Photo: (Left to Right) Sandra and Marco Guete, conference minister for Southeast Mennonite Conference, worship during Southeast’s annual assembly, Jan. 29-30, at Bayshore Mennonite Church in Sarasota, Fla. Photo by Andrew Bodden. 

“Ask. Seek. Knock.” was the theme of the Southeast Mennonite Conference (SMC) annual assembly held Jan. 29-30 at Bayshore Mennonite Church in Sarasota, Fla. The theme was apropos for a gathering filled with questions about God’s leading for the conference’s future structure and relationship to Mennonite Church USA.

The conference, which includes 27 congregations in Florida and Georgia, faces questions about future financial sustainability and Marco Guete, executive conference minister, also announced that he will retire in Jan. 2017.

In October, the conference also reviewed its 1987 “Statement on Homosexuality,” which states, “As a church conference we want to clearly articulate our belief that God’s creation intent is that we be heterosexual. We do not see homosexual practice as another choice to be accepted and approved as part of our practice and beliefs… We will not be panicked into rash judgments or reactions by either secular or religious groups in their bold and raucous demands for recognition and acceptance of homosexuality; rather we will take our leading from Christ’s teaching and example. While it is very clear that we can neither condone, accept, or overlook homosexual practices, it is equally clear that Christ’s way of dealing with sinners is one of restoration and healing, rather than of condemnation. It is this model that we attempt to follow in all dealings with the weaknesses and temptations of humanity.”

“It’s a very interesting time in the life of the conference,” said Michael Zehr, conference moderator and

church planter in Key West, Fla. “I’ve been very clear in saying: Listen, we can’t simply ask the question, How will we survive? We must ask the question, Should we survive? If the answer to that question is yes, then we need to understand why we should survive and what we’re about.”

During delegate sessions, the conference appointed a six-person task force that will connect with representatives from every conference congregation over the next eight months. Congregations will be invited to give feedback on hopes for the conference in the future, the conference’s relationship to Mennonite Church USA and their congregation’s future relationship with SMC. The task force will bring recommendations for SMC’s future priorities and affiliations to the Fall 2016 annual assembly, Oct. 7-8.

On Feb. 23, the task force sent a letter to congregations asking them to pray and fast for “The ministry in each of our congregations of Southeast Mennonite Conference; each pastor and the leaders in each congregation; the work of the SMC Task Force in the months ahead; [and] the future of SMC.”

Members of the task force are Mario Dominguez Jr., pastor of Evangelical Garifuna Church, Miami; Hilaire Louis Jean, pastor of Church of God Prince of Peace, Miami; Alma Ovalle, member of the conference executive committee, Sarasota, Fla.; Roger Shenk, pastor of Bahia Vista Mennonite Church, Sarasota; Roy Williams, pastor of College Hill Mennonite Church, Tampa; and J. David Yoder, Chair, Executive Director at Sunnyside Village, Sarasota.

“This is a conference that is very united in doctrine, and very united in relation to the Confession of Faith for Mennonite Church USA,” said Guete in a Feb. 25 interview. “We are very united also as a conservative conference in relation to the issues that Mennonite Church USA is facing about human sexuality. There is also a lot of loyalty from the majority of the churches. Loyalty to the kingdom of God, loyalty to the conference and loyalty to MCUSA.”

The assembly also included times of worship in four languages—English, Spanish, French and Garifuna. Congregations also had opportunities to offer 15-minute testimonies about where God is at work in their communities. Stanley Green, executive director of Mennonite Mission Network, and Dawn Yoder Graber, director of academics at Sarasota (Fla.) Christian School, offered sermons based on Matthew 7:7-8.

“I think our congregations have made the shift to seeing themselves as doing mission and ministry in their own settings,” said Zehr. “It’s fun to listen to congregations talk about the ways that they are involved in their own communities. People are making a difference in the places where they live, and I believe that these communities and the places where people go to work are better places because our churches are located there.”