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PERSONAL OPINION
Reflections on Convention 2002

John H. Redekop

The 2002 Canadian MB Conference convention deserves high marks. Having attended almost all of the Canadian Conference conventions in the last 40 years, I would rank this as one of the three or four most successful. Regarding the general atmosphere, including the excitement of the three-evening General Conference celebration, three adjectives come to mind: enthusiasm, dynamism, optimism.

Audience participation in the business sessions was among the strongest I have seen. Having decided to keep track of events, I noted at least 71 responses from the floor. These included 24 general comments, 32 questions asking for information and 12 critical comments; three comments consisted of answers. (I may have missed a few when I was involved in the discussion.) Eighteen comments dealt with the proposed Board of Discipleship Ministries, 18 dealt with Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, 11 dealt with the Board of Faith and Life, and seven dealt with the budget. Most of the 12 critical comments dealt with presumed inadequacies in the proposed Seminary matching grant program, budget cutbacks, the establishment of the Board of Discipleship Ministries, some activities relating to spiritual warfare, and the scarcity of women in the Seminary community.

The extensive discussion and questioning should not, however, be equated with influence. This convention was again a board-dominated affair. For all of the animated and interesting floor discussion and debate, the delegates changed virtually nothing. Perhaps it is time for those entrusted with Conference and ministry leadership to return to the practice of expecting delegates to make decisions. The sense of ownership of outcomes might then increase.

About 15 years ago, the suggestion was made that Mennonite Brethren should refer to themselves as “evangelical anabaptists” as an accurate theological characterization. No formal action was ever taken, but the designation is gradually gaining broad currency. Support for anabaptist theology was perhaps never more evident than at this convention; speakers, board members and delegates referred to this theology frequently.

While much was made of the more than a dozen languages in which Canadian MBs worship and the rapid increase in ethnic churches (other than ethnic Mennonite or the typical multi-ethnic congregations), these new MBs were, by and large, conspicuously absent. True, pastor David Chan served as an able representative of our Chinese congregations, but the delegation was 98%, if not 99%, white Anglo–Saxon. We have not yet found a way of incorporating these new MBs into our conventions.

While we sometimes lament the absence of younger delegates, the situation is improving. I do not recall a previous Canadian MB convention at which there were so many delegates between 30 and 50 years of age. Unfortunately, the lack of presence and participation by women remains a challenge.

The financial situation triggered some animated discussion. Two aspects deserve special comment. First, contributions to the inclusive Conference Ministries Support Fund (CMSF) remain problematic. That is our big problem. Out of the total of 238 Canadian MB congregations listed in the financial reports, 80 contributed nothing last year. This total includes 45 out of 105 in B.C., 7 out of 25 in Alberta, 11 out of 32 in Saskatchewan, 3 out of 34 in Manitoba, 7 out of 27 in Ontario, 4 out of 9 in Quebec, and 3 out of 6 in the Atlantic Provinces. We realize, of course, that new church plants and struggling, small congregations cannot do much. (Could they do something symbolically?) But the problem must be seen as serious when eight churches with memberships between 104 and 290 contributed nothing and some other large congregations contributed very little. The issue seems to be lack of commitment, lack of awareness and lack of knowledge. Perhaps that also explains why, even at this celebration event, so many Canadian MB congregations, perhaps 50%, sent no delegates.

Much was made of the $336,000 reduction from last year’s budget. But if we include the $510,000 which Canadian MBs are being asked to contribute to the Seminary (34,000 times $15 per member), then the total expectation this year seems to be considerably higher than last year. In any event, it strikes this observer that the financial crunch, real as it seems to be, is not fundamentally a financial issue at all but rather one involving lack of knowledge and commitment.

Most delegates would probably agree that the highlight of the convention was the three-evening General Conference celebration done jointly with our US sisters and brothers. The evening sessions were truly outstanding. In a sense, these evenings constituted a funeral celebration for the General Conference. The eulogies were eloquent; the testimonials were inspiring; the singing was excellent; the celebrative Lord’s Supper probably left few dry eyes; and the extensive embracing reflected and reinforced strong Canadian–American ties.

I left the last evening celebration with an awareness that we had celebrated a historic funeral, and yet one reality seemed odd; we had indeed had a very impressive funeral celebration for the General Conference, a patient supposedly afflicted with terminal illness, but the patient seemed not, in fact, to have died!

John H. Redekop is on the faculty of Trinity Western University and is a member of Bakerview MB Church in Abbotsford, B.C.

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Last modified October 3, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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