Manitoba Mennonites to explore vulnerability and mission

October 15, 2018 | Web First
Gladys Terichow | Special to Canadian Mennonite
Winnipeg, Man.
This learning event will replace the fall meeting of Mennonite Church Manitoba delegates.

Embracing vulnerability can help congregations “engage with the world the way Jesus did,” says Ken Warkentin, Mennonite Church Manitoba Executive Minister.

Through plenary talks and workshops, Manitoba congregations will have the opportunity to learn about mission and vulnerability at InFuse, a one-day learning event that takes place at Canadian Mennonite University Nov. 3, 2018.

“We hope this learning day will inspire congregations to be more engaged in local, provincial, national and international mission activities,” says Warkentin. “Mission is about sharing God’s grace and love with all. It is about recognizing the divine spark that Jesus sees in all of us.”

Embracing vulnerability in missions, he explains, is about a willingness to “leave behind what we have known and trusted in the past and being open to God’s leading and new understandings.”

He cited the example of the Old Testament story of the Israelites leaving Egypt and encountering God when they were wandering in the wilderness. “It is in that vulnerability that the Israelites encountered God,” he says. “Pharaoh’s security was in ‘building bricks and mortar’ but God said ‘open yourself to my leading.’ “

Guest speaker Betty Pries will have two plenary talks. Talk one: Transforming Shame and Wrestling with Angels: Claiming and Reclaiming the Gospel of Healing and the Story of Jacob for Ministry in the 21st Century. Talk two: Enjoying Old Wine while Sewing New Wineskins: Transforming the 21st Century.

Workshops will focus on embracing vulnerability in mission, church leadership, human resource management, nurture ministries, administration and finance.

This learning event replaces the fall delegate meeting. In past years, the primary purpose of the fall delegate meeting was to present and approve the budget. The budget discussions and presentation will now take place at the annual meeting held in winter. 

More details about the event are available at http://www.mennochurch.mb.ca/calendar/

This learning event will replace the fall meeting of Mennonite Church Manitoba delegates.

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Comments

“Mission is about sharing God’s grace and love with all. It is about recognizing the divine spark that Jesus sees in all of us.”—Ken Warkentin

On the surface, the statement “the divine spark that Jesus sees in all of us” looks like something that could possibly come from a New Age type of philosophy, or maybe from the old Anabaptist mystic Hans Denck. It’s something definitely not supported by scripture. Maybe a clarification as to what was meant by that statement would be helpful.

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