DearMBchurch.ca

If you could write a letter to the Mennonite Brethren Church in Canada, what would you say? You are invited! You can write about: how you live out your faith in Jesus, the future of our denomination, the way you worship God, the good news you share, the sorrows you carry. The Holy Spirit is like the wind: where are we being moved in this time, in this place? Priority is given here to voices not heard in other public forums in our church.

--Letters should be clear and short (550 words), with one main idea
--They should be free of jargon (intelligible to non-Christian readers)
--Please write graciously
--Begin each letter with “DearMBchurch.ca:”
--Sign your letter with a name and a location (some exceptions can be made)
--send it to email:  [email protected]
--if you want to comment on a letter, please keep your comments brief, if you find yourself writing more than a paragraph, I encourage you to write your own letter

So welcome, friends, to DearMBchurch.ca. Please read graciously.

Evangelical and Anabaptist? by Dave Hubert

Dear MBchurch.ca:

Historically, the MBs were both Anabaptists and evangelicals. When the movement started, the leaders were strongly committed to the Anabaptist Vision and saw in this no incompatibility with a strong emphasis on evangelism.  Early MBs valued highly the foundational values of discipleship, yieldedness (Nachfolge) and peace.

The move to the new world has been difficult for the MBs, for in both Canada and the United States the MBs came into close contact with evangelical and fundamental movements which were at significant odds with the Anabaptist Vision. Missions schools like Biola, Moody, Prairie Bible Institute and Briercrest Bible College (BBC) attracted large numbers of MB young people and these schools had a much stronger emphasis on evangelism and missions than on discipleship and peace. In the early 1990’s, when I was still deeply involved in Conference affairs, I wrote a letter to John Barkman, then president of BBC. BBC actively recruited students in MB churches and I asked Barkman if it would be possible to include peace theology in the BBC curriculum. His response was that peace was a denominational distinctive, and for this reason it would not be taught at BBC. Like Henry Hildebrandt, the founding president of BBC, and Barkman, BBC’s second president, and both with Mennonite/Anabaptist roots, this shows the deliberate rejection of their spiritual heritage.  

In the USA the affiliation with the evangelicals goes back even farther. The MB’s were the only Mennonite group that identified with the National Association of Evangelicals almost from the founding of that organization. It was at the annual NEA convention in 1983 that Ronald Reagan made his Russia-is-the-evil-empire speech. This was a harbinger of prominent evangelicals like Richard Land, of the Southern Baptist Convention, and  James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, urging the younger Bush into the illegal Iraq war which gave the world Abu Ghraib and eventually ISIS and the unholy mess that is now the Middle East.  Evangelicals like James Dobson and Jerry Falwell Jr. are now twisting themselves into pretzels to justify their support for Donald Trump, a Nietschian  antithesis of everything found in the Sermon on the Mount. Where do the American MBs stand on issues like this? Are they beginning to see the incompatibility of having the Stars and Stripes prominently displayed to the right of the pulpit in  every MB Church in the USA save one?

In Canada the leadership of the MB Church has been usurped by these evangelicals whose only vision seems to be evangelism. Where Paul tells us that the Church has many gifts—apostles, prophets, teachers, healers, evangelists, administrators, counsellors—these folks would have us believe that we must all be C2C evangelists.  They seem to be so committed to their beliefs that they think it acceptable to violate  every principle of due process and disregard Paul’s admonition, “Let everything be done decently and in good order” to advance their cause. In my opinion, they are leading the MB Church to irrelevance—to the condition where salt has lost its savour.

Dave Hubert, Lendrum MB Church

 

