America in Four, Fractured Parts

[Ken]

All I said was that LGBT issues were the biggest source of division within the Anabaptist world. Not that it was the only source of division. If you think there is a bigger single issue that has been dividing Anabaptists over the past decade or so I would be curious to hear what it is. Because I honestly don't know what it would be. And I don't think it is any of the other issues that Packer lists.

In any event, I do think you can probably divide up the wider Anabaptist world into Packer's four separate groupings. Although the groups would not be equally distributed. Most would probably fall into his rural working class "Real America". A smaller number of urban churches full of urban professionals would fall into "Smart America" Some of the western churches probably have strains of "Free America" libertarianism within them. And there are probably some younger churches in college towns and such that lean towards the "Just America" social justice warrior side.

Are those divides growing or shrinking and will they be crossed? I honestly have my doubts. I think a generation or two ago those divides still existed but the Anabaptist heritage or roots were a stronger tie that bound people together across those divides. People would play the "Mennonite Game" and make connections across boundaries. Institutions like church colleges were much more popular and widely attended by people across the different boundaries. I think that is changing fast. The divisions are growing larger and the ties that used to bind are rapidly fraying. For example my old alma matter of Goshen college used to be more of a meeting place for Mennos from across the country and from different urban and rural backgrounds. Students from non-Mennonite backgrounds were a small minority. Now it is no longer even majority Mennonite and rapidly becoming just another nondescript small regional private college with a vague denominational history in the past.