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Ontario MB Conference Convention

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Bible teaching a highlight
St. Catharines, ON • Feb. 19-20, 1999

The 68th annual convention of the Ontario MB Conference was held February 19-20 in Scott St. MB Church, St. Catharines. A record registration at the convention stretched the dining capacities of the church, but with the fine organization of the leadership team, it was a time of good worship, business and fellowship.

Refocusing for a purpose

Bible teaching by Jim Holm was definitely a highlight at the convention. Holm, director of constituency relations and dean of students at MB Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Calif. was introduced by assistant moderator Peter Neufeld. Neufeld told the audience that when Holm was a boy in Sunday school he was asked who the Philistines were. Holm had allegedly replied, “I don’t know. I don’t keep track of the minor leagues.”

Holm spoke three times during the convention. His first message, based on Isaiah 6, focused on the theme of the convention, “Refocusing for a purpose.” He stated that, after the 52-year reign of King Uzziah, Isaiah was one of many people who came to the temple to find certainty and assurance – and he met the Lord in all His glory. Heavenly beings called seraphim sang about the one attribute of God that sets Him apart from all His creation – His holiness. Holm stated, “We all love, we have truth, we have power, but the one thing we cannot say about ourselves is that we are holy.” Believers today know that they are dirty and polluted, broken and empty. “But,” Holm said, “it gets better.” The seraph got a hot coal and touched the lips of Isaiah. Holm continued, “When God comes upon His people in His holiness, it always leaves a scar.”

Following the purification came the call to serve. Even though Isaiah did not know what the job would be, he was ready to obey. He preached, but the country still died; however, he never complained because he had had a vision of the living God and he could move confidently in that vision.

Holm concluded by saying that refocusing does not depend on a mission statement or on conventions or committees, but it begins with a vision of God. He challenged the leaders of the Conference to come together for no other purpose than to pray and seek the face of God.

In his second message, on Saturday morning, Holm quoted Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church in Mission Viejo, Calif. Warren said that people and churches live on three different levels: 1) survival – just making it until the next paycheque. 2) success – they do some things right, but may be empty on the inside. 3) significance – the level at which most people would like to live and which leaves a legacy to the next generation. Jesus spent His early days of ministry picking out people to train for leadership. He chose people who had a heart for God and who believed in the dream Jesus put before them. Mennonite Brethren need to focus on equipping and training leaders for the next generation, and to stand with those in leadership, because, according to Judges 2:10, when one generation forgot to teach, the next generation forgot the Lord.

In his third message Holm looked at the church in Acts 2, noting that it was a minority movement, ridiculed, accused of being a cult, opposed by those in authority, and considered foolish by intellectuals. Holm then stated that the world today is more like the world in the first century than any time in the intervening centuries. People today treat the church as irrelevant or even negative. Moreover, in our postmodern world, people no longer believe there is any truth.

In this world, the church needs to do six things: 1) understand that it is engaged in cross-cultural missions; 2) enter into dialogue with the culture; 3) help its members see their culture from a biblical point of view; 4) pray for and seek its own transformation; 5) accept the fact that it will have a marginal position in society; and 6) become a genuine biblical community like that in Acts 2.

Celebration

Alison Antonio gave an encouraging testimony of her experience with Niagara Falls Christian Fellowship. She had been praying for a church where she would grow spiritually. When she found this church, she grew in her relationship with God; she was baptized and is currently enrolled at Emanuel Bible College.

A testimony on Saturday by pastor Jack Sailor of Komoka was based on Psalm 34. At an appointment with his doctor in June 1997, Sailor was told he had a large tumour. This meant radiation treatments which resulted in a number of losses – weight, hair, energy. But what was left to him was his relationship with the Lord, and this grew. Sailor saw God’s people begin to pray in earnest for his healing. He gained perspective on the brevity of life and on all the good things he enjoyed, and was particularly grateful for his wife. All the losses he experienced were replaced; his last CAT scan showed no sign of cancer.

Another facet of celebration was the acceptance of St. Ann’s Community Church into the Ontario MB Conference. St. Ann’s originally started as a Presbyterian church in 1799, then was amalgamated into the United Church. In 1967, Vineland MB Church restarted the church, and it now has become the 24th church of the Ontario MB Conference.

A communion service ended the worship and celebration part of the convention.

Constitution

The first major item on the business agenda of the convention was revision of the constitution. A task force had met since the previous convention, and Ted Dueck highlighted the changes that were proposed. He stated that a constitution is a skeleton which gives shape to the body of Christ. This particular skeleton has had serious surgery over the last few years.

The first item of revision was a proposal by the task force to create a Leadership Council. This Council would consist of one representative from each church (not necessarily the pastor); the Conference executive; and the chair of the Board of Faith and Life. The responsibilities of this Leadership Council would be to set direction and formulate policy for the Conference. It would prepare the draft budget and would approve all recommendations that would be sent to the convention delegation.

Questions about accountability and about the size of the Council were raised. Henry Petkau, a member of the task force, replied that hopefully this Council would engender renewed interest in Conference work, and that members would report back to their churches about what was being discussed. The delegation was also assured that the Council would regularly invite the chairs of the Conference boards to its meetings so that there would be ongoing communication.

