• Español
  • Historical Archives
  • Convention
  • Contact Us
Support the Ministry Give
Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA
  • About
    • What We Believe
      • Statements and Resolutions
      • Confession of Faith In a Mennonite Perspective
    • History
    • Find a Church
    • FAQ
      • FAQ about Mennonites
      • FAQ about MC USA
    • Executive Board Staff
    • Church Structure
      • Area Conferences
  • Ministry
    • Church Vitality
      • Women in Leadership
      • Church Planting
      • Wellbeing in Ministry
      • Ministerial Inquiry Form
    • Faith Formation
      • Children and Families
      • Faith Formation with Youth
      • Faith Formation with Adults
      • Christian Practices
      • Deep Faith Conference
    • Peacebuilding
      • Learn Pray Join
      • Israel/Palestine Initiatives
      • Undoing Racism
      • Undoing Sexism
    • The Corinthian Plan
      • Corinthian Plan Staff
      • History of the Corinthian Plan
      • Why Mutual Aid Matters
      • Corinthian Plan Subsidies
      • Wellness Incentives
  • Agencies
    • Everence
    • Mennonite Education Agency
    • Mennonite Mission Network
    • MennoMedia
    • Mennonite Health Services Alliance
  • Resources
  • Events
  • News & Media
    • News & Media
    • MenoTicias
    • Publications and Newsletters
  • Blog
Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA
  • About
    • What We Believe
      • Statements and Resolutions
      • Confession of Faith In a Mennonite Perspective
    • History
    • Find a Church
    • FAQ
      • FAQ about Mennonites
      • FAQ about MC USA
    • Executive Board Staff
    • Church Structure
      • Area Conferences
  • Ministry
    • Church Vitality
      • Women in Leadership
      • Church Planting
      • Wellbeing in Ministry
      • Ministerial Inquiry Form
    • Faith Formation
      • Children and Families
      • Faith Formation with Youth
      • Faith Formation with Adults
      • Christian Practices
      • Deep Faith Conference
    • Peacebuilding
      • Learn Pray Join
      • Israel/Palestine Initiatives
      • Undoing Racism
      • Undoing Sexism
    • The Corinthian Plan
      • Corinthian Plan Staff
      • History of the Corinthian Plan
      • Why Mutual Aid Matters
      • Corinthian Plan Subsidies
      • Wellness Incentives
  • Agencies
    • Everence
    • Mennonite Education Agency
    • Mennonite Mission Network
    • MennoMedia
    • Mennonite Health Services Alliance
  • Resources
  • Events
  • News & Media
    • News & Media
    • MenoTicias
    • Publications and Newsletters
  • Blog
Home / Holistic Witness / How now do we speak?
Oct 29 2015

How now do we speak?

JasonBooneJason Boone is the coordinating minister of the Peace and Justice Support Network, a joint project of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Mission Network.

A friend of mine asked me recently,

“What are you Mennonites saying about school shootings?”

I had a lengthy response. I named individuals and congregations who’ve done extensive work addressing gun violence, from interpersonal to policy levels. I talked about MCC’s work. I mentioned that the Peace and Justice Support Network had given a grant to RAWtools, an organization that does great work in the area of gun violence. I also pointed to a long history of living out our convictions as pacifists as a way of addressing all violence.

But my friend wanted something more, something specific. He wanted to know what our collective proposal was to prevent school shootings like we have tragically seen so often recently.

I couldn’t give him what I think he was looking for — an official statement from Mennonite Church USA addressing the most recent tragedy or a petition we had signed. I think I disappointed him.

It’s interesting to consider what constitutes saying something about contemporary issues.

If actions do speak louder than words, Mennonites say as much about peace as anyone.

But if we decide that public statements carry more weight than actions, we aren’t always as productive.

Mennonite Church USA gets many requests to sign on to various statements and campaigns. Often these requests go to Ervin Stutzman, who consults with the Executive Board and staff in making decisions about whether to participate.

Other times we are urged to say something in response to a headline or significant news story — to issue a statement of some kind.

It’s a tall order: to thoughtfully consider the requests or create our own. Most of these issue that are worth saying something about are complex social or geo-political issues. These are issues that experts study but still disagree on. They are issues that a change so quickly, a statement issued today becomes irrelevant tomorrow.

The situation in Syria is another issue that is rightly receiving much attention in the news. Have you tried to keep track of that? Who are the players? What are the allegiances? What are the goals of the factions? It’s complex, to say the least. What kind of coherent statement can the church make, outside of declaring our own allegiance to Jesus, regarding that situation?

