Letter from Dan Nighswander

	Dan Nigh- swander

Fall is a busy time of year for meetings.* Last week’s meeting (Nov. 7-9) was with the General Board. For each November meeting, the board gathers outside of Winnipeg. This year we met in Altona, MB (not to be confused with Altona, ON, where I was born!). As always, we took advantage of the location to meet with local pastors over lunch on Thursday. We also visited in the homes of people who hosted us and ate meals at Covenant Mennonite (Winkler), Altona Bergthaler, as well as the Altona Mennonite Church, which hosted our meetings. It was a good opportunity to make connections.

The General Board works on behalf of you, our member churches — so you should know some of the issues the board discussed:

• Guidelines for nominees and appointees (they should receive our Confession of Faith, vision and mission statements, relevant policies and a job description);

• Global Mission Fellowship of Anabaptist Related Churches (decided to become charter members);

• Strategic planning in the context of discerning God’s call for the church (4 hours of work on goal-setting to be reported at a later date);

• Reports from Area Conferences (good things happening: noted several conferences are in leadership transitions);

• Canadian Mennonite University (received a draft of the new governance proposal);

• Next steps toward an education agency recommendation (appointed moderators Doug Epp [MCBC], Bernie Wiebe [MCM] and Andy Reesor-McDowell [MCEC] to work on the next round);

• Continuing conversation on homosexuality (discussed some ways to talk together at next year’s assembly);

• Response to concerns from Mennonite Church BC (how does our polity work?);

• “Big Issues” that we need to talk about at next year’s assembly;

• Mennonite Publishing House (see the Nov. 18 issue of Canadian Mennonite for updates);

• Financial reports (we are on track with giving patterns of the past so far; we continue to trust that over half of the money will come in during the last three months of the fiscal year); and

• Relationships with other Canadian Christian Churches (agreed to recommend to delegates that we become members of Canadian Council of Churches and affiliates of Evangelical Fellowship of Canada on the basis of our Confession of Faith).

Your General Board members are dedicated, wise and enthusiastic people. I urge you to thank God for them and, if you can, send them a note of gratitude (see your new Mennonite Church Canada Directory, pp. 7-8).

The rest of this issue of Equipping is our chance to pass on the resources, updates and information that our staff is generating. Our goal is to build up your congregation in faith formation to help you bear witness to what God is doing in your lives and in the world. We pray that these materials will help toward that end.

Sincerely,
Dan Nighswander
General Secretary

* Meetings attended: In the last few weeks I have attended: staff retreat (Pinawa, MB); Assembly Planning Committee (Vineland / St. Catharines, ON); all-Councils fall meeting (Pinawa, MB); Joint Executive Committee (Kansas City); installation of Paul Wartman as President of Columbia Bible College (Abbotsford, BC); Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s “Presidents Day” (Burlington, ON); Mennonite Economic Development Association annual meeting and Conference Executive Staff annual meeting (Niagara Falls, ON); and Canadian Council of Churches General Council (Pickering, ON). The rest of my meetings this fall (Canadian Council of Anabaptist Leaders, Nominating Committee and College/Seminary Presidents’ gathering) will be in Winnipeg.