Shaping congregational leadership

September 25, 2002

Winnipeg, Man.—Congregational leaders have two special opportunities to shape the future of leadership in MC Canada.

Two surveys distributed by Mennonite Church Canada are leadership related. One proposes a new journal for church leadership, the other seeks to assess the current picture of congregational ministry and pastoral leadership in Mennonite Church Canada. Both surveys are available in MC Canada’s Equipping packet; see your church office or mennonitechurch.ca/equipping/.

A leadership journal, the subject of the first survey, proposes to replace Builder magazine, with a separate Adult Bible Study resource publication continuing that aspect of Builder.

The leadership journal proposal being developed by Mennonite Publishing House in consultation with church leadership would serve both Canadian and American constituencies. The consultation process includes this survey, which can be filled out or downloaded at mennonitechurch.ca/news/journal/.

The other, a brief questionnaire entitled “The Leadership Project,” seeks to discover what kinds of training and resources might be most helpful for those who lead our congregations, whether as pastors, lay ministers or other lay leaders.

“Pastors may wish to fill out the questionnaire, or do so in collaboration with others. Or you may wish to designate a small leadership group to do this work,” said Maurice Martin, Director of Congregational Leadership. “Your congregation’s input is important for this survey to be meaningful and useful.”

Responses can be sent directly to Maurice Martin (mmartin@mennonitechurch.ca) by October 30, 2002, using the address on the questionnaire, which can be downloaded from mennonitechurch.ca/leadership/survey/.