In peacemaking, there is room for doing and saying.

They don’t have to be at odds. It’s wonderful when they intersect and complement each other. But it’s not necessary they always be co-joined. Sometimes we don’t have the right words, but we take the right actions. Sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to act, so we must speak. There’s no formula.

We hew to the path of Jesus the best we can and trust the Scripture that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

  • Posted in Holistic Witness, Menno Snapshots, Peace and Justice Support Network
  • Tagged Jason Boone, Mennonite Central Committee, Peace and Justice Support Network, peacebuilding, Rawtools, school shootings, Syria, violence
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • E-Mail
Official comments policy for users of Mennonite Church USA’s websites and other social networking tools. We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates this policy.
  • The purpose of comments is to engage in constructive dialogue.
  • Please provide your own full name.
  • Be respectful. If you’re offering criticism, focus on others’ ideas — not their motives, person, character or faith. Consider the log in your own eye before pressing ‘Enter.’
Comments are moderated. Comments with any content that is deemed obscene, libelous, defamatory or hateful toward an individual or group will not be approved. Comments will remain open for 10 days.
    --
Política de comentarios oficiales para los usuarios de los sitios en Internet y otras herramientas de redes sociales pertenecientes a la Iglesia Menonita de EE.UU. Nos reservamos el derecho de eliminar cualquier comentario que viola esta política.
  • El propósito de los comentarios es entablar el diálogo constructivo.
  • Por favor brinde su propio nombre completo.
  • Sea respetuoso. Si ofrece críticas, enfóquese en las ideas del otro, no en sus motivos, su persona, su carácter o su fe. Considere la viga en su propio ojo antes de apretar ‘Intro’
Los comentarios son analizados. Aquellos comentarios que contengan contenido que se considere obsceno, calumnioso, difamatorio u odioso hacia algún individuo o grupo no será aprobado. Los comentarios permanecerán abiertos por 10 días.

2 Comments

  1. Berry Friesen
    November 2, 2015 at 1:07 pm · Reply

    You are right,, Jason, in saying that “actions” and “statements” do not “have to be at odds.”

    You also are right that “sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to act, so we must speak.” The point is that we have been called to be witnesses and so we are constantly alert to how we might do that.

    Our church’s public statements are a form of witness to our faith in the way of Jesus. This should always be our starting point.

    Thus, MCUSA statements occasionally may speak to government, but much more often they will speak to us in the church and to our friends and neighbors. There are many across the U.S. who appreciate the Anabaptist perspective and keep an eye on what our leaders are saying.

    What’s more, this looking to MCUSA for a word of witness reflects a growing sense in our society at large that we cannot look to the media or to elected leaders to give us an honest account of what’s going on or positive alternatives to the status quo. Chris Hedges spoke recently in my community; he said that all of the institutions we once looked to for humane alternatives (he mentioned the media, academia, labor, mainline churches, the political left, the peace movement) have been acquired by the corporate/imperialist elite or have been eviscerated.

    I’m glad you brought up Syria, Jason. The events there over the past five weeks are shocking. Russia has decided to made a stand in Syria; it is convinced that its survival as an independent society hangs in the balance. The US has revealed its alignment with al-Qaeda and highly ambivalent attitude toward ISIS and determination to see Russia fail.

    This risk in this moment is not unlike the risk during the Cuban missile crisis of the early ’60s. How do followers of Jesus live during such a moment? Do we have anything to offer? Yes, we do.

  2. White Cloud
    November 11, 2015 at 8:08 am · Reply

    I am so glad you raised a question about what our denomination should be saying about this or that, and question signing on to various campaigns. I have become so disenchanted with the political activities of (many of) our denominational leaders that I would call for a full halt until we come to some agreement on fundamental issues of mission and integrity. The church should lead the way in identifying and responding to community needs. The church should NOT be controlled by the latest media frenzy.
    One only needs to look through the past several months’ postings on this blog to find numerous examples of our leadership bending the truth in order to join the crowd on the latest and hottest political bandwagon.
    There are many fallacies with putting our faith in the political system. I’d do an entire article on that if I had the skills.
    For now, we need to stop making ‘denominational statements’ on this or that, and get back to the great commission.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Explore categories

Search

3145 Benham Ave. Suite 1
Elkhart, IN 46517

718 N. Main St.
Newton, KS 67114
Phone: (866) 866-2872
  • News & Media
  • Español
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Convention
  • Resources
  • Give
  • Staff
  • Employment
©2020 Mennonite Church USA   |   Subscribe to PeaceMail to receive news and blogs compiled into one weekly email.   SUBSCRIBE