Jacó, a town full of tourists and expats. This was a church led by missionaries from the United States, and services were bilingual. This was our Sunday morning place of worship since I was the only one in the family that spoke any Spanish.

On Tuesday evenings, Sheila and I went to Parrita, the farming village to our south. We worshiped with a local charismatic congregation at their weekly prayer meeting. In spite of the language challenges, we were blessed by their hospitality and love for the Lord. One evening the pastor invited us to come to the front for prayer. The entire congregation moved forward, and he began to lay hands on individuals and they would fall to the floor.

He came over to me.  At that time I had been struggling with a sense of call to do some writing in the last part of the sabbatical.  I even laid out a table of contents. As he came to me, he told me that God revealed to him that I was asking about doing something new. The strong word he received was espera which means to wait, to hope, to expect. As he prayed for me, I received an overwhelming sense of God's presence and joy in my spirit that moved into the whole of my being. I remember thinking I had a choice to receive it and fall to the floor or to continue standing on my own strength. I chose to relax into that presence and I laid on the cold, hard tile floor for about fifteen minutes. God simply ministered to me through the Holy Spirit, not with words, but with His beautiful presence.  In some charismatic circles, this is called being slain in the Spirit. I prefer to call it resting in the Spirit.

Since then, I've waited. When I went to the Anabaptist Renewal Conference this summer, i felt God stirring something within me, giving me the word "Go". And that is how this blog started. I get up each morning and I pray and read the Bible, social media, and news articles. I don't decide ahead of time what to write, i just listen and try to respond to the nudgings of the Spirit. 

But I also believe that the word I've been given was not just for me. I believe there are others out there who God has been shaping and preparing for many years, and He is also telling you it's time to speak.  Within the larger Anabaptist community, the voices for a vibrant witness now need to come forward, to let go of the fears of ridicule.  You have been prepared and God will guide you.  Perhaps you want to contribute to this blog. Maybe you will start your own blog, write a book, or just be more forthright on social media. Whatever way you live out that call, I believe now is the time to speak. Speak about the things you know. If you don't know, educate yourself. Speak about your experiences, your convictions and your hopes and dreams. Spend time being united with Christ so that your words are a reflection of His presence with you. Live in the humility of God's provision and allow His boldness to shape your words.
-John M Troyer

Today I pray for Mennonite Church USA Executive Board as they make decisions about the future of the church. We are at a critical point, not only in decisions about sexuality, but in decisions about racial and ethnic diversity in the church. We cannot have it both ways. If we decide we must make space to affirm the modern sexual practices of the western world, we will lose a vast majority of our racial/ethnic participants in Mennonite Church USA.  If we decide to further diversify in our theology and ethics, we are sending a clear signal that we are a Swiss-German ethnic group that is primarily concerned about keeping our biological sons and daughters even if we need to abandon our historic beliefs.

Iglesia Menonita Hispana (IMH), the organization of Spanish-speaking congregations in Mennonite Church USA, met last summer and gave a clear word to the denomination.  

Here is the link to the story in Spanish and I quote here the relevant section.

Muchos pastores mostraron indignación ante lo que está pasando en la denominación, a tal profundidad que expresaron salir de la Iglesia Menonita USA, si se llega a la aceptación del homosexualismo como estilo de vida cristiano.

Here is an automated translation from Google Translate and here is the quote in English (I did some cleaning up of the automated Google translation).

Many pastors expressed outrage at what is happening in the denomination, so deep that they would leave Mennonite Church USA if it comes to the acceptance of homosexuality as a Christian lifestyle. 

That's an important statement, a statement that deserves to be heard across the church. This is not the voice of an extreme group that sits at the edge of the church. It is from a gathering that represents our Hispanic congregations. Will the Executive Board make decisions that further alienate Hispanic congregations and other racial/ethnic groups?  Will Mennonite Church USA go down a path that alienates almost all of its members who are not of Swiss-German descent? Will leaders reject the counsel of Mennonites and Anabaptists in South America, Africa, and Asia? 

We have paid a great price in our acquiescence to those who want to bless greater sexual license. They seek the blessing of the church for sexual expressions that are contradicted by Scripture and our Confession of Faith.  It is time to stop acquiescing. It will lead to a monochromatic denomination.
-John M Troyer

UPDATE 10/1/2014 - A letter from Iglesia Menonita Hispana to denominational leaders is now posted. I'm including the full text below

In Mark 9:38-39, the disciple John objects that someone outside their group is using Jesus’ name to cast out demons.  Jesus tells John to leave them alone and not tell them to stop. But Jesus also did not seek to merge his ministry with theirs and join forces with them.  He simply said don’t stop it and we’ll see what good comes out of it. Perhaps this model provides a way forward for Mennonite Church USA.  

As someone who wants to be part of a denomination that remains publicly and essentially committed to only affirming marriage as the union between a man and a woman for life, I am interested in hearing more from those who are advocating unity amidst diversity around our understanding of marriage.  There are significant hurdles to overcome for that kind of unity.

I grew up in an Amish Mennonite home.  When I became an adult, I was the most “liberal” of my siblings.  If my siblings and I had decided to do the kinds of things together that denominations do, our relationships would have been fractured and broken.  However, we did not.  We had great family gatherings and I had to make a decision if I wanted to maintain these relationships. I chose to respect my siblings and not impose my perspective on their children. We remained family even as we had separate households and different views about living the Christian life.  I knew the damage it would do to the relationship if I decided to go on the offensive to try to convert them to my perspective.  There were also times I spoke up because of what I consider justice issues, but I recognized and accepted that the relationship would be affected and gave space accordingly.  

