Written by Ervin Stutzman, Executive Director of Mennonite Church USA
As of January 1, 2018, Lancaster Mennonite Conference has officially left the Mennonite Church USA denomination. This decision was made two years ago, and we have been processing and preparing for this time as a denomination.
We are disappointed that Lancaster Mennonite Conference made the decision to leave MC USA, because it is painful to separate from part of our body in Christ. We will miss our mutual sharing of valuable gifts and perspectives, and lament our diminished capacity for fellowship across difference.
The official separation does not mean that all of our relationships with Lancaster Conference will end. Members of the conference will continue to participate in some MC USA program agencies such as Everence and MHS Alliance. And there are many other ways that members will cross paths in the coming years, particularly in inter-Mennonite programs such as Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Disaster Service, and Mennonite Economic Development Associates.
Although we are now separate structural bodies, we all remain part of the body of Christ. Thus, we pray for Lancaster Conference in carrying out the ministry to which they feel called by God.