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Manitoba MB Conference Convention
Convention format moving into new century


Manitoba MB Conference Convention
Winnipeg, Man. • February 25-26, 2000

Moderator Neil Janzen opened the 91st Manitoba MB Conference convention by offering a prize for knowing Conference trivia. He asked for an under-50 attendee who could tell him why this was the 91st convention, when the Conference was only formed in 1929. It wasn’t until the final plenary session, that winner John Willems, received J.B. Toews’s book A Pilgrimage of Faith as the prize. Janzen explained that even though numbering the conventions had started only in 1941, there were a number of years when there were at least two conventions.

The convention was held February 25-26 in MB Collegiate Institute’s Jubilee Place auditorium. It was hosted by North Kildonan MB Church, which is meeting in Jubilee Place until its new building is ready.

“Yes, in Christ!”, (from 2 Corinthians 1:18, 20) was the theme of the convention, with an upbeat spirit evident throughout the weekend.

Conference minister Herb Kopp

Changes

Fourteen new pastors and their spouses were welcomed by Conference minister Herb Kopp, and Don Peters and Burton Buller were recognized for their service to God and the Conference. Keith Poysti, chair of the Committee of Congregational Caregivers, prayed a blessing on the pastors. Beginning new ministry assignments in Manitoba in 1999 were: Claude and Vivian Pratte, Roger and Wanda Thiessen, Don and Luella Petker, Jake and Mary Pauls, George and Eileen Klassen, John and Maryanne Nikkel, Luc and Hoa Tran, Oscar and Marcela Carvajal, Dan and Christine Williams, Ted and Mary Goossen, Greg and Heather Wiens, Joel and Colleen Toews, Ed and Laurie Buller and Darrell Janzen. Don Peters has resigned as principal of MB Collegiate Institute; after a year of deferred salary leave, he will become executive director of MCC Canada. Burton Buller served as executive director of MB Communications for five years. He is now director of Mennonite Media in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Delbert Enns is the new executive director of MB Communications.

Delbert Enns (with wife Marianne) is welcomed as MB Communications newest executive director.

Worship time

A band made up of musicians from area churches led the delegates and visitors in worshipful singing, and the song “I’m gonna live so God can use me” by the Gospel Light Singers had the delegation asking for more.


Testimonies by five people illustrated the diversity of ministry in Manitoba:

Deborah Pelletier is a recent convert and a member of Crossroads MB Church, Winnipeg. She told of her need for love, and how, after looking for it and not finding it in her dysfunctional family and in a marriage, a massage therapist led her to Christ. A brief story of how God used five “Yahoo” women with a hidden agenda to spread the gospel was told by Shelley Molitowski. Shelley and her friends organize the highly successful “Scattered Seeds” craft sale at Assiniboia Downs each year. They use this opportunity to give hope to women from all over Manitoba. Sam Blackwell, a Grade 11 student at MBCI, went to Simonhouse Bible Camp last May to help with children’s ministry. This gave him a vision for what God can accomplish through camp ministry in Manitoba. Heidi Hajer is at MBCI because her believing grandparents are paying half of her tuition. She accepted Christ at age 13, with little knowledge of what she was doing, and wanted to go to MBCI because of the good music program. She learned to live out her faith in high school and is now the coordinator of the school’s Christian Emphasis committee. Carmen Bilan is from Chilliwack B.C., and studying at Concord College. She came to Concord because she wanted to get out of her comfort zone and grow in her relationship to God. Shortly after she came to Concord, she recognized her need to be baptized. After consultation with her home church and her family, she was baptized by Concord President John Unger (see MBH, Oct. 8).

Neil Janzen then gave the moderator’s address, beginning with a story of visiting a small furniture shop. When the worker was asked how many people worked there, he replied, “Two. Me and God. God makes the tree, I make the furniture.” God’s work, Janzen said, is a partnership. God gives the resources – staff, finances, ideas, leaders, opportunities. Janzen then referred to the central issue facing the Conference at this convention: “The Committee of Reference and Counsel [the leading board of the Conference] is made up of 10 members, working with 6000 members in 33 congregations. There are four mission agencies in the Conference. Do we want to carry on as we are? Do we want to make changes?” This process of discussing change has brought anxiety and sadness at the passing of an era, and emphasized the need to pray. Janzen felt overwhelmed by uncertainty. Diversity in the Conference is as wide as the Red River during the recent “flood of the century”, but God’s truth is evident in the constituency; and, like the river at flood stage, sometimes it is shallow, sometimes deep. Yet this diversity must be embraced.

