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Saskatchewan Mennonite Brethren Convention
Dalmeny, Sask.  •  March 16-17
Thank God I’m a Mennonite Brethren


“Do you expect to meet God in a new way today?” Saskatchewan MB Conference Minister Ralph Gliege asked at the beginning of the Saskatchewan MB Conference convention March 16 in Dalmeny. The answer should have been a resounding yes, as the Friday night session had more the feel of a revival meeting than a business session.

President Rick Schellenberg gave an upbeat report on nearby Bethany Bible Institute, noting that “a disciple is someone who is head over heels in love with Jesus” and that while “training leaders is expensive, not training leaders is even more costly”. He noted that the Bible school’s capital debt is now less than $10,000 and enrollment is expected to increase significantly for next year. Having recently received accreditation, the school is revamping and expanding its programs, including putting more emphasis on things such as mentoring and ministry experience.

The Bethany chorale then pumped up the delegation with a mini-concert, with songs ranging from the boisterous “Let Everything that has Breath Praise the Lord” to the tranquil “This is my Father’s World”. Student Harley Bell enthusiastically reported on the recent BBI/Church Partnership Evangelism missions trip to India; his experiences included seeing 20 people in one house coming to Christ and a man asking the team for prayer for healing of his deafness and apparently receiving it. The delegation responded to the Bethany presentation with enthusiastic applause.

Bethany Chorale

Guest speaker for the convention was Dave Balzer, radio producer for Family Life Network (an international ministry operated by the Manitoba MB Conference).

Dave Balzer, guest speaker

As a “young practitioner” rather than a theologian, Balzer gave three provocative messages, illustrating them with clips from the Godtalk talk show he co-hosts on Sunday nights on Winnipeg radio station CJOB.

On Friday night, Balzer asked how Christians can be relevant in a postmodern culture. His surprising answer, in a message entitled “Thank God I’m a Mennonite Brethren”, was to follow three Anabaptist/MB “distinctives”. First, rather than attempting to Christianize society from the top down, Balzer seeks ways to infiltrate culture from the bottom: “If you believe the world is changed one soul at a time by you reaching out, then you can sit down and have a dialogue with anyone.” Second, the MB practice of church community provides support and accountability to ministry, and helped Balzer realize that every Christian and every Christian ministry can be relevant in building God’s kingdom, not just the ones we think are most contemporary. Third, practising MBs’ suffering servant theology will allow actions to speak louder than words. Citing the example of Susie, a 70-year-old housewife from St. Catharines, Ont., whose practical love for people has had a ministry impact around the world, Balzer affirmed, “No principality in the world can stand up to the power of a well-baked zwiebach” (an ethnic Mennonite bun).

How not to be a bigot

In his second message, Saturday morning, Balzer spoke on “Thank God – Which one?” He described three concepts of God commonly held in our society, as revealed by the people who phone in to Godtalk. First, people believe that God is all powerful and all knowing – the church has done a good job communicating this truth to our society. Second, people believe that God does not cry. While Christians often cannot answer why God allows human suffering, they can affirm that God cries, that God cares very deeply about human suffering. Third, people don’t know that “God is sexual”, that there is any connection between sexuality and spirituality. Speaking to church leaders, Balzer said that people are desperately broken in their sexual lives and the church is largely silent. He urged Christians to tell their stories of how God has intervened in their lives and show how God deals with personal and sexual brokenness.

In his third message, Saturday afternoon, Balzer spoke on “Thank God I’m not a Bigot”, addressing the problem of how to speak God’s truth in a pluralistic age that considers any statements about absolute truth to be bigoted. Drawing from his experience on Godtalk, Balzer listed “five ways to guarantee you won’t be considered a bigot”:

Only give an answer when you’ve actually been asked a question (but also try to figure out ways to provoke questions). Only answer as much as you have been asked. If you feel like talking, remember points 1 and 2. Remember that the Holy Spirit is a really good talker (He can convict people even when you have said nothing). Remember what grace is (offer others the same mercy that you have received). Balzer illustrated this last point with a story of his five-year-old son coming up with an idea of how to love somebody (by giving his family Timbits).

