Michael Danner is Executive Conference Minister for Illinois Mennonite Conference. 

I want to speak a word of hope for Mennonite Church USA. In August of 1997, I was hired as the associate pastor of Metamora (Ill.) Mennonite Church (MMC). MMC was, at that time, a part of the Mennonite Church, but merger between the General Conference and old Mennonite Church was in full swing.

I was not, and am not, a “cradle Mennonite.”

Among other things, my journey involved:

• growing up in a United Church of Christ/Disciples of Christ congregation;
• going my own way in college;
• finding Jesus again for the first time;
• discipleship through Campus Crusade for Christ;
• serving as a pastoral staff person in two other denominations;
• reading Brian McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christian;
• a church split in the congregation of my childhood;
• my then church-less parents being invited to a Mennonite Church;
• a Spirit-led wife who was all-in on this journey;
• Metamora Mennonite Church, where my parents landed, looking for an associate pastor;
• being hired as associate pastor at MMC;
• patient congregation members;
• and time (18 years to be exact).

When I landed firmly and fully at Metamora Mennonite Church, I was home. I was home, not just in that congregation, but within a denomination that I experienced as healthy and very much on the right track, despite its obvious struggles. And that is the important part.

The first church convention I ever attended was St. Louis in 1999. I, along with other youth sponsors, accompanied our youth group to convention.

If you were there and can remember, we were fighting over the place of lesbian, gay, biexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) persons in the life of the church. And ever since that time, we have been fighting over the place of LGBTQ persons in the life of the church.

I don’t like that we are continuing to fight over the place of LGBTQ persons in the life of the church. But I can say this: All of the gifts that I have received within Mennonite Church USA have come to me in the midst of that ongoing conflict.

Why is that important?

It is important because sometimes I get the idea that people forget that good things are happening in and through the Mennonite Church, despite our conflict. Do I want to see our conflicts resolved? Yes, I’d love nothing more.

Do our conflicts define all that we are?  Of course not. Sometimes I think we forget that. When we forget that, we lose sight of the unique, Spirit-empowered gifts within Mennonite Church USA.

Perhaps I am like a kid who grew up in a dysfunctional home. When it is the only home you know, it seems normal. I don’t want to normalize conflict or dismiss the real issues at the heart of our conflicts surrounding human sexuality, but I do want to say that I have been blessed by being a part of MC USA since its inception. I’ve experienced that blessing in spite of all that threatens to kill, steal and destroy in our midst.