Another change to the constitution was the reduction of the Board of Management from nine members to five by the year 2000 because of reduced responsibilities in light of the Leadership Council. The Conference treasurer would be a separately elected position and would become part of the executive committee.

In another change, the Board of Bethesda Ministries would be composed of nine elected members, including chair, plus one invited community representative, who would have full board status. This reflects what is already in place, but would be an exception to the rule that members of standing committees need to be members of an Ontario MB Conference church.

Another new rule was that no committee member would be permitted to directly or indirectly contract with the board on which he/she serves to purchase Conference assets or provide goods or services to the Conference for remuneration. This rule was inserted in order to avoid conflicts of interest.

Further discussion raised questions about the unwieldiness of such a large Leadership Council and of moving too quickly. These questions were answered satisfactorily. If the size of the Council proves to be too large, modifications could be made. Many spoke in favour of the direction this was taking the Conference and when the vote was taken, 83% were in favour. The other constitutional amendments were also passed.

Old and new

Joyce Schimpky of Camp Crossroads, and David Wiebe of Bethesda Ministries gave positive reports of their ministries. Another area that caused a fair amount of discussion was Tabor Manor. Peter Warkentin reported that this ministry to provide seniors’ housing was of great benefit to many people, and that both staff and residents have come to the Lord through this work. Because of the change in demographics in the province, and the change in seniors’ living arrangements, (many more are staying in their own apartments with moderate or heavy care, rather than moving into personal care homes), there is a need for more apartments. Warkentin stated that the physical care of seniors can be done by anyone, but the extra care, including spiritual care, is what the Tabor Manor Board is concerned about.

Three motions resulted from this. The first (which passed) directed the Tabor Manor Board to construct a new senior housing facility in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. The government is at this time making bed allotments for that area, and because Tabor is well respected by the government, this would be an optimum time to build.

The second motion called for the Ontario Conference to advance to the Tabor Manor Board funds not to exceed $1,250,000 interest free for the purchase of land for that project. This caused more discussion, because it would tie up any funds currently in the Conference treasury.

This produced a third motion that would see the cash assets realized from the sale of the former Eden Christian College property made available for needs the Conference would approve. This caused a great deal of discussion in that funds from the sale of the Eden property had previously been allocated for a gym at the present Eden school site. However, since Eden will likely be moved to a different site, this money is not needed at present. Some delegates considered using Eden money for anything but education was breaking faith with the local school board, which has dealt honourably with the Conference.

In the end, the motion to provide financing for the purchase of property in the Kitchener-Waterloo area passed by a small majority. This, as well the motion about the Eden funds, will be discussed further within the Leadership Council.

Eden High School reported that the Ontario teachers’ strike had been a challenge for faculty and students alike, but that lives were being changed, and students were growing in their faith. (Eden operates as a fully-funded alternative school under the public school board.)

Leadership development

The Board of Faith and Life reported on two programs. The first is the Leadership Development through Refocusing seminars. Twenty pastors from 17 churches have been attending the workshops, and are benefiting from the teaching, interaction between pastors, and mentoring. The teaching and coaching are being doing by Mark Johnson from Glencairn MB Church, Kitchener, and Ed Willms from Scott St. MB Church, St. Catharines.

The second program highlighted by the Board of Faith and Life was the internship program. Gerald Hildebrand from Capital Community Church in Ottawa introduced his intern, Dennis Girard. Girard has been a believer for only a few years and has appreciated the mentoring he has received at the church. He stated he wanted someone to disciple him, and this has happened.

Paddles

The Board of Church Ministries used a visual parable of paddles and a canoe trip to illustrate its ministry. Ruth Reimer brought a worn, tried, tested and true paddle with her. Andrew Thiessen wanted to shoot the rapids, dodge the whirlpools and possibly even rescue the drowning on his trip. Doug Clarke needed to check out the paddles since there were many options available. Jane Peck was not interested in tripping; all she wanted was to party at the end; her paddle was a fashion accessory; others could do the actual paddling. Peck, acting chair of the Board, then stated that each church is like a canoe; too many churches depend on the current to float them to their destination. The Board of Church Ministries’ goal is to assist the churches in determining the right paddles for propelling the church forward in effective ministry.

New partners

The Board of Church Extension is in the process of developing a new partnership with the Canadian MB Conference Board of Evangelism. This, in conjunction with an evaluation of the existing churches in Toronto, will hopefully result in Toronto being named key city number two in the Key Cities Initiative of the Canadian Conference Board of Evangelism. There are 70,000-75,000 new people in Toronto every year; it is Canada’s largest, most culturally diverse city. Ewald Unruh, executive director of the Canadian Board of Evangelism, stated that by removing provincial and agency boundaries, a new partnership could be achieved, and new churches could be planted in Toronto.

Clinton Bell, currently pastor of St. Ann’s Community Church, was appointed the new half-time director of church extension for the Ontario Conference. Bell stated that he had had a call to ministry since age 12 and was now ready for retirement, but he has never able to actually retire. His plan is to seek and to help save the lost; he proposed promoting the work of the Board of Church Extension in the churches and then working in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Elections

The elections saw a change in the executive. Peter Durksen will remain as moderator and Peter Klassen as secretary, but the assistant moderator will be Vic Ratzlaff of Westview Community Church, and treasurer will be Bob Thiessen, a member of Mountview MB Church in Stoney Creek.

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Last modified August 31, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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