Summit 2008

July 7 & 8

Mennonite Church Canada Annual Delegate Assembly

Canadian delegates will address issues, business items, budgets, and receive ministry reports. Agenda items will include follow-up on the 2007 creation care and militarization discussions, inter-faith dialogue, and issues arising from the fall 2007 survey of current and former pastors.

July 8 - 10

People's Summit for Faithful Living

This special joint gathering of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada

will focus on the theme of “the church living faithfully as a contrast community in our global reality” with direction from the theme text of Deuteronomy 4:1-9. We are using the term “summit” rather than “assembly” to differentiate this event from our usual annual or biannual gatherings.

Daily News - Assembly Week

Crossroads Current - daily news sheet:

Issue 1, July 7 [396 KB PDF file - Help with PDF files]
Issue 2, July 8 [396KB PDF]
Issue 3, July 9 [512KB PDF]
Issue 4, July 10 [580KB PDF]
Issue 5, July 10 Final Edition [339KB PDF]

Other Materials available during the week:

Program Book [2,720KB PDF] Detailed schedule of the week.
Bartimaeus Images [2,268KB PPT file - Help with PPT files]
Worship Prayers (used on Monday and Tuesday)
Summit Prayers (used on Tuesday evening, Wednesday and Thursday):
- Summit Prayers [44KB PDF]
- Summit Prayers [8KB RTF]
Listening Committee Report [54KB PDF]

Presentation Materials

Assembly 2007 Minutes [264KB PDF file] - posted August 6, 2008
General Board Report [2,417KB PPT file - Help with PPT files]
Christian Formation Report [2,440KB PPT file]
Christian Witness Report [7,580KB PPT file]
Support Services Report [1,510KB PPT file]
Budget FYE 2009 [804KB PPT file]
Finance FYE 2008 [931KB PPT file]
Creation Care [681KB PPT file]
Confessing Jesus Christ in a Religiously Pluralistic World
Greetings from the Canadian Council of Churches [20KB PDF file] - posted July 18, 2008

Photo Gallery

YouTube Video Samplers

Keynote Messages

Tuesday, July 8 - Tom and Christine Sine [16,350KB MP3 file - Help with MP3 files] Best with high speed internet
Wednesday, July 9 - April Yamasaki [13,380KB MP3] Best with high speed internet
Thursday, July 10 - Tom Yoder Neufeld [18,190KB MP3] Best with high speed internet

Where:

Campus of Canadian Mennonite University (CMU)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
View Map

Theme: At the Crossroads: Promise and Peril

Deuteronomy 4:6
You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!”

In this text, God’s children stand on the brink of entering the land promised to them. Before they enter, they are issued a powerful challenge to live in obedience to God, that all nations might witness and name the wisdom of their ways.

God’s children will draw the attention of other nations not by their power and might, as one might expect from a people about to enter a new land, but by their obedience to God’s wisdom and law.

The phrase “At the Crossroads” captures the place of God’s people in the text and in our time – that is, at that point in our journey where we see that the future, while not separate from our past, holds new challenges. It also captures a sense of urgency and a need to make a decision. At a crossroads, a traveler expects to keep moving but must choose which direction to go. To live in obedience to God and as a witness to others is a willful act. It requires us to make choices that may be unusual or even difficult but that will be life-giving, as captured by the phrase “Promise and Peril.”

Advance Resolutions

Resolution #:2008-001: posted June 5, 2008
- View as web page
- View as PDF [13 KB PDF file - Help with PDF files]

Report Book and other Materials

Downloadable versions of the 2008 Assembly Report Book:

Complete Report Book [3,190 KB PDF file - Help with PDF files]

Report Book Sections:

General [1,430KB PDF file]
Formation [369KB PDF file]
Witness [285KB PDF file]
Support Services [313KB PDF file]
Discernment [498KB PDF file] *See also Additional Material below
Finance [597KB PDF file]
Bylaws [195KB PDF file]
Agenda [130KB PDF file]

Learning Track Information

Schedule and detailed descriptions of the Learning Tracks (posted June 26, 2008):

Learning Track Schedule and Locations [35KB PDF file]
Learning Track Descriptions [52KB PDF file]

Additional Material:

Please download, talk about and study these documents in your congregation before the Assembly. It will help for the most meaningful discussion of these topics.

Caring for the least of these [3,790 KB PDF file - Help with PDF files]: Four Mennonite responses to the controversial Responsibility to Protect doctrine in the light of Jesus’ teachings. Helpful reading in preparation for the discerment topic on "Becoming a Peace Church - an urgent choice" contained in the Discernment Section of the Report Book.
The Church's Witness to Peace [162KB PDF file]: Robert J. Suderman, General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada, prepared this paper for presentation to the Canadian Council of Churches in response to a request from CCC members for more information on becoming a peace church. This document will be helpful background reading for the MC Canada Delegate Assembly discernment session entitled "Becoming a Peace Church - an urgent choice" contained in Discernment Section of the Report Book.
Confessing Jesus Christ [PDF file]: Presentation paper by the Faith and Life Committee for discussion at Summit 2008. Helpful reading in preparation for the discerment topic on "Confessing Jesus Christ in a Religiously Pluralistic World" contained in page 52 of the Discernment Section of the Report Book.

Assembly Sunday Worship Materials

Are you not able to make it to this year's Assembly? Use these Assembly Sunday Worship resources to worship "scattered" or to enhance your delegates' time of reporting back to your congreagtion on the day of your choosing.