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EDITORIAL
The Mennonite Brethren Herald is like...

Jim Coggins

From time to time, I have occasion to ponder just what the purpose of the Mennonite Brethren Herald is anyway. The role of the Herald is actually quite clear. It has been defined by previous editors and Boards of Communications, and also by the demands, expectations and questions of the readership. There are various ways of explaining the Herald’s role. This is one.

The MB Herald is an agency of the Mennonite Brethren Church. This may seem obvious, but nowadays we need to keep reminding ourselves of the obvious. The Herald’s purpose is to serve the church. It is not to serve political or social agendas. It is not to provide a free forum for the discussion of conflicting viewpoints. It is to serve Christ’s church.

But how does it serve the church? One way of explaining it is to say that the MB Herald functions like a Conference convention. The various elements of a convention are also elements found in the Herald.

1. Teaching/Preaching

The Herald plays a role in the teaching ministry of the church. It does this primarily through the “feature” section – the articles at the front of each Herald. Like the sermons (and workshops) at a convention, the feature articles expound Scripture, give practical teaching on moral and church issues and inspire commitment to God. Although there is no music in the Herald as there is at conventions, all good teaching contains an element of worship and praise.

We take the responsibility for this teaching ministry very seriously. In addition to questions of relevance, clarity and effectiveness, and in spite of occasional failures, we test every feature article for orthodoxy by asking two questions: “Is this article in accordance with Scripture?” and “Is this article in accordance with the Mennonite Brethren understanding of Scripture as set out in the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith?”

2. Reporting

At conventions, the various church agencies “give an account of their stewardship”, report on how they have carried out their ministries on behalf of the churches. Similarly, in the “News” section of the Herald, Mennonite Brethren agencies such as schools, camps, church planting boards and MBMS International report on what they are doing. The Herald sends reporters to every provincial, national and North American MB convention in order to write news stories about the reports given there, primarily for the benefit of those MB members who did not attend the convention. For Canadian and North American conventions, the Herald even publishes a special issue full of board reports before the convention and a feature section full of news stories afterwards.

3. Business

The business sessions at conventions do not just consist of boards and agencies reporting what they have done but also of church delegates discussing what those boards and agencies should be doing in future. In other words, convention delegates discuss issues and proposals and make decisions. The MB Conference does not “make decisions” through the pages of the Herald, but it does “do business” by allowing MB members to discuss issues in the Herald, paving the way for decisions to be made at future conventions. This process often begins with a board or agency “reporting” a proposal or issue in the News section of the Herald and then MB members “discussing” this proposal or issue through letters to the editor, Viewpoint columns and, occasionally, feature articles. For instance, the Herald has sometimes devoted substantial articles and sometimes an entire feature section to discussing proposals such as changing the name of the Mennonite Brethren denomination, changing the rules for “women in ministry” and revising the MB Confession of Faith. Some of these issues were discussed more thoroughly in the pages of the Herald than in the formal discussion times at the conventions which voted on them. Hopefully, such discussions clarify issues, change minds and reveal the consensus of opinion (or lack of consensus) in the Conference.

In these discussions, the Herald editor serves as a convention moderator. While he may determine the order in which members speak, cut off over-wordy presentations, help confused speakers clarify their statements and rule some speakers’ contributions out of order, he is only a facilitator. He keeps the discussion within bounds, but (while he may present his own viewpoint at times) he does not try to impose his own viewpoint onto the discussion. In such cases, it is not uncommon for the Herald to publish viewpoints with which the Herald editor strongly disagrees.

4. Fellowship

It seems that only recently have we begun to appreciate that conventions are not just about the formal program of reports, business and sermons, but also about fellowship, people talking with other people about their common faith and their everyday lives. In fact, it is my observation that many people come to conventions for the mealtime conversations as much as for the sessions (and sometimes even skip the sessions in order to continue those conversations). Convention planners have recently expanded coffee breaks from 15 minutes to half an hour in recognition of the fact that fellowship is important. But fellowship occurs in the formal convention sessions as well – through testimonies and through “share and prayer” times. Fellowship also occurs through the Herald – through testimonies and “People” stories, through “family” columns reporting births, weddings and deaths, and through baptism reports and other church news. The church, after all, is about relationships – our common relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and our relationships with His other children. It is only as we know each other that we can work together to build His Kingdom.

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Last modified January 11, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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