Well MC Canada Assembly 2007 has come and gone. A major component of the week was discussing and passing the three affirmation statements that are to set a sense of priority for the Mennonite church at a national level. Here are the three statements.

CREATION CARE
Mennonite Church Canada believes that God longs for the well-being and health of the whole world, for all of creation is bound together and belongs to God, who has created and who preserves all things. Our concern for faithfulness and discipleship should also lead us to care for creation. Mennonite Church Canada believes that God is calling us to commit ourselves to discern the paths of faithfulness to be good stewards of the earth.

YOUNG ADULTS
Mennonite Church Canada desires to be an affirming home for the growth of faith and
commitment for young adults and needs the creativity and fresh perspective they bring.
Because the wellbeing of the present and future church depends on our capacity to incorporate young adults we must be proactive in creating space for young adults to offer and exercise their God-given gifts in leadership and service, in the life and ministries of the church. We pray for the grace to be flexible and to act courageously to make this possible, even if it feels threatening to the institutions and practices of our present and past. We proclaim this affirmation so that the whole body of Christ might grow in wisdom and knowledge and be empowered by the Holy Spirit toward the fulfillment of God’s dream.

MILITARIZATION
Mennonite Church Canada believes that “peace is the will of God” and that we need to “witness to all people that violence is not the will of God” (COF, p 81-82) Given this gospel understanding, we lament and oppose that the imaginations of our church and society are increasingly captivated by confidence in military solutions to human problems. May God grant us wisdom to discern and grace to act in ways that promote God’s will for peace on earth.

The picture above is when I gave feedback from my group to the statement regarding young adults. While everyone would like to affirm that place of young adults in the church many of us wondered if the phrasing of the statement still perpetuated a sense of division between young people and the “established church”.

In an interesting twist on footwashing, one morning we washed one another’s hands. I thought this was a meaningful experience and something perhaps we could consider.