Gay and lesbian Mennonites protest exclusion from church

July 3, 2:27 AMInternational LGBT Issues ExaminerKelvin Lynch

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A group of gay and lesbian Mennonites, known as Pink Menno gathered outside the national Mennonite Church USA convention in Ohio to protest their exlusion from the church, according to the AP.

In a quiet act of defiance, the group of about 100 church ministers and church members prayed, sang religious hymns, and told stories of feeling ostracized growing up in the Mennonite church, which does not recognize openly gay members.

The gay rights movement among Mennonites gained steam several months ago when nearly 1,400 ministers signed a letter calling on the church to allow homosexual members to worship along with everyone else.

The definition of what's acceptable among Mennonite congregations is murky at best. In some congregations, gay Mennonites are welcome as long as they remain celibate. In others, they are shunned.

Congregations are disciplined — and, in rarer cases, kicked out altogether — for allowing non-celibate gay members to worship with them. Pastors who perform civil unions for gay couples run the risk of losing their ordination.

Rev. Cynthia Lapp, pastor of a Mennonite church in Hyattsville, Md., said her congregation lost its voting rights within the denomination for welcoming gay worshippers in 2005. She declined to say whether they might face expulsion.

"I was astounded when I talked with a mother who said she was grateful that her gay son and his partner left the church," Lapp told those gathered at the protest. "It was too painful to have him stay and be rejected."

With about 110,000 members, Mennonite Church USA represents the largest and most mainstream group of Mennonites in the U.S., most of whom do not shun technology or wear traditional clothing like the more conservative branches of the church. But many progressive Mennonites have relatives who are part of the Old Order, and some women still wear head coverings.

The Mennonite religion is rooted in a 16th-century movement in Europe known as Anabaptism, which coincided with the Protestant Reformation and called for adults to be baptized before joining the church. The Mennonites took their name from Menno Simons, a Dutch Catholic priest who broke away from his church in 1536.

The Pink Menno Campaign is a burgeoning group that says its intent is "to ensure that the Church is a space where all can experience Christ's radical love."

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