MC CANADA MINISTRY INITIATIVE DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

PURPOSE

This document is intended to guide the development of new MC Canada ministry initiatives such as disciple-making initiatives, church planting, church adoption, other ministry proposals, or engagement in new partnerships.

  1. GENERAL GUIDING VALUES THAT APPLY TO ALL NEW INITIATIVES

All MC Canada ministry initiatives will adhere to the following guidelines as to their development and purpose.

  1. Initiatives will be consistent with MC Canada’s vision statement, strategic direction and operational guidelines.
  1. Initiatives will be grounded in a missional church perspective that seeks to be in relationship with our local and global neighbours. In connecting with new initiatives or developing new partnerships, attention will be given to where God is already at work, how MC Canada can come alongside what it discerns to be God’s activity in a particular circumstance, and partner with God and others to foster faith communities that embody God’s peace and justice.
  1. MC Canada partnership, support, or engagement will be premised on our commitment to values, beliefs, and practices that reflect our nationwide Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective, as guided by the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective and expressed in the Mennonite World Conference, Shared Convictions.
  1. The primary purpose for any initiative will be related to the creation, resourcing, or strengthening of Anabaptist/Mennonite faith communities and our shared commitment to witness to God’s work in the world. Initiatives will support:
  2. The emergence of new faith communities
  3. Foster the vitality of existing faith communities
  4. Equip leadership for these communities
  5. Enrich disciple-making ministries
  6. Supports communication between the congregations of the Regional Churches and the wider church, whether nation-wide or global.
  1. Reflecting a biblical theology of concern for the “widow and orphan” and our experience that it is often the poor and disadvantaged who eagerly embrace the good news of Jesus, MC Canada affirms a bias towards these people when considering opportunities for ministry initiatives.
  1. MC Canada will reference and collaborate with our ministry partners in developing new initiatives to utilize their resources and expertise. (Primarily Regional Churches but this may also include other denominational mission and service agencies.)
  1. Since God has gifted each faith community and individual for engagement in God’s mission in the world, an inventory will be constructed to show how God has uniquely gifted each party in the proposed initiative (e.g. faith communities, individuals, other partners). MC Canada will be attentive to how God is calling out these gifts for ministry and witness.
  1. New initiatives will clearly outline the costs associated with the project, the funding sources, and the total financial commitment required to implement and maintain the initiative. Fiscal accountability will include measures that ensure the sustainability for multi-year projects.
  1. In developing new initiatives, MC Canada values a prayerful discernment in the decision-making process. Normally, new initiatives will be developed by MC Canada staff and/or the Executive Staff Group in consultation with the potential partners and, if required, referenced or approved by the Joint Council.
  1. New initiatives will seek to find a balance between fiscal responsibility and God’s call to be entrepreneurial risk takers for the sake of God’s mission in the world. MC Canada chooses to be risk tolerant and recognizes that not all initiatives may succeed as intended but trusts that in each circumstance God will be at work to teach and to guide. We believe that God can use both our failures and successes to further God’s purposes.

MC Canada Ministry Initiative Development GuidePage 1 of 4

October 5, 2017

  1. GUIDING VALUES FOR INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY INITIATIVES

In addition to the above general guiding values, when MC Canada is considering opportunities or invitations to engage in international witness ministry, the following will serve to guide the development of these initiatives.

