WiderChurch 6-22

Akron, Pa.

Donations to Mennonite Central Committee in the United States are down and MCC staff are reluctantly preparing to cut back on programs. Giving in Canada this year was strong, although general donations were relatively flat.

Last year, MCC spent $94 million in 60 countries to provide the basics of life to millions of people, to find long-term solutions to poverty and help make peace in thousands of neighbourhoods.

At this time of year, MCC normally has 50 percent of its annual budget covered. The fiscal year ends March 31. Currently, only 40 percent is in hand.

“An additional $3 million is necessary in order to avoid the need for cutting programs in the next fiscal year,” according to Dave Worth, director of MCC Resource Generation.

Cuts in MCC program will impact people like the da Silvas in northeastern Brazil. The building of an MCC-funded cistern has meant a big change in their lives.

“In the midst of news about Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan and the war on terrorism we are asking MCC supporters not to forget the other voices rarely heard in the news,” said MCC director Ron Mathies.

As is the case for many aid agencies, funding for MCC work is encountering hard times as the U.S. economy continues to struggle. Earlier this year, funding shortfalls caused MCC to hold back on international program responses for the first time in several years.

Canada’s economy remains healthy, and it’s too early to tell which direction giving will go this fiscal year.

Administrative and fund-raising costs are consistently around 10 percent of MCC income, Worth said, giving MCC an “A” grade by the American Institute of Philanthropy. (See www.charitywatch.org for details.)

MCC continues to receive support for its work in Afghanistan, where nearly $5 million will be spent during the next two years constructing new homes, latrines and water generation plants; working with prosthetics; and providing food for needy families, Mathies said.

“We are hoping our supporters will continue to remember the da Silvas and the millions of other families around the world who want to improve their lives,” Mathies said.

—From MCC release

Goshen, Ind.

In the year before the creation of Mennonite Church USA, the General Conference Mennonite Church and Mennonite Church saw their net assets drop a combined 21.6 percent—a total loss of $3.7 million. GC assets fell 39 percent, from $5.7 to $3.5 million, in 2001, while MC assets declined 13 percent, from $11.4 million to $9.9 million.

These audited statements mean that less money than anticipated can be divided between Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. The General Conference and Mennonite Church were binational bodies before denominational transformation created Mennonite Church Canada in 2000 and Mennonite Church USA on February 1 of this year.

“Three factors contributed to a reduced amount of money available for distribution as compared to the...estimates of individuals prior to the St. Louis 1999 [decision to form separate U.S. and Canadian denominations],” said Ted Stuckey, director for MC USA’s Office of Administration. Stuckey is a member of the binational Asset and Liability Distribution Task Force and made a report in October to the Joint Executive Committee of MC USA and MC Canada.

First, he said, GC and MC agencies all had operating budget shortfalls in the last two years of their existence. Second, the mission agencies’ transformation process “proved to be a very expensive process” and significantly reduced the reserves of Mennonite Board of Missions, Commission on Overseas Mission and Commission on Home Ministries. Third, severance costs for GC and MC employees who were not given jobs in the new agencies further reduced the reserves of all former agencies.

With the former agencies permanently closing their books, distribution of GC and MC assets can now begin. In the first step, MC Canada will be allocated $474,317 of the net assets of the General Conference Mennonite Church, Mennonite Church General Board, Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries and Mennonite Board of Missions.

When a donor’s country of origin could be determined, that amount went to the donor’s current denomination. When donors could not be determined, 40 percent of GC assets and 10 percent of MC assets were allocated to MC Canada. Those numbers are based on Canadian memberships in the General Conference and Mennonite Church.

Still to be determined is the amount from Mennonite Board of Education, which ended its fiscal year June 30. Mennonite Publishing House and Mennonite Mutual Aid are not included in the distribution; MPH remains a binational agency while MMA is a U.S.-only agency.

The Asset and Liability Distribution Task Force will now address six other issues, including assessing the real estate that continues to be used by MC USA. There are currently no plans to sell any of the properties in Newton, Kansas; Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Goshen, Indiana. The task force may decide that the Newton building is not a binational asset because it was a gift from a U.S. donor.

