Ontario reduces size of Leadership Council

Delegates to the 73rd annual convention of Ontario MB churches approved a tighter structure for the leading board of their conference, welcomed two new churches, and worked their way through an unexpected, tension-producing piece of business involving money for Bethesda Ministries. They also worshipped and prayed together, and shared congregational and individual stories.

The convention, which met Feb. 20–21 in Grantham MB Church in St. Catharines, was marked by active participation. No matter what the issue, delegates took seriously the invitation of the convention motto to “engage your heart . . . mind . . . soul.”

A worship band and choir from Eden High School, with school principal Darrell Gillespie at the piano, led the convention worship Friday evening.

Engaging the heart

The convention opened Friday evening with inspiration and celebration. Singers and musicians from Eden High School, with recently-appointed principal Darrell Gillespie at the piano, led in worship.

Eden, Ontario’s only publicly-funded Christian alternative high school, was also this year’s “Conference ministry highlight.” What makes it “a school with a difference” is its Conference-sponsored Spiritual Life Program. Director Ed Heinrichs talked about program features like daily chapel, worship teams, retreats and a “Take Flight” program for grads that currently has 17 youth working in Uruguay. He introduced new program staff Jeff Jantzi and Alicia Taylor, both former Eden students who seek to connect with students, especially those who are not embracing faith.

Last year’s convention approved the hiring of a full-time director for the Board of Church Extension. Terry Wiseman, whom the Board subsequently hired, shared his testimony to introduce himself. Raised in and previously active with the Salvation Army, Wiseman said he was still trying to figure out the MB congregational approach to governance. He joked that the answer to the question “how many MBs does it take to put in a light bulb?” is “I’ll tell you this weekend when we vote on it.”

Wiseman said that the past nine months in the BOCE position have been “exciting.” His passion for church planting, he said, is “to see as many people as possible come to Jesus.”

He introduced the two new churches that were joining the Conference. The New Life Church of Ottawa started public services in March 2003, averages 80–90 in attendance, and is led by Taka and Nomsa Mukono, formerly of Zimbabwe. Characterized by cultural diversity, the church’s leadership team has “great depth,” said Wiseman.

The Behta Darya Asian Church of Toronto, led by Vichal and Rafiqua Masih, is also multicultural, using the languages of Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and English. Attendance here averages 80–100. The Port Rowan MB Church has “adopted” this church; they will relate in a parent–daughter model.

Prayers of blessing, as well as intercession for Taka’s health problems and the imminent birth of a child to Vichal and Rafiqua, were offered. New ministers in Ontario congregations were also introduced and prayed for.

The evening concluded with a message by Grantham pastor Bob Enns that invited listeners to reexamine their relationships with God. He then led the communion service.

Engaging the mind

Before tackling the business agenda Saturday morning, delegates heard a devotional message from Doug Schulz, pastor of Vineland MB Church. He reflected on “strength,” the word in Mark 12:29–31 that was missing from the motto.

The ministries that the Ontario Conference supports introduced themselves in powerpoint “commercials.” Delegates then chose two of eight workshops to attend, in order to address the work of these agencies or particular board recommendations in greater detail.

Some highlights, as gleaned from reports or in the workshops, are:

Mark Johnson

• The Board of Faith and Life (BFL) conducts much of its work through Mark Johnson, conference minister. Events this year included a workshop on conflict and a prayer and fasting retreat. The Board desires to place a higher priority on internships for emerging pastors; funding for this program has been increased to $15,000 annually.

  Ontario will hold a study conference on hermeneutics in connection with the question of women in ministry, on May 14–15. The Canadian Conference Board of Faith and Life has asked provinces to address the question in this way.

  Discussion in the BFL workshop focussed mostly on church conflict issues. Johnson reported that he has been involved with a number of situations this year. The MB church is generally weak “in the area of conflict management,” he said, and “many conflicts tend to escalate very quickly, to everyone’s bewilderment.”

• “This is the most exciting part of the conference,” said Kitchener pastor Vidya Narimalla about the new churches and energy evident in the work of the Board of Church Extension (BOCE). Five churches have been planted in the Love Toronto campaign, a partnership between the Ontario Conference and the Canadian Conference. Other church plants include New Life Church in Ottawa, Hope Community Church in Stoney Creek and The Dwelling Place in Kitchener.

  This past year BOCE developed a mission and core values statement in order to cast a framework for strategic and systematic growth. It also began setting up a parent–church network between established and newer churches.

  In the workshop, delegates raised questions about MB identity in the church plants and about integrating the newer churches into the larger body. BOCE chair Gerry Dyck and director Wiseman agreed that both aspects were a challenge, which they are “continually wrestling with.” The goal is to “raise up” church planters “in-house” as well as to work hard at developing links between churches so “the DNA is transferred back and forth.”

  Wiseman noted that the other side of this process is that Russian, Asian, Ethiopian and other churches “will change us.” We have to be ready for that, he said.

• Bethesda Ministries opened two more group homes this year and has begun renovations in the main building to create apartment-like units. Bethesda supports more than 100 people with developmental disabilities and employs about 300 full and part-time staff. The Conference subsidizes the chaplaincy program.

• The Board of Tabor Manor is responsible for seniors’ facilities in St. Catharines and Virgil. A 62-unit apartment at Pleasant Manor was completed, and a “long-awaited” complex in the Kitchener-Waterloo area is underway. The retirement homes and village are financially stable. As in the case of Bethesda, the persons elected to the Board at the convention form the Board of Directors for the facilities.