  1. International witness initiatives will support one or more of the following purposes:
  2. The emergence of Anabaptist/Mennonite faith communities through disciple-making initiatives.
  3. The adoption of existing faith communities who want to root themselves in the values, faith, and theology of the Mennonite faith tradition and are seeking partnership and affiliation with the global Anabaptist faith community.
  4. Consideration may also be given to providing leadership training or theological education from an Anabaptist perspective to existing faith communities who do not yet choose affiliation with the global Anabaptist faith community.
  5. The teaching, equipping, and development of pastoral and lay leaders to support existing or emerging Anabaptist/Mennonite faith communities.
  6. Consideration may also be given to the teaching, equipping, and training of persons for peacemaking efforts grounded in biblical and Anabaptist theology and practice, especially if this is directly related to an existing or emerging Anabaptist faith community.
  7. The connection of congregations to existing or emerging Anabaptist faith communities for mutual support, learning, and witness.
  8. In developing international partnerships, MC Canada will, first and foremost, engage with and be guided by the discernment of its congregations and primary ministry partners:
  9. Congregations will participate in a confirmation of call process in discerning new initiatives.
  10. Collaborative Nationwide Initiatives: Regional Churches will collaborate in a nationwide partnership to sponsor and promote international witness initiatives. These collaborative initiatives will be given priority status when it comes to developing international partnerships.
  11. Regional Churches: Regional Churches are encouraged to work with new Canadian congregations or leaders who have been called by God to share an Anabaptist/Mennonite understanding of the Christian faith, often with people in their country of origin. Initiatives from the Regional Church will receive significant attention in developing international witness initiatives.
  12. When MC Canada receives a request for a new international initiative, MC Canada will engage the international partner or denomination in conversation to determine how MC Canada is best situated to respond.
  13. Mennonite World Conference: Whenever possible, Mennonite World Conference will be consulted as a senior partner whose experience in the global Anabaptist community can help guide the development of international witness initiatives and help make connections to MWC member denominations in other countries.
  1. Screening of Initiatives for Missional Integrity
  2. New initiatives will be reviewed to ensure that they are being framed and undergirded by sound Anabaptist missiology and take into account the learnings and cautions of field experience.
  3. Proposals for international ministry initiatives will be submitted to the Executive Office and the Executive Staff Group for their feedback and counsel, with consideration being given to missional integrity, regional collaboration and the complementary integration of the various ministry initiatives
  4. MC Canada will also be in conversation with the Global Mission Fellowship (GMF) and the terms of the MOUs of GMF, to which MC Canada is a party. Conversation with GMF will take into account the ministry of existing Anabaptist churches that may already be present in a particular country and explore collaboration where possible.
  1. In developing partnerships with faith communities or persons in non-Western countries, attention will be given to how God has provided gifts for the new initiative. In dialogue with potential partners, MC Canada will first ask, “What is it that you are already doing and what are the gifts with which God has blessed you?” Secondly, we will ask, “How can we come alongside you and support what God is doing in your context?” This stance positions MC Canada to enter the partnership with humility and to allow indigenous and ex-pat leaders to significantly shape the agenda and take the lead in the developing the initiative and in ways that can build missional capacity and be self-replicating and self-reliant in the long term. This also assumes that God will provide the necessary gifts for self-governance and the articulation of an Anabaptist theology that is appropriate to the cultural context.
  1. International partnerships will be developed in a way that is focused on gift sharing. Each partner, including MC Canada, will identify the gifts that they bring to the partnership, whether gifts of experience, knowledge, theology, spirituality, prayer, physical resources, etc. Care will be given to keep purposes and gift sharing at the centre of the partnership relationship. While money may be involved in the partnership as one of the shared gifts, care will be taken to keep it at the margins of the relationship in a way that encourages long term self-reliance and fosters a relationship characterized by interdependence. MC Canada will also be constantly asking, “How can the gifts that our partner possess be shared with MC Canada congregations.
  1. Initiatives will be designated as short-term or long-term endeavors. Through prayerful reflection and referencing with its partners, MC Canada will assess what length of time commitment will be most beneficial in fulfilling the project’s mandate.
  1. Constituency Engagement
  2. New initiatives will be developed and communicated to the constituency in a way that invites engagement from Regional Church congregations with what God is doing in this particular ministry, with the goal of inviting participation through, personal connection, and financial support.
  3. Priority will be given to international partnerships that have the potential to engage pastors and lay leaders in providing auxiliary support for the initiative as a part of the gift sharing relationship. E.g. Engagement of Regional Church pastors or lay persons in short-term, international teaching or service opportunities.
  1. The financial sustainability of any initiative will be carefully considered and protocols put in place to assure prudent fiscal management of funds. The sharing of financial resources will follow CRA compliance expectations. MC Canada will ensure that CRA requirements are met and best practices observed in the development and exercise of international partnerships.
  1. In developing international witness initiatives, MC Canada’s primary focus is on disciple-making, the emergence of Anabaptist faith communities, and leadership development for those communities. MC Canada will defer to other partners when it comes areas of relief and development, for instance Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). MC Canada, however, may have a role in brokering relationships with these partners in relation to the development of international initiatives.
  1. When a new international witness initiative creates controversy, conflictual or tension among MC Canada partners, the initiative will be reviewed by the MC Canada Executive Staff Group so that the issues can be addressed and/or further steps of discernment or conflict resolution engaged.

MC Canada Ministry Initiative Development GuidePage 1 of 4

October 5, 2017