Archive for category PCO 2011

Doug Heidebrecht writes:

What are our shared convictions as Canadian Mennonite Brethren? Can we articulate the core commitments, which make us who we are?

I’m not interested in any attempt to return to some idyllic portrayal of the past, or comparing ourselves to others, or creating an imaginary boundary that separates Mennonite Brethren from other Christians. Rather, I’m wondering whether in the midst of our diversity there is a centre, a set of core convictions, that shape who we are in the present and provide us with a vision for how we live as God’s people?

Mennonite Brethren are biblicists. At the heart of Mennonite Brethren identity is an acknowledgment of Scripture as the authority in all matters of faith and life. This appeal to the biblical text has resulted in the characterization of Mennonite Brethren as the “people of the Book.” Yet how can we be a “people of the Book” when hermeneutical naiveté and biblical illiteracy are often more prevalent within the church that we care to admit?

J Janzen writes: 

Today is the last of 2011′s three-day Pastors Credentialing Orientation for Canadian Mennonite Brethren pastors and leaders. Doug Heidebrecht, former instructor at Bethany College (Hepburn, Sask.), will provide an introduction to the MB Confession of Faith.

For a variety of reasons, MBs have historically regarded systematic theology with some suspicion. For one, preferring to be known as disciples of Jesus, MBs have insisted that one’s theology is to be lived out in every day life. To embrace systematic theology might give the impression that faith is simply about knowing the right answers.

For another, MBs have always insisted that listening and obedience to Scripture is foundational to Christian faith. To embrace systematic theology can put one in danger of giving more weight to our ideas about God at the expense of the Bible.

Instead of pursuing systematic theology, MBs have written confessions of faith. The MB Confession is not the final word on all matters of faith. Rather, it functions as a guide for instruction, church polity, and discipline. In a sense, the Confession sets out the ground rules and the agenda as to how MBs can come together to study Scripture and discern the
leading of the Spirit when it comes to deciding how we respond faithfully to various issues such as addiction, depression, gambling, or stem cell research.

Some folks suggest that the Confession should be less open-ended. They would prefer that certain aspects of certain articles of the Confession be declared central to the faith. For example, some have suggested that love and nonresistance (also referred to as pacifism or peacemaking) isn’t really core to the gospel, whereas others insist it is. Or some have suggested that penal substitutionary theories of the atonement are the heart of the gospel, while others insist that penal substitution is too narrow an understanding of what God accomplished on the cross.

The MB Confession is, of course, not perfect. As Doug Heidebrecht once pointed out, the current document underemphasizes human sin and our need for forgiveness. I agree with him that this certainly needs to be addressed.

Overall, however, I think the MB Confession of Faith is a very good guide. It articulates (for the most part) my understanding and lived experience of the Christian faith, and it has shaped my pastors and teachers and friends, who have in turned shaped me as they have modeled a healthy Christian spirituality.

How about you? What are your thoughts on our Confession of Faith?

Tim Geddert writes: 

It started at Creation, continued through the call of Abraham, the redemption of Israel from Egypt, God’s covenant with a chosen people, and onward through Old Testament history, God has been at work calling, shaping, refining, and moving forward “The People of God” (that’s us!). This same covenant community was embodied in Jesus and his disciple community, empowered with the Spirit on Pentecost and sent forth into all the world to fulfill the mission God had always intended Israel to fulfill…to be blessed and to be a blessing for all nations!

We, the church (as Paul said) are “God’s Israel.”

Yet, much has changed from Old Testament times through Pentecost to today — some in the ways God intended, some just the opposite. Careful study of Scripture is needed to help us discern what was supposed to stay the same and what was supposed to change when God’s people expanded beyond Old Testament Israel to the New Testatment church. Often we have abandoned precisely those mandates we are still called to fulfill — like “subduing and ruling” the earth (God’s way of course) and like being “God’s Heel.” Sometimes we have preserved precisely what was supposed to change — like ‘mediating models’ of leadership and unholy alliances between church and state.

What does it really mean to be the post-Pentecost version of “God’s Israel?” (Oh, yes, one more important point: How did Jesus treat tax collectors? How should we?)

J Janzen writes:

Tim Geddert is today’s speaker at PCO. Dr. Geddert is a professor of New Testament at Fresno (Cal.) Pacific Biblical Seminary (formerly MBBS). In my view, Geddert is the best MB preacher of New Testaments texts in all of North America. Every time I have heard him preach, he has animated and explained Scripture in a way that leaves my heart pounding, my faith enriched, and my relationship with Jesus deepened.

For those of you unable to attend PCO, I’d highly recommend the Believers Church Commentary, Mark, written by Geddert. It’s one of only 2 commentaries I have read cover-to-cover. The quality of the work is on par with the likes of N.T. Wright.

If you’re like me, once you’ve spent time with Geddert in person or via the pages of Mark, your reading of Scripture and your understanding of Jesus will never be the same.

Kind of what you’d expect from hearing the Gospel, right?

And a good reason to attend PCO, too.

Bruce Guenther, interim president and developer of Mennonite Brethren Bible College Canada (henceforth, MBBS), is also associate professor of church history and Mennonite studies. He presented at PCO today on the history of the Mennonite Brethren, reaching back to its Anabaptist roots in the 1500s.

Bruce invites discussion from participants.

Finish the statement:

The most meaningful or significant piece I heard today was…

With respect to MB “DNA,” I was surprised to discover…

An insight from MB history I’ll find useful in my current ministry is…

J Janzen writes:

I went through the credentialing process when it was held in Montreal (2009). One thing still stands out for me. I came away with the profound sense that I am part of a grand story.

I found it quite encouraging to know that I am part of a special “guild” – a large and diverse group of 250-plus men and women who share one particular experience: we have accepted a call to serve God and God’s people as pastors in the MB denomination. Oddly enough, almost all of my pastoral colleagues remain strangers to one another.

PCO is one of those very few precious times in which pastors can rub shoulders with their fellow leaders from other parts of the country. I’m not sure what it is, but on the days when the going gets tough, it’s easier to keep at it knowing you’ve got friends in Lucky Lake, Sask., and Orillia, Ont., who are in the same boat pulling in the same direction as you, striving to tell people that Jesus loves them and wants to be their friend.

Speaking of a wider perspective, today’s PCO sessions give pastors a clear sense that they are also taking their place within an almost-500-year-old tradition. As Bruce Guenther, interim president of Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary Canada, provides his 4-and-a-half hour crash course in MB history, pastors will have a clear sense that they are extending the work of Mennonite Brethren saints who gave their lives on behalf of God’s kingdom, loving people for Christ’s sake.

Talk about a high and holy calling. Should make for a high and holy day!

Pastors Credentialing Orientation is a 3-day event that introduces Canadian Mennonite Brethren leaders from across the country to MB identity, history, theology, mission, and polity. In short, the event gives newly-hired pastors a sense of how we “do things” as a national community of churches. Last year’s event was in Langley, B.C. This year, PCO is taking place at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

What is PCO?

Pastors Credentialing Orientation — a three-day event by the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches in partnership with Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary Canada.

For more information on the event, visit the events page on CCMBC’s website.

To follow follow along with the event, and participate in discussion around the sessions, keep checking back on this blog.