Photo: Members of Columbus Mennonite and others surround Mark Rupp during the installation service Sept. 21. Photo by Lois Maust.

Columbus (Ohio) Mennonite Church installed Mark Rupp as pastor of Christian formation on Sept. 21.

Rupp, who began his assignment in August, is in a committed relationship with another man.

“We are taking an important step beyond blessing and welcoming persons who identify as LGBTQ,” wrote Joel Miller, pastor of Columbus Mennonite Church, in a Sept. 17 letter on the church’s website. “We believe this to be a natural expression of our commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus brought the marginalized into the center and declared that theirs in the kin-dom of God.”

Columbus Mennonite is a member of Central District Conference. Installation is often accompanied by a ministry license from the conference, but this is not the case for Rupp.

CDC leadership is delaying the licensing until after Kansas City 2015 in response to counsel from Mennonite Church USA leadership and several members of the Executive Board, wrote Lois Johns Kaufmann, in an email on Oct. 14. Johns Kaufman is conference minister for CDC.

CDC’s ministerial leadership committee released a statement dated Oct. 17, “Theological Foundations for Credentialing.”

“Mark is a gifted pastor, called and affirmed for congregational ministry, so in many ways it is lamentable that he is not yet licensed for ministry,” said Miller on Oct. 15. “We do respect CDC’s wishes to be attentive to relationships within and beyond the conference, and are thankful that it has committed to issue the license next July.”

Rupp’s installation comes less than a year after Mountain States Mennonite Conference announced its decision to license Theda Good, a pastor who is a lesbian.

The Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA responded to that decision in a statement during their June meeting in Chicago.

Part of the EB statement requested “no area conference grant credentials to persons in same-sex relationships unless the Mennonite Church USA delegate assembly changes the state polity on same-sex marriages.”

Miller wrote in his letter: “We as a congregation are not in any danger of losing our status as members in good standing with CDC and thus in Mennonite Church USA. CDC affirms our congregational discernment in this matter, even if they’re not yet ready to issue a ministry license.”

Rupp preached at the installation service.

“The opportunity to serve a church in a pastoral role is something that, for a long time, I was not sure would ever be a possibility for me,” said Rupp in his sermon. “And so I thank you for being a congregation that is willing to live into your commitment to welcome all people. I thank you for being a congregation that refuses to allow requests for patience to drown out cries of injustice.”

Rupp is a student at The Methodist Theological School in Ohio (Delaware) and a Bluffton (Ohio) University graduate. He spent three years with Mennonite Voluntary Service in Hutchinson, Kan.

Columbus Mennonite conducted a pastoral search process for about six months. According to Miller, Rupp was the leading candidate.

“We chose the best person for the job,” said Miller. “Rupp had also been part of the congregation for about a year and a half. We knew him and he knew us.”

Columbus Mennonite carried out two congregational discernment processes in 2007 and 2014 that have led to the decision to install Rupp.

Out of the processes grew three commitments:

“1. Columbus Mennonite Church shall welcome into its membership all persons who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. We will not use sexual orientation or practice as criteria for membership.

2. We affirm our pastors’ full participation in pastoral care, rites and blessings for all individuals and families, including marriage preparation counseling, weddings and child dedications.

3. Sexual orientation will not be a factor in the hiring of office and pastoral staff.”

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