Other unresolved issues:
• Funds belonging to the Mennonite Indian Leaders Council, a U.S. organization formerly affiliated with the General Conference,
• Proceeds from sale of denomination-owned properties in other countries,
• Liabilities in retirement aid funds for former missionaries and pastors,
• Guarantees for loans made by Church Extension Service to overseas congregations for church buildings,
• Deficits remaining from the transformation process and from ongoing publishing transformation costs.

—Everett J. Thomas

The writer is editor of The Mennonite. Article reprinted by permission.

Instead of the annual Fall delegate session, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada this year conducted six Team Regional Visits—at Preston, Elmira, Shantz, Danforth, St. Catharines Lao, and North Leamington Mennonite churches.

The language of “ministry partnership” was used to describe the relationship of MC Eastern Canada to its congregations. The objective of the meetings was relationship building through sharing information and dialogue on how MC Eastern Canada can best be a resource to congregations.

The team also tested some thoughts on the future mission of MC Eastern Canada which grew out of the Visioning Retreat sponsored by Executive Board in June. The following is from a report of the meeting at Shantz Mennonite Church on November 5.

David Brubacher, Minister to Conference, and Ester Neufeldt, accountant, represented conference staff. Matthew Isert-Bender attended from Executive Board, and Jim Steckle from Finance Commission.

In his opening, based on Ecclesiastes 3, Brubacher suggested that this is a time to reflect on our history, on our present work, and on our future as MC Eastern Canada.

He noted later: “Our grandparents hammered out a vision of church in the kitchen, while our parents, listening from the living room, bought into or were co-opted into accepting their vision. We in the third generation also bought into the vision as we heard the story told. Will our children so readily accept that post-World War II vision of the church?”

He noted that every third or fourth generation desires to put its own stamp on the church. “Perhaps...we can help the generation coming behind us to do this.” One way might be to plant “a church within the church” nurtured by the “old” church that would itself eventually die.

A document from the Visioning Retreat was given to the 40 persons present. A Visioning Strategy Process, prepared for these regional visits, was also circulated. Cast in the language of the missional church, the objectives of the visioning process are: to ask what God is calling MC Eastern Canada to be; to rewrite a mission statement; to review the current conference and staff structures; to recommend changes; to dialogue with congregations, staff and conference groups.

Ester Neufeldt explained conference finances in narrative style. Of donations from congregations, 42 percent is directed to Mennonite Church Canada programs, including Canadian Mennonite University and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. MC Eastern Canada uses 58 percent of donated funds for mission and service, congregational services, education, schools and camps.

The rest of the evening was devoted to questions from the Visioning Strategy Process: what do congregations need from MC Eastern Canada; should the focus continue to be on delivering program resources for congregational ministries; what should MC Eastern Canada not do any more; what are the major issues facing the conference; what five- and ten-year objectives should be set?

Brubacher noted that current staff are stretched to their limits. He declared: “I’m blowing the whistle on the fact that we keep trying to add programs, without being willing to drop any.” Delegates noted that their churches are “drowning in mailings” from many sources. “Let’s not duplicate programs,” they said.

After a lively discussion, Brubacher distilled five things which the group values in church life: worship, outreach ministry of making disciples, authentic Christian community, support for pastoral and other leadership, the peace position.

Delegates also pondered new ways of doing things. Maybe we could pool resources between area conferences. Does the conference need to do all the mission projects or could clusters of congregations work at some things together? What needs to be centralized and what can be decentralized? Could we do away with the “silo” approach of separate ministries? There is already a trend toward more inter-commission cooperation by staff; for example, “family-based ministry.” They noted that no staff appear to take responsibility for worship.

What are we doing to keep our congregations working together? What does it mean to have the “Confession of Faith” as a unifying document? Someone wondered what we would see if we placed all our congregation’s mission statements alongside the conference mission statement.

A recurring theme was the need for the calling and training of pastors. Several affirmed the importance of personal contact and encouragement.

