Broken boundaries
The allegation of sexual abuse at a church camp (on page 13) reminds us of the sad reality that sexual abuse touches the church community in profound ways. The example of Christ and our peace theology compel us to recognize and to address the violence that happens in our midst. In the past, Canadian Mennonite…
When church doesn’t feel safe
There is a new culture in North America around sexual harassment and abuse. The social media hashtag #MeToo is everywhere, and we are starting to address abusive behaviour in the church with the hashtag #ChurchToo. Most Mennonite churches today have safe place policies that seek to prevent and address abuse. We know about our…
Life-giving touch
Many years ago, a boyfriend who subsequently became my husband gave me a book about touch and its essential place in human well-being. At the time, touch was a delightful dynamic in our new relationship. Within the boundaries of our Christian ethics, we explored physical intimacies, one of the expressions of our deepening love. Then…
A hedge of protection
Forty Mennonite Church Manitoba clergy attended the area church’s biennial “Healthy boundaries” seminar, held this year at Carman Mennonite Church. Led this spring by clinical psychologist Lois Edmund, the conference is mandatory once every four years for all credentialled MC Manitoba pastors. Topics covered at the seminars include “Boundaries defined and their importance in ministry,”…
Can sex with a pastor be an affair?
(The following article discusses a difficult topic in story form. All characters are fictional, although the events referred to are based on an amalgamation of true experiences.) She went to her pastor for advice, not sex. Another woman accepted her pastor’s invitation to chair a committee he oversaw, not an invitation to be sexually preyed…
Church seeks to help Yoder sex abuse survivors
Mennonite Church Canada is discerning how best to respond to Canadian survivors of sexual abuse by theologian John Howard Yoder. Survivors of Yoder’s sexual abuse in the United States, which came to light in the 1970s and ’80s, have renewed their call for Mennonite Church U.S.A. leaders and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) to “revisit…
