Leadership: A word from Mennonite leaders

I am thrilled for the opportunity to answer the call of God on my life via Christian Peacemaker Teams. Catalyzed by Ron Sider’s speech at the 1984 Mennonite World Conference, CPT is an international nonprofit organization that aims to address racism, sexism, heterosexism, nationalism and economic exploitation in all its forms all around the globe by building partnerships that transform violence and oppression.

Going only where we are invited, CPT works with marginalized communities in situations of lethal conflict. Currently we work alongside local peacemakers in Palestine, northern Iraq (Kurdistan), Colombia and the First Nations in Canada.

In CPT, no questions are off the table. This can make for a challenging environment in which to lead. However, facilitating spaces where people can bring all of themselves and their questions, pain and passion is important to me. CPT is full of people who participated in spirit-filled justice movements over these past decades.

These efforts have demanded space for people like me—a young, single, biracial Mennonite woman—to bring all of myself and lead. I sense that people in CPT are excited about what I bring to the table because of my personal (experiences and competencies) and symbolic (social categories) position in the world. I do not take this for granted. There are not many women of color leading nonprofit organizations in the United States.

One of CPT’s project support coordinators, Rich Meyer, spoke at a chapel service at Bethany Christian High School, a Mennonite school in Goshen, Ind., about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the importance of coordinating peacemakers from different walks of life in that region. He also noted similarities between Israel’s settlement of Palestine and that of the Midwest by European pioneers.

He said that Potawatomi people lived on the land where our school building and campus stood. Though the majority of the Potawatomi families were killed or marched off the land (now ironically called Indiana) on the Trail of Tears, their people and culture exist today.

Until then, I saw the Potawatomi people as part of history, not the present. This helped me see connections between various struggles for justice far away and justice close to home. Most importantly, the presentation opened my eyes to recognize my own complicity and privilege as a Christian engaged in social struggles for peace, dignity and wholeness.

I realized the particular ways oppression acts in my life, giving me particular vantage points and blind spots when I address global issues of violence. I knew I needed to be a part of an organization like CPT that spoke truth—however beautiful or terrifying—about our past and present as a society and as the church. My generation is looking for honest, courageous leadership.

I learned a lot about visionary leadership at Spelman College in Atlanta. There in the space that nurtured many of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement I studied and grew. Being a scholar-activist was my operative identity; making our academic work accountable to the community and social movement was a paramount value.

That scholar-activism continued into theological training at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind. I felt the church was a social movement gathered around the renewal Jesus pointed toward, the revelation he embodied and the revolution of values he called for.

Jesus’ example of challenging systems of domination has inspired CPT members to be brave and to sustain actions of solidarity. There have always been religious practitioners who refuse to let powerful societal forces co-opt faith and use it to pacify people, declare wars and destroy the land. CPT humbly stands in that tradition of resistance.

CPT members not only talk a lot about the big ideas of peace and justice but experiment with real world violence reduction ideas in an embodied way. Join us. The first step in CPT is to go on a delegation. These delegations are two-week learning tours where anyone who comes has a chance to experience part of the life of the CPT team and the communities of resistance. After that, delegates can choose to apply for further training with CPT and join the Corps for a three-year renewable term. CPT is a program that forms people for leadership in lifelong ministry that is incarnational and justice oriented.

From a young child sitting in the pews of Prairie Street Mennonite Church—surrounded by leaders—I have been inspired as a Christian to join others all over the world in laying aside the weapons of destruction—resting in the confidence of God’s faithfulness and in the power of communities rather than in guns.

Sarah Thompson is executive director of Christian Peacemaker Teams. Visit www.cpt.org.