Worship the Lord with a Spirit of Humbleness

DearMBchurch.ca:
            Over my career as a pastor, I have always loved going to national church gatherings, and that is where I am right now. One of the things I enjoy about national events is seeing a lot of old friends and catching up with them. But since I only joined the MB church two years ago, the circles here are new to me. Today I saw the occasional new friend who I’ve gotten to know, but the large majority of the people are still strangers to me. I can tell a lot of them are enjoying seeing old friends and catching up with them.
            But I still love going to the Gathering, as the national Mennonite Brethren conference is called. What happened tonight is why. Tonight we had a worship service. Worship at national gatherings is always incredibly meaningful.
            The theme of the conference is I Corinthians 9:16: "Yet preaching the Good New is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!"
            Willie Reimer set the tone of gratefulness and gratitude to God, who does miraculous things in our world, even in spite of the fact that the church is not perfect. God is transforming our lives and churches, and we are here to talk about that mission. Whether we are worshipping, or discussing budgets, it is all of a piece, all mission work.
            Tonight was all about the good news that Jesus brings into our lives. The worship leaders and speakers talked about how their lives have been transformed by Jesus. Adam Greeley from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia talked about trying to plant a church that makes a difference in the community, a church that works for the peace and prosperity of the people who live there. “If your church closed, would your community even notice?” he asked. Being involved in the neighbourhood means that you can network with other organizations, and share how Jesus makes a difference.
            Judy Harms-Wiebe from Burnaby, British Columbia talked about how God equips us with what we need. She shared several situations where she did not have the resources personally to deal with hard situations. But setting her face towards Jesus, she was able to trust, and receive the help she needed.
            Vic Neufeld from Winnipeg, MB explored what compels us to share the gospel. Lots of things can compel us…such as sin or guilt or even inspiration. He shared the story of David and Saul, and where we find ourselves in that story. He wondered whether we are like Saul, scared and unable to act…Jesus is like David, who wins the victory for us. He told several stories from his life and his church that cause him to be humble about what he can accomplish. But ultimately it is Jesus’ victory that compels us to act.
            The evening began and ended with some beautiful singing. I didn’t know all the songs, but they were pretty easy to learn, and very scripture focused. Scripture permeated the whole evening. I appreciated the thoughtful and gracious worship leading done by the male and female leaders. We ended the evening fittingly with communion.
            I was glad to be part of a group of people from across the country worshipping God together. The words and music spoke to me, and helped me to consider God’s greatness, they helped me think about my own life, my own church, and our relationship to other churches across the country.  I appreciated the spirit of humbleness that every speaker exhibited. We don’t know the answers, but we look to God for guidance. There was a spirit of joy as well, it is good to be together as brothers and sisters.
            Sometimes in the past at MB conference events, the lack of women on the stage leading the service has been a stumbling block for me. In our service today, I appreciated that both men and women were allowed to lead and share their faith stories.
            I am looking forward to what tomorrow will bring! I also know I will be careful to choose a seat further away from the big speakers…it was a little loud for me tonight when we were singing, the band was really rocking!

Love,

Carol Penner, Lendrum MB Church

A Church Canadians Want to Join

Dear MB Church:
                You are meeting in Toronto this week for your national assembly to talk about many things, including evangelism—about reaching out to Canadians and growing the church.
                Not that you asked for it, but if you want my advice about how to be a church that Canadians might actually like to join in the future, here’s what I’d say: Become more welcoming of LGBTQ people now.
                  I know, I know—you have your reasons, based in your understanding of the Bible, as to why you can’t do that, why homosexuality is wrong and sinful. And I respect that, even if I respectfully disagree.
                  But I don’t want to talk theology or views of scripture. I want to talk simple demographics.
                  The fact of the matter is this: Christians across the board, and especially younger Christians, are becoming more accepting of LGBTQ people.   
                    A  Pew Research Center Poll  last December found that 51% of U.S. evangelical millennials say “homosexuality should be accepted by society.”
                  But it’s not just evangelical youth who are changing their views; Pew also found that 32% of evangelical baby boomers are accepting as well, up from 25% in 2007.
                  I can’t find anything on the Web about how young Canadian evangelicals feel about LGBTQ people and issues, but I suspect that the findings would be similar to the U.S.—or perhaps even more pronounced in favour of being welcoming in this country.
                  In other words, as evangelical youth and young adults today becoming the leaders of tomorrow, they will bring this change of view with them. In ten years, 20 years tops, this discussion will be over. (Just as the discussion about women in ministry has ended; remember when that was a biblical line in the sand, too?)
                  This assumes, of course, that there are evangelical (and MB) youth of today who actually stay in the church and become its leaders; I can’t imagine them wanting to remain in a denomination where their LGBTQ friends aren’t welcomed and accepted.             
                  So: What does this mean for the MB Church as it gathers in Toronto this week? It means if you want to be a church that is seen as a welcome place for its youth in the future, and that is seen as a welcome option by other Canadians who want to develop a deeper relationship with Jesus, you can start by becoming more welcoming of LGBTQ people today.

Anonymous

Anonymous is a member of an MB church in Canada.

