By Celeste Kennel-Shank
Mennonite Weekly Review

The bishops discussed disciplining Linford King, bishop of Lancaster District, for ordaining Janet Breneman, pastor of Laurel Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pa., on Jan. 20.

Lancaster Conference, the largest of Mennonite Church USA’s 21 area conferences, licenses women for specific ministries instead of ordaining them.

The bishops “agreed to work at bridge-building and uniting as they seek to determine an appropriate response,” said Joanne Dietzel, conference coordinator, in an e-mail. “Bishops acknowledged the broken trust between the Bishop Board and King, accepted responsibility to determine an appropriate response to this break in trust, and agreed on the need for conversations with King for restoration.”

Prior to the meeting, Gilberto Flores, director of missional church advancement for MC USA, called King to offer support on behalf of the denomination’s Executive Leadership staff.

“I can’t even say how much that meant to me,” King said.

Executive Leadership wants to encourage a resolution that honors all views involved in the issue, Flores said.

“We support the efforts that the Bishop Board are doing, trying to find the guidance not only from the Holy Spirit but to resolve the impasse they have over women in ministry,” Flores said. “We feel it is our responsibility to be with them, and to understand they have tried to resolve this.”

Flores, who works in the denomination’s Newton, Kan., office, said he hoped to see King continue as bishop.

“We support Linford, not only because he is an excellent teamworker, but also because he is committed to find ways to open doors for women in ministry,” Flores said. “We are clear that our confession of faith recognizes the right for women to be ordained and to be in ministry.”

Two groups of pastors in Lancaster Conference also expressed their desire for more discussion on ordination.

Nine pastors from Lancaster District — which includes 11 congregations and about 15 pastors — sent a letter to the bishop board executive committee.

“The motivation behind the letter was twofold,” said Ron Adams, pastor of East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster. “One was to ask that they not discipline Linford. It was also a request for more dialogue and conversation.”

Five pastors in the Mellinger District wrote to their bishop, Leon Oberholtzer, requesting that he speak against discipline on their behalf at the Bishop Board meeting, said Barry Kreider, pastor of Pilgrims Mennonite Church in Akron, Pa. The district includes six churches and about 10 pastors.

The letter noted that the conference has blessed congregations who left over differing beliefs on ordination, while the Lancaster District churches wishing to ordain women want to practice different beliefs while remaining in the conference, Kreider said.

“Our request was, could not Linford receive a blessing for this as well?” Kreider said.

Lancaster Conference leaders sent a letter of reprimand to King in August after he ordained Elizabeth Nissley of James Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster on June 24. A letter of reprimand is the first step in the disciplinary process outlined by MC USA polity, followed by probation and then suspension.

Conference leaders have not recognized either Nissley or Breneman as ordained.

King said he feels at peace with the situation.

“I’m not looking for confrontation,” King said. “I’m just staying open to what God is doing.”

The bishops brought a recommendation to all credentialed leaders in January 2007 that would have allowed women to be ordained but not become bishops. The vote failed.

Conference leadership has also formed a committee to examine ordination more broadly.