BRETHREN HISTORICAL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES

Title:                Brethren Mennonite Council (BMC) Records 1995-2008

Series:              11/ 

Boxes: 1 Hollinger box          

History: The Brethren/Mennonite Council for Lesbian and Gay Concerns was founded in 1976.  Originally named “Brethren/Mennonite Council for Gay Concerns” the name was expanded in 1986 as more lesbians became involved in the organization.  In 2002 the name was further expanded to “Brethren/Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Interests.”   The purpose of BMC is “to provide support for Brethren and Mennonite gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, and their parents, spouses, relatives, and friends; to foster dialogue between gay and nongay people in the churches; and to provide accurate information about homosexuality from the social sciences, biblical studies, and theology.”  In 1978 BMC began publishing a newsletter, Dialogue.

Martin R. Rock was the first BMC coordinator and is generally acknowledged as its founder.  A member of the Church of the Brethren, Rock worked for 11 years (1966-1977) for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and was fired for being gay.  He served as the volunteer coordinator of BMC from 1976 until 1984 when Christian Yoder became coordinator.  Yoder served until the end of 1988 when Jim Sauder was hired as half-time coordinator in January 1989.  In 1997 Sauder was named the first Executive Director.  He served in that position until the middle of 1999.  The Board named Amy Short Executive Director in the Spring of 2000, a position which she held through May 2003.  Carol Wise became Executive Director on June 1, 2003. 

(Much of the above information was taken from the brief history of BMC published in the March 1991 Dialogue.)

Description of the Records:  Originally, three hanging files of Brethren Mennonite Council records, programs, registrations, and literature, c. 1995-2008.

Provenance:  Accession Number 2010.048.  From Ruth Liechty’s files.  Donated by Jeanne Liechty to Mennonite Church USA Archives in Goshen, Indiana, and transferred to BHLA by Assistant Archivist Natasha Sawatsky-Kingsley

Restrictions: Restricted

Separations:     None

Processor: Terry Barkley

Container List:  1995-2008

Box 1 Folder 1 – Connecting Families – Local

Box 1 Folder 2 – Connecting Families – Local

Box 1 Folder 3 – Connecting Families Weekend Programs/Registrations

Box 1 Folder 4 – Connecting Families Literature

Box 1 Folder 5 – Connecting Families Weekend Programs/Newsletters

Box 1 Folder 6 – Connecting Families – Registrations/Programs