One Husband Away from No Call to Ministry

DearMBchurch.ca:
           Years ago I read a book by Katie Funk Wiebe where she shared how when she was newly married, she was very involved in ministry with her husband, who was a pastor. She thrived on church work and loved being involved in conversations with many church leaders about the larger denomination. This all changed when her husband suddenly died. With his death, her call to ministry in the MB church ended. No one was interested in her being involved in church leadership, there was no place to share her ideas anymore. This was the 1950s.
            In Katie Funk Wiebe’s generation, if women felt a call to ministry, their only option was to find a nice man to marry who was going to be a pastor, and they had to hope he didn’t die.
            This unfortunate situation, where women can only contribute through their husband’s position, is still alive and well. See for example the website of the church planting organization C2C, in which the MB church is heavily invested.     https://www.c2cnetwork.ca/about/leadership/    If you just look at the pictures, it looks like lots of women are employed by C2C.
           But the titles are not plural. They aren’t co-directors or missiologists. One person has the job, but two people are pictured. And they don’t even indicate which person is the one employed by the church. That is because they assume we will assume that it is the man who has the job, and the woman is supporting him.
           That is the danger for women in this organization. They are all one husband away from having no call to ministry. If they suddenly find themselves without a husband through death or divorce (it happens), will they still be pictured on this page?  Are their gifts still needed?
            When I started at Lendrum, some people in my church wanted to call us a “pastor couple”. We asked them not to use this term. While my husband supports me in my role, he is not trained as a minister, and does not want to be seen as half of a “pastor couple”. He is happy in his role as a farmer. I support him in his work too.
            I am praying for a miracle in the MB church, so that women’s gifts will be recognized. Part of this miracle means putting women in the picture, not because they are married to a gifted person, but because they themselves have gifts for leadership that the Holy Spirit gives them. Can anyone say Amen?

Love, Carol Penner, Lendrum MB Church, Edmonton

Calling All Prayer Warriors

            There is a leader shortage in the church. At conferences and cluster meetings I have heard numerous encouragements for us to pray at 10:02 a.m., (inspired by Luke 10:2) that God will send workers into the harvest.
            I think God has answered this prayer even before we prayed it (Thank you God!). God has given the MB church 100% more workers than it already has! All we have to do is encourage women to be leaders in the harvest!
            Right now the MB church in Canada is divided on women in church leadership. Most MB churches are holding the status quo of church history, that God does not give women leadership gifts for the church. They disqualify women ontologically, citing specific Bible passages. They call it complementarianism; women and men are given different roles by God. Men are to be the leaders in the church, for all time, period.
            There are other MB churches that value the gifts God gives women for church leadership, taking seriously Galatians 3:28, that in Christ there is neither male nor female. When they see the church discriminating against women as leaders, they call it sexism.
            Conference leaders have a difficult road to walk. They want to accommodate and affirm women leaders. I had conference leaders attend my installation here at Lendrum, and they have been supportive of my ministry, and I have always appreciated their prayers for me.
            Yet they don’t want to alienate that portion of the conference that is against women in leadership. The fallout from this tricky situation is that “Women in leadership” is never on the agenda at conferences. They haven’t hired a female conference minister, because some congregations could not accept that. I assume we have no female seminary professors for the same reason (all full-time and part-time faculty at the MB seminary are male http://www.mbseminary.ca/mbbsteam).
            I know that conference leaders would like more women to be on boards, yet I hear it’s hard to find women to serve.
            At the last provincial conference I was at, a new young board member shared how his gifts were nurtured when Willie Reimer took him out for coffee numerous times, encouraged his faith, and helped him see himself as a leader. I think that’s terrific, that’s how leaders are formed!
            Of course it would be inappropriate for any of our male conference ministers/male seminary professors to be taking young women out for coffee and nurturing them one-on-one as our young men are being nurtured. And the vast majority of MB churches have no female ministers to nurture the young women.
            So we have a situation where young women rarely see women leaders (even at seminary), and they aren’t mentored one-on-one, and the topic is never mentioned by conference leaders.
            I think the MB church is turning off the hose to half the garden and then asking themselves, “Why aren’t these plants thriving, we want to use them!”  Leaders don’t spring up from nowhere. They need to be nurtured, and that is not happening. You don’t need a degree in rocket science to see that there will be no increase in women leaders in the MB church unless there is a miracle.
            And so that’s why I’m calling all prayer warriors. Since the 10:02 prayer is already answered, I invite everyone to pray at 3:28 p.m. instead (taking my cue from Galatians 3:28). I am praying for God to show the MB church that the Holy Spirit doesn’t differentiate between women and men. I am praying that God will find a way for us to nurture female leaders as well as male leaders for the church. Will you join me?

