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Letters to the editor
Mennonite Brethren Herald welcomes your letters on issues relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church, especially in response to material published in the Herald. Please keep your letters courteous, brief and about one subject only. We will edit letters for length and clarity. We will not publish letters sent anonymously, although we may withhold names from publication at the request of the letter writer and at our discretion. Publication is also subject to space limitations. Because the Letters column is a free forum for discussion, it should be understood that letters represent the position of the letter writer, not necessarily the position of the Herald or the Mennonite Brethren Church. Send letters to:
Letters, MB Herald
3-169 Riverton Ave.
Winnipeg, Man. R2L 2E5
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or by e-mail to mbherald@mbconf.ca. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.) |
More bureaucracy not needed
Disquieting reports emanate persistently from the Canadian and B.C. MB Conferences. At the B.C. Conference convention (News, June 8) it appears that “Passionate Spirituality”, the stated theme, was lacking. George Otis Jr reported that with all the rhetoric about united community prayer, 90% of the efforts to really penetrate and touch the needs of communities end in failure. Less than half of the pastors attended their own “transformation” retreat. In spite of undiminished personal wealth, Conference contributions decrease. The budget is to be increased beyond the last deficit budget to appoint an assistant to the conference minister to “serve as a strategist and consultant”. What is more needed is what Rick Kingham, the guest speaker, said: “getting alone with God in order to be transformed into the image of Christ”. We have to believe that God will gift each local church with its own “strategists and consultants”. Going further into hock will transform little, only demoralize.
I appreciate the candid Herald reporting of the convention event.
George H. Epp,
Chilliwack, B.C.
What to do in a crisis
If there is a shortage of leaders in local churches and the Conference, we need to ask how this came about before we organize a scavenger hunt to find leaders. Jesus Himself has already addressed this crisis: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). It is in answer to prayer that God sends us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. It was in answering Hannah’s prayer to have a child that God got the man He wanted. In the book of Judges, when leadership was missing, Israel was in great need; when they cried out to God for help, He sent them powerful leaders.
Professional hockey knows more about developing and scouting for talent than the church. The church is looking for leaders fresh out of seminary and Bible school, ready to preach and disciple others. Promotion from within is rare, though biblical (1 Timothy 5:17), and the diamond in the rough is not valued. After being drafted, most hockey players do not go directly to big league teams, but to farm teams for further development.
I coached pee wee hockey for a year. On that team was a boy who had been overlooked in the “rep” team try-outs because he was not the best skater. He was a quality person and had a great shot. Fortunately, the man I was coaching with argued the boy’s case and was given this player for his team. This boy was made team captain. He was the most outstanding player and the leading scorer.
Often in the church, many with potential for leadership are passed over. In minor hockey it is called politics, in the business world it is called nepotism, and in the church it is called favouritism, something that God hates (James 2:1-4).
Perhaps the people whom God is calling into leadership are not the ones we had hoped for. The first disciples were not perfect, but raw and unlearned. But after having been trained by Christ and been given the Holy Spirit, they were leaders who had a profound impact.
We look for superstars. We don’t want anyone who may fail. Even Paul had this attitude. John Mark had potential, went with Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey but soon left them and went home. This became a point of disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. Fortunately, Barnabas rescued this young man from the curse of failure. In the end, Mark wrote a gospel and proved “helpful” in Paul’s ministry (2 Timothy 4:11). The write-off had matured into a man of God. The development of leaders does not happen quickly.
Wayne Gretzky has stated that he was not the most talented player, but that he worked harder at his game than anyone else had; therefore he had great success. Work ethic and passion to excel are things we should look for in discerning leadership; they are also things that can be instilled in potential leaders.
Wayne Gretzky and golfer Tiger Woods were nurtured by their fathers, who told them to seek to be the best they could be. Both have excelled.
Years ago, a friend of mine billeted Warren Wiersbe for a weekend. During this weekend Wiersbe passed on to him his passion for books (to learn, to read and to grow) and his passion for leadership. My friend has never received a degree from seminary or Bible school, yet he is now a senior pastor because someone instilled in him a passion for excellence. The church needs to regain the respect it once had for self-starters. J.I. Packer said, “Being a beaver for the Bible counts for far more than having formal theological training.” We suffer greatly from thinking that only someone with formal training can lead us.
If church leaders are unwilling to fulfill their biblical mandate to equip people for ministry, and if individual believers are unwilling to answer the call to leadership, all of this talk about the need for leaders will remain nothing more than talk.
