Tomorrow ten of us from CMC will be driving down to Harrisonburg, Virginia for the Central District Conference annual meeting. We’re one of 45 congregations in the conference, ranging from St. Paul, Minnesota to Miami, Florida. CDC also now has six “provisional members,” new communities of faith exploring affiliation with the conference.
The theme this year is “Rise Up! Take Courage!” We’ll share stories of how congregations are responding to authoritarianism and war-making and how the day-to-day life of doing church together is going. We have two major topics of delegate deliberation. One is a resolution addressing the genocide in Gaza. The other is a guided discussion on whether and how we might create a statement regarding our understanding of healthy relationships and sexuality in light of our official denominational Confession of Faith which still has a restrictive teaching of heterosexual marriage.
One of my favorite metaphors for how CDC thinks of itself is as “a family of adult siblings.” An official document, created back when the new Mennonite Church USA denomination was forming, states: Conference for the congregations in Central District is something like a family of adult sisters and brothers. We love each other and are concerned about each other. We want to help each other, but we do not feel a need to control each other.
This familial sense of love and support without the need to control tends to make these gatherings low-anxiety events, even when discussing hard things.
Three of us currently hold leadership positions within the conference. Sarah Werner is on staff as the Communication Coordinator. Robin Walton serves on the Ministerial Committee. And I’m in my first of two years at the President of the Board of Directors. Which means I’ll be cramming on Roberts Rules of Order on my way down South tomorrow.
We welcome your prayers and good thoughts as we represent CMC and build relationships across the conference. Our July worship series will include some stories from what we learn.
Joel