Brubacher noted how the conversation in this meeting, as in the two previous ones, shifted beyond program resources to values such as worship, nurturing family and leaders, and nurturing faith for the marketplace.

The napalm that burned her skin during the Vietnam War was powerful, but for Kim Phuc, “love and forgiveness is more powerful than napalm can ever be.”

Those words from Phuc, known as “the girl in the picture,” resonated powerfully with the over 500 people attending the “Business as a Calling” convention here October 30-November 3. The convention, sponsored by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), focused on the theme, “Overcoming adversity.”

Phuc, 39, recounted the day in 1972 when, as a nine year-old girl, she was photographed running naked and burned after being bombed by a misplaced U.S.-directed air strike against her village.

She described her painful recovery, her use as a propaganda tool for the communist government, her conversion to Christianity and her escape to Canada.

Today she travels around the world raising awareness about and money for children caught in war. “I have known war, so I know the value of peace,” she said. “I have lived under government control, so I know the value of freedom. I have lived in poverty, so I know how to value the many things I have. And I have known the power of faith and forgiveness.”
Convention-goers also heard Tom Caldwell, chair of Caldwell Securities in Toronto, describe how he saw himself as a “missionary in the investment business.” Everyone is called to ministry, Caldwell stated.

“As Christians in business, we’re in the front line,” Caldwell said. “We have an absolutely essential role to play in society.” He gave practical examples of how Christians can show their faith—by how they treat employees, by paying bills promptly, by rigorous honesty in business dealings and by showing fairness and forgiveness.

“When I think about the end of my life, I ask myself: ‘Will the world be a better place because I was here?’ I can’t answer that—only others, who watched me, will be able to do so,” said Caldwell.

Phil Ebersole, formerly the director of MEDA’s business training program in Toledo, Ohio, described how his faith was deepened following adversity in his family. The experience helped him become aware of his own need for God, increased his compassion for others and caused him to “discover new layers of community and relationships” with other Christians.

During the convention, the presidency of MEDA passed from Ben Sprunger to Allan Sauder.

“I am grateful to have been part of an organization that develops livelihoods for poor people through sustainable development,” said Sprunger in his farewell comments. “I firmly believe God’s hand is at work through MEDA.”

Sauder said that he wants to “explicitly recognize the contribution” that businesses operated by MEDA supporters make in their communities a

nd, at the same time, challenge “each other not to forget the most needy and vulnerable.”
Last year, MEDA was involved in 27 countries and served 200,000 clients through the work of 179 staff, most of them non-North Americans. It had microcredit contracts and investments worth $25 million in 20 countries, and agribusiness contracts and investments worth $10.2 million in 13 countries.

MEDA helps low income entrepreneurs in 10 cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through its business training program called ASSETS. It also helps working children in Egypt to obtain educations and increased workplace safety. MEDA received $1.9 million in donations last year.

MEDA is an association of North American Christians in business and the professions who want to “connect their faith and work in a needy world.”

Kitchener, Ont.

At their first annual meeting on November 5, members of MennoHomes Inc. reviewed the successful start-up developments for their plan to address homelessness and the need for affordable housing. They also discussed ways to respond to persons who don’t want rental housing and low-income tenants in their neighbourhoods.

The first project being planned by MennoHomes is a 24-unit duplex development on a plot of land being purchased from a Lutheran church in Kitchener. However, the application for severance and title has been appealed by neighbours.

The appeal will go to the Ontario Municipal Board in late January. City of Kitchener officials were planning to convene a meeting with neighbours at the end of November.

“We’re caught between two moralities,” commented Martin Buhr, president of MennoHomes. “Intensification for a good social purpose, and the rights of neighbours to declare their right.”

“Don’t try to convince people of the goodness of rental housing,” suggested one participant who owns rental facilities in the city. “But assure them of some ongoing monitoring and involvement.” MennoHomes is planning to provide some services through a voluntary service worker.

The current tension with neighbours stands in contrast to the welcome mat which MennoHomes has received from churches, governments and persons in need of affordable housing.

