A good time was had by all

1996 B.C. MB CONFERENCE CONVENTION

A good spirit, good attendance, good fellowship and good preaching marked the B.C. MB Conference convention May 3-4, and they mostly added up to a good convention.

A big bang

The convention got off to a rousing start Friday evening with worship led by the host South Abbotsford MB Church choir and worship team. The music tended toward the traditional, but the accoustics in the church's new sanctuary were excellent, and the worship experience was powerful.

Then came the first of two thought-provoking convention messages by Jim Westgate, associate professor of practical theology at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary. Westgate suggested that under the influence of pressures from society, the church is in danger of accepting a "virtual spiritual reality" which is self-centred, fuzzy on sin, materialistic and secular in the sense that it seeks technological and medical solutions to sin. From Daniel 1, he then described the Babylonians' attempts to change Daniel by indoctrination (the first battle is for the mind, because the mind controls the body), by changing his name (just as modern society calls sin by such names as "adult entertainment", "alternative lifestyles" and "pro-choice") and by pushing Daniel to compromise with the food and customs of the land. Westgate warned, "If Satan can get you to live like a Babylonian, you will become a Babylonian." He urged his listeners to be like Daniel, bringing everything into captivity to God's Word and resolving to trust God with heart, soul and mind.

The evening continued with evidence of the good and bad news that make up the life of the church. Hanging over the convention was the awareness that two members of the Conference had died the previous Sunday in a scuba diving accident; memorial services for both men had been held earlier in the day. Uneasy references were also made to the minor earthquake that had been felt in the area on May 2.

The good news included the fact that the Conference membership had increased from 13,607 at the end of 1994 to 14,176 at the end of 1995; the number of baptisms increased from 538 to 655. Also good news was a moving testimony by Tracy Newton of Peace Arch Fellowship, describing how God had led him into having regular devotions.

The good news concluded with the acceptance of three congregations into the Conference. Garden Valley Community Church is a year-old daughter of Willow Park Church in Kelowna and is already self-supporting. West Vancouver Bible Church was started three years ago in a wealthy, multicultural area by businessman and former pastor Ken Dyck and his family; Rhome Dyck briefly described how the church has attracted surprising interest among its Buddhist neighbours. In contrast, Bakerview Hispanic Church started in 1989 as an outreach to refugees from Latin America and has until now been part of Bakerview MB Church in Abbotsford; accompanied only by a guitar, church member Balmore Velasquez sang moving songs of faith from his homeland.

Coordination

Friday evening also included the passing of four recommendations from the Executive Board. The first made B.C. representatives to Canadian MB Conference boards ex-officio members of the corresponding B.C. boards. It is hoped the change will improve coordination between the Canadian and provincial conference ministries.

The second recommendation amended the constitution regarding the Board of Camp Ministries. Previously the Board consisted of three members elected by the Conference and two members from each of the three camp advisory boards. Now the Board will consist of six members elected by the Conference and one member from each of the camp advisory boards. The three camp directors will continue to sit as ex-officio members on the Board. The advisory boards for Gardom Lake Bible Camp and The Pines Bible Camp will continue to be elected from their local supporting MB churches. However, the advisory board of Columbia Bible Camp will now be directly elected by the Conference in convention; it is the largest of the camps and is located in the Lower Fraser Valley where most of the MB churches are also located. It is felt that the changes will strengthen the relationship between the camps and the Conference.

The third recommendation was to continue the annual subsidy of $25,000 to the B.C. Centre of MB Biblical Seminary; the subsidy had been given originally on a provisional basis for only the first two years.

The fourth recommendation was to hire a full-time conference administrator. John Wiebe had been hired three years ago as full-time stewardship director for the Conference, but there had not been enough stewardship work for a full-time director and his job had unofficially evolved to include administration. A year ago, the Conference had decided to cut the position to a one-fifth-time stewardship and administration position, with Wiebe also working four-fifths-time as comptroller of Columbia Bible College. Now both the College and the Conference have decided to hire full-time administrators. The Conference position will include a stewardship component.

All four recommendations passed with some discussion but without discernible opposition.

Morning by morning

Saturday began with the usual church extension breakfast at 7:00 a.m., but the reports from new churches were more exciting than routine:

The breakfast began with "cultural" music from pastor Vong Luangkhamdeng and the worship team from Lao Christian Church in Surrey; featuring electric guitars, the sound seemed reminiscent of gospel quartet music, but it was pleasing in spite of its unexpected style.

Less surprising but equally delightful was a song in Hindi by Sharmila McLauren. Her husband David described how his English-speaking outreach to second generation Indo-Canadians in Surrey had attracted 24 people to its first worship service on Easter Sunday just a few weeks before. A short video clip from a television news program (shown later in the day) portrayed a memorial service the congregation had held to pray for nine Indo-Canadians recently murdered by an abusive husband in Vernon, B.C.

