Money supports ministry

Our Canadian MB Conference’s mission statement is, “Healthy growing churches reaching their worlds.” Under that are four foci by which we provide services to our churches and constituents to help them in this ministry: leadership development, financial ministries, reaching out, and healthy churches. In the MB Herald, we try to address these foci in the stories we publish. Although this is not always done overtly, it undergirds our choice of stories. The focus area we address in this issue is finances.

Finances impact every part of our lives. Even though as Anabaptists, we supposedly espouse a simple lifestyle, we are still very much aware of the monetary value of things, how they inform our choices and how we live.

I began writing this just days after the earthquake and tsunami in southeast Asia. Every agency that is providing relief is asking for money – not goods, blankets, food, but mainly money. And rightly so. In an article in the Winnipeg Free Press (Dec. 30) writer John Longhurst states, “Cash gives relief agencies the maximum flexibility they need to respond to a disaster. They can use it to buy the things that people need. . . . Better yet, they can buy the items locally or in nearby countries, giving an additional economic boost to businesses that are also suffering because of the disaster.” Money is needed for very immediate relief, and we encourage our readers, even now, two months after the event, to contribute to Mennonite Central Committee’s ongoing relief efforts.

We also need to find ways to make our help more personal. Volunteering for relief organizations would be one way. But perhaps this appeal has also forced us to confront the fact that we would rather give of our excess – used clothing and household goods – than money.

Money is also needed locally. The work of our conference depends on it. Of course, money is not the most important thing, because, without prayer and other support from our constituency, our conference would not exist. However, it does take money to keep the programs going that resource our churches.

What does money given to the MB Conference support?

The conference has programs to help young people discern leadership gifts (Ministry Quest) and to help potential leaders and pastors get the education they need (Leadership Training Matching Grant program). There are age level specialists who are available to help churches with their children’s, youth and adult ministries. We have a book-publishing ministry which provides resources to laypersons and pastors. There are periodicals in four languages to keep constituents in the loop of what is happening in our national community. These are available to all members without additional cost.

Our evangelism office helps plant and nourish new churches. Stewardship Ministries is there to provide a good benefit package to pastors and other church and conference workers; to provide financial planning and will preparation services for our members; and to provide loans for church buildings. Besides the national programs, there are our schools (Bethany College, ETEM, Columbia Bible College, MB Biblical Seminary, CMU), provincial church extension programs, conference ministers and other provincial programs. This, then, is a very brief resume of ministries. (For more information about these programs, contact our offices at 1-888-669-6575, or see the MB Conference website.)

This summary of what the conference does underscores the fact that money is needed. However, of the almost 250 churches that make up the conference, about 80 contribute nothing to the national conference, although some do contribute to their provincial conference budgets. This number does not include the 13 churches begun in the last few years that are not even listed in our church giving report.

The reasons for this are probably varied. Some may say they use their money to reach out to their communities. Others say they cannot afford to give beyond their own congregation, while others may say they don’t need the national conference.

However, we all need each other. We want to encourage the churches in small communities that are reaching out to their neighbours but may not have the resources to do the job as well as they would like. Larger churches need to contribute to the national body to help them. Larger churches also should recognize that they gain from being part of the Canadian conference. Loans for building programs are one way they benefit. Small churches should recognize they are part of a larger body and by contributing, also do their part in helping others.

It’s budget-making time in many churches. Check what your church is doing to help other churches in the conference. If your church is not contributing, find out why. And if your church is not availing itself of the programs and resources that are here, encourage your leadership to do so.

Together we can do what we cannot do alone. Working together we can achieve the kingdom-building that is our mandate, “Healthy growing churches reaching their worlds.”

About this issue

We enlisted the help of the Canadian Conference stewardship director Alf Huebert in developing the theme of stewardship for this issue. He focussed on money management, an aspect of the Christian life that requires, he says, “the same diligence, discipline and dedication” as other parts of discipleship. Key to that spiritual endeavour is contentment, which Clarence Rempel explores in “The power of enough.” The season of Lent also adds perspective to material matters; a variety of pieces reflect on living daily in the light of eternal realities.