Strategic Plan for 2026-2029

Following two years of consultation with our Mennonite Church Manitoba constituency through focus groups, surveys, and delegate feedback at the 2026 MCM Gathering, MCM has approved a new Vision and Mission. Based on this work, and formally commissioned by congregational delegates at this Gathering, the MCM Board is embarking on a three-year strategic plan for our regional church, which could be the first of a series of such plans.

The new Vision and Mission statement includes four general Missional Priorities which are especially relevant for any strategic planning that we do:

• Cultivate a shared Anabaptist-Mennonite identity among our congregations, rooted in the historic Mennonite tradition while being open to other expressions of faith and practice.
• Grow and nurture healthy congregations centered on Jesus Christ in which diverse people can belong and be loved.
• Call, develop, and support church leaders who can guide the growth and nurturing of our congregations.
• Invite and equip our congregations and leaders to bear witness to Jesus by sharing Jesus’ story, living lives of spiritual vitality and compassionate love, and pursuing justice, hospitality, and peace among us and beyond us.

This broad consultation has also identified a cluster of focus areas for a strategic plan for 2026-2029:

• Improving our financial health as a regional church
• Setting Camps with Meaning on solid footing for the future
• Engaging our youth and young adults in fresh ways
• Boosting leadership development among us
• Increasing our capacity for diversity
• Strengthening our Anabaptist-Mennonite identity

These are inter-related. Improving our financial health as a regional church requires setting Camps with Meaning on solid footing for the future. This focus on Camps with Meaning relates to engaging our youth and young adults, and boosting leadership development among us. We recognize the need both to sustain and nurture our Anabaptist-Mennonite identity—that is, attending to our unifying centre—and to increase our capacity for diversity in various forms. In general, these focus areas can be seen as various aspects of improving the overall health of our congregations and our community of congregations.

We are part of a broader nationwide church that has also identified some focused areas of attention in this season. Mennonite Church Canada has noted four Key Initiatives to shape our nationwide ministries in the next 2-3 years:

• Centering on Jesus Through Theological/Spiritual Renewal
• Becoming a Vibrant Intercultural Church
• Discovering, Calling and Equipping Leaders for the Church
• Embodying Peace as a Witness and a Bridge

Out of these, nine Actionable Items have been identified, for which specific goals and tasks are being determined:

• Developing a Nationwide Youth Ministry Strategy
• Developing a Nationwide Strategy for Ministry with Young Adults
• Increasing Number and Variety of Internships
• Developing a Peace Church “Committee”
• Developing Diaspora Church/Underrepresented Leadership Training
• Focusing on Congregational Life (Renewing Congregations, and Planting New Congregations)
• Providing Renewed Focus for the Intercultural Church Steering Committee
• Developing Worship Resources Focused on Peace and Intercultural Church
• Attend to the TRC Call to Action #60

The Executive Minister will lead an exploration of the scope of need related to supporting youth and young adult ministry within MCM, as well as a determination of what is feasible within financial and other constraints at this time. We recognize that we have a variety of needs and resources related to this among our congregations. We also recognize that MC Canada is considering developing a part-time role focused on supporting youth and young adult ministry across the regions, as well as enhancing an internship program primarily geared toward youth and young adults.

• Scope and feasibility study: May 1-September 30, 2026
• Job description developed: October 1-31, 2026
• Coordinator appointed: by January 1, 2027

The Director of Camps with Meaning will lead a renewed assessment of congregational support for Light the Fire and the broader strategic plan for Camps done in 2016. The Director of Camps with Meaning will then, working with MCM/Camps staff, the Camps Committee, and the Light the Fire Committee, develop and implement a plan for engaging congregations to increase broad-level support among our constituency for the capital campaign, noting its benefits for financial sustainability and increased capacity for ministry in faith formation, leadership development, outreach, hospitality, and creation care.

• Assessment of current support: September 1-December 31, 2026
• Plan development and beginning of implementation: January 1-April 1, 2027

The Executive Minister will oversee the review of core MCM policies and programming, focusing on two aspects: their coherence with MCM’s new Vision & Mission Statement, and their continued effectiveness in serving our organizational needs and priorities. This will start with reports from program directors evaluating their program areas for vision-coherence, from which the EM will make a report to the Board. At the same time, a full range of policy reviews will begin, and proceed as outlined below.

