We call the people we go to church with our brothers and sisters. Is our household of faith really a family? Do we love each other like siblings? Or is “brothers and sisters in Christ” an empty phrase?

These questions arise as a celebrative year draws to a close with sad news of:

Mosaic Mennonite Conference’s split from Mennonite Church USA.

Mennonite World Conference’s decision not to appoint a Mennonite Church USA member to a repre­sentative role after leaders of other Anabaptist denominations objected. 

Ethiopian Anabaptists’ withdrawal from hosting the 2028 MWC assembly amid a “crisis of unity” due to controversy over links to North American churches that accept same-sex marriage.

In the Anabaptist household, distrust has spread like a sickness that threatens the body’s health.

How shall we fulfill the apostle’s call to “work for the good of all, and especially for those in the family of faith” (Galatians 6:10)?

We can start by granting each other grace: unconditional, unmerited love, the kind God shows to us. It is the kind of love that keeps doors open. Church splits and conference cancellations don’t have to be forever. Nor do they have to result in broken relationships.

“We are brothers through and through,” one Anabaptist leader said of another recently, despite the challenges and conflicts that surround them.

The grace they have extended to each other sets an example for those who lament that Ethiopian Mennonites, by backing out of hosting the 2028 world assembly, have not upheld MWC’s tradition as a beacon of unity that rises above its members’ differences.

The global Anabaptist family should extend grace to them. The full context of conflict, mistrust and even threats to safety that some in Ethiopia have experienced might be hard for North Americans to completely understand and awkward for Ethiopians to fully explain. (A Substack article by ­Henok T. Mekonin, global leadership collaboration specialist at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, is helpful.)

Ethiopian leaders did not suddenly discover there are LGBTQ-affirming Mennonites in North America (and Europe) and decide to make a theological point by rejecting them. They did what they felt was necessary due to very recent developments, including social media attacks that sowed division in a fast-growing church with many new Christians.

Though some traditionalists have praised the Ethiopians’ decision as a victory for truth, this situation is not a contest about who is right or wrong about same-sex marriage. It is about whether MWC will become just another church entity that some Anabaptists refuse to be a part of if certain others are present.

A basic principle of MWC’s existence is to set aside our differences and enjoy the blessings we often miss due to our self-imposed separation. For MWC to continue to bless the global Anabaptist family, this principle must not be lost. At the moment, it feels endangered.

It’s poignant that this crisis of unity comes at the end of Anabaptism’s 500th anniversary year. Last May in Switzerland, Anabaptist pilgrims from around the world celebrated reconciliation with Reformed, Lutheran and Catholic siblings. There’s a sad contradiction in drawing closer to our ecumenical neighbors while our own household breaks up.   

Now would be a good time to pick up one of MWC’s most practical tools of unity. In March, it will be 20 years since the MWC General Council approved a “Statement of Shared Convictions.” In 240 words, the document sums up seven basic beliefs we hold in common despite our vastly different cultures and practices.

Do MC USA and Mennonite Church Canada really need 24 articles, as their Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective has? Its two dozen declarations have been called teaching points but also used as cudgels of conformity and exclusion.

Jesus said two principles were enough to sum up the scriptures: Love God with your whole being and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). If Jesus could build his ministry on just two basic teachings, might a group of his followers today get along better with seven than with 24?

Siblings love and forbear because they’re family. It’s a simple truth to confess, harder to live by.