ALBERTA MB CONFERENCE CONVENTION, MEDICINE HAT, ALTA.
"Prepared to Serve"

True to form, the Alberta Mennonite Brethren Conference convention, held March 22-24 in Medicine Hat, dispensed with business quickly, spending more time on worship, workshops and welcoming new churches.

While an unusually cold spring snowstorm blanketed southern Alberta, Crestwood MB Church in Medicine Hat hosted this year's convention in its newly renovated and expanded building. Church volunteers had put in many hours prior to the convention to finish basement renovations in time. In fact, an afternoon meal in the new basement was the first church function to be held there.

Because of the Alberta Conference's comparably smaller size, there were not many business items to be discussed; business sessions were isolated to an hour Saturday morning and three hours in the afternoon. The convention resembled a seminar weekend, complete with guest speaker, workshops and a catered evening banquet at the Medicine Hat Lodge.

Celebration and inspiration

The convention began Friday evening with a "celebration and inspiration" time. Contemporary music from SunWest Christian Fellowship's worship team gave an energetic start to the weekend. While some of the songs seemed unfamiliar to many convention-goers, they rallied on familiar hymns, evidence of both the changing worship style in many MB churches and the older age of most convention delegates.

Guest speaker Reuben Pauls, executive minister of the Canadian MB Conference, presented his first message on the theme, "Prepared to Serve". Based on passages from Matthew and Mark, Pauls urged delegates to follow Jesus' example of leadership. "The heart of a servant is in serving and self-giving. That's our call in the churches," said Pauls.

Jim Shantz, on behalf of the Church Extension Commission, welcomed two new churches into the conference. As part of Vision 2000's goal of 300 new evangelical churches in Alberta by the year 2000, Shantz said that the Alberta MB Conference had originally set a goal of three new churches by the year 2000 but that that goal may be quickly surpassed.

The first to be welcomed was SunWest Christian Fellowship from the south end of Calgary. Pastor Willy Reimer reported that the church began with a core group of 35; attendance now averages 140. The church is only 30 percent ethnic Mennonite.

Mountainview Grace Church was also welcomed into membership. Jim Shantz gave a brief history of how this church came to be. Calgary has the third largest Chinese population in Canada, he said. Prayer began in 1993 for a Chinese church planter in Calgary. The search for a Chinese candidate was a cooperative effort between the Alberta Church Extension Commission and the B.C. Chinese MB pastors. David Chan, pastor of Pacific Grace Chinese Church in Vancouver, recommended Andy Ng, a graduate of Prairie Bible Seminary in Calgary and a recent intern at South Calgary Alliance Church.

Ng reported that the church was started with 40 charter members and has been growing since, with five people recently baptized. He narrated a slide show picturing families currently attending the church. The acceptance of Mountainview Grace Church as the twenty-first member of the Alberta MB Conference brought a standing ovation from the delegates.

Jim and Bob

Saturday morning began with a testimony from Gerry Doerksen from Lendrum MB Church in Edmonton. He described his recovery from a major car accident he and his family were involved in. He suffered a broken neck, two broken wrists and brain swelling. After six weeks in the hospital, he spent six weeks in helio-traction (a contraption consisting of a metal "halo" bolted to his skull and secured to a frame, to prevent jarring his neck). His second and third vertebrae had to be fused in an operation. Using an extended version of the half-filled glass analogy, he juxtaposed the attitudes of optimistic "Jim" and pessimistic "Bob", fictional characters who had gone through the same experiences Doerksen had gone through, pointing out that it is one's attitude to circumstances and one's faith in God that counts.

Delegates chose two one-hour commission workshops to attend in the morning. Following a noon meal, the afternoon was devoted largely to business. The convention was devoid of any controversial business items.

"The Abes"

The highlight of the commission reports was a ministry team proposal from the Faith and Life Commission. The ministry team would communicate with pastors on behalf of the conference; support pastors; and, on occasion, bring resolution to sensitive or potentially divisive issues.

The Commission proposed dividing the constituency into three regions (north, central and south) and appointing one conference "minister" for each region. Thus, there would be a conference ministry team instead of just one person as in other provincial conferences. The members of the team would be selected by the Faith and Life Commission, would be affirmed at the convention and would be in place for two years, followed by a review. The Faith and Life Commission would cover expenses of the ministry team and provide an honorarium.

The Commission's recommendation that Abe Konrad and Abe Quiring be appointed to the team was approved. Konrad, of Lendrum MB Church in Edmonton, will serve the north; Quiring, of Dalhousie MB Community Church in Calgary, will serve the central region. The only discussion spawned by this was the expected ribbing that another "Abe" should be found to fill the third ministry team position. In the meantime, individual Faith and Life Commission members will serve the southern region.

