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Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference Convention • February 16-17
Port Rowan, Ontario
Delegates called to climb higher


Nestled between Lake Erie and the rolling hills of southern Ontario, Port Rowan is a popular tourist attraction. Many come to fish the waters of nearby Long Point.

On the weekend of February 16-17, as many fishing shacks were being pulled off the ice due to a recent warming trend, rural and urban folk gathered at Messiah’s Corner, the site of the Mennonite Brethren Church. They did not come to fish, but to worship, fellowship and discuss the issues on the agenda of the 70th annual Ontario MB Conference convention.

With the theme “Climbing Higher”, 211 delegates and 20 guests were challenged with the words of Psalm 61:2: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Positioned on stage was a 12-foot aluminum ladder, a tangible reminder of our climb to God. Conference Moderator Henry Wiebe, referring to the ladder, decided against actually stepping beyond the second rung, but reminded delegates that the spiritual ascent was their ultimate goal.

Church Extension

The number of churches in the Conference now stands at 27. The names of the congregations were listed on the wall behind the choir loft. A quiz challenged delegates to arrange the churches by the date they joined the Conference. It was evident from the weekend’s proceedings that that number could be increasing over the next few years.

New pastors

Part of the growth that is anticipated comes from an initiative called “Love Toronto”. The Canadian MB Conference Board of Evangelism and the Ontario Conference Board of Church Extension have agreed to partner together in establishing five new, healthy churches in the Greater Toronto Area in five years.

Ewald Unruh, executive director of the Canadian Board of Evangelism, introduced delegates to the first church planter for “Love Toronto”. Dan and Carol Sileshi,

Dan and Carol Sileshi, church planters with Love Toronto

pastor couple of Koinonia Worship Centre in Toronto, are working in a multicultural setting to proclaim the gospel to Torontonians. Dan, who was saved in the early 1970s in Meserete Kristos Church, a Mennonite denomination in Ethiopia, has studied in Kenya and the US. He has experience in starting churches in Zimbabwe and Nigeria. One church in Lagos, Nigeria grew from 700 to 7000 in about three years. He came to Toronto a few years ago and felt called by God to plant a church. He started Koinonia Worship Centre in 1997. Today, there are 20 nationalities represented in the church. The Koinoina Church has associate status with the Ontario MB Conference, with the goal of becoming fully incorporated in 2002.

Ed Willms, chair of the Board of Church Extension, used the analogy of the two wings of an airplane to describe the balance that is needed in doing church work and church renewal. The Board had a full slate on its docket this past year as it had to deal with a number of issues. On a positive note, three emerging congregations were welcomed into the Conference:

South Point Community Church is a daughter church to Leamington MB Church. Pastor couple is Brad and Diane Wilson. The Dwelling Place is a daughter church of Waterloo MB Church. Pastor couple is K.J. and Charlene Weinberger. Gateway Community Church in St. Catharines is being led by pastor couple Ed and Karin Willms.

Also being welcomed into the Conference is a newly merged congregation. New Covenant Christian Fellowship in Toronto, an MB congregation, is set to merge with Bridlewood Brethren In Christ Church. The merged congregation will be called New Life Christian Church. Vidya Narimalla, pastor of New Covenant Christian Fellowship, and Walter Kelly, pastor of Bridlewood Church, will co-pastor the congregation.

The challenge of climbing higher was made real for delegates when it was announced that National Capital Community Church in Ottawa may close its doors at the end of May. That congregation is experiencing a shrinking membership. Pastor Gerry Hildebrand said that the possibility of closing was not because of division within the church, but was a statement of reality. To stay viable, the church would need to grow by 10-15%.

Newly elected church moderator Bernie Fast acknowledged the congregation’s desire to stay together. “Our love is God,” he said. “God has equipped us till now.”

“We are a proud people,” admitted Hildebrand. “God has brought us low and has helped us realize, like Gideon, we are at the end of our resources. This isn’t our battle; it is God’s.”

