The delegate session this afternoon was much longer than the previous two - from 1330 to past 1700. But we did (or at least talked about) a lot. Here're the highlights:

Member Profile 2006. Conrad Kanagy presented key points from his 2006 demographic and opinion survey of Mennonites across the country. I'm not sure I feel good about the results, which seemed to show that the church is both shrinking and losing its commitment to its historic peace position. Apparently, more than a fifth of Mennonites say they would choose some form of military service if drafted, almost a quarter think that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a good decision - and 14 percent of our households own handguns!

Apart from my personal objections to all these positions, I think this assimilation of Mennonite views into the American mainstream may exacerbate the problem of shrinking membership. If we lose our uniqueness, what good news do we have to bring to people that they can't get at the megachurch down the street?

There is one bright spot, though: as a group, people from non-European backgrounds are expanding their presence in the church, and nonwhite congregations are growing faster and show more commitment to outreach. Whatever else our future will be, it's going to be more diverse.

Christian Churches Together. We also discussed a proposal (to be voted on later in the week) to join Christian Churches Together, an ecumenical organization that spans the historic branches of the Church. It seems like a good group, and, based on my table's responses, it looks like we'll vote to join.

Apology to Native Americans. The Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in support of a U.S. Government apology to Native Americans for centuries of persecution, neglect, and mistreatment in the course of European settlement of the present-day United States. In the materials delegates received in connection with our resolution was a suggestion that everyone write their congressmen and senators to ask them to support the apology bill (designated S.J.RES.4 in the Senate, and H.J.RES.3 in the House), as a first step towards reconciliation.

Sustainability. Anita Amstutz and Luke Gascho presented some principles of environmentalism in an Anabaptist context for our discussion. This felt a little vague to me; it's certainly important to articulate a commitment to sustainability as a church, but I think it may be far more important to be thinking about specific policies we can implement towards those goals. (Just off the top of my head, MMA could begin promoting green design and architecture when it helps finance church building projects.) As it was, we didn't even vote on a resolution!

More tomorrow!

Labels: church, San Jose 2007