Phoenix 2013 MCUSA Convention: A Shalom Response

For roughly the past year the Mennonite Church USA has been struggling with the question of whether to proceed with their plans to hold their 2013 national convention in Phoenix. This issue came to the forefront when, several months after the initial convention site decision was made, Arizona passed Senate Bill 1070 enacting a series of punitive laws dealing with undocumented immigrants. In response to SB 1070 many of our Hispanic and other ethnic Mennonite brothers and sisters indicated they would be unwilling to travel to Phoenix to attend the convention. To further muddy the waters major portions of SB 1070 were suspended by the ninth circuit court and that judicial review process continues to the present day. After protracted discussions and negotiations church officials decided to proceed with plans to hold the convention in Phoenix but this decision has been met with significant resistance by many church members.

By virtue of its geography as the Mennonite Church in Arizona located closest to the border Shalom Mennonite Fellowship has found itself at the focal point of many of these discussions and considerations. Members of shalom experience the impact of undocumented immigrants in a variety of ways. These experiences coupled with our geographic proximity to the border mean that in a real sense the larger Mennonite church tends to look to us for answers to some of the difficult questions raised by this issue. It is for this reason as well as trying to heed the call to be faithful disciples of Christ that we need to deeply and prayerfully consider our response to this situation.

Shalom is in many ways typical of an urban Mennonite church in an academic community. We are small, diverse, experience a high degree of turnover, and find it a challenge to discern a common faithful response to many of the complex issues that life presents us. When we are confronted by the question "What should we do in response to the Mennonite convention scheduled for Phoenix in 2013?" it is very difficult for us as a congregation to speak with one voice. Indeed, it is unlikely that as a diverse set of Christians we will ever come to total agreement on the proper action or actions that should be taken in this situation. However, it is possible that we might come to consensus on the basic principles that would guide our dialogue as we attempt to explore this complex question. For that reason in a recent “second hour” discussion we stepped back from the question of “What is the right thing to do?” and decided instead to start by asking ourselves “What are the Christian principles that should underlie our thinking and decision-making concerning the 2013 conference?" If we can agree on the basic principles that inform our discussion of this question then perhaps that agreement will assist us in coming to a better consensus on what action or actions should be taken.

Here are some candidate principles that may form the basis for further discussion:
• all activities should have the goal of building up the church
• we must show care, compassion and concern for each person
• we must witness to the reality of injustice and evil in our world
• God's love has no borders
• when politics and the state conflict with our understanding of what it means to be faithful Christians then we must choose to follow Christ
• each one of us has sinned and fallen short of God's will for our life
• each one of us is loved and valued by God
• the effect of SB 1070 is to de-humanize those who are undocumented residents, this is the same basic mechanism that was used historically to justify slavery, apartheid, and the Holocaust
• we must use the 2013 conference to strengthen the church, potential opportunities to do this can take advantage of:
o education of fellow members concerning immigration issues
o witness to state political figures
o opportunities for face-to-face meetings with people who are undocumented
o supporting the church with our physical presence as well as our finances
• Our care and concern must extend to those (all of us) who make mistakes