July 16thJoin the Choir
During the Gathering 2025 Resource Day: What does the Lord Require of Us?, Jonathan Neufeld said, in one of his remarks, that he knew with this particular audience that he was “preaching to the choir.” A common phrase, for sure. But that line prompted me to think, “how do we become part of the choir?” How do you, particularly if you have never attended a MC Canada Gathering event, become part of the choir? And why would you want to?
In the late 1990s, I was on the executive of the new magazine Canadian Mennonite. In those pre-zoom days, our meetings were always in person. So, with typical Mennonite efficiency, we tacked one of our meetings on to the national conferences which were held yearly in early July. And thus, I went to these national events every year for 5-6 years.
After a few years, I heard a few comments that I knew a lot of people. When they asked how, my response was that I actually had a strategy. I tried to sit by someone different at each meal and then the next year, I’d say “didn’t I eat with you last year?” Whether I did or not, it opened a conversation. And with these interactions, I became “part of the choir.” That was my How.
Let’s start with why?
Most of us love and appreciate our local congregations — and we should! Local is where we have the most opportunities for worship, learning and service. Local are the people we already know — also a choir of sorts. But, just how as in choral music, a richer sound comes from more singers, a richer church experience comes from the gathering of more of us. The next larger choir is Mennonite Church Alberta (MCA) — and you must already have a connection at this level or you wouldn’t be reading this Menno Minute.
MCA is the smallest regional church which, in addition to Mennonite Church BC, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan, Mennonite Church Manitoba and Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, forms Mennonite Church Canada. We are small. We are diverse. We are not who we were in the 1990s. My heart warmed in Kitchener when our beloved Sudanese (Nuer) pastor, Reuben Tut, saw me, recognized me, and greeted me as “one of us”, shook my hand as “my people.” If you are curious about joining the MCA choir, watch for information on our Gathering in March 2026 in Lethbridge and plan to attend.
And then… there’s an even bigger choir, MC Canada. An even more diverse choir. Counting members each year is a difficult project but I send out a spreadsheet to each congregation in January asking for a head count and add those numbers to the MC Canada tallies. Currently MC Canada is a choir of 23,442 members in 197 congregations. Because congregations measure membership differently, that number is as-good-as-we-can-get.
At this year’s Gathering, 404 fine folk gathered representing 147 congregations plus there were 151 in the youth gathering, including leaders. A big choir with a rich and full voice! At Gathering listened to speakers, we sang, worshiped, and prayed together. Delegates answered questions and challenged each other. And then we dispersed. We took that choir back to you, our local choirs.
And so, a challenge: Join a bigger choir!
The MC Canada Gathering concluded with Kelbessa Muleta Demena, the Vice President of Meserete Kristos Church (MKC), inviting us all to the next Mennonite World Conference Assembly in Ethiopia. Who will join that choir?