In “Widen the circle of our heart and our awareness,” MC USA’s Glen Guyton reflects on his recent trip to Minneapolis and challenges the church to expand its compassion, deepen its cultural humility and actively embody Christ-centered love in a divided world.
Glen Guyton is the executive director of MC USA. He is the first person of color to serve in the role. Glen has almost 30 years of leadership experience in the denomination.
The hymn of praise at Faith Mennonite Church, a congregation of Central Plains Mennonite Conference, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was “Draw the Circle” (Voices Together #802). It was an appropriate song as my visit to the Twin Cities was coming to an end. The lyrics of the hymn say, “Draw the circle wide. No one stands alone; we’ll stand side by side.” The song we sing in many of our churches is more of a wishful dream than a lived reality.
My visit to the Twin Cities was humbling and deepened my understanding of how divided we are as a nation, as a church and as human beings. Prior to my visit, the Trump administration deployed a surge of approximately 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for “Operation Metro Surge.” For scale, that is five times the number of officers in the Minneapolis police force. Sadly, this operation ended three lives and disrupted thousands more through violence, fear and intimidation. I heard stories of people who have shut down their businesses and are afraid to go to work or even the laundromat to wash their clothes. For the people of Minneapolis–St. Paul, the circle of their everyday lives has begun to constrict, feeling more like a noose of isolation than a ring of hope.
Helen Wells O’Brien, one of the founders of St. Paul Mennonite Fellowship
Yet, I felt perfectly safe as I sipped coffee and ate conchas in the home of Helen Wells O’Brien, one of the founders of St. Paul Mennonite Fellowship, knowing that, for one of the rare times in our country’s history and in spite of my skin color, I was not the primary target of the enforcement power of this nation. I felt perfectly safe as a cisgender, heterosexual Black man sitting and learning about the historic and present pain experienced by the queer members of the St. Paul congregation, a fellowship that lost its membership in its previous MC USA conference due to the church’s affirming stance on LGBTQ inclusion. Here, some members were cautious of being photographed, and others had been attacked because of their beliefs. Then, Helen shared a story and image of her former father-in-law that she carries when she attends a protest. He was a World War II soldier who fought against fascism, against an evil that drew us into a world war. Helen quickly reminded me that, if one person isn’t safe, none of us are safe if we are truly the body of Christ. As a pacifist, I carry that image with me — shared by a woman of peace — even as I remain sober about how easily violence can draw us in.
When we draw the circle wide, we begin to see that we are living in silos. Look at the map.
Minneapolis Map
To the left, you can see the areas where Renee Good, Alex Peretti and George Floyd were murdered. The target of government violence is geographically small. To the right, you can see the bigger circle where our Mennonite churches are located, the airport and a few places I visited during my time in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. We need to close the loop on our isolation and our blindness to the pain of others. Neither CNN, Fox News, MS Now nor Anabaptist World magazine can truly tell us what is happening in the world and how to demonstrate loving our neighbors until we are willing to widen our perspectives and our empathy.
On Saturday afternoon, I was joined by Nathan Luitjens and Susan Janzen, Central Plains Mennonite Conference leaders, to meet with several pastors and leaders. The message was clear:
- This community will need long-term support and healing from trauma.
- The church needs to be vigilant. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area feels like a test case for what other communities may soon experience.
- The pain this community is feeling and the disruption folks are experiencing are 100% real, even though our individual experiences may be different.
A young American-born pastor of Hmong descent shared that he and his wife debated about what to do if they were pulled over by the police. Part of the plan was to always carry a passport, but he and his family agreed that they needed to have a “talk” strategy. It brought me back to conversations I had at 16, when I first learned to drive. My parents gave me “the talk,” and I gave my Black son “the talk” about what to do if stopped by the police. Now, 40 years later, I was listening to a young Asian American pastor having a similar conversation — not the kind of circle widening we need in our nation.
I was left with one burning question: Who responds to theological and social disasters in our world? Isn’t that the place of the church — or are we too rooted in the Red, White and the Blue to bring healing and hope to our communities? Sure, if there is a flood or wildfire, we can call Mennonite Disaster Service, and Anabaptists from all over will pick up their hammers and tool belts to restore homes and build bridges.
But who answers the call when human beings are tortured, killed or put in prison because of politics and policies? How does the church weigh in when the issue is a broken justice system versus a broken levy?
We all need to wrestle with this issue, not just the people in the seven counties of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area. Loving your neighbor is a preeminent foundation to the teachings of Christ. Maybe our first step to sharing that love is widening our circle and standing side by side with those with differing perspectives.
[FREE RESOURCE] 10 Embodied Ways to Draw the Circle Wide
Move from intention to action with ten concrete practices that help your church widen the circle with courage and care.
A Framing Question for Every Congregation
Instead of asking, “Are we safe?”
Ask, “Who among us is not safe — and what would love require?”
Widening the circle is not sentiment. It is proximity, courage and shared risk — the lived expression of loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Download the accompanying resource, “10 Embodied Ways to Draw the Circle Wide.” We invite you to share it with your congregation and discern together how the Spirit may be calling your community to practice courageous, Christ-centered solidarity.