April 1stGathering Invites Us to Live into Intercultural Church
Over 100 delegates from Mennonite Church Manitoba congregations came together March 1-2 at Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Winkler for MCM’s 2024 Gathering. They were joined by over 50 guests for a weekend of worship, fellowship, inspiration, reporting, and decision-making.
The theme of the weekend was “From Every Nation: Living into an Intercultural Church.” Fanosie Legesse, Intercultural Mission Minister for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, was the guest speaker, sharing throughout the weekend, including with 30 pastors for the Leadership Day before the Gathering.
“The world is coming to our doorstep,” said Fanosie during the Friday evening worship service. “From all corners of the planet they are coming to Canada, to make Canada their home. God wants us to help make a church home for them, and this starts with an intercultural mindset, working to change yourselves to become a host and also a co-journeyer with them.”
“This weekend was important for us to be introduced to and inspired toward growing into a more intercultural church,” says MCM Executive Minister Michael Pahl. “Other regional churches are also focusing on intercultural church ahead of a nationwide focus on this at our 2025 MC Canada Gathering, and we’ll be looking at how we can build some momentum around this both regionally and nationwide.”
One of the key decisions facing delegates was regarding MCM’s endorsement of a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, joining other faith institutions around the world in doing so. MCM’s Climate Action Working Group, whose members represent a cross-section of MCM’s congregations, brought the resolution forward. They had spent six months visiting a number of churches and having many conversations with people across MCM. The resolution was passed with overwhelming support.
“This endorsement gives us an official MCM orientation toward climate change and climate action,” says Michael. “It allows us to speak into climate conversations with the support of the church behind us, and it publicly commits us to doing the hard work of seeking a just transition away from fossil-fuel dependency which doesn’t leave anyone behind—including our farmers and an entire world that depends on the food they produce.”
For reports and videos from MCM Gathering 2024, see here. Please continue to pray for the work we do together as a regional church, and beyond Manitoba as a nationwide church. To give financially to support this shared work, check out MCM’s giving page.