Love, Carol Penner, Lendrum MB Church, Edmonton

Does Peace Detract From the Gospel? -- Dave Hubert

           The MB Church began in the Ukraine in 1860 as a renewal movement. The early MB’s considered the state of the “Grosse Gemeinde” (Big Church) to be formal, static and worldly—moribund. The vitality and vigor of this new movement quickly attracted many from the Grosse Gemeinde, and the new church quickly gained many adherents among the less that 100,000 Mennonites that then lived in the Russian Empire.
            From the beginning the MB’s were powerfully influenced by ideas from Germany and people like Eduard Wuest, and the German Pietists. This influence led to a dynamic missionary movement, both within Russia and overseas. Initially, MB missionaries served with Baptist missions, but soon they established their own missions agencies. This missionary mindedness followed the MBs as many migrated to the New World, beginning in the 1870’s.
            This missions movement led to vibrant churches in India, the Congo, Panama, Columbia, Indonesia and other parts of the world. These churches, with Mission Board support, eventually became self supporting and are characterized by both evangelism and community service. Both the Great Commission (Matthew 28—Go ye therefore and preach the gospel to every nation…) and the Great Command (Matthew 5—Let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven) are taught and practiced.
           Leaders in the international MB movement have now organized ICOMB—the International Community of Mennonite Brethren Churches and this speaks to the continuing vitality of the MB movement among churches established in the developing world. Cesar Garcia, an MB from Columbia, is now the President of Mennonite World Conference, and this is a manifestation of the continuing importance of the international witness of the MB’s.
           An interesting event occurred in the 1960’s in the Africa at one of the first inter-Mennonite meetings there. When the Congolese MB’s met with other Mennos they learned that Mennonites are committed to the Gospel of Peace. Apparently some MB missionaries had given peace a secondary emphasis. At the time, and also later, there were MB’s who thought the emphasis on peace might detract from the “central” thrust of the Gospel and hinder evangelism. When the Congolese MB leaders learned that Mennonites were peace people and their Church a peace church, they asked their missionary mentors, “Why did you not declare to us the full counsel of God?”
            This question pinpoints one of the significant issues that North American MB’s continue to wrestle with. More of this in the next blog that I will write.

Dave Hubert, Lendrum MB Church, Edmonton

Sprinkled, Poured and Dunked: One Baptism for Everyone

DearMBchurch.ca:
The minister who baptized me scooped water from a basin and poured it over my head. Years later I was the baptizer. This time I stood with a jug in my hand, and poured water over the head of a person kneeling before me. I have also waded into cold and wavy Lake Ontario with people who loved Jesus, and baptized them there. A few years ago, I even baptized someone in the calm waters of the Sea of Galilee.
            I’ve been thinking about all this because yesterday I waded into the tank and baptized two women from our church upon the confession of their faith. I am still smiling as I remember the watching eyes of the children in our church, who couldn’t believe we had a swimming pool/really big bathtub under the carpet of our sanctuary!
            Baptism is a symbol of love and unity: one Lord, one faith, one baptism. But in the Mennonite world, baptism has been a symbol of prejudice, stubbornness, and broken relationships.
            I still remember the pained voice of a General Conference Mennonite as he described how he fell in love with an MB girl. The MB church required that he get rebaptized…they told him he was not baptized if the water had just been sprinkled or poured. This scenario, played out again and again, produced bitter fruit of anger, exclusion and division in the body of Christ. All over the amount of water we use for baptism.
            You can make a case biblically for many different types of baptism, and every kind has been used in the church at some point or another. As we were getting changed out of our wet clothes yesterday, I told the newly baptized women that in the first centuries of the church, we know that people were baptized naked.
           So far as I know there has been no Mennonite splinter group that insisted people be baptized naked. Notwithstanding Stuart Murray’s book, The Naked Anabaptist!
            I hope that today we are beyond dividing the church over the quantity of water we use when we baptize someone, so that we can focus more on the love of God that cleanses us from sin. I know in the community I used to work in, they had a service of forgiveness and reconciliation between General Conference tradition Mennonites and MBs, to try to heal the deep hurt and division that came from bad theological decisions around baptism.
            I think this history should remind us to be humble in our theological claims, particularly as to who is in and who is out of the kingdom of God. What services of reconciliation must we have in future years to welcome people we are excluding now?