Janzen then referred to the Mission Statement the Manitoba Conference accepted some years ago, and asked, “How will we be the community of Jesus, infused by the Spirit, centred in God’s Word and making room for all?” He encouraged the delegation to begin the journey, even though it would take courage and involve risk: “Together with CRC, we say, ‘Yes, in Christ.’ We are not alone. . . . There is God and then there is us, a partnership.”

Worship continued on Saturday morning. Victor Neufeld, assistant moderator, began his meditation by saying that the Conference was planning a future, but unless that statement was put into the right context, it could be construed as arrogant. Neufeld stated, “We are the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba, but we are more than that. We are the Body of Christ, and Jesus is our Head. The implication of that is that our life, energy, hopes, purpose for existence, direction and decision-making come from that Head, not from us.” He told the delegation that the same Spirit that flooded Jesus and the lives of the twelve disciples is there today to give direction. No committee, no board, no congregation has ever added anything to the kingdom of God unless they submitted to the Spirit’s guidance. Neufeld noted, “The land in which we are living is changing economically, demographically, spiritually and much too rapidly for our liking.” A response to this change is needed. Structures of the older generation have served well in the past, but this is a new generation, and new structures might be required. In order for the Conference to discern and plan, the Spirit needs to be allowed to speak. God will not likely speak in a thundering voice or write on the wall. However, He will speak through God’s people, who are agents of God, and direction for the future will be found.

Planning a future

Moderator Neil Janzen told the delegation that this was a direction-setting assembly. A mission statement was accepted in 1998, but, because of the lack of a Conference Executive, nothing was done that year. Last November, leaders of the Conference were invited to a meeting to talk about the process. Together with the Committee of Reference and Counsel, they decided on three critical questions to be asked: 1) Are we one or are we many? 2) How should we focus our mission? 3) How should we make decisions? These questions became the basis for round-table discussions at the convention.

Comments following discussion of the first question, indicated that there is dissatisfaction with the way decisions are now made. The crux of the question became: The Conference is now called the Manitoba Mennonite Brethren Church. Do the churches want to continue to be one church with decisions binding on all, or do they want to become a “conference of churches”, where each congregation determines the level of its commitment to joint ministries?

In response to the second question, more questions were asked. Are Conference agencies fulfilling their mission? Are we into evangelism or nurture? It was also commented that new believers are not necessarily immediately interested in committing to agency support, and that agencies are doing a lot of ministry in comparison to the cost to the Conference. Social needs and the needs of local congregations have to be kept in mind while restructuring the Conference, and support models may need to be reexamined.

The accountability factor was a big part of the third question discussion. The CRC suggested the following framework of decision-making for the Conference: Level One would be the Congregations, who would originate ideas, visions and initiatives; Level Two would be a Convention of Representatives (the pastor, the moderator and one member from each congregation) which would process ideas, plans and budgets and take on some of the role of the current convention; Level Three would be the Assembly of Congregations, which would be a forum for inspiration, learning, setting strategic direction and establishing long-term program ministries. Some delegates felt this would be an efficient way of structuring the Conference, while others were concerned that the real decisions would be made in a smaller body (the Convention of Representatives). It was also noted that how the Conference is structured is secondary if the Conference as a whole is sensitive to the needs and wishes of the congregations.

When the delegates met back in the plenary session, there was an attempt by leadership to summarize the round-table discussions. It was noted that the present system has flaws brought about mainly by the changing times. There is, however, a core that unites, and this needs to be confessional (based on beliefs), rather than structural. Funding formulas for some of the agencies will need to be revisited in order to take into account the benefits to and desires of many of the congregations. However, when it came down to decision-making, there seemed to be strong support for the proposal brought forward by CRC. At the same time, there was recognition of the dangers of a possible power bloc, and of alienation of agencies if they are not involved in decision-making. The need for clear communication between agencies, churches and Conference leadership was also recognized.

When the recommendation was made that this proposal be followed up by the CRC during the next 12 months, and that CRC would then come to the congregations for response, it was passed.

Convention business

The routine convention business flowed very smoothly, with only a few questions from the floor. Moderator Neil Janzen handled the transitions well, not stopping to make long comments. The time schedule was strictly followed, and the convention closed just before 4:30 p.m., to the amazement of many delegates and guests.

