Pulpit and Politics: Clergy in American Politics at the Advent of the Millennium

16. Mennonite Church USA

For few religious groups have political questions been more central to their identity than to Mennonites. As descendents of the Anabaptist wing of the Reformation, the Mennonites have focused above all on pacifism or nonresistance to evil. Adhering to a “two kingdoms” doctrine , they have respected the authority of the state as an instrument of God against evildoers, but have refused to participate in the state’s use of “the sword.” As members of Christ’s kingdom of regenerated believers , Mennonites assumed a radical separation between the religious community and the kingdoms of this world, although they sometimes disagreed over the degree of separation. In recent decades, however, traditional Mennonite rejection of political entanglements has been challenged by the social, theological, and political forces reshaping their communities. Some Mennonites have retained a posture of strict noninvolvement, while others have undertaken more active roles in influencing government on “peace and justice ” issues (Graber Miller 1996). This emerging conflict is most visible in the largest Mennonite denomination, the Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA), produced by a 2001 merger between the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. This chapter focuses 207 Chapter 16 Mennonite Church USA Lyman A. Kellstedt and James L. Guth on the political orientations of MCUSA clergy, who serve as important interpreters of Mennonite heritage for their congregations. As we will show, there are vital political differences emerging among the clergy— and incipient divisions between a majority of MCUSA laity and their pastors. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The 2001 merger united the major institutional representatives of two important streams in American Mennonite history (Graber Miller 1996). The “Old” Mennonite Church traced its origins to migrations of German and Swiss Mennonites to North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although most settled initially in Pennsylvania and Ohio, others eventually moved west, and some, to Canada. Because of past persecutions by European governments, this wing usually practiced strict separation from the world, especially from government concerns. In theological terms, however, the emerging Mennonite Church tried to maintain a moderate position, and thus was subject to schisms from both right and left during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The second Mennonite stream consisted of the Dutch-Russian immigration , which was eventually institutionalized in the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC). Although of varied ethnic origins, these immigrants’ more positive experience with local government during their sojourns in the Netherlands and Russia led them to be more open to Christian political involvement (except, of course, in military roles). Concentrating in the American Midwest and West, some of these Mennonites even ran for public office and served in local government, in state office, and occasionally in Congress. The GCMC was more strongly congregational in polity than the Mennonite Church, allowing a variety of theological and political shadings to persist without major schisms. The theological and political beliefs of Mennonites have never fit comfortably within the usual American ideological frameworks. With their emphasis on the authority of the Bible, the saving role of Jesus, believers’ baptism, and other familiar tenets of Christian orthodoxy, as well as their concern with personal morality, the Mennonites at first glance look like American evangelicals. But Mennonites have always focused on applying the message of Scripture in simple living, seeking 208 Mennonite Church USA Lyman A. Kellstedt and James L. Guth 209 peace and justice, and fostering Christian community in ways that have recently moved them into alliances with theologically liberal, mainline Christians. During the twentieth century, a constellation of forces opened both theological and political divisions within the Mennonite community, making it more difficult to maintain the balance between conservative theology and liberal social concerns. These divisions appeared both within the Mennonite leadership, and to an increasing extent, between leadership groups and laity (Graber Miller 1996). Tensions first emerged from the modernist-fundamentalist controversy that rocked other American churches and the Mennonites during the early 1900s. Conservative church members accused college and seminary faculty of adopting modern critical perspectives on the Bible, leading to several purges. At the same time, outside fundamentalist groups wooed traditionalist Mennonites, with limited success, leading some congregations to join schismatic conservative groups (Redekop 1989). In the second half of the century, theological divisions among Mennonites widened as the social transformation of the community accelerated: rapid migration into urban areas, increasing educational attainments, and movement into professional occupations encouraged new liberal-conservative fissures. In recent years, Mennonites have battled over theology, social issues such as...