Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia, the largest member of Mennonite World Conference, announced its withdrawal from the global body in early September to distance itself from a handful of MWC member churches that accept same-sex relationships.

The announcement followed MKC’s November 2025 decision not to host MWC’s 2028 assembly and a 98.3% vote of approval Sept. 4 at MKC’s general leaders conference hosted by Meserete Kristos Seminary in Bishoftu and attended by more than 200 regional representatives. The withdrawal represents a loss to MWC of more than half a million members.

“This means losing roughly a third of the Mennonite World Conference,” MWC general secretary César García told AW. “This has been a very sad situation for us. Not only are we losing members, but we are also losing gifts. We are losing the richness that MKC has to share with others around the world. We are losing leaders.

“In a more personal way, it has been my privilege to share stories of MKC’s faithful witness in many settings, so to have them departing from MWC is a very sad situation we are lamenting.”

MKC said in a statement shared by MWC that it holds unwaveringly that Christian marriage is a union between one man and one woman.

“It is with profound grief and heaviness of heart that we acknowledge the widening theological fracture within the global body of believers: a division that threatens the very unity of the Body of Christ,” the MKC statement said. “The decisive factor that has compelled us to separate from the Mennonite World Conference is its continued inclusion of churches and conferences that not only tolerate but also endorse, affirm and practice homosexuality, in direct contradiction to the clear and unchanging witness of the Holy Scripture.”

The decision implied the removal of MKC members from four volunteer positions on MWC commissions and networks, and from one MWC staff position.

As of Sept. 17, MKC President Desalegn Abebe had not responded to questions from AW about the withdrawal.

Last fall, misinformation connecting MKC to LGBTQ-inclusive churches spread through MKC on social media after leaders visited diverse congregations on a U.S. fundraising tour. At that time, MKC suspended its partnership with Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, which is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. AMBS President David Boshart said the spread of misinformation created risks for leaders and students and threatened the unity of the church.

Following MKC’s national gathering, church leaders posted a three-page statement Sept. 7 on Facebook that said distorted information, which cast doubt on the faith and integrity of MKC leaders, had been circulating for a year on social media.

“We believe that those who have been and are still spreading this distorted information on social media may have their own interests,” wrote MKC leaders. “. . . We urge all believers, ministers and leaders to be calm, strong and see this digital storm through the lens of the Word. We must not lose sight of the enemy’s strategy. The main purpose of this social media noise is not to bring about church reform, but to break the unity of the church and divert our attention from the Great Commission. The enemy wants us to turn inward and waste our time in digital debates.”

MWC takes no position on same-sex marriage. Only four of MWC’s 110 national churches — MC USA, MC Canada and conferences in the Netherlands and Germany — make room for congregations to endorse same-sex marriage.

García said MKC leaders did not ask MWC to do anything specific in response to their concerns.

“They didn’t say anything ­explicitly, but in how they informed us of their decision their requirement was implicit. They said because Mennonite World Conference continues to have members who are affirming, then they are leaving,” he said. “. . . We don’t excommunicate people from MWC for any reason.”

García acknowledged that challenges of unity regarding same-sex relationships have been growing as churches in the Global South find it difficult to work with the way some churches in the Global North have faced those issues.

In an Aug. 21 pastoral letter, MWC announced its Faith and Life Commission was beginning to work with the MWC Executive Committee on a proposal for an internal agreement regarding “disparate convictions” and criteria for hiring and appointing leaders. García declined to offer specifics on potential criteria, because discussions involving at least 20 people from around the world have only just begun.

Kebede Bekere, an ordained minister and teacher in Ethiopia who has been in contact with MKC leaders, told AW that MKC wants to contribute to the renewal of the global body of Anabaptist churches by reminding them of biblical teachings and the practices of 16th-century Anabaptists. MKC has resolved to do so by establishing clear boundaries with organizations and churches that embrace same-sex marriage.

“I think MKC is interested in building a global family of Anabaptist churches that actively engages with the world and makes an impact through the core beliefs, values and principles of Anabaptism,” he said. “Such a global family, interacting actively with people at the grassroots level both digitally and in person, could contribute effectively to the Great Commission and unite the family under a broad vision of making a positive and meaningful impact on the world. How this will happen remains to be seen.”

MKC began in 1956 after LMC (formerly Lancaster Mennonite Conference) and Eastern Mennonite Missions sent missionaries to Ethiopia beginning in the late 1940s. Glenn Kauffman, LMC international partnership delegate to MKC, said LMC continues to learn from MKC’s fervency in prayer and readiness to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

“LMC deeply values the mutual sister-to-sister relationship that we have with MKC in various expressions for the past 75 years,” he said. “In recent years we have been making intentional effort to renew the relationship both for our sake and for the relationship to transfer to the next generation.”