Alberta MB Conference

A look at the future
SunWest Christian Fellowship, CALGARY, ALTA.
March 19-20, 1999

"It is because of Jesus’ love that we have started Mission Calgary." These words by Church Extension Commission chair Ray Wiens summarized the opening evening of the Alberta MB Conference convention March 19. The official theme of the convention was "The Harvest", and the evening focused on three church plants.

The convention was hosted by four-year-old SunWest Christian Fellowship in the rented facilities of Southview Alliance Church. Delegates got a flavour of this dynamic GenX congregation in Calgary’s southern suburbs as SunWest’s worship team led the music throughout the convention. The music was a mix of hymns and choruses, but the style was loud, energetic and worshipful.

Delegates heard encouraging and creative reports about SunWest, including a video of Sunday morning and an "audio tape" of the phone conversation of Ray Wiens asking church planter Willy Reimer to accept the "Mission Impossible" of planting SunWest four years ago.

Bob Berg, who has been part of the congregation since the beginning, described SunWest’s rapid growth. Average attendance has jumped to 450 in two Sunday morning services, and membership stands at 79. Over 200 people attend 18 care groups. The budget has grown from $5000 a month the first year to $19,000 a month last year and $30,000 in the coming year. The congregation is now off conference subsidy and is paying its provincial conference dues. Senior pastor couple Willy and Gwen Reimer have been joined by care group and youth pastor couple Wayne and Suzanne Driedger, worship pastor Dan and Melony Bergen and a half-time secretary. In the coming year, the congregation wants to have a full-time church secretary and hire a half-time children’s pastor and a half-time youth pastor.

Willy Reimer thanked the conference for its support, and Ray Wiens prayed for the congregation.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church from Calgary has applied to join the Alberta Conference. A singing group from the congregation sang two numbers based on Scripture, and one of the elders gave a brief description of the congregation and why it wanted to join the MB Conference. Founded in 1991, the congregation has no pastor, but baptized 13 people last year and now has 40 members. The members have a three-hour service every Sunday afternoon in a United Church and a once-a-month all-night prayer meeting. It is seeking a pastor and hopes to reach out to the 3000 Ethiopians living in Calgary, as well as to other people.

The delegation enthusiastically voted to accept the Ethiopian congregation into the Conference, and Alberta Conference moderator Harry Heidebrecht prayed for the congregation.

Phil and Deb Wideman were introduced as the first church planters under the Mission Calgary program. They will begin planting a church in the Hidden Valley area of northwest Calgary on July 1. Phil gave a moving account of a "Job" experience and his acceptance of the call to Calgary. After 17 years of successful pastoral ministry in another denomination, he was forced to resign after he took a strong stand on a moral principle. In the next two years, his 16-year-old son broke his neck snowboarding (he has since been healed), his father died of a heart attack, he suffered with 11 kidney stones, and God closed the door on every other pastoral opportunity. Nevertheless, he discovered that "Jesus is enough".

When Canadian MB Conference evangelism director Ewald Unruh approached Wideman about church planting in Calgary, he at first said no, but later became convinced that God was calling him to Calgary. He has since found himself very much in tune with the entrepreneurial spirit in Calgary.

In preparation for the church plant, Wideman did a door-to-door survey. He found that 70% of the people have absolutely no church connection, 70% have been in the city less than three years, yet 35% want more information about the church plant. He was amazed at the openness of people to talk about their personal lives and spiritual things. "God is doing something in this city," he said. Six couples have already committed to join the new church plant.

Members of the other congregations in the Conference then paraded to the stage carrying large gift boxes representing cash donations for sound equipment, fax machines, photocopiers and other equipment needed by the new church. The largest box came from all the churches and was labelled "Prayer".

Guest speaker for the convention was Adam Wiggins, senior pastor of Eastview Community Church in Winnipeg. He was introduced as the speaker for the evening, but it was already 9:30, time for a contemporary worship session for youth led by the SunWest worship team. Wiggins announced that he and the delegates had already received all the inspiration they could handle for one night, and led in a closing prayer without giving his message.

