{"id":14504,"date":"2014-01-28T14:58:19","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T18:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=14504"},"modified":"2026-08-13T14:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T21:02:12","slug":"will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Mennonites Make Space to Welcome Sin?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy\u00a0Menno-Lite<\/a><\/p>\n

150 appeal on behalf of sexual minorities in MC USA<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Tim Huber Mennonite World Review<\/em><\/p>\n

One hundred fifty Mennonite Church USA\u2008pastors and others credentialed for ministry have signed a letter calling on denominational leaders to \u201cchange church policies\u201d to \u201cmake space for congregations and pastors who welcome and bless\u201d gay and lesbian Christians and other sexual minorities.<\/p>\n

The letter was sent Jan. 24 to MC\u2008USA Executive Board members, conference ministers and other leaders.<\/p>\n

Letter organizers stated in a news release it is the \u201cbiggest collection of Mennonite pastors and credentialed leaders to affirm equal treatment for those in same-sex relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter asks for an end to the discipline of pastors and congregations that dissent from MC USA\u2019s teaching position that homosexual practice is a sin.<\/p>\n

The teaching position is based on the MC USA Confession of Faith, which states that \u201cGod intends marriage to be a covenant between one man and one woman for life,\u201d and by denominational statements from the 1980s that define \u201chomosexual, extramarital and premarital sexual activity as sin.\u201d (source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy\u00a0Menno-Lite 150 appeal on behalf…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":16584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[164,167,113,2575,45],"tags":[2932,2939,740,2170],"class_list":["post-14504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecumenism","category-contemplative-denominations","category-homosexuality","category-mennonites-churches-in-crisis","category-signs-of-the-times","tag-homosexuality","tag-same-sex-marriage","tag-mennonites","tag-mc-usa","wpcat-164-id","wpcat-167-id","wpcat-113-id","wpcat-2575-id","wpcat-45-id"],"yoast_head":"\nWill Mennonites Make Space to Welcome Sin? - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will Mennonites Make Space to Welcome Sin?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Courtesy\u00a0Menno-Lite 150 appeal on behalf...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-28T18:58:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-13T21:02:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bigstock-Open-Bible-with-textured-gran-29638121-e1786654920638.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4637\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3090\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Menno-Lite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Menno-Lite\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Menno-Lite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a6e2b8cf581e9d981e0b2095b092f3d\"},\"headline\":\"Will Mennonites Make Space to Welcome Sin?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-28T18:58:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-13T21:02:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":186,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/bigstock-Open-Bible-with-textured-gran-29638121-e1786654920638.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Homosexuality\",\"Same-Sex Marriage\",\"mennonites\",\"mc usa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ecumenism\",\"Contemplative Denominations\",\"Homosexuality\",\"Mennonites\",\"SIGNS OF THE TIMES\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/will-mennonites-make-space-to-welcome-sin\\\/\",\"name\":\"Will Mennonites Make Space to Welcome Sin? 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