Photo: Mary Anne Isaak and I on a road trip (with Jon in his veggie oil VW) from Fresno, CA to Vancouver, BC for the 2010 Mennonite Brethren Bi-National Gathering. I’ve posted five reflections on the US and Canadian Mennonite Brethren (MB) Executive Boards’ (EBs) interference in the publication of On Holy Ground. 1. I … More Making Room: Can We Have a Conversation?
Three pages sounded the alert. The CCMBC and USMB Executive Boards (EBs) sprang into action. Even though the MB Historical Commission (HC) had already reviewed, approved, printed and distributed the first copies of On Holy Ground, the EBs–who are not part of the HC’s normal publishing process–swooped in to save the day. They saved the … More When They Silenced Her, They Silenced Us All
The irony was not lost on those who responded, “So a woman’s voice was silenced in a book commissioned to feature women’s voices.” I’ve seen this repeated many times over. We are upset that a woman’s voice was censored. We are especially upset that it happened in a space that was supposed to highlight women’s … More The Patriarchy: Silencing Women Since… (The Beginning of Time)
I am the problem. I am “wholly unholy” and the wages of that sin is death. Believing this message, internalizing this story, was the gate through which I had to pass to gain access to the road to salvation. God, and the eternal life he guarded so fiercely, remained an impassable chasm away if I … More When Stories Collide, Whose Voice Prevails?
I sat across the table from a leader in my church. We met that evening at my favorite coffee shop to discuss questions I had raised regarding the church’s mission statement. What does “dedicating… to be an inclusive community” mean? My wife and I were trying to figure out how (and if) we belonged in … More We Are Ready
Printing was halted, copies were destroyed, and three pages were deleted from the book, On Holy Ground: Stories by and about women in ministry leadership in the Mennonite Brethren Church. The Executive Boards of the U.S. and Canadian Conferences of Mennonite Brethren Churches (USMB, CCMBC) “requested” the book be reprinted without these three pages, because, … More Danger! Queer woman pushes confused MBs down slippery slope
Michelle F. Morrow 