A parallel youth conference was held alongside the Alberta convention, led by SunWest and incorporating SunWest’s regular Friday night youth program. It included worship, recreation and a morning of prayer walks and ministry in downtown Calgary.

A Saturday morning breakfast session picked up the convention theme, with a showing of the video The Harvest, which encourages Christians to work together to bring people to Jesus.

Canadian Conference evangelism director Ewald Unruh presented a moving, sobering look at the lost from Matthew 9:35-38. He made three points:

• The harvest is plentiful. Unruh illustrated this with statistics: there are 6 billion people in the world, and 250,000 are born every day; North America is the largest English-speaking mission field in the world; 82% of Canadians (24.6 million people) are unchurched; 70,000 people have come to Calgary in the last three years; Calgary needs 260 churches to have even one for every 2000 people.

• The fields are ripe. Unruh noted the openness to the gospel that Phil Wideman had found in Calgary. He also noted the growth of the Mennonite church in Ethiopia. In 1982, when a communist government closed the churches and arrested church leaders, there were 5,000 Mennonite believers in that country. The church went underground, and by the time the churches reopened in 1992, there were 50,000 believers. Today there are 140,000.

People are lost, harassed and helpless, without a shepherd. The third point was illustrated by a short clip from the movie Titanic: a rescue boat searching among a sea of dead bodies for survivors and a sailor saying, "We waited too long." Unruh stated, "That’s the grim scene of our world thousands are swimming, some are floundering, some are drowning, some are motionless. It’s rescue time. If we believe in the reality of hell, we will have the whatever-it-takes attitude that God has to save the lost."

Opening the morning business session, the Executive Committee won approval for three recommendations:

1. A task force will be set up to review the Conference structure. In particular, a board of management may be created, as the Executive Committee does this work now and it is becoming too much work as the Conference grows.
2. Another task force will study negotiating a comprehensive insurance plan for the Conference’s churches and agencies, as is done in B.C. and Manitoba.
3. The Conference salary grid was increased by 1.4%

Mennonite Brethren from across Canada received enthusiastic applause for the Canadian MB Conference decision to contribute $400,000 over the next few years to the Mission Calgary church planting project, as part of the Canadian Conference Board of Evangelism’s Key Cities Initiative. The results of this joint project are already becoming visible.

Ron Toews, senior pastor of Dalhousie MB Community Church, reported that his church is growing and talking of adding a second service, hiring more staff and expanding its facility. It is also putting aside $10,000, $20,000 and $30,000 over the next three years in order to fund the planting of a daughter church in 2002.

Willy Reimer reported that SunWest Christian Fellowship is setting aside $1000 a month over the next year in order to fund another daughter church plant.

Jake Balzer, former B.C. MB Conference church extension director, is now serving as part-time volunteer church extension director for the Alberta Conference. He noted four kinds of cooperation necessary for Mission Calgary to succeed: cooperation with Jesus and the Holy Spirit; cooperation between the Canadian and Alberta Conferences; the support of the other churches in the Alberta Conference (Balzer had visited half of them in the previous year and found great interest in outreach); and the need for church planters and other workers in the new churches. While still living in B.C., Balzer has made 13 trips to Alberta in the past year. He received warm applause for his contributions.

The Church Extension Commission received approval for three recommendations:

1. A separate Mission Calgary account with its own financial records will be set up to make it easier to manage this large project.
2. The annual Alberta Conference grant to Mission Calgary will be a nonrefundable grant money not used one year will be left in the fund and used the next year.
3. The 1999-2000 Alberta Conference grant was set at $55,000.

Abe Quiring, one of two part-time volunteer conference ministers, reported that a small Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Pincher Creek had closed and that the remaining members had joined Foothills Community Church, the MB church there. The MB church is now raising money to buy a building lot owned by the former Alliance church.

