What does a letter buried in an Indiana archive have to do\nwith questions about staying in Mennonite Church USA today? Quite a bit, I\u2019d\nargue. The letter, which I found in our denominational archives eight years\nago, reveals that some of the earliest Virginia Mennonite leaders believed in\nthe value of a church-wide association of congregations. Upon finding the\nletter, I had a little party of one by the copying machine in the lobby. Since\nthen, I\u2019ve discovered more stories confirming that in each era, Virginia\nleaders have spoken for, written about, and defended the value of staying with\nthe denomination. Please consider these brief vignettes that I think provide\nsignificant direction for today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1853<\/strong>: That thin\nand yellowed letter in the Indiana archive came from the pen of Virginia\nMennonite Bishop Martin Burkholder. Thirty-six, he wrote a letter to a\nPennsylvania Bishop friend, and asked that he and other ministers in Lancaster\nConference consider helping him create a general conference of Mennonites. Burkholder\nand Bishop Samuel Shank Sr. made several circuit trips to Pennsylvania, Ohio,\nNew York, and Canada, asking for a general conference to be formed, but to no\navail. After Bishop Martin Burkholder passed away a few months before the Civil\nWar began, it would be decades until his vision for a Mennonite association of\narea conferences came into being. The great irony of my search in libraries and\narchives along the east coast, and then finding the letter in Indiana, 157\nyears after it was written in the Shenandoah Valley, is that having a national archive\nis one outstanding rationale for staying with a denomination long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1897<\/strong>: A year\nbefore the Mennonite Church got organized in 1898, Virginia Bishop Lewis J.\nHeatwole traveled to Elida, Ohio, for preliminary meetings. He and other\nministers like Christian Good and Samuel M. Burkholder went to see what was\nhappening, and to report back to leaders in Virginia. L. J. Heatwole faithfully\ntraveled to the early meetings of the Mennonite Church, and kept Virginia\nConference informed about wider church developments. With L. J. Heatwole\u2019s\nclear leadership toward participating, Virginia Conference joined the Mennonite\nGeneral Conference in 1911.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1919<\/strong>: When\nVirginia Mennonite Conference met a year after World War I ended, it adopted\neighteen fundamentals of faith. Conservative in nature, the articles were\nadopted, almost word for word, two years later by the Mennonite Church.\nVirginia Conference\u2019s action, adopted at my home congregation in Broadway,\nVirginia, October 18, 1919, held significant influence and sway on the\nMennonite Church for nearly two generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1942<\/strong>: When\ncritical ministers urged Virginia Conference to leave the Mennonite Church\nduring WWII, Bishop John L. Stauffer reacted strongly. Though some thought the\nbroader church had become too liberal, Stauffer stated that Virginia needed to\nstay and not leave. Bishop Stauffer, then President of Eastern Mennonite\nCollege, had significant church wide experience, and he urged the Conference to\nstay in the denomination. Stauffer\u2019s voice, along with others, won the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1981<\/strong>: Ruth\nBrunk Stoltzfus waited patiently to speak at the Mennonite Church Convention in\nBowling Green, Ohio. The hot topic was whether women could be involved in\nministry. Her speech at an open microphone stirred many, and helped to create\naction in the direction of accepting women in leadership. Virginia Bishop\nGlendon Blosser ably and gladly served as Moderator at the 1981 Bowling Green\nConference, the seventh of eleven Virginia Mennonite leaders to serve as moderator\nof the denomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1997<\/strong>: My wife\nand I took our family to Orlando, Florida, for the Mennonite Church General\nAssembly in the summer of 1997. While our three young children enjoyed the fun\ntimes for kids and we soaked up the Florida warmth, I served as a delegate from\nVirginia Conference. We took our kids to Disneyland after the Mennonite Church\nmade proactive plans to integrate with the General Conference. Owen Burkholder,\nfrom Harrisonburg, served in 1997 as both denominational moderator and as\nVirginia Conference minister, the lead executive staff position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2019<\/strong>: Today\u2019s issues are different than in the past, but in other ways quite similar. I teach history and Bible to descendants of Bishop Martin Burkholder, whose letter I found in Indiana. I try to help them understand the high value their ancestor held in organizing a general conference. Further, I will take a bit of Bishop Burkholder\u2019s spirited vision with me when I serve as a delegate at the 2019 Mennonite Church USA Convention in Kansas City. My reading of Virginia Mennonite Conference history is that at each turn in the road of divisive issues, key leaders in Virginia Conference have spoken in favor of participation in the wider denomination. Such is the direction I would urge today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What does a letter buried in an Indiana archive have to do with questions about staying in Mennonite Church USA today? Quite a bit, I\u2019d argue. The letter, which I found in our denominational archives eight years ago, reveals that some of the earliest Virginia Mennonite leaders believed in the value of a church-wide association … Continue reading Staying with the denomination<\/span>