MWC executive business includes much prayer, assessing priorities

MWC Vice-president, Danisa Ndlovu and President, Nancy Heisey

One year ago, the Mennonite World Conference executive committee decided to hold the next global assembly in Paraguay in 2009.

This year, meeting at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Aug. 4–10, committee members tended the ongoing work of MWC, listening to reports, considering proposals for priorities and changes in structure, and approving budgets.

They also spent much time in prayer, especially for member churches in distress in Colombia, Congo, Kenya, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

President Nancy Heisey presented a collection of prayers for Zimbabwe written by Mennonite Church U.S. and Mennonite Church Canada at their July convention in Charlotte, N.C., to vice-president Danisa Ndlovu from Bulawayo.

An emotional Ndlovu responded: “I don’t shed tears for the suffering in Zimbabwe but for the sharing of solidarity with us. . . . Prayer is the greatest gift you can give us.”

Real presence

Ranking more than 60 current MWC activities and offering counsel on top priorities for the next four years posed a challenge for committee members.

Along with planning the 2009 assembly, one of their high priorities was the same as that of executive secretary Larry Miller, who stated in his report, “Appeals for solidarity with churches under duress suggest to me that top priority for MWC program in the next period should be establishing ‘real presence’ with these churches as well as between these churches and other MWC members.”

Tim Lind reported one example of the importance of “presence” from his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in April and May. The visit prepared a proposed three-year effort by MWC, member churches in the Congo, and partners in the global North to nurture conversation with Congolese Mennonites who are feeling some isolation since historical relationships have diminished.

The priorities chart was one of several agenda items sent back to staff for more work.

Changes, costs

A new proposal that staff will rework, incorporating the counsel of the executive, and bring to the General Council meeting in Pasadena, Calif. in March 2006 deals with “modes of belonging” to MWC. It could change criteria for associate membership and extend eligibility to some international Anabaptist-related church associations. It also suggests a new “participant” category for church-related agencies, institutions, networks, and fellowships as well as local congregations.

Structural changes could see the Faith and Life and Peace councils changed to “commissions,” each with up to ten General Council members plus five members selected for their expertise as recommended by the executive.

A major issue that emerged at various points was the cost of translation and distribution to the global community of print material, including books, the quarterly magazine and news releases.

News is currently released only in English, with some translated voluntarily into local languages. The magazine is issued in English (Courier), French (Courrier) and Spanish (Correo), which is costly, as is distribution.

The vision of the Global Mennonite History Project is to have each volume published in the MWC languages: English, French and Spanish, with translations in additional languages sponsored by local groups. The high cost of translation, however, will require major new money, according to project coordinator John A. Lapp.

Distribution and the cost of translation are also issues for the Global Anabaptist Shelf project. The fourth volume in the series, Culture of Peace: God’s Vision for the Church by Paulus Widjaja and Alan and Eleanor Kreider, is due for release in English in November.

Financial pressures

Other pieces of the MWC picture point to financial pressures. While MWC ended 2004 with a small unrestricted fund balance and a similar balance is projected for 2005, overall assets have dropped.

“Looking at the numbers, you might say we are in a weaker financial position this year than last year, although we must remember 2004 was a non-assembly year,” noted MWC treasurer Paul Quiring.

The travel fund is a recurring challenge, particularly for the General Council meeting that falls between assemblies, noted Miller, adding that the challenge will continue since membership in the global South is growing.

Last year, executive members agreed to try making decisions by consensus, a model they continued this year, using yellow cards to signal affirmation and blue cards for a need for further deliberation. Would this system work with the much larger General Council with language barriers and interpreters, they wondered.

Miller will work at developing guidelines for making decisions by consensus at the General Council meeting in Pasadena.

Representatives from agencies relating to MWC, such as Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Economic Development Associates and Global Mission Fellowship, attended some sessions.

The next Executive Committee meeting will be held in conjunction with the General Council meeting in March 2006.

—MWC release