Conference leaders surrounded the two church leaders in a show of support and prayed over them.

Prayer over National Capital Church leaders

Conference minister

Delegates were also made aware that the Conference is in need of a Conference minister. Rudy Bartel, who filled that position as a volunteer over the last few years, retired this year. Richard Martens, chair of the Board of Faith and Life, made a recommendation that a full-time Conference Minister be hired as quickly as possible for 2001. Discussion about qualifications followed. Delegates fully supported the recommendation.

Eden High School

Spiritual life director Ed Heinrichs spoke about how Eden is a mission field. “We live in the context of a fishing ground,” he said, “just like Port Rowan’s location.” Eden shares the facilities of Lakeport Secondary School. Students from the two schools are forced to rub shoulders with each other, but the transition has gone smoothly. Eden students are excited about serving God and are sharing with Lakeport students what Christ has done in their lives.

Carolyn Goossen, who is half-time assistant spiritual life director at Eden, and also assistant director of Camp Crossroads, spoke about how these two ministries she has been involved in have come together for her. She was excited to learn that three of her campers attend Eden and two others are attending Governor Simcoe School, where she teaches half-time. As a result, she has been able to continue encouraging these students in their spiritual walk.

Camp Crossroads

The year 2000 marked the 20th anniversary of Camp Crossroads. Jack Willms, chair of the Board of Camping Ministries, spoke about the phenomenal changes that have occurred at the Camp since its inception. Today the camp ministers to 1000 children a year, and the Board is looking at ways to expand the program. The kitchen plus project was finished in 2001. A bike course is being considered. A family canoe trip, led by Andrew Hiebert of Vineland, is being planned. Hardy Klassen, Board treasurer, reported that the Camp ended the year in the black. Jo Schimpky, camp director, spoke about how popular the Camp is and the volume of applications the office has received to date. She suggested that perhaps the Conference consider building another camp in order to deal with all the applications.

Bethesda

Delegates watched a video as part of Bethesda’s report. Bethesda is a ministry assisting people who are developmentally handicapped. The Conference supports this ministry with a $10,000 grant that goes to fund the chaplaincy program. In light of a report about how vital that work is, delegates approved an amendment to raise that amount to $15,000.

Tabor Manor/Pleasant Manor

Peter Warkentin, Board chair, said the staff transition at Tabor Manor and Pleasant Manor has been completed. Rudy Siemens has retired as administrator of both Manors. That position is now divided between two people: Ben Wohlgemut is administrator for Tabor and Tim Siemens for Pleasant Manor. The Board’s recommendation that it be allowed to plan and build 62 apartment units each in St. Jacobs and Virgil was carried.

Albert Friesen, chaplain of Tabor Manor, spoke about the positive spirit of the seniors at the home. At one time there was a critical spirit among some of the residents, but that has been replaced by a genuine love and concern for others, especially for those who are culturally and ethnically different.

Looking inward and outward

Keynote speaker David Macfarlane, senior pastor of Waterloo MB Church, addressed delegates twice in sermons designed to bring them closer to God and to encourage them to reach out to others.

Keynote speaker David Macfarlane, pastor of Waterloo MB Church

Macfarlane, who is of Scottish descent, was born in Argentina. His sermons were interspersed with delightful anecdotes and humour.

Friday’s sermon was on “Looking inward”. Looking inward describes having a passion. The opposite, Macfarlane said, was apathy. Apathy means “without passion”. Some leaders have lost their passion. A friend of his went to a revival meeting in which the attendees were asked to check a box on a form indicating whether they were on fire for Christ or backslidden in their faith. There was no third box for his friend to check. Referring to Romans 12:11, Macfarlane said to be a believer means that we never lack spiritual fervour. John Wesley said, “If you are set on fire for Christ, others will come to see you burn.”

