Our ministry

The staff of Discipleship Ministries met recently for a three-day working retreat. It was a time of getting to know new staff, welcoming our new executive director, Cam Rowland, and planning for the coming year.

Discipleship Ministries was created at the July 2002 MB Conference convention in Abbotsford, B.C. It combines the ministries of the Conference periodicals (MB Herald, Mennonitische Rundschau, Le Lien and Chinese Herald), Kindred Productions, age level specialists (Children, Youth, Adult) and the Centre for MB Studies.

The activities of the retreat included worship and prayer, discerning spiritual gifts, team-building events and discussing our goals for the coming year. All of this was guided by the Mission Statement of the Board of Discipleship Ministries: “To equip leaders and empower people for life and ministry,” based on Ephesians 4:12–13.

Hearing the various agencies share their programs and projects will hopefully help us all to work together more closely and to cross-pollinate our ministries. Knowing what issues are uppermost in the minds of the age level specialists (ALS) will help us at the Herald plan issues that will complement what they are doing. For the ALS to know what Kindred has planned for new curriculum development will help them as they relate to workers in the local church.

We heard people share their passions and concerns. We prayed about housing situations, family situations and for our work. We built on relationships that had been forged at earlier meetings, most notably at a similar retreat in March of this year.

As ministries and agencies of the Canadian MB Conference, we want to continue working hard at serving our constituency. That is our mission: to help our churches and members reach out to their communities, be renewed in their life as churches and be personally refreshed. In addition, the Herald tries to find and tell the stories of how that is happening.

In this issue we are highlighting leadership in our churches, particularly as it relates to young people. Leadership development is one of the three foci of our Conference. The others are “Reaching out” and “Healthy churches.” We keep all three in mind when we plan upcoming issues, but occasionally we want to focus on one or another.

The following issue will feature our camps and our schools. There will be stories and pictures of changed lives and stories of people preparing for ministry.