Working at the “we”

This year, two provinces – Alberta and Saskatchewan – are celebrating their centennials.

Reflecting on the Alberta centennial for Maclean’s, Preston Manning, son of longtime Alberta premier Ernest C. Manning, and founder and former leader of the Reform Party, tells of an earlier western leader named Frederick Haultain. As “premier” of the old North-West Territories at the time they were seeking provincial status, Haultain championed the unification of the West into a single large province that would be strong enough to counterweight the large provinces of Ontario or Quebec.

As it turned out, Haultain lost his campaign for a “big West,” and on September 1, 1905, the prairie west was divided into an enlarged Manitoba and the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It was a decision that produced several quite different entities on the prairies and profoundly shaped western – and Canadian – politics ever since.

Provincial differences are evident not only on the prairies, however. By its very existence, each province has developed a distinct layer of history and character that belongs to those Canadians who live within its borders.

Canadian Mennonite Brethren also have a provincial layer of identity. First and foremost, MBs are part of a local congregation, but these congregations associate for mutual encouragement and endeavour in their provinces. All but the congregations in the Maritimes are formally organized as conferences.

We might have organized ourselves differently, of course – into regional conferences, for example (western, prairie, and eastern groupings perhaps), like the district conference structure of the U.S. Mennonite Brethren. But we didn’t. We have provincial conferences and each now has a unique life together shaped by many factors within the province, including history, relative numbers, rural vs. urban configurations, the larger political and economic environment, geography and weather, the presence or absence of MB institutions, current and former leaders, the story of God’s work in their midst, and more. When we at the Herald cover the various provincial conventions, we are often struck by the different “feel” of each province.

While this is fascinating to observe, it has very practical challenges in living out our mission as a denomination. Besides the local congregation and provincial conferences, we belong to a national conference. All three layers comprise the “we” of being Mennonite Brethren in Canada, but sometimes they may have, or seem to have, competing interests in how that is understood and supported.

The restructuring of the Canadian conference to work more strategically at goals of confessional integrity, church health and leadership, evangelism, community (communication and events) and financial services has significant implications for the services and goals of the provincial conferences. Who should initiate, and then carry out, what? Where and how do people best connect as Mennonite Brethren?

In June, in conjunction with the Canadian Conference Executive Board meetings, provincial and national leaders met to address their working relationships. A task force has been appointed to carry the discussions further.

Such collaboration benefits everyone. All the conferences, after all, whether provincial or national, face the same reality: a constituency increasingly disengaged from institutional structures.

National conference leaders will want to remember as they plan strategy that people often comprehend and are more easily drawn into province-sized connections. Provincial conference leaders will want to remember that successful “family” life means a willingness to seek the greater good, especially when numbers and resources are limited or unequal.

The provincial–national meetings do not signal crisis, but rather a desire to do things better. We wish the participants much wisdom as they work at the “we” of who we are.

And to all our sisters and brothers in Alberta and Saskatchewan: Happy 100th birthday!