National Young Adult Conference
The Church of the Brethren’s National Young Adult Conference (NYAC) was a disappointingly realistic example of slow social change. Mirroring the denomination itself, NYAC attenders represented a wide range of social, theological and political positions. And like the denomination itself, leadership refused to take an official stand on controversial matters.
This refusal often comes from a heartfelt love for the Church of the Brethren (CoB) and a desire for unity and harmony. Instead, those in leadership find that no one is happy, and their authority is questioned.
Only two of the eight sermons were preached by women; these sermons were also the only two preached by young adults. These young women (great preachers with important messages) were a stark contrast from the others preachers – male, older (than young adults, at least) with official leadership positions within the CoB. It’s wonderful that preachers were called from less-institutionally-powerful demographics, but a lot of pressure on these young women to be lined up with all heavy-hitters.
Of the six sermons I heard, five consistently used male pronouns for God. I was especially frustrated to hear this language coming from denominational leadership, who, even if they actually believe that God is male, should be particularly interested in reaching as many in the denomination as possible through intentional use of language. Even the 1981 Church of the Brethren Handbook of Style and Useage states, “English pronouns for God have traditionally been masculine. These should be avoided.”
I was especially sad to hear male language for God from the two young women who preached. I hope to learn more from them of their own theology and motivations around exclusive and inclusive language.
Exclusive language was used in much of the liturgy during these worship services as well, even for humanity. Can it be, in 2008, that turning “men” to “people” is too much of a hassle?
I led a workshop about inclusive language, and 10 fantastic and creative people attended. We looked at scripture, wrote liturgy, developed divine images, and discussed the importance of words in shaping our theology. Thanks to Womaen’s Caucus for making this workshop possible!
Elizabeth Keller’s workshop “Standing at the Birthstool” also dealt creatively and dynamically with inclusive language and image. Wendy Matheny’s workshop on “Brethren Feminism” was a vibrant and relevant conversation between a bunch of Brethren feminists. All three of these workshops offered new insight and information. But did anyone who didn’t already believe that inclusive language is important, or consider her/himself feminist, attend them? As far as I know, no. This does not undermine their importance, but means we still need a venue for inspiring new people to use inclusive language and dismantle patriarchy.
At NYAC, LGBTQ participants felt unheard. Official booth space or a workshop session were not granted to Brethren Mennonite Council. Queer participants were able to be visible through an On Earth Peace session about difficult dialogs, the OEP booth, a worship service and an open mic night. This was the most queer presence I have seen at any mainstream CoB event.
And, not surprisingly, at least a few homophobic (and other? is there a better word?) participants told leadership that they were uncomfortable with the presence that queer participants DID have.
What will CoB leaders do with this conflicting response? What will future young adult conferences be like?
Is there any way to move to true welcome and inclusion without walking through this muck?
How can we empower our leaders to speak and act honestly and prophetically?
How do we make sure everyone’s core identity is welcome, even if that means that not all beliefs are welcome?
Filed under: conferences on August 18th, 2008 by Anna Lisa
As the current volunteer with BMC, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet other lgbtq and ally young adults at NYAC. I’m going to think more about my thoughts there for another post.
I will say that I learned so much from women, womaen, womyn, etc. at this conference. All workshops I chose to attend were lead by strong women — a presence I often see sliding away in the CoB. Wendy Matheny’s workshop on Feminism and the Church of the Brethren really opened my eyes to just how sad the state of the Church is for the feminists in that room. I think my favorite term used to describe the CoB was “glacial.”
There is a spark in young adults in the Church of the Brethren… it at times brought me to tears at NYAC. I realized that out of the maybe 8 times I teared up at the conference (it was an emotional week for me), 7 of those times were a result of witnessing the power of women. The CoB is lucky to have us, whether it realizes it or not.
Great comments, Anna Lisa and Maggie. Your insights were very “right on,” as we older ones used to say. Too bad that usage of inclusive language has lapsed back into familiar patriarchal language without thought to how that affects us. I think part of the problem is that we are trying to hard to appease various “factions” within the church without offending anyone, which means that ultimately we offend everyone. I think many of our church “leaders” lack courage to follow their convictions. Prophets are rarely popular but immensely valuable to the movement of the Spirit among us. We’ve lost our prophetic voice by trying to be all to everyone.
I wasn’t at NYAC of course (being too old), but I noticed the lack of inclusive language during worship at Annual Conference this year. Was it because we were meshing with the Brethren Church? Was it because leadership was trying not to offend the majority? I don’t know, but I felt sad and disappointed.
But then, our final sermon was Melissa Bennett’s, which was wonderfully refreshing, honest, brave, and inspiring! Probably, for some, it was pretty controversial, but an “Amen Sister!” rose up in me when she preached inclusively with language and on issues. Until that moment, homosexuality had been ignored and skirted around as if the church is the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand. For that moment, at least, the ostrich’s head came up and looked everyone straight in the eyes.
There’s biphobia too. Has queerphobia been used as a term in lgbtq discourse?
Thanks, Anna Lisa and others, for this discussion place!
I also noticed and bristled a little at how solidly male God was in NYAC worship services, but I felt the explicit issue of exclusive language much less than the implicit and simmering church conflict over sexuality.
You asked, Anna Lisa, if there is any way to welcome and inclusion without walking through the muck. I think the answer is definitely not. In some ways, that makes me sad – why do we have to be so divided and cause each other so much pain? On the other hand, I think the muck is an inherent part of being the church together. A welcome would be cheap and inclusion wouldn’t be full if we didn’t work together, all the way through the mud and the muck, to get there.
And, should all church leadership be prophetic? The biblical prophets usually came from outside current structures of power, were usually shunned (or at least ignored) by their communities, and generally weren’t great at keeping communities together…
This is a really important conversation – thanks for creating a place to have it!