Two months ago, over 100 Mennonite ordained and lay ministers sent a letter to the Mennonite Church USA, calling on their church to offer a full welcome to gay and lesbian people.
That may come as a surprise. For the average citizen these days, the word Mennonite conjures up straw hats and horse-drawn buggies. Mennonites are perceived as very traditional and conservative. But in fact their communities contain a fascinating mix of conservative and prophetic Christians.
On Palm/Passion Sunday of this year, this letter went out, expressing distress at the exclusion of sisters and brothers who are are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT). Their hope is for a Church guided by the radical hospitality and extravagant love of Jesus.
Our United Church congregations also have considerable variety in their belief systems. There are Christians who fall all along the theological spectrum. But when we gather as a General Council to set our direction, as we will again this summer, we seem to choose to be inclusive, welcoming and hospitable. Over the years we have said yes to gay and lesbian Christians seeking to be ministers and to congregations having the right to perform same-sex marriages.
This letter from our denominational cousins challenges us to make this hospitality a deeper part of our own faith. “We believe that all people are invited to faithful fellowship in this Body, blessing for our deepest relationships of love and care, a spiritual home for ourselves and our children, and an opportunity to fully express the gifts for ministry that God has given to us.”
Amen and amen.
Peter
You may also submit your comments to the assistant webmaster, assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will ensure they are posted.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Father's Day
What a Father’s Day gift, to be able to listen to my father offering his reflections on fathers, family and faith with the Emmanuel community on Sunday. There was plenty of laughter and nodding of heads as he shared his memories and testimony.
He had asked me how long to speak. i suggested 15 minutes. He countered with 20. At 23 minuts he looked down at his watch and realized he had only convered one of his three points. My mother had warned him not to ramble. So he decided to wrap up it up on the spot. Mother knows best. At the door there were requests that he come back next week and continue on.
I caught a fragment of a radio show this week, asking, “If you could ask your father one question , what would it be?” Intriguing. After church we had a father’s day lunch and my sister asked my father, “Who taught you to dance?” And I learned another little piece of his life’s story.
We all have family members who are no longer with us to ask those questions. But there are members of your family or your church family or friends who are here and who have stories worth listening to and honouring.
Carpe Deum. Seize the day. Ask. Listen. Treasure.
Peter
You may also submit your comments to the assistant webmaster, assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will ensure they are posted
He had asked me how long to speak. i suggested 15 minutes. He countered with 20. At 23 minuts he looked down at his watch and realized he had only convered one of his three points. My mother had warned him not to ramble. So he decided to wrap up it up on the spot. Mother knows best. At the door there were requests that he come back next week and continue on.
I caught a fragment of a radio show this week, asking, “If you could ask your father one question , what would it be?” Intriguing. After church we had a father’s day lunch and my sister asked my father, “Who taught you to dance?” And I learned another little piece of his life’s story.
We all have family members who are no longer with us to ask those questions. But there are members of your family or your church family or friends who are here and who have stories worth listening to and honouring.
Carpe Deum. Seize the day. Ask. Listen. Treasure.
Peter
You may also submit your comments to the assistant webmaster, assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will ensure they are posted
Monday, June 15, 2009
People, Planet and Profits
It didn’t get a lot of attention in the present economic climate but a couple of months ago, eleven banks joined to form an alliance called The Global Alliance for banking on Values.
Their hope is to provide an alternative to the current crisis in the global financial system. They are promoting the long term sustainable thinking and new forms of ownership and cooperation. The member banks hold assets of over 11 billion dollars Canadian and serve seven million customers in 20 countries.
At the launch Mr Peter Blum, CEO of Tridos Bank said the banks saw themselves as forces of change who stuck to simple core banking services that balance ‘people, planet and profits.’
One of the banks, ShoreBank Corporation, recently arranged for a $68 million loan fund that will help Bangladesh’s BRAC Bank, the world’s largest microfinance institution, making thousands of loans to the poor in Tanzania, Uganda and southern Sudan.
Here’s a group that is willing to risk investing in the poor. Good News in tough economic times.
Peter
You may also submit your comments to the assistant webmaster, assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will ensure they are posted
Their hope is to provide an alternative to the current crisis in the global financial system. They are promoting the long term sustainable thinking and new forms of ownership and cooperation. The member banks hold assets of over 11 billion dollars Canadian and serve seven million customers in 20 countries.
At the launch Mr Peter Blum, CEO of Tridos Bank said the banks saw themselves as forces of change who stuck to simple core banking services that balance ‘people, planet and profits.’
One of the banks, ShoreBank Corporation, recently arranged for a $68 million loan fund that will help Bangladesh’s BRAC Bank, the world’s largest microfinance institution, making thousands of loans to the poor in Tanzania, Uganda and southern Sudan.
Here’s a group that is willing to risk investing in the poor. Good News in tough economic times.
Peter
You may also submit your comments to the assistant webmaster, assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will ensure they are posted
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