The initiative began with Mennonite Central Committee Ontario convening a working group in January 2001. The group held a series of consultations—six by now—which included representatives from 20 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches.

Focus groups have also been conducted with prospective renters. Eight of the units will receive a rent supplement from the government.

MennoHomes incorporated as a non-profit group in September 2001, and in November of that year obtained charitable registration.

The 24-unit development is projected to cost $100,000 per unit. The Regional Council has offered grants and waivers to cover 25 percent of the cost. Mortgages from Mennonite Foundation of Canada and Mennonite Savings and Credit Union will cover 60 percent. For the remaining 15 percent—$360,000 in total—MennoHomes is looking to donor individuals and churches.

At the annual meeting, treasurer Al Isaac reported that as of November 1, a total of $315,600 in cash and pledges had been committed. Several churches have decided to give a tenth of their own building project funds.

Elected as directors were Buhr and Isaac, along with five others: Rick C. Bauman, David Erb, Elizabeth Klassen, Carolyn Musselman and Dorene Rudy Snyder.

—Ron Rempel

Photo to right: Planning team for the youth assembly includes seven youth and five adults. Kneeling: Darryl Neustaedter-Barg (MC Manitoba); Billy Chiew (pastor in B.C.); Nelson Huang, B.C.; Herb Sawatzky (Ontario pastor). Middle: Lyndon Froese, Man.; Jennifer Loewen, Alta.; Denise Valle, Sask.; Darren Kropf, Ont.; Eryn Smit (Ontario pastor); Anne Campion (youth ministry director). Back: Jana Schachowskoj, Ont.; Arielle Campion, Ont.

Below: The program committee for St. Catharines 2003. Front: Karen Schellenberg (pastor, Portage Mennonite, Man.); Mildred Roth, Ont.; Dan Nighswander (general secretary); Frieda Hildebrand (local hosting chair); Dan Dyck (communications director). Back: Pam Peters-Pries (Support Services executive secretary); Anne Campion (youth ministry director); Craig Friesen (Rosthern Mennonite pastor); Karen Peters (administrative assistant).

Winnipeg, Man.

What if we really understood ourselves as partners with God? This and other “what if” questions were explored by Mennonite Church Canada’s program committee here September 19-21 as they prayed, studied scripture, and wrestled with theme ideas for next year’s assembly.

The 2003 assembly will be held in St. Catharines, Ontario, July 9-13.

The committee incorporated counsel from over 100 individuals from across Canada, including conference ministers, board and council members, and staff. The theme emerged as, “What if all God’s people...?” using Philippians 1:1-11 to consider the characteristics of the church God calls us to be. Counsel from those surveyed repeatedly emphasized the missional church.

“There is a desire on behalf of the wider church to explore more deeply missional church ideas, which invite Christians to dream about the possibilities of what can happen when we ask of ourselves, our congregations, and our communities, ‘What if we saw our world through Jesus’ eyes?’” said committee chair Craig Friesen.

“The ‘what if’ theme allows room for the delegate body to explore a wide variety of missional church characteristics, from diversity to hospitality, from healthcare in a Christian context to peace and justice, and many other sub-themes,” said general secretary Dan Nighswander.

The planning team for the youth assembly calls itself YMAD (Youth Mennonite Assembly Designers).
“We’re hoping for 600-800 youth,” said Anne Campion, youth ministry director. Their goal for the youth assembly is that it would “be about and for God.”

Campion said, “I was thrilled at the sense of God’s presence and the energy present as YMAD met for our first time together. The level was so high that YMAD felt there was no reason why we should not pray for 1,000 youth to join together in St. Catharines 2003!”

Frieda Hildebrand (Vineland Mennonite Church) is local hosting chair and has already been building awareness in the local church cluster, connecting with pastors and soliciting volunteers.

“I estimate we’ll need 200 or more volunteers to show off our Southern Ontario hospitality here next year. It will be a great opportunity for community building among the hosting congregations,” she said.
The program committee will meet again in February to finalize facilities and meet with local hosting committees.