Macfarlane came to the Lord when he was 23. He was mentored by a Christian who prayed, marked up his Bible and visited the sick; Macfarlane copied this man. Passion, he added, is something that is missing in North American churches, and that is why evangelism is not catching on here. A simple, uneducated Latin American woman who had a passion for the lost preached to a lost man on a bus, and he was saved. A boy who didn’t play football particularly well wanted to play in an important match, but the coach was reluctant. However, after repeated insistence, the coach changed his mind. The boy became the star player that day, and their team won the game. When the coach asked the boy what had changed to make him such a great player, he replied that his father had died just a few days earlier; though his father had come regularly to his son’s practices, his father was blind and could not see his son perform; this day was the first time he saw his son play.

In his second sermon, Macfarlane spoke on “Looking outward”. He related the story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus purposely chose to go through Samaria because God had planned for the woman to encounter Jesus. As a result, she impacted her community. Using each letter of the word “impact”, Macfarlane spoke about what that means for followers of Christ. “I” stands for eye or look. Jesus looked beyond the surface of the woman and reached across the gender, moral and religious boundaries. “M” is for motivation. Jesus was motivated by love. Likewise, we are called to love a hurting world. “P” is for perseverance. Jesus didn’t give up, but kept on talking. “A” is for available. The woman made herself available to others. “C” is for consuming. The woman was so consumed with a passion for Jesus that she told others about Him. “T” is for target. Jesus targeted the Samaritan woman, a person the disciples believed was unreachable.

The biblical story demonstrates that one person who has a changed life because of Christ can impact the world for Him. “Apathy has an excuse”, said Macfarlane, “but love finds a way.”

Other highlights

Music. Music throughout the weekend, which began with a burst of energy from a worship team from Port Rowan MB Church on Friday night, had both contemporary choruses and traditional hymns, including “On Christ the Solid Rock”. That Christ is the solid Rock was reiterated by Conference leaders.

Workshops. During Saturday afternoon, delegates were able to attend two of four workshops: “Is your church on fire?” with Steve Beck, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Toronto; “To the City with Love” with Marjorie Osborne, church growth coordinator with the Church of the Nazarene; “World Missions” with Delbert Enns, executive director of Family Life Network; and “Conflict and Change Management” with Nancy Boese, project manager with Bell Canada. Youth were able to attend a session with Randy Friesen, director of Youth Mission International.

Budget. The budget was passed with little discussion. It is based on the pledges from each church. Most of the 27 churches in the Conference met the amount they had pledged for 2000, a few even surpassed their pledges, and a couple did not meet theirs. For 2001, the churches have pledged $234,650 for Conference support. Total income is budgeted at $266,300, and total expenses at $296,400. This gives the Conference an anticipated loss of $30,100, which would reduce the Conference’s operating surplus from $234,366 (as of January 1) to $204,266.

Elections. The elections ran smoothly. Henry Wiebe stays on as moderator. Peter Klassen of Grantham MB Church in St. Catharines stays on as secretary. Vic Thiessen of Glencairn MB Church in Kitchener was elected to a two-year term as assistant moderator, replacing outgoing assistant moderator Vic Ratzlaff, associate pastor at Westview Christian Fellowship in St. Catharines. Bob Thiessen of Mountview MB Church in Stoney Creek was re-elected to a second term as treasurer.

Recommendations. The tail end of Saturday’s session consisted of working through 30 recommendations; all except one passed. One of the recommendations that passed was submitted by a task force given a mandate at last year’s convention to assess the needs of the churches and examine Conference ministries. It recommended the hiring of a facilitator at a cost of $30,000 who would determine the identity of the Conference; set priorities; and provide a sense of purpose for the Conference. The facilitator’s findings would be brought to the 2002 convention. In order to streamline the work of the Conference, now led by the Leadership Council, both the Board of Management and the Board of Church Ministries were dissolved.

 – PJW

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Last modified March 30, 2001.

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