Accompanied by the comment, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away," a recommendation was presented that the Gospel Light Church in Debolt be released from membership in the MB Conference in order to join the Christian and Missionary Alliance. The church voted to make the change last fall. One issue was fellowship—there are few MB churches but many Alliance churches near Debolt. The church has been unable to find an MB pastor, but current pastor Paul Warnock, from an Alliance background, is doing a good job and the church is reaching out into its community. Because MB church buildings in Alberta are owned by the local congregation and not the MB Conference, the Debolt building goes with the Debolt congregation. Warnock was called to the stage, where Abe Quiring prayed for him, the congregation and the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination. Warnock received warm applause after briefly describing the church and quoting from I Corinthians regarding Christian cooperation: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase."

It was announced that Abe Quiring has decided not to continue as Conference minister. Faith and Life Commission chair Gerhard Reimer thanked him for his ministry, giving him the book The Signature of God on behalf of the Conference.

Three recommendations were presented and passed. The first was to adopt the "Ministerial Sexual Misconduct" policy and procedures in the new General MB Conference church manual, Following the Call. The second recommendation was releasing the Debolt congregation.

The most tension-filled moment of the convention came with the Faith and Life Commission’s third recommendation, "That the Alberta Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches revoke the membership of South Calgary Inter-Mennonite Church as of March 20, 1999".

South Calgary decided to accept practising homosexuals as members and to join the pro-homosexual Supportive Congregations Network in fall 1997. Since the congregation belongs to three denominations, the Alberta MB Conference, the Conference of Mennonites in Alberta and the Northwest Mennonite Conference decided to deal with the congregation jointly. At their third meeting with South Calgary, on Sept. 19, 1998, all three conferences gave South Calgary three options: repent of its position, voluntarily withdraw from the conferences or be expelled from the conferences. MB Conference representatives met separately with South Calgary’s leaders on Nov. 16, 1998 and Jan. 9, 1999, and the deadline for compliance was set at March 15. Since South Calgary has declined the first two options, this led to the recommendation to expel. (The two Mennonite conferences have since extended their deadlines in order to allow more time for dialogue.)

In introducing the recommendation, Alberta MB Conference moderator Harry Heidebrecht reported that while meetings between the Conference and the congregation had been emotional and intense, they had always been respectful and cordial. He commended the South Calgary congregation for the spirit in which it had addressed the issue, and acknowledged that expulsion was difficult for South Calgary. In the end, however, he said, "we wept and hugged but disagreed". He noted that the North American and Canadian MB Conferences were fully supportive of the Alberta Conference’s position.

The South Calgary leaders then read a three-page letter. It first described how South Calgary came to its current position. Next, it stated that homosexuality is "simply a part of who a person is" and therefore not sinful; while admitting that some Bible passages "appear to condemn homosexuality", the letter stressed biblical concepts of love and compassion. The letter acknowledged that its position was not held by the Conference, but expressed the hope that South Calgary could remain part of the Conference. Finally, the letter expressed the hope that the Conference and South Calgary might someday come to reconciliation.

The Conference leaders limited debate on the recommendation to 30 minutes, but less than half of that time was required. None of the four comments from the floor accepted South Calgary’s position, but one regretted that the Conference’s first resolution on homosexuality had to be negative (hating the sin) rather than positive (loving the sinner), and another urged that MBs should be welcoming of gays, though not of their lifestyle.

In a secret ballot, delegates voted by over 90% to expel the South Calgary church. Harry Heidebrecht expressed sympathies to the South Calgary congregation, and expressed willingness to meet once more with South Calgary leaders. Abe Konrad, the other part-time Alberta Conference minister, then said a prayer for South Calgary.

With the church extension celebration and South Calgary issues behind, the energy level of the convention seemed to decline significantly. Camping Ministries Commission chair John Thiessen reported on significantly growing attendance at Camp Evergreen. He presented a detailed analysis showing that the real cost of ministering to each of the 812 summer campers last year was $280.77 per week, and the real cost of ministering to each of the 5200 group campers during the rest of the year was $20.67 per day.

