Over 80 individuals gathered May 15-17 for Connecting Families East at Laurelville Church Center, Mt. Pleasant, Pa.
Connecting Families East is an affiliation primarily of members of Mennonite Church USA and of the Church of the Brethren.
This group has met annually since 1990 to provide safe space for people of differing sexual and gender identities and their families to fellowship, worship and share stories and concerns.
The keynote input from Loren L. Johns, a New Testament scholar who teaches at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind., offered guidelines for effective conversation on what the Bible says about human sexuality.
Singing and worship, led by Matt Hunsberger of Harrisonburg, Va., set the tone for the gathering.
Stories from two families dealing with issues of sexuality, adoption and racism added to the input.
The attendees approved by vote a statement to the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board:
“We plead for all members of Mennonite Church USA to exercise mutual respect for differing beliefs regarding sexual and gender diversity. We urge MC USA to welcome into full fellowship persons who hold divergent views. We further call for increased congregational and conference autonomy within the structures of MC USA.”
Editor’s note: This release was updated to change the “resolution” language to “statement” on May 21.
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