At Portland Mennonite Church everyone is welcome to join us as we strive to follow the way of Jesus together. Whether you are old or young, whether you are trying to figure out what to do with your life, retired, working, or looking for work, whether you are straight, queer, or questioning, whether you are single, or married, divorced or widowed, whatever your race, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation or gender identity, you are welcome to participate fully in the life and ministries of our congregation, including baptism, membership, marriage, leadership and pastoral ministry. We recognize that we won’t always agree, but we trust the Spirit will grant us the wisdom and grace to love one another as God loves us all.
MEMBERSHIP AT PMC
we understand faith as a journey...
At Portland Mennonite Church we are striving to be a distinctively Christ-shaped community that is actively engaged in the compassion, shalom and justice of the Gospel. We don't think we can or should do this alone.
We invite you to join us wherever you are on your journey. Are you interested in joining Portland Mennonite Church or just looking for a place to ask some questions? Email one of our pastors... contact information is HERE. |
“For true evangelical faith...cannot lie dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it...clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it." |
How does PMC understand Baptism?
Baptism is an ancient rite of faith. It symbolizes our incorporation into a new life with Christ, a life that we live out together. So it is a commitment that those being baptized make and it is a commitment that we make – ‘to bear each others’ burdens, to assist in times of need … to support each other in joy and sorrow …’
Because we understand that our faith in Christ has to be lived out daily, practically and tangibly, we link it very closely to our life as a community. Membership in the congregation is, as in any organization, an administrative category – it is a way of knowing who can vote at meetings and serve in leadership roles. But in the church, membership is much more – it is the commitment we make to each other to live out our baptismal vows together. In the Anabaptist tradition baptism and membership are meant to shape all of life. So we ask people to attend a New Members class, we meet with them individually, we ask them to share with us their journey of faith in Christ, and we ask them to participate actively in the life of PMC.
If you would like to be baptized or would like to learn more about membership, or if you would like to learn more about PMC or our Anabaptist understanding and practice of Christian faith, please contact one of us. We would be glad to talk with you. (Contact information is here)
Written by Rod Stafford, former lead pastor of PMC 1999-2024
Because we understand that our faith in Christ has to be lived out daily, practically and tangibly, we link it very closely to our life as a community. Membership in the congregation is, as in any organization, an administrative category – it is a way of knowing who can vote at meetings and serve in leadership roles. But in the church, membership is much more – it is the commitment we make to each other to live out our baptismal vows together. In the Anabaptist tradition baptism and membership are meant to shape all of life. So we ask people to attend a New Members class, we meet with them individually, we ask them to share with us their journey of faith in Christ, and we ask them to participate actively in the life of PMC.
If you would like to be baptized or would like to learn more about membership, or if you would like to learn more about PMC or our Anabaptist understanding and practice of Christian faith, please contact one of us. We would be glad to talk with you. (Contact information is here)
Written by Rod Stafford, former lead pastor of PMC 1999-2024
How does PMC understand Communion?
Partaking the Bread and Cup of the Lord’s Table is one of the enduring practices of our Christian faith. Through the many centuries, though, people haven’t always agreed on what it means, who should participate, even whether to use leavened or unleavened bread, wine or grape juice.
At PMC we are eager for everyone to be part of the celebration of Communion. Jesus welcomed all sorts of folks to the table; often enough they were transformed by the encounter. At PMC the invitation isn’t just to participate in a ritual but to enter more deeply into life with God:
‘You are welcome, whoever you are and wherever you find yourselves on the journey of faith. Come and receive the gift of God’s grace; come and renew your commitment to follow the Way of Jesus; come and be strengthened by the Spirit.’
In our Mennonite tradition children don’t take the elements. We have always understood communion and baptism to be grown-up decisions that affect all of life. We welcome children to come with their families and receive a blessing.
