Bethlehem 83 and George Brunk II

Transcription

1 Bethlehem 83 and George Brunk II (from the Ross T. Bender online seminar 2004, moderated by Ross L. Bender) I am enjoying your comments very much, especially your memories about Bethlehem 83 and the use of parliamentary procedure. I had forgotten most of that, probably because there was so much to remember and some of it was exceedingly stressful. I will not rehearse in detail the events leading up to the special meeting in which the delegates received the report of a specially convened task group which had been appointed by the General Board to read the booklet by George R. Brunk II, Crisis Among Mennonites. This booklet launched a vigorous attack on some of the published works of several Mennonite scholars whose writings were judged by George to verge on the heretical. The task group (okay, it was probably called a committee) was also asked to read the passages which Brunk had criticized and to report to the delegates what they had found. They reported earlier in the week to the General Board and George was also given a copy of the report and invited to respond both in the General Board session and in the delegate assembly. Both sessions were emotionally very intense.. It was fortunate for me that the moderator-elect was Myron Augsberger, a close colleague and friend of George. This kept the session free (or nearly so) from bias or the perception that this was a conflict bewtween EMS and GBS which it was not. The climax came when Willard Swartley came forward in support of George as a brother, not as one who agreed with the critique, for Willard was one of the scholars whose work George had criticized as George himself acknowledged, There followed a tearfilled embrace between George and Willard and a sense of relief and gratitude from the persons present that Gods Spirit had visited us and brought healing and hope. I hope that Ivan will fill in the pieces that are missing from this summary and that Willard will comment on his perspective as an observer who became one of the central participants in the unfolding drama of that afternoon.. In 1973 when the General Assembly met in Harrisonburg, I was the executive secretary of MBCM. We brought a study paper called The Role of Women in the Church. Although the ordination of women as pastors was not its central focus, everyone was aware that this issue was in the air. The Illinois Mennonite Conference had approached MBCM with a request for the new board to assist them in studying the question of Emma Richards ordination as pastor of the Lombard Mennonite Church. At the appointed hour, the room where the meeting was held was jampacked (standing room only) and the discussion was heated at times. On one side of the room (and the debate} stood George; on the other side stood his sister Ruth. It was high drama at its best. Neither gave an inch to the other. Though they remained divided on the issue, they were not divided as brother and sister. I sensed a strong familial bond between them that was deeply 1

2 moving. What a wonderful lesson for the rest of the church, to be able to continue to relate in love while disagreeing on the issues. Ruth eventually was ordained as pastor of a General Conference Mennonite church at Pandora, Ohio. Her account of the struggle that was precipitated in her family circled is recorded in her autobiography, A Way was Opened, coedited with Eve McMaster. In it I am quoted as a supporter and encourager. A third encounter with George took place during the years when he served as dean at EMS and I was dean at AMBS. Things were cordial between us and we both participated in the Council of Mennonite Seminaries. George had suggested that we do some faculty sharing which would enrich the curricula of all the Mennonite seminaries. He invited me to teach an interterm course at EMS in January 1978, which I did. During the summer of 1969 CMS held a joint faculty retreat at Aspen, CO in the Chapel of the Sermon on the Mount. Two other notable events took place during that week; one was called Chappaquidick and the other was known as the landing of a man on the moon. George was as excited by this latter event as a little kid and preached a sermon that day in our daily chapel in which he compared it to the resurrection and the ascension when the believers shall rise from this earth and be transported to a place in the heavens. I cannot comment on the hermeneutics but I will say that it was powerful preaching, a skill in which George was unsurpassed, even by Billy Graham. You will be surprised when I tell you that I miss George He was a large man and cut an impressive figure whenever he entered a room. He was not bashful about stating his convictions on a matter and he did not waver readily. Although I felt threatened by him on occasion (and with all due respect and empathy for those who were publicly challenged and in some cases misrepresented by him) I am at this stage of my life thinking that there is a place in our denomination for someone like George, a colorful prophetic figure, one who earnestly and boldly contends for the faith. In a time when Mennonites are facing an unparallelled diversity in their cultural practices and theological views, it is a service, not a hindrance, to enter the fray and to state with bold conviction the truth of the matter as one believes it, let the chips fall where they may. One who writes theological books that are read across the church can surely be counted on to hold his/her own in the debate which ensues. And if we can follow the model so well crafted by George and Ruth, fierce debate and fierce mutual loyalty, the church will be well served. --Ross T. Bender Appendix I: PROPOSAL OF PROCEDURE FOR RESPONSE TO GEORGE R. BRUNK II DOCUMENTS, AND TO THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION TO THE INDIANA-MICHIGAN CONFERENCE (Memo to General Board, July 6, 1983, from Ross Bender, Myron Augsburger, Wayne North, Ivan Kauffman) Appendix II: MENNONITE CHURCH GENERAL BOARD ACTIONS CONCERNING CRISIS (Memo to College and Seminary Presidents, August 1, 1983, from Albert J. Meyer, with 4-page SUMMARY OF THE ISSUES attached.) 2

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