The Faith and Life Commission also reported on a successful pastors' retreat held at Canmore October 23-25, 1995. Pastoral changes were frequent in the past year, with 12 new pastors being installed and seven pastors leaving.

The Church Extension Commission reported on the progress of its two church plants. West Edmonton MB Church is now off subsidy and has purchased land for future construction. The recommendation that a third church plant be started within two years was approved.

Camping

Camp Evergreen won approval for a recommendation to apply to Revenue Canada for "charitable organization" status. This would allow it to issue tax deductible receipts directly from the camp, instead of from the Alberta Conference of MB Churches. Alf Konrad, Camping Ministries Commission chair, said the change would make it easier to attract support, especially from outside MB churches. Potential supporters would be made aware, however, that the camp is "owned, operated, governed and subsidized as a ministry of the Conference," he said.

Delegates were introduced to the new program director at Camp Evergreen, Garth Epp, and his wife, Tracy. Alf Konrad reported on the completion of several projects, such as new carpet and mattresses. He also reported on an insurance settlement of $27,000 after a July hailstorm damaged building roofs. All buildings are slated for reroofing in 1996, paid for with the insurance money.

The camp operations budget saw a closing deficit of $19,098 due to increased expenses and decreased income. However, the camp received a substantial non-recurring gift of $89,000 from a single donor to go towards camp building projects.

Executive Board

Recommendations from the Executive included that the Camp Evergreen grant for 1996-97 be set at $40,000 and that the salary grid be increased by 1.5%. Both recommendations passed without significant discussion. The Executive also gave notice of motion that amendments to the Christian Education Commission bylaws will be presented to the 1997 convention. The amendments are intended to update the wording of the present by-laws.

Not many changes

A budget very similar to last year's was approved. It contains a slight increase in the overall spending, from $162,500 to $163,000. However, actual spending last year was only $133,306, as almost all departments spent less in order to achieve a balanced budget.

Three budget items were designated "first-level discretionary"; money will be allocated to these items at the end of the year only if the money is available. For example, $5,000 each will be given to SunWest Christian Fellowship, Mountainview Grace Church and the Church Planting Fund. A $15,000 camp capital improvement fund was designated second-level discretionary; that money will be distributed only if money is available after the first-level items are paid for. The norm which congregations are expected to forward to the Conference was reduced from $80 to $79 per member. Actual per-member giving to Alberta Ministries was $52 last year.

Elections

Members of the Executive remained the same: moderator Mark Jantzen, assistant moderator Don Petker, secretary Randy Klassen and treasurer Rudy Kornelsen. Last year's commitment to work on electing more women to conference positions was evident as eight women were elected.

Bob Thiessen of the Nominating Committee expressed concern that there were few people nominated; many positions were filled by acclamation. He jokingly asked, "I'd like people to stand who have said, 'I'm too busy this year, but maybe I can next year.' " Members of the Nominating Committee were still approaching people hours before the vote, and some nominees were forced to decline because they had not discussed accepting a nomination with their families yet. Thiessen suggested that the Nominating Committee be created one year ahead of time and that the work of nominations be done at the local church level.

The Concord question

Concord College was given a full hour Saturday afternoon to present its idea of joining with Canadian Mennonite Bible College and Menno Simons College in a federation of Mennonite colleges. Concord would move to a property across the street from CMBC currently used by the School for the Deaf.

President James Pankratz showed video highlights of Concord students being interviewed on the Christian TV program, It's a New Day.

Board chair Al Doerksen and board members David Dyck and John Wiebe were also on hand to answer questions. In a 15-minute session, delegates asked: Who funds the other two colleges? (The Conference of Mennonites in Canada and individual donors.) What will be the cost of renovations at the School for the Deaf? ($2-3 million in projected costs, but not all are immediately necessary; the building is currently being used as a school.) Is a federation any different from a merger? (Yes--in a federation, Concord would be able to maintain its distinctness.)

From the floor, Abe Konrad of Lendrum and Ron Toews of Dalhousie gave strong affirmation to the federation idea.

Since there was no recommendation, there was no decision to be made, but feedback sheets were distributed for delegates to fill out.

Celebration and sharing

The Saturday evening banquet was a time of celebration and sharing. Testimonies were given by members of the West Edmonton and SunWest churches. A profile of individual church ministries was given.

Reuben Pauls gave his second message, on tools for ministry. Using the example of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, Pauls said an individual's tools for ministry are the gifts and abilities he/she brings to a situation.

Sunday morning was an upbeat service in which Pauls presented his final message, on the rewards for the servant. Using the parable of the talents and Philippians 2, he encouraged the congregation to not worry about what people think; the goal should be that the glory goes to God.

KH

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