Photo: Members of Iglesia Menonita Hispana gather to pray for Mennonite Church USA and the future of IMH during their special assembly Nov. 20-21 in New Holland, Pa. (Photo by Ulises Arenas-Goossen). 

“The cup is broken, but the Potter is still working with all of us,” said Samuel López, moderator of Iglesia Menonita Hispana (IMH), as he held up a broken mug, with pieces representing the groups of Hispanic congregations who are leaving Mennonite Church USA and the Iglesia Menonita Hispana network.

One hundred and twenty leaders of IMH gathered Nov. 20-21 at Iglesia Menonita Jesucristo es el Señor in New Holland, Pa., for a special assembly to discern their future connection to Mennonite Church USA.

Thirty congregations of the “Concilio Hispano,” the Spanish Mennonite Council of Churches (SMCC) of Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite Conference (LMC), including 22 congregations from Pennsylvania and eight congregations from the New York region, announced they will leave IMH and Mennonite Church USA, in keeping with LMC’s decision earlier this week to withdraw from the denomination.

Other congregations who are members of IMH will remain connected to Mennonite Church USA. IMH is a constituency group of Mennonite Church USA, and as such, has representation on Mennonite Church USA’s Executive Board and on the Constituency Leaders Council.

The special assembly held this weekend was planned in July in order to process concerns that IMH members have about the direction of Mennonite Church USA regarding the inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals in the church.

The meeting was originally planned as a time to discern whether or not IMH member congregations would remain connected to Mennonite Church USA. However, according to Iris de Leon-Hartshorn, director of

transformative peacemaking for Mennonite Church USA, after LMC’s decision to withdraw from Mennonite Church USA was announced, it became clear that the majority of congregations leaving IMH would be from the LMC. At this point, the purpose of the meeting shifted to be an informative, fraternal time for discussing the future of IMH and receiving counsel that will inform the next scheduled IMH assembly in August 2016.

The special assembly followed two days of meetings of the “junta general,” the executive board of IMH, with members representing its nine regions across the country.

The withdrawal of these 30 congregations represents a loss of one-third of all Hispanic Mennonite congregations. Five members of the IMH executive board will leave: López; Nicolas Angustia, moderator-elect; Lilian Flores, coordinator of the Hispanic Women’s Conference; Moisés Angustia, New York representative, and Adalberto Santiago, Pennsylvania representative.

“It’s sad that part of us, our body, is separating.  It’s like a divorce,” said Guadalupe Aguilar, pastor of Iglesia Menonita Rey de Gloria in Brownsville, Texas. “We’re trying to find ways to somehow continue that relationship, maybe doing pulpit exchanges or pastors’ retreats together.”

In its public statement, the IMH executive board mourned the loss of dedicated leadership: “We want to communicate that we lament very deeply the decision of Lancaster Conference to separate from Mennonite Church USA. This decision has deep repercussions on the leadership of the Hispanic Mennonite Church.”

The IMH executive board received the news of LMC’s decision during its meetings on Nov. 19. “[When LMC’s news was received] we [didn’t] know how to manage all the emotions that we feel,” said López. “But grace has reached us. God is with us, and we do not walk alone. The name above all names is Jesus, not Mennonite. There is pain and sadness, but God is doing new things.”

The other two-thirds of IMH will plan to stay connected to Mennonite Church USA as long as the 1995 Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, which states that marriage is “between one man and one woman for life,” is not changed.

The IMH executive board announcement states, “The Executive Board will … be alert to how Mennonite Church USA moves in relation to the LGBTQ agenda and will make appropriate corresponding decisions.” IMH leaders also encouraged members of IMH to plan to attend their area conference and denominational delegate assemblies in order to make their voices and opinions known.

Juan Montes, pastor of Primera Iglesia Menonita in Reedley, Calif., and a member of the IMH executive board, moderated the meeting, opening it with an opportunity to pray in small groups for “our beloved mother church.”

Worship during the assembly focused on Isaiah 43:16-20, which says, “Behold I am doing a new thing.” Members of IMH discussed their commitment to continuing to work together, even in the midst of new configurations.

“We continue to trust that God’s power, hope, healing and love for all is still working in all of us, and in spite of our imperfections, God will complete the good work which he began in us,” said López.

In his closing words, Ervin Stutzman, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, addressed the congregations leaving Mennonite Church USA: “I lament your leaving, but I have great joy to see you established in the Word of God; how you express yourselves and worship together, how you reach out, and to see you working together today. Although you will be outside the circle of our organization, you will never be outside the circle of my love.”

During the assembly, Stutzman and López, who worked together for many years, washed one another’s feet as a

sign of continued connection and service to one another.

The next IMH meeting will be held in Florida in August 2016. Remaining leaders on IMH’s executive board include Juan Montes, California region; Martha Hernandez, Iowa region; Madeline Maldonado, Florida region; Nelly Ascensio, Oregon region; Guadalupe Aguilar, South Texas region; and Sandra Martinez, Mid-Texas region. Yvonne Diaz is the IMH representative to Mennonite Church USA’s Executive Board. IMH will choose members to fill the leadership gaps left.

Immediately after the IMH assembly concluded, the 30 congregations from the Pennsylvania and New York regions met. They agreed to initiate a new fraternal Hispanic organization to maintain relationships and strengthen Hispanic congregations in both regions and appointed a group to develop the new vision for Hispanic churches in these regions, exploring ways to organize so that others can join them.