• Initial program-area review and report to Board: May 1-June 16, 2026
• Review and revision of MCM personnel policies, including Board approval: May 1-October 27, 2026
• Review and revision of MCM Board policies, including Board approval: November 1, 2026-February 23, 2027
• Review and revision of MCM financial policies, including Board approval: May 1, 2026-November 23, 2027

The Executive Minister and other MCM staff as appropriate will develop templates and/or samples of core policies congregations should have in place, based on relevant legal, insurance, and other requirements. This will involve consultation with MC Canada and other regional churches as helpful or necessary. These policy templates/samples will then be made available on CommonWord and the MCM website as appropriate. Plans for assisting congregations with implementing these policies may also be considered.

• First set (Congregational Covenant; Safe Church): May 1-December 31, 2026
• Second set (Harassment, Discrimination, and Abuse; Conflict Resolution): April 1-December 31, 2027
• Third set (Financial Misconduct; Computer and Social Media; others): April 1-December 31, 2028

The Executive Minister and other MCM staff as appropriate will develop resources and resourcing opportunities toward this end. This will involve consultation and perhaps collaboration with MC Canada, other regional churches, and partner organizations (e.g. CMU, MCC) as helpful or necessary. Any prepared resources will then be made available on CommonWord and the MCM website as appropriate. Plans for assisting congregations with implementing these resources may also be considered.

1. A possible study conference exploring what a robust and relevant peace theology and witness looks like in our current context

• Feasibility study, including consultation with other organizations: July 1-October 31, 2026
• Conference planning (if going ahead): November 1, 2026 – Fall 2027
• Conference (if going ahead): Fall 2027

2. A resource and/or resourcing opportunity for pastors and church members coming from non-Anabaptist-Mennonite contexts to become familiar with core distinctives of Anabaptist-Mennonite theology and practice

• Identifying core distinctives in consultation with other organizations: April 1-September 30, 2027
• Developing of resource/opportunity to initial implementation: October 1, 2022 – March 31, 2028

3. A series of roundtable discussions across MCM on what it means to be “Jesus-centred” as Anabaptist-Mennonites in our faith and practice, and in our churches

• Planning for roundtable discussions: April 1-June 30, 2027
• Implementation of roundtable discussions: September 1, 2027 – May 31, 2028

The biblical vision for the church is one of “diversity in unity, unity in diversity.” Our unity is found in Jesus, a gift of God provided by and nurtured by the Spirit; it is not uniformity, where everyone looks and thinks and acts the same. Our diversity crosses racial, ethnic, cultural, social, age, gender, theological lines and more. A church that nurtures not only unity but also diversity will be a much stronger church. This diversity, though, will be context-specific: “diversity” will look differently in Winkler than it does in Winnipeg’s West End, for example.

The Executive Minister and other MCM staff as appropriate will develop resources and resourcing opportunities toward this end. This will involve consultation with MC Canada, other regional churches, and partner organizations (e.g. CMU, MCC) as helpful or necessary. Any prepared resources will then be made available on CommonWord and the MCM website as appropriate. Plans for assisting congregations with implementing these resources may also be considered.

1. Inter-congregational connections which cross cultural boundaries

• Maintain facilitation of current inter-congregational connections (e.g. Companion Congregations): present – December 31, 2027
• Explore and implement the expansion of current programs and development of new ones: January 1-December 31, 2028

2. Study/preaching resources for congregations to use in strengthening their capacity for diversity in their contexts

• Survey of available resources from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective: April 1-May 31, 2028
• Development of additional resources as needed: June 1-September 30, 2028

The Executive Minister and other MCM staff as appropriate will explore new opportunities and develop resources toward this end. Any prepared resources will then be made available on CommonWord and the MCM website as appropriate. Plans for assisting congregations with implementing these resources may also be considered.

1. An internal review of Camps with Meaning’s historic and current role in leadership development, and exploration of possible modification or expansion of this role

• Review of Camps’ historic and current role, with report to the Board: January 1-June 30, 2028
• Exploration of modification/expansion, with report to the Board: July 1-December 31, 2028

2. Resources for gift discernment committees to increase their effectiveness, and for congregations generally related to volunteer development

• Survey of available resources from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective: October 1-December 31, 2028
• Development of additional resources as needed: January 1-March 31, 2029