I just wanted to speak up to clarify that Reba Place today is quite different that than the Reba Place you describe in your post. We stopped arguing about women many years ago, and even though we are not an openly affirming community we are not as narrow as your post indicates. You would always be welcome to come and visit. Shalom.

For myself– I identify with Anabaptist values because I’ve been in a fair number of church settings and I’ve come to believe that our tradition, while quite flawed, has something special that I believe we should perpetuate. I’m not talking about traditions here, but a commitment to peacemaking and a particular way of understanding the Bible that could really change things for the better.

But we shouldn’t “hold onto” these things because of fear or because we need church purity. Then our values are worthless. I believe in peacemaking, for example, not because of piety but because the more I study conflict, the more hazardous I realize militancy is. We need a new way. Let’s forge something into the future!