Making the Obvious Connections

It is no wonder that denominational leaders write books – the wealth of wisdom gleaned from conversation with people across Canada provides a treasure of insight. There are two distinct conversations that have come together in my mind and generated some new thinking for me.

The first was a conversation with a small group of young adults in Alberta. After affirming their presence in the church, we started discussing what it would take to get their peers interested in church.

After some thoughtful consideration, one of the group members described a recent Peace March developed by a local Mennonite congregation. The march was considered a local Mennonite witness to the community.

While not disagreeing with the importance of the witness, it made it difficult for the young adult to invite peers to participate in the March. The intent of making a congregational statement was not conducive to involving individuals who were not part of the congregation.

The young adult concluded with the comment: “It’s too bad, because I really think my friends would have liked being part of the event.” This reflective comment clung to me.

The second conversation was an email dialogue with a Mennonite pastor in Saskatchewan. The pastor reminded me of the aging demographic of the Canadian church population and the urgent issue of the future of the church in a post-Christendom world. Maintaining the current status of church vitality has been largely assumed, causing the pastor to suggest a renewed focus on developing our skills of making new disciples.

The pastor offered some great insight by writing: “We are sometimes most vulnerable at our strong point. When something can be seen as a peace and justice issue or put into that frame, we rush to it. It's where we feel at home. We need to affirm that and keep our commitment but we need now to move in a new direction at the forefront. I don't think we know how because we've softened evangelism and outreach and even push it away.”

The clinging comment from the young adult made itself known again and these two conversations started to converge for me. Perhaps sharing faith in a post Christendom context can best be done from within the environment of shared values. Issues of social justice become a natural atmosphere where people of faith can engage with broader society. In fact, I think the Christian Church must be engaged in these common causes to be taken seriously by broader society.

But this also becomes an environment for natural conversations of faith. In missional terms, it becomes the platform to be aligned with what God is already doing. The yearning to express love and solidarity for those in need is an impulse of God’s Spirit. It is the product of the image of God within everyone. When this connection is made, it can lead to additional recognition of the yearning of God’s image, such as the yearning to be in relationship with our Creator. Questions such as “What is the concern that brings you here?” followed by the question of “Where do you think this concern comes from?” becomes the beginning of a natural introduction to matters of faith.

An issue of social justice is not contrary to the call to share faith. It is the new context of shared values from where the sharing of faith most naturally can take place.

If the church can connect with concerns that God is awakening within the hearts of broader society already, then a new platform of connectivity emerges.

I would love to hear responses to some of my most recent thinking on this. Feel free to add your comments.

When Leadership Trembles

My hands quivered. My heart raced. My legs felt wobbly. The sound of mourning and panic billowed through the dust filled air. I made my way through the rubble and began looking for those I was responsible for.

This was Port-au-Prince, Haiti during the earthquake in January 2010. I was there with a small church team from New Brunswick. Thankfully the entire team was safe despite being surrounded by rubble and debris. The endless night that followed of treating crowds of injured people left me trembling – and feeling useless and helpless.

The experience has left a lasting impression on me and has utterly shaken my approach to leadership. I shudder when I think of what may have been. Thankfully my leadership task involved evacuating a team that was shaken - but alive.

I am still sorting through the various emotions and perspectives that have been dislodged by the earthquake. I know that the experience has changed me, but I am not fully sure how.

Experiencing utter uselessness in the face of disaster is humbling. Realizing, that in a torrent of desperate need your best effort is pointless is demoralizing. No feelings of heroism. No evidences of positive impact. The dead wrapped in bed sheets mocked any feelings of effectiveness.

I carry Haiti with me in my new role. The injured and dying keep things in perspective. I often wonder; does the approach to leadership change if you are not trying to avoid being hurt or determining to avoid failure?

Maybe it is only when leadership trembles – that it is no longer afraid.

Reaching Caucasian Canadians

One of the exciting gifts in my role is the opportunity to dialogue with other Canadian denominational leaders. While the Anabaptist perspective I bring is an important contribution to the dialogue I also benefit from the perspective of others.

One such meeting recently with denominational leaders within the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) produced an interesting conversation. We were discerning together what new initiatives will be required for missional effectiveness in Canada. The discussion turned to church planting and the need to develop congregations that appeal to Caucasian Canadians.

This prompted one denominational leader to exclaim: “For denominations to be effective in the future they will need to focus on new Canadian church plants. It will be the new Canadians who will reach out to the white, young adult Canadians. You see that happening already in the second generation English services of these congregations.”

It was an interesting comment that caused us all to pause in silence. I had often heard denominations lament that the only new congregations being formed were among new Canadian groups. But here was a perspective that not only applauded this reality but declared it to be of strategic importance for impacting mainstream Canadian society.

I have always appreciated the ethnic diversity within Mennonite Church Canada and feel we are much richer as a Church family because of it. We worship in over 15 different languages. This is a reality to be celebrated.

Perhaps it is true: that as we embrace the enthusiastic witness of new Canadians, our impact in mainstream Canadian society will be strengthened.

Costly Vision

A recent news release prompted a very interesting response. I have been mulling it over ever since I received it.

The news release indicated that Mennonite Church Canada was discerning the need for a smaller structure in keeping with the seven year trend of declining donation revenue. This is no small task. The article identified the current economic strain as part of the reason for the declining donation trend.

The response I received from one of our pastors provided another perspective to the analysis. This pastor attributed the downward trend in donations to the gathering steam of the missional church vision the denomination embraced several years ago. Data analysis indicates that over the same seven year period, donations to congregations have remained relatively steady. I don’t have hard evidence to back up my next claim, but it makes anecdotal sense that the greater embrace of the missional church vision by a congregation, the greater the increase of donations to that vision. In other words, where people are getting excited about what their congregation is doing, the financial support follows.

This is reason to celebrate. Indeed, it is exciting to see congregations all across Canada discerning the activity of God and becoming aligned with that activity in their arena of ministry. However, this exciting development has created a challenge. Congregations are getting so excited about what they are doing that they are forgetting the missional ministries of the national church and area churches. With this as a reality the pastor responded to the news release by saying: “living out the missional vision is costly to the denomination!” So, now the national church must reposition itself to engage differently with the success from the pews that we have worked and prayed for.

Of course, there is still important work that must be continued by the national church. International ministries, pastoral leadership development, resourcing congregations, providing a national voice - these are still core responsibilities of the national church entity. They represent activity that remains true to our values and ethos of a community of faith engaging in ministry together.

These are disconcerting times for the national church. Over time, I believe we will also see a more exciting future for the national and area churches. The missional church vision is taking root and changing what it means to be Church in Canada. But for the ministries and activities of Mennonite Church Canada, it has become a costly vision.