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BMC 40th Anniversary Sermon – Hope Beyond Our Sorrow
Preached by Bonnie Kline Smeltzer July 1, 2016 Annual Conference Greensboro, NC Months ago when I was invited to preach at this worship...
Sep 2, 2016
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Loving the tradition from the margins: What Malcolm Gladwell is missing about power in his Mennonite
This article was originally posted on Pink Menno's blog. Chester Wenger’s “An open letter to my beloved church” in 2014 was a beautiful,...
Aug 19, 2016
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I cannot speak of love to you today
This article was originally posted on The Mennonite's website. Earlier this summer, my 20-year-old son had a burned out headlight on his...
Jul 11, 2016
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A response from Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests, the Supportive Communities Network St
“To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true.” – Bayard Rustin On Monday, a narrow majority of the Standing Committee of the...
Jun 29, 2016
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BMC at Church of the Brethren Annual Conference
At the end of this month, the Church of the Brethren will gather for its Annual Conference. Here is the context in which we will gather:...
Jun 22, 2016
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BMC Responds to Orlando
Today, BMC grieves with the Orlando lgbtq community, particularly the Latinx lgbtq community. We mourn a cultural context that gives rise...
Jun 13, 2016
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Virgin Nation Review: Evangelical Purity Culture
In Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence, author Sara Moslener examines the evangelical purity movement in the United...
Jun 7, 2016
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Expressions of Pride
Bethel College (KS) Pride Week Convocation: April 11, 2016 On June 28, 1969, as police were filing patrons out of a gay bar in Greenwich...
Apr 27, 2016
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Open Letter to Constituency Leaders Council of MC USA
It was recently reported that BMC had declined an invitation from the CLC to have an lgbtq person at each table for “dialogue.” Here’s...
Apr 22, 2016
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Coming home to our bodies: trauma and justice
My senior year of high school, I was talking to a school counselor about an experience I had earlier that year with another classmate. As...
Jan 29, 2016
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Pacifist Battlegrounds: The Struggle for Queer Inclusion in a Peace Church
Bethel College Convocation, November 16, 2015 On June 26 of this past summer, at my dining room table with my spouse and several of our...
Dec 29, 2015
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Historically-Grounded Organizing: A Reflection on Stonewall
When the trailer for the Hollywood-produced movie “Stonewall” was released this past August, activists on the internet took to...
Dec 29, 2015
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An Open Letter in the Wake of the Termination of My Ordination
First of all – to all those who have reached out to me, to my family, and to the Bridgewater COB in love and care, whether you are “with”...
Dec 17, 2015
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Untethered...Reflections on Kansas City
Losing faith is not the same as losing belief, but it can break the fragile tether between a person and her innocence just the same. ...
Oct 19, 2015
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Reflecting on My Religious Heritage
My last semester at Goshen College, I took a class called congregational ministries taught by Keith Graber Miller. On the first and...
Oct 16, 2015
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A Ruptured Circle
It was a neat and nearly perfect circle of deniability. Denominational leaders would grimace and carefully explain to us how the church...
Aug 1, 2014
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A Pastor's Response
Response to IMMC Statement of Charge against Karl Shelly Greetings to you, sisters and brothers in Christ on the IMMC Ministry...
Jul 25, 2014
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Being Forced Out of the Church
I've been very busy since starting seminary. Not just with school work, but also with acclimating to a new place and making new...
Jul 5, 2014
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Feb 26, 2014
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An Open Letter to Ervin Stuzman
Dear Ervin Stutzman, Grace and peace to you. I recently read your response to the "Rule of Love" letter. I was particularly struck by...
Feb 14, 2014
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