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2008-02-05 issue:

U.S. and Canadian Mennonites to meet

Denominations to gather at binational summit July 8-10 in Winnipeg.

by Mennonite Church USA

Print Article

All members of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada are invited to meet together at a binational “People’s Summit for Faithful Living” at the Canadian Mennonite University campus July 8-10 in Winnipeg.



A “summit” is not what Mennonite Church USA or Mennonite Church Canada normally call a gathering of their members.

Summits are often restricted to certain leaders or imply a sense of secrecy. Summits always communicate a sense of urgency.

It is a sense of urgency that led planners to call this binational gathering a “People’s Summit for Faithful Living.”

Under the theme “At the Crossroads: Promise and Peril,” participants will focus on the urgent task of being a faithful community of God amid the many challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. Deuteronomy 4:1-9 will be the theme text.

“The book of Deuteronomy is especially suited for use in such a summit,” says Jack Suderman, general secretary of Mennonite Church Canada. “It is directed at God’s people as they move into the land God has allowed them to possess, where they face such important questions as, Why does God work through peoplehood even when that peoplehood is not deserving? What does covenant mean and how does that inform our questions of faithfulness? What are the temptations of God’s people in the land in which they live? Where do God’s people find security as they live in the land and are tempted by wealth, power and ownership?”

These are the questions the summit will address through worship, study and discussion. Mennonite Church USA identified similar questions at its convention in San José, Calif., when it passed a resolution calling for “resources that help us live faithfully in Christlike ways, sometimes at odds with our national culture, acknowledging that no culture is either completely redeemed or completely fallen.”

Ron Byler, associate executive director of Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, says, “We will be looking to further our work in response to our delegates with this upcoming event. For me, an important part of our theme is what it means to live as a contrast community.”

Plenary worship speakers are Tom and Christine Sine of Seattle, April Yamasaki of Abbotsford, B.C., and Tom Yoder-Neufeld of Waterloo, Ont.

A variety of workshops and activities and time for visiting and recreation will round out the 2½-day event.

The People’s Summit was announced in July 2007 at the Mennonite Church USA biennial convention in San José and the Mennonite Church Canada annual delegate assembly in Abbotsford, B.C. The two denominations last met together at a joint convention in 2005 in Charlotte, N.C., where delegates strongly supported continuing to meet together.
The People’s Summit will begin the evening of July 8 and continue through the evening of July 10.

Attendees are invited to make a vacation of the People’s Summit and Manitoba attractions such as the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, beautiful Whiteshell Provincial Park and the popular Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Information and registration is available at summit.mennoniteusa.org (for Mennonite Church USA) and at www.mennonitechurch.ca/tiny/534 (for Mennonite Church Canada).
Mennonite Church Canada will hold its own separate delegate assembly at the same location July 7-8, just prior to the People’s Summit, to address issues, business items, budgets and receive ministry reports.

Agenda items will include follow-up on the 2007 creation care and militarization discussions, interfaith dialogue and issues arising from the fall 2007 survey of current and former pastors.—Joint release of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada

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