Waiver clause

David J. Penner, chair of the Constitution Committee, told delegates that there was no mechanism in place within the constitution to allow for an individual on a committee to complete a task after his or her term has expired. In response to this, the Constitution Committee made a motion that a waiver clause be added to the constitution allowing the Conference to override the constitution, with the exception of specific articles. Asked which articles were exempted, Penner explained that the waiver clause could not be used on articles dealing with doctrinal issues. Further, any waiver would require a three-quarters vote by delegates at convention. Penner said that this was a temporary procedure – “to see how it would work”. Delegates approved the motion.

Penner also told delegates that there should be a “central bank” where the churches’ constitutions could be stored. Suggesting his residence as that location, he asked delegates to have their church’s constitution forwarded to him. Neil Janzen responded that only constitutional experts would want to have a church’s constitution at home for their “light reading”.

Budget

The 2000 budget of $1,059,665 passed without any comments or questions. The Conference levy, the amount of money that the Conference asks churches to forward annually to the Conference, stays unchanged from last year, at $181 per member. The Conference provides grants to four of its main endeavours: Concord College will receive $250,000; MB Communications $190,000; Missions and Church Extension $156,000; and MB Collegiate Institute will receive $100,000. In addition, administration accounts for $105,081; the Board of Directors has budgeted $105,000 for legal issues, liability insurance and Conference assets management; and CRC will receive $101,330 for such things as the Conference pastor, Youth Committee, Education Committee, Worship Committee and Congregational Caregivers Committee. The rest, $52,254, will go into the reserve fund.

Personnel Committee

Anne Friesen, chair of the Personnel Committee, reported briefly about the review by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (formerly Revenue Canada) of the clergy housing allowance benefit. The new guidelines can be found on the Web site of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities at www.cccc.org.

Delegates approved a salary grid increase of two percent.

Nominating Committee

A motion, using the newly-passed waiver clause, that Walter Thiessen and John Krahn stay on the Board of Directors for another year to ensure continuity with the Concord College issue, passed. Concord is merging with two other Mennonite colleges to form a Mennonite university.

Elections

All persons nominated to the various committees and boards were approved. No new people were nominated to the Board of Church Ministries and the Committee of Congregational Caregivers because they are in the process of reorganizing. Many of their ministries overlap with the Conference minister’s responsibilities. The Executive remains unchanged.

Conference minister Herb Kopp closed the 91st convention with prayer.

Board/Agency reporting

Something new at this year’s convention were the Information Exchange sessions held Saturday afternoon. This was where the various agencies, boards and committees, and other related agencies reported to the constituency. With 15 different options and only two time slots, delegates had to choose their area of interest carefully.

Concord College

Concord College president John Unger

John Unger led the Concord College session. A video showing the new facilities to which the College is moving in September formed a major portion of his report. He also shared how the colleges will work together in the future. There will be a common program, with degrees offered in a number of fields. The students will live on an integrated campus and have a common experience. Each college will have equal standing. Building renovations at the new facility have begun, and a search for a name for the university is under way.

The School of Discipleship is growing rapidly and may become part of the whole university eventually, with credit given toward a degree.

Finances for Concord are still a challenge. The Manitoba MB Conference contributes $100,000, plus $150,000 for the School of Discipleship. This leaves $540,000 to be raised for the current fiscal year which ends May 31. To date, $174,000 is still needed to balance the budget, and the accumulated operating deficit of $264,000 will not be addressed this year. The administrative structure will be unique at the new campus. Each school will maintain its own identity, and students will register as students of one of the three participating colleges. There will continue to be three presidents, with fundraising a major responsibility for each. Other administrators will be accountable to only one of the three presidents, with each taking responsibility for certain areas of administration.

Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute

At one of three Information Exchange sessions put on by MBCI, vice-principal Mary Friesen noted that MBCI is different from most public schools and is more than a Christian school – it is an anabaptist/Mennonite Brethren school.The Bible and spiritual nurture are integrated into all areas of the school. The biblical theme this year is “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b).

Each year, the school focuses on one continent. Students are taught about the social, economic, political and spiritual dynamics at work in the region; missions in the continent are highlighted. This year, the focus is Africa. March 2 is “Africa Day” when guests from the continent come in to talk to the students.

Grade 10 student Kevin Derksen talked about the impact made on him by chapels, spiritual emphasis week and teachers who are committed to Christ and to students. The annual service day has made him value the idea of service. He traveled with 14 other students to help out at Flin Flon MB Church and Simonhouse Bible Camp.

Pam De Porto is a grade 12 student. Since she began attending MBCI, she and her family have become active at Eastview Community Church and she has been baptized. This has given her opportunity to witness to other students. Being school president has taught her who she is and what she can do.