In Mennonite Church USA, there are a number of ways we are quite far apart.  At the same time, we need not try to stop each other from taking different paths if these differences cannot be overcome.

Opposing views of justice.  Our opposing views of the nature of God’s shalom pull us in very different directions.  One perspective gives greater weight to internal desire and orientation, the other places greater emphasis on costly discipleship and openness to transformation.  These are not just about a disagreement about how grace should be given, it is about what the church blesses and affirms as good and holy.  

The use of subterfuge and protest.  With the embrace of social activism within the church, the way we do church together has significantly changed.  As I understand it from those who affirm same-sex marriage, they believe that damage is done to those who identify as LGBTQ by the official teaching of the church and that certain actions are morally necessary to aid in the rescue of young people from their more conservative parents and churches.  This includes the presence of quiet allies who use their positions of leadership in churches and institutions to subvert the values the organization claims to hold. It means that official church events are marked by demonstrations and sing-ins and protests. It means that church leaders on the left publicly use labels like ignorant, homophobic, extremist, and hate-filled to describe those who disagree.  And as I've said before, it means that there are professors in our colleges that are committed to creating classroom and campus environments that are openly hostile to the church’s perspective on marriage. While I understand the impetus and the beliefs that drive this perspective, I also see the damage it does to relationships.  I recognize that those who affirm gay marriage have also experienced harmful ways of relating from people who disagree with them.  Without resorting to blaming or deciding which side has done the most wrong, the point is that relationships have been characterized by actions that do not convey a commitment to integrity, honesty, and true dialogue.

The need for well-defined leaders.  Edwin Friedman, in A Failure of Nerve, articulates the nature of the challenge we are facing in our culture and leadership.  The culture wars have made taking a well-defined stand something that comes at great cost.  As a result, leaders can easily focus on the managing competing interests rather helping clarify and even amplify the perspective of the organization.  From a systems perspective, the abandonment of this role enlarges the voices on the edge and provides no opportunity for the community to rally around the voice of the gathered community. As Mennonites, we hold tightly to the ideal that we can regulate toxic voices through reasonableness and consensus, but are less willing to face the reality that sometimes things will still break apart anyway. We try to hold everything together for too long and allow too much irreparable damage to be done. We become caught up in the mess of managing competing interests rather than drumming up the nerve to clearly articulate a vision for moving forward, a vision that is not just about the process or celebrating diversity.

The changing meaning of Mennonite. In my community in Goshen, there seems to be a tight marriage of the political left and many of our Mennonite leaders. As a result, the word Mennonite has changed significantly for those in our community. The nuances of how we understand our commitment to peace, our perspective on a larger government role, our commitment to the unborn, and our thoughts about affirming same-sex marriage are some of these shifts. This is not the way most Anabaptists or Mennonites would understand their self-identity around the world.

We are called to be family, in the best sense of the word. Family is not the same as institutional loyalty or maintaining households together. We have not really been one denomination even after we merged, and perhaps the battle to keep us all together is the wrong path.

Our church agencies and schools cannot continue to try to straddle the fence and have the public relations office communicate one perspective while hiring policies, campus environment, and key leaders carry a different perspective. I am hopeful there can be a commitment to openness and honesty. If agencies and schools want to serve all the parts of the church, the current way of doing that is not adequate and does not honor our long-standing belief in Jesus’ challenge to speak simply and without duplicity.

We need leaders who will either help us overcome the hurdles above or help us separate well. This should be done in ways that are respectful of diverse viewpoints and seek out the best in the other. We need leaders who help us live into what we perceive as our strengths and calling. Rather than trying to stop each other, let’s release each other, fully and completely, even if that means branching out in separate directions.
-John M Troyer

i've been thinking a lot about tree metaphors for how we relate to each other in the church.  A few weeks ago I participated in a spiritual retreat at Amigo Centre with other youth pastors.  As I walked through the woods, there were several times that I came upon two trees near each other that had very different growth patterns.  One had a main trunk, with branches spreading out far above.  The other had common roots but grew in multiple trunks out of that one root system.  So often we think of the perfect tree as the one with the single trunk, but I also felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to recognize the beauty of the other tree.

Within the broader Anabaptist stream there is a movement beginning, a branching, that is larger than an institution.  In the past there has been fragmentation, but this movement is guiding us forward together through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is rooted in the active power and presence of Jesus Christ in our lives today.  It is truly multi-cultural, with an embrace of energetic and passionate worship.  It seeks the miraculous healing and transformation of God in our world.  I believe the Holy Spirit is the one that is drawing this together and and He is calling us to repentance, confession, prayer and worship.  It has a high view of Scripture.  It is radical in it's love for all people, choosing nonviolence. 

I also want to say what it is not.  It is not a movement that seeks to align with secular political movements on the left or the right.  It is not about endless arguing about ethical choices.  It is not a basic ethic of living that is devoid of a real connection with Jesus Christ.  It is not centered in our educational institutions, it is rising up from the pew.  It is not about gutting the theological and ethical aspects of our shared beliefs to make a place for the Swiss-German children of our leaders who have aligned with secular political forces.  It is not about staying comfortable in our traditions and customs.

Political manipulations and votes and resolutions may seem to be at the forefront right now, but it is the active power of Jesus Christ that is moving this movement forward.  I am excited to be a part of it.
-John M Troyer