So what about junior high students and high school youth who are working out their faith but haven’t yet been baptized? How do we encourage them to a deeper life with Christ? Historically, participation in communion has been
linked to baptism. We’re reluctant to draw a hard line there, though; Jesus wasn’t real particular about who he ate with. And if we mark off communion as being only for adults who are baptized, it tends to shut down conversations. Instead, we hope our youth will be talking with parents, each other, and pastors about what it all means.
We’ll start running a line in the bulletin prior to Communion that reads: ‘We encourage students and youth who have not yet been baptized but are ready to share the Bread and Cup to talk first with a parent or a pastor about the meaning of Communion.’
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to talk to anyone of us. These are the kind of conversations through which faith is formed in all of us.
Written by Rod Stafford, former lead pastor of PMC 1999-2024
At PMC we are eager for everyone to be part of the celebration of Communion. Jesus welcomed all sorts of folks to the table; often enough they were transformed by the encounter. At PMC the invitation isn’t just to participate in a ritual but to enter more deeply into life with God:
‘You are welcome, whoever you are and wherever you find yourselves on the journey of faith. Come and receive the gift of God’s grace; come and renew your commitment to follow the Way of Jesus; come and be strengthened by the Spirit.’
In our Mennonite tradition children don’t take the elements. We have always understood communion and baptism to be grown-up decisions that affect all of life. We welcome children to come with their families and receive a blessing.
So what about junior high students and high school youth who are working out their faith but haven’t yet been baptized? How do we encourage them to a deeper life with Christ? Historically, participation in communion has been
linked to baptism. We’re reluctant to draw a hard line there, though; Jesus wasn’t real particular about who he ate with. And if we mark off communion as being only for adults who are baptized, it tends to shut down conversations. Instead, we hope our youth will be talking with parents, each other, and pastors about what it all means.
We’ll start running a line in the bulletin prior to Communion that reads: ‘We encourage students and youth who have not yet been baptized but are ready to share the Bread and Cup to talk first with a parent or a pastor about the meaning of Communion.’
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to talk to anyone of us. These are the kind of conversations through which faith is formed in all of us.
Written by Rod Stafford, former lead pastor of PMC 1999-2024
How does PMC understand Sexuality and Faithfulness?
Key Questions
At Portland Mennonite Church (PMC), our commitment to “seek the peace of the city” provides a framework for discerning the way forward amid our discussions, agreements, and disagreements on human sexuality. We have identified three key elements of peace-seeking: deep spirituality, warm hospitality, and active engagement. They each pose important questions:
A Theology of Sexuality
In the beginning, the scriptures make clear that we are all created in the image of God: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
We are all created as sexual beings. Our bodies, our sense of self, the ways we interact with others are shaped by our sexuality. And our sexuality is intrinsically connected to our spirituality; something about being created “male and female” reflects the imago dei (“image of God”). The language that the Bible uses to describe the connection of spirituality and sexuality is covenant. We are created in the image of God and, like God, we have the capacity to make and keep deep commitments in ways that make relationships meaningful, joyful, and holy. In the Old Testament, the prophets used the metaphor of marriage to describe the covenantal relationship of God and God’s people. God was husband to Israel’s wife; God’s love was persistent even when Israel was unfaithful.
In the gospels, Jesus uses the language of covenant to describe our relationships to each other. He affirms the covenant of marriage. When he was asked about a man divorcing his wife, he replied: “have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?" (Matthew 19:4-5). More broadly, he makes clear that all of our relationships are to be marked by fidelity, persistence, loving-kindness, forgiveness, warmth and integrity.
The notion of covenant also shapes our understanding of sex. Sexual intercourse is powerful. It can be powerfully good (healthy, intimate, life-giving); it can be powerfully bad (harmful, damaging, abusive). So how can sex be made holy?
The answer of the church has been marriage. The covenant of marriage is a strong enough commitment to contain the power of sex, to free sex from the fear or abuse or casualness that robs it of intimacy. Of course, betrayal and abuse happen; relationships break. We are all sinners. But the affirmation of the church has always been that marriage is what makes sex holy. That is a counter-cultural commitment that stands against casual or promiscuous sex; against anything that objectifies (sexism) or profits from sex (pornography); and certainly and always it stands against all forms of abuse. We are all created in the image of God. We are all created as sexual beings. We are all created with the capacity for deep, meaningful, joyful, life-giving relationships with God and with each other.