Paul Doerksen, who returned to MBCI after a study leave at Conrad Grebel College in Waterloo, Ont., teaches biblical studies in Senior IV. He explained that MBCI has developed its own Bible curriculum:

Grade 7: Survey of the Bible Grade 8: Life of Christ Senior I: Faith and experience focusing on Acts Senior II: Old Testament/History Senior III: History of Christianity and specifically Anabaptism Senior IV: Christianity and contemporary issues

He explained that the school is considering how to integrate new students coming into the program between grades and students who have little biblical background. In his senior IV class, he aggressively argues the pacifist position to his students. His philosophy to his students can be summed up with the phrase: “Go to church!”

Missions and Church Extension

At the Information Exchange session with Missions and Church Extension, particpants learned that the agency’s mission is “to impact the province of Manitoba by resourcing and equipping established churches to plant and develop new churches; by planting and developing churches that reach their communities in order to make passionate disciples of Christ; and by providing ministries that will enhance the effectiveness of local Mennonite Brethren churches.” Ray Klassen has been director of Missions and Church Extension for over a year.

MCE is involved in sponsoring indigenous churches in Winnipeg, such as the Spanish, Chinese and Slavic congregations; in developing congregations province-wide; and in a camping ministry in northern Manitoba.

The Slavic congregation, meeting in Portage Ave. MB Church in Winnipeg, targets recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union. It has been in existence for five years. It does not have an official pastor, but one is being sought.

MCE is also supporting a weekly French Bible study led by Mario Buscio and Sonia Blanchette. It is possible that this group could develop into a church plant in the future. Presently, there are no French-speaking evangelical churches in Winnipeg. St. Boniface Evangelical Church closed in 1998 after 16 years.

Klassen provided a supplementary document listing the MB congregations begun over the years by MCE and its forerunner, Home Missions. Of these, 12 are still going: Richmond Park MB Church, Brandon (1954); Carman Gospel Light Church (1956); Salem MB Church, Winnipeg (1960); Snow Lake Christian Centre (1974); Grace Church, Cranberry Portage (1978); Thompson Christian Centre (1979); South Park MB Church, Altona (1981); Flin Flon MB Church (1984); Selkirk Community Church (1984); and La Salle Community Church (1995).

Four individuals spoke about the impact their ministry has had on their communities.

Darrell Janzen began in June as director of Simonhouse Bible Camp near Cranberry Portage. He sees kids coming to camp that are honest and have real struggles. Their communities are like islands, and it’s hard for the kids not to go along with what is happening there. Many come to camp to escape bad influences in their communities. Oscar Carvajal, pastor of the Spanish congregation in Winnipeg, explained that the church is presently working to form a leadership team. One couple in his church is developing a hospital visitation ministry, and another is starting a Bible school for kids once a week. It will run concurrently with an adult Bible study so that parents can leave their children in a supervised situation. The church is also looking after a refugee family. His church’s mission is one of reconciliation. Dale Warkentin, pastor of Flin Flon MB Church, spoke about a new ministry called “Divorce Care”. Through this 13-week course, he has learned to be more compassionate and has developed an understanding of what single parents go through. Most of the people taking the divorce sessions are not from the church, but they are getting excited about spiritual matters. The church is hoping to start an internship program in cooperation with Bethany Bible Institute, Hepburn, Sask. Jake Enns, pastor of Thompson Christian Centre Fellowship, talked about the challenge of leading a congregation in northern Manitoba. Within this church, there has been a loss of vision. “The challenge is not for us to cast our own vision, but to know the vision of God. ” Good things in Thompson are that a healing process has begun and people are being set free.

A question was raised whether MCE plans to reintroduce the prison chaplain ministry at Headingly Correctional Institution, a minimum security facility near Winnipeg. That ministry was closed a few years ago. Klassen explained that the MCE Board has no plans at this time to reintroduce the program. He said he is interested in what Mennonite Central Committee is doing with its Open Circle program, a one-to-one prisoner visitation endeavour at Rockwood and Stony Mountain Institutions. Board chair Bob Enns stated that hiring a prison chaplain was not feasible at this time with the current budget. A suggestion was made that a volunteer coordinator be used instead of a full-time salaried position.

Another question was asked regarding whether churches couldn’t be involved in a ministry to international students similar to International Student Ministries. Klassen explained that MCE has no official policy on this issue; however, Winnipeg Chinese MB Church attracts 20-30 university students from Hong Kong. Luc and Hoa Tran are the pastor couple.

A suggestion that MCE should investigate a ministry for seniors was taken for consideration.

 – PW and SBB

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Last modified May 4, 2000.

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