Last August, the Executive Board approved a new vision for the Conference, capsulized in the phrase "Serve 2000". At the January meetings, the Board approved plans for a radically revised delegate convention next July, at which "Serve 2000" will be presented, promoted and even implemented. The convention's business will be conducted in roundtable sessions. The convention will have more worship and fellowship time; strong children's and youth programs; more opportunity for delegate input to the Boards (through workshops); and more equipping workshops to inspire and prepare attenders for ministry in their local congregations.
As well, the Executive Board:
1. Finalized proposals for revising the Conference constitution. The revisions will recognize some relatively minor changes in structure approved in the last couple of years. They will be voted on at the July convention in Winnipeg. (The Board also discussed briefly further streamlining of the North American, Canadian and US conference structures, but a full discussion was put off to a later meeting.)
2. Prepared a budget for the 1996-98 biennium. After 19 months, giving from the congregations toward the 1994-96 biennium budget (which ends May 31, 1996) is about $250,000 below budget. However, spending is about $131,000 below budget, and treasurer Jake Neufeld is hopeful that the Conference will finish the year at or close to a balanced budget. The Executive Board is proposing a 1996-98 budget with a modest increase of 4%. The per-member norm (which the Conference asks congregations to donate to the Conference), has declined for the past several years; now it will rise from $86 to $87 in 1996-97 and to $88 in 1997-98.
The Executive Board also received a report by financial expert Harry Olfert concerning declining revenues to denominations. Olfert suggested that revenues can be increased if denominations develop programs that relate to the vision for ministry held by local churches and individuals.
3. Approved a revision of the Personnel Guidelines and Policies for the Conference. There were two main changes. The first is that executive directors will get a three-month professional improvement leave after five years of service, rather than after three years of service. The other is that the salary grids will be adjusted to take account of variations in the cost of living in different parts of the country.
The Personnel Compensation Commission also reported the need for a comprehensive sexual abuse policy for the Conference.
4. Adopted the new North American MB Conference logo and letterhead for use by the Canadian Conference as well. The North American Conference will use the logo in green, the Canadian Conference in medium teal blue. All provincial conferences were encouraged to adopt the logo, in a colour of their own choosing.
5. Approved several appointments. From now on, the Canadian Conference moderator will represent the Canadian Conference on the International Committee of Mennonite Brethren. (At the request of ICOMB, the Canadian and US Conference moderators are replacing the North American Conference moderator on this gathering of leaders from national Mennonite Brethren conferences around the world.) The Executive Board decision means that Canadian Conference moderator Abe Konrad will attend the next ICOMB meeting, July 2-4 in Bogota, Colombia, and also represent the Canadian Conference at the 50th anniversary of the Colombian MB Conference in Cali, Colombia, July 6-7.
The Canadian Conference moderator will also represent the Canadian Conference at the Mennonite World Conference Assembly in India in January, 1997.
Elizabeth Esau, secretary on the Canadian Conference Executive Board, will be the Canadian MB Conference representative on the North American MB Conference nominating committee. (She also chairs the Canadian Conference nominating committee.)
6. Approved a one-time grant of $400 to the Anabaptist Women Doing Theology conference to be held May 9-11 in Winnipeg. The conference is sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee, Canadian Mennonite Bible College and Concord College, but has also received grants from the women's committees of the Mennonite Church and General Conference Mennonite Church. The Canadian MB Conference has no women's committee. (Anabaptist Women Doing Theology is a series of academic conferences sponsored by MCC--the first two were held in Waterloo, Ont. in 1992 and Bluffton, OH in 1994. It is a separate series from the less academic Women in Ministry conferences which MCC has been sponsoring for the past 20 years.)
7. Approved a $400,000 line of credit for Concord College. Concord College was established in 1992, replacing Mennonite Brethren Bible College. While MBBC was an agency of the Canadian Conference, Concord is responsible to the MB congregations in the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta which choose to support it. The Canadian Conference has phased out its funding of the school and is scheduled to hand over ownership of the College buildings on July 1, 1997.
A line of credit is a fluctuating loan to cover temporary shortages of cash; it goes up and down as money is received and spent by the College. The actual loan at the time of the Executive Board meetings was about $325,000, and includes $178,000 in accumulated deficit from earlier years. According to the motion approving the line of credit, the line of credit cannot go beyond $400,000; the line of credit must be fully repaid by June 1, 1997; and ownership of the buildings will not be transferred to the College until the line of credit is repaid.
Concord reported to the Executive Board that enrollment is up slightly in its second term (from 440 courses to 470 courses, which amounts to a little over 100 full-time students). Concord is also taking radical steps to reduce its debt. It has slashed its spending and has added a third semester for May-June in order to bring in more revenue.
The Executive Board also approved a recommendation that an independent financial and academic "audit" of Concord be done by the Canadian Conference, in conjunction with the College, over the next 10 months. JC