The Practice of Hospitality
At Portland Mennonite Church we want to welcome everyone into a congregation within which we are all called to live out, to embody, to enact the covenantal love of God. We want to encourage friendships that are enduring, honest, and joyful. We want to honor the ones who are single and make sure everyone is included in all aspects of the life of the church. And we want to support, bless, and affirm marriages.
We recognize that we don’t all agree. Some of us have discerned that the historic understanding of marriage as being between “one man and one woman for life” is right (Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective - 1995, Article 19), and that homosexual sex is intrinsically “sin.” Others have discerned that the Spirit is calling us to welcome people who are gay, lesbian and bisexual into the covenant of marriage, and that exclusion of them is “sin.”
We recognize that many people at PMC have discerned that the inclusive, affirming stance toward the covenant of marriage is faithful. Some of us have felt frustration with the church’s reluctance to move forward; some of us have feared judgment and exclusion if we come out; and some of us are worried that there is no place for us at PMC.
We also recognize that those who hold the historic view have felt marginalized, disrespected and patronized. Some of us have been afraid of what others will think of us if our views are known; some of us have been offended when we hear “you’ll come around”; and some of us are fearful that there is no place for us at PMC.
The Way Forward
As a Leadership Table, after much discernment and prayer, and recognizing that not all of us agree, we propose:
This means that when a couple from PMC asks to be married, it will be important:
We recognize that we do not all agree. We lament that this process has caused pain and grief. We confess that it is difficult to hold differing views. Trusting that the Spirit of Christ can bind us together amid our disagreements:
We understand that this sort of complex community can be hard to sustain. It is difficult to hold differing views. But we are committed to this congregation and we trust that even when we disagree we can find a deeper unity in the love of Christ who embraces us all.
May it be so.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
- Originally proposed by the PMC Leadership Table to the congregation on October 16, 2016
- Affirmed by the congregation on April 30, 2017 / By a vote of 85.3% - (According to our bylaws, any action that comes to a vote requires at least 80% affirmation of active members who vote.)
At Portland Mennonite Church (PMC), our commitment to “seek the peace of the city” provides a framework for discerning the way forward amid our discussions, agreements, and disagreements on human sexuality. We have identified three key elements of peace-seeking: deep spirituality, warm hospitality, and active engagement. They each pose important questions:
- Deep spirituality: How are spirituality and sexuality linked? What makes sex/sexuality holy?
- Warm hospitality: We all want to be welcoming, but welcome isn’t an abstract concept. People are welcomed into something. So what are we welcoming people into? And how do we create space in our community to welcome everyone who is striving to follow Jesus?
- Active engagement: How can we bear witness to God’s love for all peoples?
A Theology of Sexuality
In the beginning, the scriptures make clear that we are all created in the image of God: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
We are all created as sexual beings. Our bodies, our sense of self, the ways we interact with others are shaped by our sexuality. And our sexuality is intrinsically connected to our spirituality; something about being created “male and female” reflects the imago dei (“image of God”). The language that the Bible uses to describe the connection of spirituality and sexuality is covenant. We are created in the image of God and, like God, we have the capacity to make and keep deep commitments in ways that make relationships meaningful, joyful, and holy. In the Old Testament, the prophets used the metaphor of marriage to describe the covenantal relationship of God and God’s people. God was husband to Israel’s wife; God’s love was persistent even when Israel was unfaithful.
In the gospels, Jesus uses the language of covenant to describe our relationships to each other. He affirms the covenant of marriage. When he was asked about a man divorcing his wife, he replied: “have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?" (Matthew 19:4-5). More broadly, he makes clear that all of our relationships are to be marked by fidelity, persistence, loving-kindness, forgiveness, warmth and integrity.
