Sarah Ann Bixler deeply loves Mennonite Church USA and its commitment to God’s healing and hope. She has served throughout Mennonite Church USA in education, youth ministry, curriculum writing and conference leadership. Sarah is currently a Master of Divinity student at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, where she lives with her husband, Benjamin, and their three children.
A few weeks ago, as part of a visioning process for the future of the Women in Leadership Project, Sarah was asked this question:
How can you imagine the church transformed through the work of the Women in Leadership Project?
Her response came in the form of a poem.
It Stops with Me
Years after grandpa
Gave up his plain suit,
I sat alone with grandma.
She fingered her covering.
“Sometimes I wonder
Why I still wear this thing,”
She confided in me.
I was taught that it stood for
Humility,
Based on biblical principles
And that I could wear it, too,
As a sign of respect
For the older generation.
As I grew
I wondered
What else it symbolized.
I wondered why Mennonite women
Could be picked out of a crowd
But Mennonite men could not.
Why Mennonite women
Gave talks and testimonies,
Not sermons.
Why Mennonite women
Were excellent Sunday school teachers
But not elders or bishops.
And the realization
Punched me deep in my gut
That sexism
Is alive and kicking
In my beloved Mennonite church.
Then I had children.
These realities from my lifetime,
Will they be part of theirs?
Will my daughters blossom and grow
Only to find themselves
Restricted in how they can follow God’s call?
Well, this is going to stop
With me
And my generation.
I refuse to accommodate
The intergenerational transmission
Of sexism.
I will not allow
The devaluation of women
To be passed down to my children.
But I cannot do it alone,
Because sexism in the Mennonite church
Is a systemic infection.
That is why the Women in Leadership Project
Is so vital
For the health
Of us all.
This is the gift we give our daughters:
To recognize, suffer and challenge
Sexism in our own time
So they won’t have to.
To wrestle with discrimination,
To speak up when it’s easier to be silent,
To break the cycle
And assume responsibility
For the next generation.
This is for you,
Eve and Juliet.
It stops with me.