Canadian and U.S. boards meet after 7-year hiatus

The Canadian conference executive board and U.S. conference leadership board met Oct. 13 in Abbotsford, B.C., for the first time since the 2000 divestiture of the binational General Conference of MB Churches. The group of 36 heard reports from three agencies jointly owned by both national conferences – MBMS International, MB Biblical Seminary (MBBS), and the Historical Commission.

MBMSI board chair Ike Bergen said they recently approved a new service priority in addition to their other three: to work with the International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) partner conferences to assist in church planting. Other ministry priorities include: mobilizing individuals and congregations for long-term holistic church planting; training and caring for missionaries, staff and others involved in the ministry; and global church planting.

U.S. conference moderator Joe Johns, Canadian conference executive director David Wiebe, and ICOMB executive secretary Victor Wall share a laugh during October board meeting. Photo: Connie Faber

Jim Holm, president of MBBS, and board chair Jack Falk, spoke of the strategic issues the Canadian and U.S. conferences need to address as owners of the seminary. These issues include calling qualified leaders, training leaders in the evangelical/Anabaptist tradition, and offering appropriate financial support to students. Holm said he’s committed to nurturing an interdependent relationship between the national conferences and MBBS. “My vision is that MBBS will touch every Mennonite Brethren church in some way,” he said.

Holm reported a current drop in enrollment and listed ways the seminary is hoping to increase enrollment – the Ministry Quest program that targets high school students, a new recruitment and marketing strategy, and the new Degree at a Distance program. He also reported that the seminary finished the most recent fiscal year with a surplus thanks to increased giving from churches, individuals, and corporations.

Historical Commission board chair Peter Klassen and executive secretary Ken Reddig highlighted the upcoming 150th anniversary of the MB Church, for which the commission is working with ICOMB to publish a global history of the Mennonite Brethren.

The Historical Commission is interested in pursuing other anniversary projects and Reddig requested guidance on what those should be. “We don’t want to run without you and without all the national conferences,” Reddig told the group. “We want marching orders.”

The participants then had a lively discussion about how the denomination could celebrate in 2010 the founding of the MB Church. ICOMB executive secretary Victor Wall reported that the German MB conferences plan to hold an event on Pentecost weekend, May 28–30, 2010, with the hope that other national conferences will do something similar during the year. In the end, participants agreed to explore, with the other 16 national conferences, which celebration options would be most appealing.

—Connie Faber