Old and new

The convention was held in Dalmeny Community Church, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and is the oldest still existing MB church in Saskatchewan. Although the congregation has never hosted a provincial convention before, the hosts did a good job; the convention featured good food and good fellowship.

For many, the highlight of the convention was the welcoming of Living Hope Church into the Conference.

Dwayne Harms

This newest church is a daughter of West Portal Church in Saskatoon, with assistance and some funding from the Saskatchewan Conference Board of Church Extension. Dwayne Harms, who was hired April 1, 2000 as the church planter, outlined his vision that Living Hope be a church for the unchurched, a growing church and a church that plants other churches. The new church held its chartering service the weekend before the convention, and was to hold its first service in its own building (formerly owned by Silverwood Baptist Church) on the day after the convention; many non-Christians had been invited to the latter event.

Ross Penner of the Board of Church Extension prays for the new Living Hope Church.

Business as usual

In other business:

Director Wendell Andres reported enthusiastically that Redberry Bible Camp is growing, that the camp has been blessed through the addition of an outdoor chapel, that the camp is putting more emphasis on follow-up (Corwin Thiessen and Barb Kroeker work one-quarter-time each to follow up on campers and help connect them to churches) and that the camp is developing a five-year strategic plan. Director Brent Alexander of Westbank Bible Camp rejoiced in God’s leading in providing a house which was moved to the camp for the camp director and his family, and noted that a distribution of brochures through local newspapers had resulted in kids coming to camp from half-a-dozen new towns. Dennis Friesen, pastor of Foam Lake Gospel Fellowship, told how his call to ministry came through the encouragement of many people, including his father, teachers and a youth leader. He has been approved by the Board of Reference and Counsel for ordination later this spring. BORAC chair Doug Berg announced that Paul Woodburn, worship and music pastor at Forest Grove Community Church in Saskatoon, had also been approved for ordination. Woodburn had previously been ordained as a Baptist. BORAC has developed a Protocol for Reconciliation, Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking to guide the Conference in assisting troubled congregations. The Protocol has been given to the Council of Boards for further processing. Chair Cliff Janzen reported that the Board of Church Extension has been re-examining its priorities and policies. BOCE considered and decided against restarting the MB church in Moose Jaw. The Board is now considering whether to plant a church in Humboldt. BOCE has concluded that it is not appropriate to hire a full-time church extension director for the Conference, but is now talking to the Alberta Conference about the possibility of the two Conferences jointly hiring a church extension director. Moderator Rod Dick reported that the Executive Board had evaluated the work of Conference Minister Ralph Gliege and reaffirmed him in that role. Gliege handed out mints to the delegation to promote the Natural Church Develop“mint” program, particularly, the eight essential ele“mints” of a healthy church: Empowering leadership leads to develop“mint”; gift-oriented ministry requires discern“mint”; passionate spirituality brings fulfill“mint”; etc. Youth pastors Jason and Laura Unruh of Parliament Community Church and Jeff Peters of Hepburn MB Church reported enthusiastically on their attendance at the New Pastors’ Orientation run by the Canadian MB Conference Board of Faith and Life. Gliege announced that he and consultant Jake Balzer of British Columbia had done a reassessment of the Chinese church in Regina. The church, founded 14 years ago, has had two pastors; Alfred Lee, the most recent pastor, resigned several months ago. The evaluation found that there was much to be grateful for, including the fact that 31 people have accepted Christ and 38 have been baptized at the church since 1995. However, it is difficult to build a self-supporting church through ministry to college students, and the Chinese population in Regina (2400-3000) is too small to support three Chinese churches. Therefore, the Conference has decided to cease funding the church. The remaining 15-18 members are considering a number of options for the future, including becoming a house church and merging with another congregation. Rod Dick noted that the Executive Board at a recent retreat had been re-examining the Conference’s vision and re-evaluating the Conference’s performance. It had reaffirmed several values, including supporting Conference ministries, resourcing churches, promoting healthy churches, fostering leadership, mentoring (which includes valuing some continuity on boards and among convention delegates so the vision can be passed on to new leaders in an orderly fashion), strategic partnerships and prayer. The Executive Board received approval for two constitutional changes. The first changes the name of the Board of Reference and Counsel to “Board of Faith and Life” so that it matches terminology used by the Canadian MB Conference. The second reduces terms for Conference board members from three years to two years. (The one exception to this is the Board of Mennonite Trust, an agency of several Mennonite conferences in Saskatchewan.) Since these proposed changes did not reach delegates the required 60 days ahead of the vote, they will now be sent to the churches for comment; if no objections are raised in 150 days, the changes will be considered accepted. Board of Christian Education chair Arlene Schroeder reported that the Sharpen your Cutting Edge seminar for Christian education leaders had been held Feb. 9-10 at Forest Grove Community Church. The Youth in Leadership retreat, normally held in October, had been held at the same time and location. Although both events were very helpful, attendance at both was disappointing. George Dirks of Bethany Bible Institute has compiled a directory of videos purchased by all the MB churches in Alberta and Saskatchewan, so that other churches can borrow them. Board of Christian Education member Vince Hill is updating the Saskatchewan Conference Web site (www.mbchurch.sk.ca). Walter Selke Walter Selke gave a moving report on his work as pastor of the Healing Hearts ministry in north central Regina, which has developed a relationship with Parliament Community Church. The community he works in has an average family income of less than $10,000 a year; 90% of the women and 70% of the men have been abused; and the vast majority of the people have never had adequate parenting. The answer, Selke said, is not more foodbanks (which often merely allow people to spend more money on bingo), but the gospel of Jesus, which has the power to change hearts and bring healing. His church serves as a “spiritual hospital” bringing people to Christ. Selke knows the gospel can bring healing, he explained, because he, too, came from an abusive background. The convention approved moving Wally Klassen from his position as a member of the Saskatchewan Board of Faith and Life to the position of Saskatchewan representative on the Canadian Conference Board of Faith and Life (and thus an ex-officio member of the Saskatchewan Board of Faith and Life). The slate of nominees for all Conference boards was ratified in a single vote. Rod Dick returns as moderator and Phil Gunther as secretary. (Assistant moderator Ron Dyck’s term does not expire until next year.) Two vacancies remain, one on the Board of Church Extension and one on the MCC Saskatchewan board. Victor Toews was thanked for his long years of service on the Nominating Committee; almost all current leaders in the Conference have been discerned during his tenure.

