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Ste-Thérèse, Que.
Quebec MB Conference Convention: A clear mission statement


September is traditionally the month when the eight MB churches in Quebec gather for their annual convention. Last September 9, 30 delegates met in the Ste-Thérèse MB Church, with the prime agenda item being to establish a vision for the future.

Philippe Bonicel, vice-moderator of the Quebec conference

Addressing the theme “A Church With a Mission”, assistant moderator Philippe Bonicel introduced the day with teaching from the life of King David, encouraging all delegates to seek God’s guidance, rather than follow a “dress for success” premade strategy.

Present as a guest was newly appointed Canadian MB Conference executive director David Wiebe. “Your practical Christianity is of special importance to the Canadian Conference,” Wiebe told the delegates. Knowing the difficult environment the Quebec Conference is working in, he praised the Conference’s perseverance and its capacity to expand its ministries.

Marc Paré and David Wiebe

Mission statement

The Quebec Conference’s Executive Committee proposed to the delegates a revised mission statement, following a thorough review. First developed in 1991, the mission statement of the Quebec Conference is now greatly simplified:

To develop Christ’s church in Quebec by working together to:

spread the gospel, create harmony within our communities, foster knowledge among believers, honour God through charitable and community work.

The presentation of this revised mission statement was an occasion to ponder the Conference’s priorities. Due to fundamentalist influences, the Quebec churches have always put great emphasis on testimony and proclamation, while developing harmony within their own communities was of less importance. “Our aim is to live together in spite of our differences of opinion. . . . With a conscious effort to work together and develop a harmonious community life, we will give others a true taste of Christ,” said Conference moderator Jean-Raymond Théorêt.

Questions were raised as to how the Conference’s mission statement could be put into practice. How can Quebec MBs develop charitable and community ministries? Can Quebec MB churches truly reflect an anabaptist vision and theology in their actions? A brainstorming session of all conference pastors was scheduled for later in fall to find practical ways of carrying out the Conference mission and to assess the health and spiritual life of the Quebec MB churches.

Groupe Charlesbourg: delegation of Église chrétienne de Charlesbourg. From left to right, pastor Pierre Pellerin, Richard Doiron, Guy Griffiths, Alain Blackburn, Georges Mathieu.

Renewing Charlesbourg

The Charlesbourg church, located in a Quebec City suburb, was represented by a delegation that included newly appointed pastor Pierre Pellerin. The church is happy to have a full-time pastor again after being without one for several years. Already familiar with the Quebec City area, Pelllerin and the church members have taken on as this year’s mandate to reconnect with the church’s previous membership, while building bridges to other evangelical communities in the region.

Camp Péniel

Board chair Robert Dagenais and camp director Richard Gervais reported on activities at Camp Péniel, owned by the Quebec Conference. After many renovations, done mostly with donated materials under the leadership of Richard Gervais, Camp Péniel is fulfilling its mission in providing both social and spiritual services, serving as a summer camp and a year-round spiritual retreat. Weddings and baptism services are also held on the camp grounds. Camp Péniel’s maintenance and survival is ensured in great part by non-Conference donations, including a grant from the Quebec government’s Ministry of Education.

École de Théoloqie Évangélique de Montréal

ETEM (formerly Institut biblique Laval) is the Quebec MB Conference theological school. Principal Éric Wingender reported that Marie-France Bonicel has been appointed as administrative assistant, replacing Marc Paré, who is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Old Testament at Université de Montréal. Paré will remain as an associate teacher at ETEM.

This year, ETEM is celebrating 10 years of collaboration with Université de Montréal. This agreement at first enabled ETEM to offer a one-year undergraduate program in religious studies. In 1998, ETEM was allowed to add a second one-year program, in practical theology. As of September 2000, ETEM now offers a full bachelor’s degree (three years) through Université de Montréal. Students are able to study university-level courses from an evangelical perspective. As well, students are fully eligible for provincial government programs such as student loans, as well as obtaining their degrees from the Université.

This coming year’s project for ETEM is to finalize a tripartite agreement with Université de Montréal and a French Bible School in Europe to offer a joint bachelor’s program. Fully aware that ETEM’s budget depends heavily on donations, particularly from the Canadian MB Conference, delegates approved a resolution thanking the donors.

Administration

As funds collected from the Quebec churches through membership dues remain small, Conference spending has been kept to a minimum in recent years. The 2001 calls for spending of $27,675, half of which comes from the Canadian MB Conference Board of Evangelism in the form of grants to church plants.

A goal for this year is to proceed with transferring the property titles for Quebec MB church buildings from the Canadian MB Conference to the Quebec Conference. This will ease the burden of administration since in Quebec property is governed by the Quebec civil code, not English common law.

Delegates also voted to add $250 to the provincial budget as dues to the Canadian MB Conference. Although the amount is small, it is symbolic. The Quebec Conference is realizing the benefits it has received in past years, and intends to steadily increase its donations to the Canadian Conference in coming years.

The Conference’s Executive Committee was reaffirmed for another year with only one change. Alain Blackburn, from the Charlesbourg church, replaces Patrice Nagant as member responsible for Evangelism.

Rally: On Sunday morning, the MB Churches of Quebec gathered in an auditorium in Deux-Montagnes.

Rally

September 10, the second day of the annual meeting, was dedicated to a mass rally of all Quebec MB church members, in Deux-Montagnes. Almost 500 people attended. The members of the Ste-Rose church were responsible for worship, the St-Jérôme and St-Eustache churches for Sunday school, and the Ste-Thérèse, Charlesbourg and St-Laurent churches for the logistical aspects of the meeting.

Moderator Jean Théorêt spoke on “A church in mission” from 1 Thessalonians 2:4, noting that the gospel has been entrusted to the church. He said that Christ and His disciples fulfilled their mission by proclaiming the gospel and teaching others but also by demonstrating the power and quality of life in the Kingdom of God. He challenged those present to use their gifts in the mission of the church so that at the end of life they could say that they had contributed to the Kingdom of God (2 Timothy 4:7).

The weekend concluded with an informal community lunch, where all could meet and renew friendships with fellow Quebec Mennonite Brethren.

 – From reports by Annie Brosseau in Le Lien, translated by Sylvie Giroux.

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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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