The fact that there is a crisis of leadership shows that Christ, the Head of the church, is not having His way.
Nils Langhjelm,
Yarrow, B.C.
Boundaries should not exist
I strongly affirm Donald Peters’ courageous call (Letters, May 25). I suspect that if our society had slaves, many church members would support it sincerely with biblical texts. Many insist that similar Scripture passages on gender relations are normative today. Why? Why don’t the broader Scriptural teachings prevail? Why don’t we listen to our own devastating experience? I’ve lived and travelled in societies where women are more subjugated than in Canada, and their lot is correspondingly worse. I’ve lived as a Mennonite in Canada, and the depravities deepened and abetted by Mennonite male authority are shocking. Scripture and experience should convince us to let go of males having an inherent right to authority.
We should allow no boundaries to exist. In the MB Church, this should certainly include that women should be called to every pastoral role imaginable. Our current policy is not scriptural, is embarrassing and is hindering our church witness. Let’s change it.
Al Kehler,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
Member of Fort Garry MB Church, Winnipeg, Man.
Blessed by women’s ministry
Having anguished through the 1993 convention when the women in church leadership question was discussed, and witnessing the negative impact of that decision in our congregation and our family, we are delighted with Donald Peters’ (May 25) call to have this issue brought back to the Conference floor.
Since our move south of the border, we have been wonderfully nourished and sustained in our journey of faith. Our new congregation is a member of a sister Mennonite denomination where women and men are blessed to respond to God’s call to all ministries of the church. The sister and brother who have given pastoral leadership to our congregation have offered us new insights and renewed challenges to faithfulness.
Gudrun and Ron Mathies,
Ephrata, Pa.
Blessing in disguise
A few months ago, I had a phone call on my answering machine asking if I would take two boys for the night from a visiting Bible school choir. I was a bit provoked; surely they could find someone younger, not a woman over 80 years old. I didn’t answer that call, but I did feel guilty. I have a large spare bedroom with twin beds and its own bathroom.
I talked to the Lord about it; I told Him I don’t even care for that kind of music. Finally, I put out a fleece. “Okay, if they call me back, I will do it.” I was thinking it was already close to suppertime and they would have found someone else by now. To my amazement, the phone rang. I reluctantly agreed I would take the boys.
“Okay,” I told my Lord, “but I won’t go to the church until the program is half over.”
When I got to the church, they were still playing that wild music. I patiently sat through it, and left it up to the Lord. It amazes me the surprises He has for us if we are obedient. At the end of the program, the young people sang one of my favourite hymns: “It is well with my soul.”
I had fixed a snack for the boys: strawberries and chocolate chip cookies. The 18-year-olds sat around the kitchen table chatting for two hours; they enjoyed listening to my stories of how the Lord had worked in my life and said, “We can learn so much from our seniors.” The next morning, after packing a lunch and taking them to church, I found the loveliest “Thank you” card in their bedroom. It said, “We will never forget the stories you told us.” It made my eyes teary, and I thanked my Lord for the blessing I just about missed.
I enjoy reading the Herald. There are so many good articles in it. Thank you for this wonderful paper.
Sally Epp,
Leamington, Ont.
Liturgy could be useful
Recently my wife and I attended a high Anglican service on Vancouver’s East side. To two dyed-in-the-wool Anabaptists, there were many peculiarities about the service. The congregants were a strange mix. Many were elderly. One chap, dressed in a 60s sports jacket, continuously but respectfully encircled the proceedings for the duration of the service. Another was struggling to walk a straight line on the way to the communion altar. Incense was used liberally. We sang hymns of theological merit from a hymnbook. An a capella choir accompanied us. Every fibre in our bodies reverberated with the overpowering tones of the pipe organ. And, most unusual, it was Father’s Day and not one mention of it.
Though much of the service went by me, I felt very much at home among these strangers in Christ. If I didn’t understand the nuances of the worship, I was in sync with their fundamental premise. This service was about God. Everything else, including the motley crew who showed up for worship, was secondary.
As I walked out of the church, I couldn’t help wondering how we Mennonites could have benefited from some kind of liturgy to keep us on track during these tumultuous times of worship. I suspect if a Christ-centred liturgy had been in place, our corporate worship would have not taken such a direct hit from contemporary worship fizz.
Robert J. Peters,
Delta, B.C.
Previous | Next Last modified August 22, 2001.
© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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