Delegates at the 2017 Annual Conference Assembly affirmed the following direction statement proposed by the Ohio Conference Leadership Team:

Setting Direction for the Next Chapter of the Ohio Conference

As we prayerfully consider God’s leading into the future, we commit ourselves to the following:

  • We will continue our affiliation with Mennonite Church USA.
  • Three changes would trigger a review of that affiliation:

– A substantive change in the Confession of Faith;

– A substantive change in the membership guidelines of MC USA;

– A change in policy or practice at the national level that would require Ohio Conference to recognize the credentials of pastors who have performed same-sex marriages or who are involved themselves in a same-sex relationship.

  • We will continue to utilize the Voice Task Force to speak into denominational processes and to agencies affiliated with MC USA.

We will put our best energy into being and becoming missional congregations together.

  • We will join the Year of Mission and Year of Covenant initiatives into a single initiative: Gathered and Sent.
  • We will minimize the effort spent on the same-sex marriage issue.