The notion of covenant also shapes our understanding of sex. Sexual intercourse is powerful. It can be powerfully good (healthy, intimate, life-giving); it can be powerfully bad (harmful, damaging, abusive). So how can sex be made holy?
The answer of the church has been marriage. The covenant of marriage is a strong enough commitment to contain the power of sex, to free sex from the fear or abuse or casualness that robs it of intimacy. Of course, betrayal and abuse happen; relationships break. We are all sinners. But the affirmation of the church has always been that marriage is what makes sex holy. That is a counter-cultural commitment that stands against casual or promiscuous sex; against anything that objectifies (sexism) or profits from sex (pornography); and certainly and always it stands against all forms of abuse. We are all created in the image of God. We are all created as sexual beings. We are all created with the capacity for deep, meaningful, joyful, life-giving relationships with God and with each other.
The Practice of Hospitality
At Portland Mennonite Church we want to welcome everyone into a congregation within which we are all called to live out, to embody, to enact the covenantal love of God. We want to encourage friendships that are enduring, honest, and joyful. We want to honor the ones who are single and make sure everyone is included in all aspects of the life of the church. And we want to support, bless, and affirm marriages.
We recognize that we don’t all agree. Some of us have discerned that the historic understanding of marriage as being between “one man and one woman for life” is right (Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective - 1995, Article 19), and that homosexual sex is intrinsically “sin.” Others have discerned that the Spirit is calling us to welcome people who are gay, lesbian and bisexual into the covenant of marriage, and that exclusion of them is “sin.”
We recognize that many people at PMC have discerned that the inclusive, affirming stance toward the covenant of marriage is faithful. Some of us have felt frustration with the church’s reluctance to move forward; some of us have feared judgment and exclusion if we come out; and some of us are worried that there is no place for us at PMC.
We also recognize that those who hold the historic view have felt marginalized, disrespected and patronized. Some of us have been afraid of what others will think of us if our views are known; some of us have been offended when we hear “you’ll come around”; and some of us are fearful that there is no place for us at PMC.
The Way Forward
As a Leadership Table, after much discernment and prayer, and recognizing that not all of us agree, we propose:
- That PMC be a community that calls all of us (young and old; single, married, divorced and widowed; straight and gay) to embody the covenantal love of God; we are to love each other as God has loved us all (John 13.34).
- That PMC be a community that affirms marriage as a covenant for life for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples.
- That PMC authorizes our pastors to participate in marriage celebrations as they are led.
- That PMC be a congregation that is committed to being led by the Holy Spirit as we discern what it means to follow Jesus in the Anabaptist tradition.
- That PMC be a community which respects the understandings of people across the spectrum of views regarding same sex marriage.
This means that when a couple from PMC asks to be married, it will be important:
- That they are connected to the congregation;
- That they meet with a pastor to prepare for the marriage;
- That they understand marriage to be a covenant between two people for life.
We recognize that we do not all agree. We lament that this process has caused pain and grief. We confess that it is difficult to hold differing views. Trusting that the Spirit of Christ can bind us together amid our disagreements:
- We will aim to respect the intentions, integrity and faith of all in our community of believers. Our unity in Christ is more important than our diversity of understandings about this issue.
- We will strive to hear voices of people with whom we don’t agree;
- We will form a ‘Listening Group’ to attend to relationships in the wake of this decision; the Group will be made up of people holding diverse views; the Group will report quarterly for one year directly to the Table.
We understand that this sort of complex community can be hard to sustain. It is difficult to hold differing views. But we are committed to this congregation and we trust that even when we disagree we can find a deeper unity in the love of Christ who embraces us all.
May it be so.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
- Originally proposed by the PMC Leadership Table to the congregation on October 16, 2016
- Affirmed by the congregation on April 30, 2017 / By a vote of 85.3% - (According to our bylaws, any action that comes to a vote requires at least 80% affirmation of active members who vote.)
