Home Christian News Mennonite Church USA Passes Resolution Committing to LGBTQ Inclusion

Mennonite Church USA Passes Resolution Committing to LGBTQ Inclusion

Guyton added that some of the actions included in the latest resolution had already been addressed by the denomination’s executive board in 2020, and he said that like other policies adopted at the national level, it won’t be enforceable at the congregational or conference level.

“This action, and I say this carefully, is more symbolic in some ways than it is indicative of actual changes that are going to happen at the congregational or conference level,” said Guyton. “But it is a big symbol, I think, for many.”

At the weekend assembly, a number of delegates expressed concern that the resolution would stoke division, rather than healing. “We need both the traditional and the progressive. We cannot do this work if we don’t have both,” said Dwight McFadden of Millersburg Mennonite Church in Ohio, according to Anabaptist World. “I don’t feel like this is the third way that we are known for.”

But according to Villegas, while the implications of the resolution will still need to be worked out on the local level, the message it sends is loud and clear. “As a national denomination, we now say that we are a pro-LGBTQ denomination. That is our position.”

FROM THE ARCHIVES: In the Mennonite Church USA, congregations realign on sexuality

This story has been updated to reflect that Isaac Villegas is a Ph.D. student. A previous version said Ph.D. candidate. 

This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.