Walking Together in Faithfulness: A Guide for Mennonite Church Manitoba Congregations in Their Discernment and Practice of LGBTQ+ Welcome

In 2021, Mennonite Church Manitoba held a listening circle in which pastors, lay leaders, and other members from across MCM met together to share where our congregations were at on the matter of LGBTQ+ inclusion. This listening circle highlighted a reality which has also been confirmed in other conversations among us: we do not all agree on the matter of same-sex relationships, or even how best to welcome LGBTQ+ people in our congregations, and likely we never will agree on these things. We continue to create space among us for differences in congregational discernment on this.

“Walking Together in Faithfulness” is neither a policy statement for MCM nor a comprehensive resource on “all things LGBTQ+.” It is a resource for MCM congregations to use if and as they wish in their own discernment and practice related to welcoming or affirming LGBTQ+ people, acknowledging that we are diverse in our understandings of what it means to be faithful to Christ in this matter. One common thread from our conversations, however, is that we desire to love LGBTQ+ persons and welcome them into our congregations as we do all people: as persons created in God’s image and recipients of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. This resource is intended to help congregations follow through on this desire.

“Walking Together in Faithfulness” also attempts to sketch out some ways in which we can live faithfully together in the unity of the Spirit and the way of Jesus, even through our disagreement on this matter. Congregations are encouraged to use this resource as a way to help us learn better how to love one another as siblings in Christ.