• The Board of Camping Ministries reported that Crossroads Camp had another good year, though longtime board member and camp enthusiast Hardy Klassen, who died this year, is very much missed. Joyce Schimpky will continue as camp director; an assistant will be hired for April. The coming summer’s camps are already fully subscribed. Camp Crossroads will be legally incorporated later this year.

  Police checks for all staff have become mandatory. This is raising questions of who will pay and questions of process, since the police forces in various jurisdictions have different policies and procedures.

  Because the present site does not allow for expansion, questions about possible re-location or another camp were raised. Chair Jack Willms replied that “running one camp is plenty of work and the present board won’t push [for other options] unless directed to do so by the Conference.”

When delegates re-convened, they easily passed the reports and a number of routine recommendations associated with them. Two items, one scheduled and one unscheduled, took more time, however.

New structure

The first concerned the report and recommendations of the constitution committee, which involved a notice of motion to change the composition of the Leadership Council. Instead of the executive committee and one representative from every church, resulting in a board of some 30 members, the Leadership Council would be formed by the executive committee and seven elected members, for a total of 11.

Various questions about the rationale for the change, the composition of the smaller board, and the qualifications of members were raised.

David Wiebe of Fairview MB Church asked if there was “a philosophical reason” for changing to “where you were five years ago.” Assistant moderator Nancy Boese explained that although the Leadership Council format had worked well at first, it had faced the problem of achieving quorum all year.

There are legal reasons, she said, why quorum is important. Further, a smaller group will be able to work more efficiently and electing members instead of appointing one from each church should increase the level of commitment. Boese explained that this was not a move back to the old Board of Reference and Counsel (BORAC) in which each person represented a ministry. The smaller board will still be the Leadership Council, responsible for finances and management, and represents Ontario’s congregations rather than specific ministries.

Another reason to change, said the proposal, was that “an elected and smaller Leadership Council will bring the Ontario Conference more in step with the governance changes being processed by the Canadian MB Conference.”

Speaking in favour, Peter Durksen of Grace MB Church said it was a “good transition to becoming a council of congregations” (as the Leadership Council was designed to be) and that it was “only reasonable to make adjustments on the number.”

Tom Friesen of Scott St. MB Church felt the large drop in numbers was “problematic” and reflected “an underlying problem” in churches’ support of the Conference. He suggested that the new board needed to have “regional representation.”

Several delegates echoed Durksen’s encouragement to try the new model; others reflected Friesen’s concerns. The recommendation then passed with a good show of support. Although a notice of motion, the Corporations Act of Ontario allows for the new structure to be implemented immediately. A slate of five people had been nominated and were elected; two more members are being sought.

Acting with integrity

Moderator Vic Thiessen

The recommendation to accept the 2003 budget report launched a passionate and somewhat confusing discussion that tested the skills of rookie moderator Vic Thiessen and parliamentarians, and the wisdom of delegates. The item in question was an amendment to the 2003 budget that had been moved and passed at the 2002 convention, to increase the subsidy to the Board of Bethesda Ministries from $15,000 to $30,000.

The additional $15,000 had not been paid, however. Thiessen explained that this was due to “a conflict of understanding” and that in meetings of the Leadership Council as well as himself and the Bethesda chair, it was agreed not to pursue the matter of the unpaid monies any further.

Several delegates chastised the Leadership Council, saying it had “no authority” to override a decision “the people of this Conference” had made. Others suggested that the way in which the change had been introduced in 2002 had not followed “proper procedure.”

Moderator Thiessen further clarified how the issue had unfolded and been resolved and stated the money would be paid, “so integrity is maintained.”

As the discussion continued, one delegate rose to “cut the tension” by expressing the delegation’s trust in the moderator as a “man of integrity” and reminding participants that this was “a solvable problem.”

By the end of the business session, the delegates had accepted the 2003 budget report (nearly $301,245 spent) and the proposed 2004 budget of $310,075, with a projected operating deficit of $68,475. They also passed, 87 votes to 75, a new and separate motion to pay the $15,000 that had not been paid to Bethesda, using reserve funds to do so.

Engaging the soul

Secretary Peter Klassen, who is completing six years of service, takes minutes as well as compiles conference statistics. The Ontario Conference grew by about 3.9 percent in 2003 and now stands at 32 churches.

After eating a lunch of sandwiches, vegetables and cookies packed in brightly-coloured bags, delegates met for the final session of the convention. Mark Johnson opened by describing some unusual driftwood he had once seen on the beach. It was budding. This had been a powerful reminder, he said, to look for the life in a church, no matter what it looks like or what its style or structure.

Some 14 people, both lay people and pastors, came forward to share stories. They told stories of restoration in a congregation after “a difficult few years,” of a basketball hoop on a church parking lot that created bridges to the community, of a “skinhead” who knocked on a pastor’s door and asked, “Whom do I see about getting baptized?” A young man who had to leave a pastorate because of personal “brokenness” thanked the congregation where he and his wife were getting “help and healing.”

The convention concluded with prayer in small groups and with worship in song.

Next year’s convention will be held in Leamington. Remaining in the executive are moderator Vic Thiessen, assistant moderator Nancy Boese, and treasurer Vic Boese. Peter Klassen, secretary for 6 years, was not eligible for re-election; his position is still open.

—Dora Dueck