CHRISTIAN EDUCATION MINISTRIES

Our Mission: To help MB churches strengthen their Christian education ministries to children, youth and adults

Board Members

Lorraine Dick

David Dick

Martha Wall

Sharon Johnson

Wes Dahl

Florianne Nickel

Peter Willms

Hardy Enns

Alf Reschke

Staff

Dave Wiebe

Glennis Bowles, administrative assistant

Core Values

We at Christian Education Ministries have matched the Canadian Conference Core Values with our own "Description of a Discipled Person". This description represents our target: What does a maturing, productive follower of Jesus look like?

1. In love with Jesus. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind." Orthodox belief, passion and deeds demonstrate the discipled person's love.

2. Skilled in spiritual self-care. The discipled person is active in spiritual disciplines for refreshment and spiritual strength.

3. Active in winning the lost. The discipled person is a "friend of sinners" in order to reach them with the gospel of Christ.

4. Committed to life in a local church. The discipled person is devoted to receiving teaching, worshipping and sharing in fellowship, like the believers in Acts 2:42-47.

5. Able to critique our culture. The discipled person discerns how and when to exercise civil disobedience and how to observe other boundaries separating the Christian from the world.

6. Journey conscious. The discipled person knows that full discipleship is a "long obedience in the same direction"--it's not over "till the fat lady sings".

Key Result Areas

Keeping our core values in mind, we have six key result areas in which we work, using a variety of ministries and programs:

1. Children's ministry
2. Youth ministry
3. Adult ministry
4. Networking
5. Intercultural ministries
6. Small church CE support

In key result areas 1-3, our aim is to help churches develop discipled children, youth and adults by clarifying the importance and nature of a healthy ministry to each age level.

Ministries and Programs

1. Children's ministry

Safe Place Policy. This guideline has been released to all churches; it can be adapted to fit every congregation.
Purpose-driven kids' ministries. We want to help churches offer a balanced spiritual diet for kids up to Grade 6.
First Steps for Kids. This is an outstanding resource for following up conversions; it clearly explains the Christian basics to young converts.
Tell It Again. This Bible story reading program for kids and parents is free for the asking.
Projections: We are producing an information booklet and a resource binder and will present seminars in every province regarding the new children's ministry strategy. Long-range plans include developing a coaches' network for children's workers.

2. Youth ministry

Coaches' network. We are now recruiting coaches for clusters of churches across our constituency for idea-swapping, consultation, seminars, etc. regarding youth ministry. Our aim is to help build healthy youth ministries in each church.
Future youth convention planning. We'll begin planning for Banff '98, with possibly a new name and some refined purposes.
Quebec Youth Project. We provide financial support, including a freewill offering taken at Banff '95.
"See You At the Pole." We promote this interdenominational program to help youth practise prayer power in their school settings.
"Right from Wrong". We promote this interdenominational campaign to help youth discern right living.
"Why Wait." We promote this interdenominational campaign to help youth stay chaste until marriage.
Projections: In this biennium we will continue developing our youth worker coaches' network throughout Canada.

3. Adult ministry

Walk Thru the Bible. We promote this excellent resource agency for adult biblical literacy.
Annual Planning for Your Sunday School Class. This is a seminar offered by Dave Wiebe.
Teaching for Faith and Ministry. This is also a seminar offered by Dave Wiebe.
Long-range planning. We have not yet developed a national strategy for adult ministry as we have for the other age levels. We will address this area after we have done more work on our coaches' network for youth and our balanced spiritual diet initiative for children.
Projections: In 3-5 years we hope to devise a more comprehensive strategy for adult ministry.

4. Networking

Our aim is to encourage cooperation between local church Christian education workers, provincial CE boards and higher educational institutions in order to extend the national CE vision. To support this cooperation, we have a number of specific programs:

CE Ministries home page--check us out on the internet.
Ideabank--a quarterly newsletter, redesigned.
Nexus--a newsletter for all provincial CE committee members.
Annual meetings with provincial CE committees.
K+--an occasional newsletter for CE pastors in MB churches of 1000 or more.
The coaches networks.
Projections: We plan to continue nurturing relationships and action at the local church and provincial conference levels.

5. Intercultural ministries
Our aim is to assist our churches from a variety of cultural backgrounds in relevant ways unique to them.

La grande aventure d'amour. We are financially supporting this new curriculum being written for Francophone children's Sunday schools (English title: "The great adventure of love"). Project manager is Martha Wall. She and her team are also producing summer ministry materials in French.
Projections: We expect to give increased financial support to this area in the next two years; there is potential that our money will be matched by a foundation.

6. Small church CE support
Our aim is to develop services that relate specifically to small churches' unique needs in order to assist them in discipling children, youth and adults. We will be devoting more effort to this work in future.
Program budget distribution: Children $11,500
Youth $17,000
Network $11,200
Intercultural $10,000
Other Programs $8,500
TOTAL $58,200

Recommendation
1. We recommend that David Wiebe be reappointed for another four-year term as the executive director for Christian Education Ministries, effective August 1, 1996.

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