What does it mean to be aligned?
How does EMC discern which organizations we associate with?
One of the tasks assigned to me when I began my job here at the EMC office was to examine our external partnerships such as Mennonite Disaster Service, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, MCC, and more. The assignment was to review which partnerships continue to be effective and beneficial, and which should be dropped or changed. The General Board formed a subcommittee to discuss and think about these questions. The committee agreed it would be better to start with a high-level view of the question rather than reviewing organizations individually.
A policy was drafted to reflect what is important to the EMC, how these priorities dictate what organizations we wish to associate with, and how close these associations should be (see chart on p. 19). This policy was approved in the fall of 2024, and our hope is that it will help in the discerning of EMC partnerships.
One big question asked in discussion around the development and presentation of the policy is, what does it mean to be aligned? What things do we hold as significant as we relate to organizations we work with? The list is not that long.
Does the organization align with our faith perspectives? We are an evangelical Anabaptist organization. Do the organizations we partner with share our theological underpinnings, and if not, how much different from us can they be? The answers to these questions are not always easy and require us to use our discernment. I will pick this thread up a little later.
Does the organization align with our operational philosophy? We have agreements with numerous missions organizations who take care of our associate missionaries, but not every organization that has requested partnership has passed the Board of Missions test for compatibility. The key operational philosophy of the BOM is church planting. This is the heart of our missions efforts. And so, the missions organizations we partner with must have that same focus.
Does the organization align with our priorities? As a national entity, what is the role we play with local organizations, such as local private schools or local food banks? It is important that our energies not be split between too many organizations, so the priority of the national office is to connect with other global, national, and provincial organizations. Local EMC churches are encouraged to be active in their communities and support and work with local organizations.
Finally, what does the organization expect of us? Expectations vary but can include membership fees, promotion of their initiatives, and assigning board members. We continue to find it difficult to fill our own boards with volunteers, never mind seeking board members for other organizations. It is only for organizations that we are close to that we wish to make that effort.
Let’s look more closely at theological alignment. We are evangelical and Anabaptist. Layton Friesen did a great job of writing about the tension that arises as we live inside this unique faith perspective (The Messenger, Jan/Feb 2024). It is here that we, as the EMC, are at home and we happily live inside this tension even though it is the source of some challenging conversations, both at the conference level and in our churches, as we debate where on the spectrum we will land. In the end, as Friesen mentions, the two coming together are a beautiful jewel that keeps us from the weaknesses that both have on their own.
As we connect with different organizations, we need to hold that tension in place. Some organizations are clearly evangelical but don’t share our Anabaptist convictions, and others will be certain in their Anabaptist principles but weak on evangelicalism. We find discomfort in having our name on a website or masthead for those furthest from our position.
In some cases, these associations have been decades long, but over time the organization has changed, just as the EMC has changed. Most of our churches look quite different today compared to what they did 50 or 60 years ago. One only needs to look at the drum kit now found on most church stages. But change may not be at the same pace or even in the same direction, so it is important to periodically check if our partners still align with us and ask ourselves if we wish to be connected with them.
Unlike marriage, we should be able to withdraw from an organization that no longer aligns with our priorities. This does not indicate they are bad or are doing a bad job. These organizations may be exemplary, but we are not on the same page. As a conference we have decided that it is important that we consider how deeply we can be in partnership in these cases—or if we are so misaligned that we cannot be in relationship at all.
What does this mean in the real world? It’s easy to talk about alignment, philosophy and faith without concrete examples. I will bring forward two organizations that we partner with to illustrate some of the challenges we face as we seek to discern answers to these questions.
The first is Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Currently we would be described as an owner conference and appear on their website as such. There have been numerous conversations with a variety of thought about MCC and how it does its work. For many, many years it was seen as the pre-eminent humanitarian organization that we as Mennonites worked with to bring aid to those in need around the world: from our local MCC “Self-Help” stores, to blanket-making, to canning goods to send around the world. MCC also has feet on the ground and numerous EMC folk have worked with and for MCC in-country. MCC’s stated mission is to bring “relief, development and peace in the name of Christ.”
We have churches and EMC members who are strong supporters of MCC. But we also have churches and members who have become troubled with the direction MCC has gone in the last number of years. Concerns that MCC is not evangelical enough, too focussed on social justice issues and political activism and not strong enough on sharing the gospel. Of great concern is the apparent movement toward liberal theological positions. MCC is very Anabaptist but less evangelical. How do we respond?
On the other hand, we have an organization like the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC). Currently we are a member and pay membership fees to be a part of the fellowship. This is an organization that represents Canadian evangelical denominations to government. It brings concerns about new laws, such as medical assistance in dying (MAiD), to members of parliament and makes churches aware of current legislation and issues that will impact them. The EFC has taken on intervenor status in cases that have gone before the Supreme Court.
Currently, EFC is lobbying government so that churches can continue to give out charity receipts for donations. Another focus area is in research on the state of faith in Canada. Some have raised concerns that the EFC does not hold to a peace position and may be more forceful in their political presence than we would be. They are strongly evangelical but not Anabaptist. How do we respond?
We are a movement of people advancing Christ’s kingdom culture as we live, reach, gather, and teach. As we partner with organizations, we extend our reach and ability to do this. Each organization is seeking to move the kingdom of heaven forward and many are doing good work, but we cannot partner with them all. We need to think carefully about where we put our resources and energies.