The bottom lines

The Board of Management report was the only one which stirred significant discussion by the delegates.

After some discussion, delegates approved a proposal that the Conference buy liability insurance for the Conference and the churches, beginning January 2002. The liability insurance (in case a church or the Conference is sued) would cost the churches about $5.10 per member and provide up to $15 million in insurance. In order to support insurance businesses in small communities, the Conference decided that churches should continue to buy their own general insurance (covering fire and theft). In passing, the Board advised that local church board members should have personal liability insurance of $1 million because they can be sued as officers of the church.

Wayne Harms has been asking to be relieved of his position as Conference treasurer. However, this was delayed while the Board of Management evaluated the position and Conference needs. The Board concluded that it should hire a combination treasurer/secretary who would serve all of the boards; this could increase the position up to a maximum of one-quarter-time. Delegates approved this recommendation. Harms gave a personal plea for churches to encourage and pray for their local church treasurers, to not make unreasonable demands on their time and to not ask them to compromise their integrity.

Even though contributions from the churches fell about $23,000 below the budgetted amount, the Conference also spent less than expected. It finished the year with income of $155,791 and expenses of $140,380. The surplus of $15,411 increases the Conference’s accumulated operating surplus to $42,206. A budget of $158,441 ($14,000 less than the 2000 budget) was approved for 2001. The expected norm contribution from the churches remains at $55 per member.

 – JC

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Last modified April 19, 2001.

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