Welcoming the Stranger: Same-sex Marriage from a Canadian Mennonite Perspective

Questions surrounding same-sex marriage have been the subject of debate in our denomination, Mennonite Church Canada, for the past three decades or so, and we are seemingly no closer to consensus today. It is indeed an explosive issue, one that touches the core of ecclesiology (how we understand church as both inclusive and particular, the relationship of church and state), hermeneutics (how we interpret the Bible for ethics, the relationship between the Old and New Testaments), and socio-cultural questions (including the so-called culture wars of “liberals”/“progressives” versus “conservatives”). It is a truly multi-faceted issue, and therefore deeply divisive. It has resulted in an impasse today, with those supporting same-sex marriage and those against it having duly articulated their biblically-supported positions without much success – that is, without much evidence of changing minds or impending steps toward a unified decision.

Given this current impasse, what is the way forward for us as a Mennonite church?

Susanne Guenther Loewen, doctorate student at Toronto School of Theology, summarizes the Anabaptist voices for a "third-way" option.