Love, Carol Penner, Lendrum MB Church, Edmonton, AB

The Orlando Massacre: When Saying Nothing Isn't An Option

DearMBchurch.ca:
            In the wake of the terrible massacre of LGBTQ patrons of a nightclub in Orlando, many faith groups, and their leaders, are posting laments, prayers and messages of sympathy and support.
            Staff at Christianity Today  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/june-web-only/meditation-on-orlando-shooting.html noted they were “deeply grieved by the shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people.” The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada  http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/orlando-shooting wrote that Christians should pray "for those impacted" by the shooting and to show "love and care . . . for our gay and lesbian neighbours." 
            The Archbishop of Canterbury  http://www.anglican.ink/article/statement-archbishops-canterbury-and-york-orlando-shooting spoke out on behalf of those killed, saying “we must pray, weep with those affected, support the bereaved, and love without qualification.” Other church leaders  https://juicyecumenism.com/2016/06/13/church-leaders-respond-orlando-shooting/ also shared through prayers and concerns.
            In the Mennonite world, MC USA Moderator Ervin Stutzman http://mennoniteusa.org/menno-snapshots/a-time-to-weep/ has posted something, as has MC Canada Moderator Willard Metzger. http://willardmetzger.blogspot.ca/2016/06/unacceptable-massacre-in-orlando.html?m=1
            Stutzman  wrote about how “he wept” at a service honouring those killed in the massacre, thinking of each “life that had been shushed into eternal stillness by an act of horrific violence” and how “our families and churches have rejected immigrants, foreigners, and LGBTQ individuals, not truly giving them a place at the table.”
            Metzger wrote about how he found himself “in deep mourning” and being “deeply distressed about the massacre of fellow humans in Orlando . . . the fact that the lives of innocent people were gunned down simply for being gay is horrifying.”
            I don’t agree with everything all the various church leaders have said, but appreciate them for simply saying something.
            While reading the various messages from other church leaders, I have visited the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches website every day this week, wondering when a message of comfort or solace or anger or hope might be posted there. So far, I’ve seen nothing—not even a note acknowledging the horrible tragedy took place. There is also nothing on Moderator Willy Reimer’s web page on that site.
            I admit it is hard to know what to say at a time like this. Words fail us, and sometimes our prayers don’t even seem to be enough. But saying nothing also says something—to the members of the LGBTQ community, to members of Canadian MB churches, and to the rest of the Canadian church community who look to a denomination like the Mennonite Brethren for leadership.

Yours,
Anonymous
Anonymous is a member of an MB church in Canada.

Homophobia: All Part of the Same Story

DearMBchurch.ca:
            When I heard yesterday that 50 people had been killed and dozens injured at a LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, I was numb. As I have been numb when mass shootings happen in a school or a movie theatre or wherever. It’s too horrific to absorb, people going about their normal business, suddenly confronted with terror. Living bodies gunned down and left lifeless, families devastated, an avalanche of grief just starting to roar down.
            Omar Mateen pulled the trigger, but his hatred towards a certain group is a collective problem, a collective responsibility. Like a canary in the mine, this shooting reveals in a striking way the deadly force that is pent up in our society against LGTBQ people.
            In a similar way, when Charles Roberts targeted female schoolgirls in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in 2006, and when Marc Lepine targeted feminists in Montreal in 1989, it wasn’t just a random shooting. It was about sexism, about hatred of women as women. Sexism that is learned and tolerated in our society.
            In this week’s tragedy the person with a gun was not Christian. But that does not exonerate Christians from responsibility, because churches are part of the problem. Historically, and up to this day in North America, churches have been headquarters central of hatred against LGBTQ people. This has included exclusion, shaming, bullying, and standing by silently when violence is done by Christian people. It has included finding biblical reasons for exclusion, shaming, bullying and standing by silently when violence is done. It has even included political lobbying against LGBTQ people having legal human rights.
            Everyone is created in God’s image. Every one. Every one worthy of love and respect and inclusion. How are we being loving if we tell people it’s a sin to be who they are? Some churches are more nuanced, they believe that God created people gay or lesbian, it’s only a sin if they act on who they are. The church gives lip service to love, it says “We love everyone. You just have to change who you are in order to be part of our community. You have to give up your identity. Or you have to be quiet about your identity and try to pass as straight.” Ask any GLBTQ person, does that feel like love? Churches are part of the homophobia problem.
            What do we do with the Bible? We can admit that there are parts of the Bible that are sexist, racist, homophobic. The Holy Spirit has always had to work through people, and sometimes we haven’t heard clearly what God is saying. But the Holy Spirit is still speaking to us. Just as we rejected slavery and the silencing of women, both of which are condoned by some scripture, we can reject homophobia.
            I have been on a personal journey addressing my own homophobia. Because I am straight, I didn’t have to think about this very deeply for a long time. I am thankful for my gay, lesbian and transgender friends and family who have prompted me to start (emphasis on start) to look at homophobia in my own life and in the church. Or should that be anti-gay attitudes. I’m not even sure about the right terms to use.
            And it's hard for me to talk about this because many people I love and respect (including people in my church and my conference leaders) think that it's a sin to be GLBTQ. It's easier to be quiet, and not get into conflict about this with them. But my fear of conflict is not as great as my fear for the safety of GLBTQ people I love, and that is why I am speaking out.
            What I do know is that today my heart goes out to every GLTBQ person who is afraid, who is mourning, who is wondering, “Am I next?” Because GLBTQ people are the target of hate crimes. We focus today on the single shooter killing a group of people, but the more common profile of hate crime is a group of people sexually assaulting and/or killing one person. And that happens with terrifying regularity everywhere, all the time. It doesn't even make the news.
            And so it’s important for churches, all churches, to speak against homophobia. To stand in solidarity with GLBTQ people in the wake of this violence. Will we? 

