Big tent, small centre

Here in British Columbia—the West of the West, where West and true East meet in North America—we sometimes tend to look more toward the traditionalist faith of the church in Asia than to the progressive, whiter, older Mennonite lands of eastern Canada.

We also continue to be influenced by the neo-reformed fundamentalism of our dear, and often directly related, Mennonite neighbours to the south.

In some ways, Mennonite Church B.C. is more like the new-Canadian congregations in Mennonite Church Eastern Canada than the Mennonite churches in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, although we do not have the deep white progressive history of the eastern and especially central Canadian churches.

This creates a complex, enmeshed web of needs, fears and opportunities for our churches and those who might come to give their allegiance to Christ through Mennonite Church Canada congregations.

But if Mennonite Church Canada seeks to become the major Anabaptist theological home for those looking to serve and live into following Jesus, we need to carefully consider paths that have been well worn by others.

One such path is that of the funda- mentalist (largely neo-Reformed) resurgence. This route is tempting because it offers some quick “successes” by demonizing others and gobbling up older churches that have lost their sense of purpose. The problem is that it is generally toxic in its formational practices and blessing of patriarchy, among other things.

Another possible path is becoming “chaplain to the causes,” making our theology secondary to simplified cultural narratives. While the causes we work for may be worthy, this is a bland, generic, progressive, neo-colonial, political repackaging, with hymns tacked on like a smear of Christ-flavoured peanut butter spread over the ideology. This approach also alienates most new-Canadian Chris- tians who care more about theological matters.

Neither way is enough to fuel new life in our churches to become a growing movement. I think we have to choose otherwise.

Whatever way we choose, in our effort to become a vibrant network, I would implore our churches to consider prioritizing three elements.

Be Christ-centred

First, we need to put feet to unity, to be rooted in being Jesus-centred, and centre-set in how we handle disagreement. This requires that our activism—both left and right—be tempered by the self-sacrificial love displayed in Christ. We must ask better questions of the narratives we so easily let supplant the scandal of Jesus. We are too quick to claim the table-flipping narrative as the way to go about social (justice) and personal (formation) holiness.

If we’re seeking to make the tent bigger, we do so by making the centre smaller, in fact, centred on Jesus. We can move towards Jesus from opposite directions and find unity there. We can debate secondary doctrines and opinions if we have a defined centre.

The old creeds are helpful for this work, too. We are not quirky Unitarians nor more-conservative-than-God fundamentalists; we are those who build on Jesus.

Form a people

Second, our task is to form new Anabaptist-movement Christians, a people, across Canada. We too easily forget that being an ecclesia is most fundamentally how we influence persons and politics in a new way. Gathering around Jesus is a political act. This is an effective way to help others both be centred on Jesus and work for a life of reconciliation and peace.

When we close a church, do we prioritize starting new communities out of those ashes, or do we simply give away assets, as many churches across the country are doing? The people of the Anabaptist movement who carry forward our values into new generations will do far more for Jesus and justice than organizations committed to a smaller vision. Let us risk boldly to create new communities with our remaining resources, both churches for new Canadians and spaces for post-deconstruction, re-enchanted Christians who want to love Jesus.

Relearn practices

Third, building a growing movement might require our established communities, our churches, to consider outside assessments and coaching to relearn practices for forming and building a people. This requires radical humility and a teachable spirit. If we, the theological heirs of Anabaptism in Canada, do not relearn and re-contextualize deeply rooted discipleship/mentorship formational practices, who will? This is important because we have something to offer that secular justice organizations do not care about or understand.

Renewal is a work we enter into by cooperating with the Holy Spirit. Let us pray and work toward that renewal.

Shelby Boese lives in Langley, B.C., and serves as executive minister for Mennonite Church B.C. He can be reached at shelboese@mcbc.ca