Doug and Karen Braun reported on their efforts to restart Vernon Community Church, a two-year-old church plant that had floundered because of a disagreement on its leadership team. Attendance had dropped from 100 to 25 but is now attracting up to 42 people. The Brauns have made a number of contacts, including the paramedic who found the nine bodies in Vernon.

Jusuf Wijaya reported on Emmanuel Indonesian Christian Church in Burnaby, which plans to celebrate its fifth anniversary by planting a daughter church among 300 Indonesians who have recently settled in Coquitlam. Wijaya, a pastoral apprentice, reported in place of pastor Sonny Mandagie whose wife Innawati is suffering from post-partum depression. An offering at the breakfast raised almost $6000 of the $7000 needed to provide a sound system for the new church.

Church planter Harry Loewen was supposed to report on a new church that is starting in east Maple Ridge, but he had been taken to hospital that morning with an appendicitis attack.

Rick Hall, senior pastor of North Peace MB Church in Fort St. John, reported on a daughter church that Elgin and Betty Sider, members of his congregation, are starting using a cell church model in a low-income neighbourhood.

Pastor Geoff Neufeld reported on Garden Valley Community Church, where 20-30 non-Christians join the 150 regular attenders each week, where the pastor is forbidden to wear a tie and where he has "seen more people come to Christ than anywhere else in my ministry".

Board member Ken B. Dyck closed the breakfast with a moving two-fold appeal: pastors and congregations should renew their vision for evangelism and church planting, not as a way to fill church buildings but as a way to develop people; attenders at the breakfast should give generously to church planting out of abundance, sacrifice or faith. Dyck was taking the place of BOCE chair Bob Wick, who is recovering from a heart attack suffered a couple of weeks earlier.

The glue

Back in the sanctuary, Jim Westgate asked, in the light of pluralism and increasing multiculturalism in society and the church, "What is the glue that holds us together?" From John 17, he suggested that Mennonite Brethren will stay together as they remain committed to the centrality of God's Word; as they learn to care for one another and protect one another; and as they sanctify one another and themselves. Westgate's thoughtful message was received at times with a profound silence in which delegates seemed to be hanging on every word.

The rest of the morning was spent in workshops, with delegates able to choose two of nine workshops offered by seven Conference boards and two affiliated agencies. The discussion in the workshops seemed to be good and productive. For instance, the Board of Pastoral Ministries received response on two initiatives: an "instrument" for churches to use when evaluating pastoral staff (it received much affirmation) and a procedure by which pastoral candidates from outside the MB conference would be examined theologically by the Board of Pastoral Ministries before or at the same time as they are candidating in a church (the consensus was that this practice not only be encouraged but required). The Board of Management got feedback on three issues: Would guidelines for pastors' salaries be helpful? (Yes.) Should there be a different formula for determining the per-member "norm" that churches are asked to pay to the Conference? (Alternatives should be investigated.) How can the Conference best be insured against earthquakes and liablility for misconduct such as sexual abuse by a pastor? (The Conference churches may self-fund some of this insurance.)

"The Great Mennonite Brethren Speak-Off"

If it had ended at noon, this would have been a very good convention. However, a business session had been planned for the afternoon at which there was little business to process. Instead, delegates were given a three-hour lecture with rotating speakers, featuring the Conference boards and five other agencies. Many of the board members were not present for their boards' presentations. With some exceptions, the reports contained:

No news. The reports mostly repeated what had already been said in the printed reports and the workshops. There were, however, a few bright spots which stirred the delegation. One was a moving story by missionary Steve Friesen: A Japanese woman who had been witnessed to in Japan had accepted Christ 17 years later at Willingdon Church in Burnaby, B.C. while in Canada for study.

No discussion. Often delegates were not even offered the opportunity to make comments.

No coffee break (until it was all over at 4:15).

No recommendations. There were a couple of housekeeping recommendations from the Board of Management, and the budget was passed with no discussion (although the opportunity to discuss was certainly offered). The Conference fiscal year coincides with the calendar year. The Conference ended 1995 with a surplus of $42,211 and an accumulated surplus of $100,020; revenues were $1,086,166 (only $13,000 below budget) and expenses were $1,043,955. The 1996 budget (passed at the 1995 convention) called for a 10% jump to $1,197,250 and revenues are currently running about 30% behind budget. Accordingly, the 1997 budget passed at this convention is basically a stand pat budget of $1,206,000.

The elections were also conducted in the afternoon session. The Conference Executive remained the same (moderator Bob Friesen, assistant moderator Mark Burch and secretary John Lenzmann), as none of their terms had expired. However, nine vacancies remained unfilled due to a lack of nominees.

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