We all tell ourselves stories about who we are, and our place and purpose in this world. We turn to them again and again for identity and guidance. Stories shape how we see and how we act. As I said in my last post, sometimes we use the stories we tell as a defense against … More The Stories We Tell: Centered on False Innocence?
There is more than meets the eye to the exclusion of LGBTQ people and those who attempt to explore LGBTQ inclusion. As I’ve explored the Mennonite Brethren (MB) suspension and expulsion of member churches, I’ve suggested that though leadership continue to point to “the centrality of the Confession of Faith,” there is more going on … More Why Is It So Hard To See?
One of the things that first attracted me to Anabaptism was its insistence on following Jesus. Being a Christian was about more than getting your theological ducks in a row. Good theology should result in a good life. The predominant way I learned to think and talk about that good life was as obedience. The … More Obedience, Authority and Power-Over
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?
Michelle F. Morrow 