Discussion from the floor was positive, including an encouragement that hard-working camp director Paul and Brenda Isaac be given more time off.

The Commission presented two recommendations. The first increased the annual Alberta MB Conference grant to the Camp from $40,000 to $50,000.

The second recommendation was that the Camp "go forward with the first phase of the capital expenditures project this year…the climbing wall, lodge expansion and washroom".

Several delegates asked what exactly the Conference would be committing itself to, but few details were forthcoming. The camp evidently has the $30,000 required for the climbing wall. The current washrooms have been updated, but new ones will be incorporated into the expanded lodge. The lodge expansion was fully explained in the Camp’s "green plan", a development proposal presented at convention a few years ago. The lodge expansion alone could cost $1 million, but the Camp will raise the needed money over the next few years without asking the Conference directly for more money, and will only build as the money comes in. There was a suggestion that the recommendation be reworded, but no one offered clearer wording; the recommendation passed, with a few opposed.

Budget and ballots

The Conference finished the 1998-99 year with a balanced budget. The budget had called for spending of $143,000, and contributions from the churches actually amounted to $143,456. All the commissions underspent their budgets, leaving a "surplus" of $19,943. However, the Conference had also planned for an additional $37,000 in "discretionary spending" if money came in; the surplus was spent, evenly divided between church planting and the Camp Evergreen capital fund.

For 1999-2000, a budget of $159,000 was approved. This includes the increase in Mission Calgary funding from $25,582 to $55,000 and the increase in the Camp Evergreen subsidy from $40,000 to $50,000. However, each of these agencies had originally requested $60,000. Therefore, "discretionary spending" was added to this budget as well, meaning that the two agencies could get up to an additional $13,000 each if enough money comes in. The Conference norm was increased from $82 to $84 per member.

Two delegates from the floor pointed out that some "well-off churches" have contributed very little to the Conference financially; integrity and accountability require that those who vote yes for the budget should be obligated to try to help meet it.

All nominated candidates for Conference commissions were acclaimed, and there remain one vacancy on each of the Church Extension Commission, Christian Education Commission and Concord College Board. Harry Heidebrecht returns as moderator, and Jenny Benke as secretary. Lorne Willms of Coaldale was acclaimed as assistant moderator, replacing Herman Plett.

The afternoon was devoted to two slots of workshops, with the emphasis on younger, outreach-oriented churches. For instance, Ewald Unruh taught on "How to attract and welcome seekers", and SunWest presented two workshops, one on reaching out through the Alpha small group strategy, and the other on developing a worshipping community. A team from The Meeting Place (an MB congregation in Winnipeg) presented a three-hour workshop on children’s ministry; the team has previously offered this workshop at a Willow Creek conference in Chicago.

The convention closed with a Saturday evening worship session at the SunWest congregation’s usual meeting place, Mid-Sun Community Centre. The worship featured a blend of styles, led by the Coaldale MB Church choir and the SunWest worship team working together.

In another sobering, thought-provoking message, Adam Wiggins told of the challenge of running "the hill" (a very steep course) in high school. He hated it, but one day was inspired, ran it and became an enthusiastic runner. For many Christians, he said, "the hill" is the Great Commission; they may recognize that God loves the lost, but until they have actually led someone to the Lord, they find it totally intimidating. Wiggins then stated that Jesus not only gave the Great Commission but also showed Christians how to fulfil it, in the story of the Samaritan woman (John 4). The first step is building a relationship, even when the other person’s values may be offensive. The second step is to share a verbal witness; people today are asking many spiritual questions, and Christians should be ready to answer them. Third, churches should be "unwaveringly biblical but culturally relevant"; Wiggins sadly cited the story of a woman who "really got" one of his sermons on grace, but who was so turned off by the church he was speaking in that she would not go back there. He concluded, "Let’s run this hill together. Once you start running the hill, you’ll never want to turn back. Friends, we can do this."

The service, and the convention, closed with a communion service. JC

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