Love, Carol Penner, Lendrum MB Church, Edmonton

Taking That Cloud of Witnesses Seriously

DearMBchurch.ca:
           There have been twenty-one centuries of Christians, and the Holy Spirit gave each century its own insights. 
            One of the ways we remember and learn from the faithful of previous centuries is through singing their songs. I’ve noticed in the MB tradition that both when words are projected, and when we look at our hymnal, there are no dates next to the author who composed the song. I think that’s unfortunate and here’s why.
            When we just write an author’s name next to a song, we are saying, “Context doesn’t matter. We are all individuals connecting to one God.” This approach assumes it is immaterial whether the words were written in the 1400s, the 1800s or last year. It flattens church theology, and simplistically assumes that we are all reading the Bible the same way.  Yet the Christian tradition bears witness to a flowering of faithfulness that is incredibly diverse.
            In the 1600s Martin Rinkart wrote a hymn called “Now Thank We All Our God”. One phrase remembers God as someone “who wondrous things has done”. He is referring to God’s hand ending the Thirty Years War, a war that had reduced the population of the German states by 25-40%. Rinkart, a Lutheran clergyman, was performing 50 funerals a day. "And keep us in your grace, and guide us when perplexed,” was a plea not just of an individual but of a church that had sinned deeply: the Thirty Years War was a religious war.
            “Amazing grace, how sweet the song” was written by slave trader John Newton, who in the 1700s participated in the murder of thousands of enslaved black people. His words of repentance were a personal expression of a giant change in church life as white churches began to accept Africans as real people worthy of respect. Newton was an evangelical preacher. But preaching the gospel wasn’t just about making sure people got to heaven, it was about changing how people lived together. It meant rejecting injustice and advocating for social and political change.
            The compilers of our MB hymnal have paid attention to these voices from different eras of the church; in our hymnal we have lyrics by St. Patrick, Martin Luther, Fanny Crosby, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, each speaking out of the struggles of their time. Singing the songs of different centuries is important.
            For a time, praise and worship music projected on the wall tended to be mostly modern, but I’ve noticed that there is a trend towards occasionally using lyrics from older hymns. I am glad to see that!
            However the absence of dates next to the authors impoverishes our worship. It focuses the attention only on us, singing here in this room, instead of pointing us to the reality that we are joining our voices with faithful Christians from all ages.
            Today our denomination has declared that church planting is our number one priority and reason for existence. That would have been a very foreign concept to Martin Rinkart and John Newton. As we define our own church’s mission, we can learn from how the church in previous centuries engaged the gospel.
            Learning from history is a powerful gift that God gives us, providing course correction if we become centred on our own narrow interpretations of the gospel. The cloud of witnesses is singing us towards faithfulness, will we listen?

Love, Carol Penner, Lendrum MB Church, Edmonton