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EDITORIAL
What good does a Conference do anyway?

Jim Coggins

What exactly does our church get for the norms it pays to the Mennonite Brethren Conference? Why doesn’t our church just contract to “buy” the services it wants from the Conference, just as it buys services from other para-church agencies, and not buy the services it doesn’t want?

I frequently hear such questions asked. As in many other denominations, there is an increasing tendency to treat the MB Conference (at the provincial, national and binational levels) as a para-church organization. There is some wisdom here, for in some ways the Conference does act like a para-church organization. In other ways, however, it does not. Here is a brief explanation of the role Conference fulfills.

Mission

Like para-church agencies, denominations carry out “mission” tasks – running Bible schools, running church camps, planting churches, sending missionaries, even doing relief and development work. Such work builds the church universal but does not necessarily benefit the local church giving the money. When local churches ask whether they are getting good value for their Conference contributions, the answer here is no. However, they are asking the wrong question. The question they should be asking here is whether God’s Kingdom is getting good value for their Conference contributions. (And it is certainly true that congregations should be asking this question.)

I am biased, of course, but I am impressed by the “mission” activities that MB Conference agencies are doing. MBMS International (our overseas mission agency) has some cutting edge ministries, plans strategically, works flexibly, keeps its overhead low and supports its missionaries well. Youth Mission International is a dynamic, cutting edge mission and youth training institution. Our schools are good, attracting students from other denominations; some are outstanding. Our camps are thriving, and bringing kids (and adults) to Jesus. We are succeeding at planting churches, both provincially and nationally.

Services

Like para-church organizations, denominations also provide services to the local church. Among other things, the Mennonite Brethren Conference:

sends a magazine (in one of four languages) to every church member; prepares a will for every member; offers low-cost, flexible mortgages to churches and pastors; provides low-cost church insurance; offers the services of Conference ministers and other mediators; provides training, guidance and resources for Christian education ministries.

Churches sometimes say they can buy better services from other agencies. This is sometimes true, and there is no way that a small denomination (or even a large one) can offer the best services in every specialized area. In fact, one role the denomination plays is in helping churches find these services. For instance, the MB Conferences have helped churches connect to the ReFocusing church renewal strategy, the Willow Creek association, the Alpha outreach program, the Sonlife youth program – and the list goes on. The Conference has also invited outstanding Christian leaders to serve as guest speakers at Conference conventions and specialized workshops and seminars.

The Conference does not function exactly as a para-church agency in these areas, however. There is one difference. In a denomination, these services are usually offered “free of charge,” whether the local church can afford them or not, whether the local church pays its norm or not. With very few exceptions, para-church agencies do not make such an offer. This difference is important because it is often those congregations which can least afford these services that need them the most. Conversely, it is mostly affluent suburban churches, not new churches or inner-city churches, which talk about buying services where they can get them.

Accountability

Like other denominations, the Mennonite Brethren Conference offers more than mission and services, however. It also offers two-way accountability. For instance, among other things, the Conference allows the member churches:

to nominate and elect its board members; to examine, alter and approve its budgets; to propose, examine, change and approve its policies.

No para-church agency is this accountable to local churches.

Conversely, for congregations, the Conference provides:

a Confession of Faith to guide belief; credentialling of pastors; financial accountability; safeguarding of assets – buildings are owned by the Conference, so that an MB church building cannot be turned into a Vineyard or Buddhist church building. (The church building is not “owned” by the current members but is held in trust for all those who have donated money to build and maintain it over the years.)

No para-church agency offers accountability structures such as these. The Conference is not just a para-church agency which a local church can support or not, as it chooses. The local church is a member of the Mennonite Brethren Conference in ways it can never be a member of a para-church agency.

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Last modified September 27, 1999.

© 1999 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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