To listen to an audio version of this post, visit www.covenantchurch.ca/podcasts/covenant-weekly.
Good morning, Covenant Family. My schedule this week is different than normal. That difference is prompting me to tell you about a Covenant ministry that most of you don’t see. This ministry involves one of our largest budget lines and one of our deepest commitments and yet many of you likely have little awareness of what it is and how it is our ministry. That ministry is the Be in Christ Church of Canada. Yes. I’m talking about our denomination in this Covenant Weekly for November 12, 2024.
In the later part of the 1770’s a group of Anabaptists, influenced by the Pietist movement, baptized each other and began to form church communities near Marietta, Pennsylvania. This group, who called themselves “the Brethren” grew and expanded to other farming areas. By 1788, some had moved to Canada where they became known as “Tunkers.” (A play on the German “to dip”– a reference to their mode of baptism.) This group in Canada grew and spread as farms also spread.
You can read more about our history at https://beinchrist.ca/history/, but this group became known as the Brethren in Christ Church in the 1930s and then Be In Christ Church of Canada in 2017.
Covenant’s connection with “the BIC” began with a chance meeting (or divine encounter) at New Life Brethren in Christ Church in Collingwood when a young typewriter salesman met and began to get to know the pastor there. (Read that story and more from Covenant’s first 25 years here!) That meeting eventually led to a group of people, led by Glenn and Debi Robitaille and their friends, starting Covenant Brethren in Christ Church in Penetanguishene.
That’s the beginning of how we got here, but that doesn’t say what this means for today or how our denomination is a Covenant Ministry.
Historically the churches in our denomination have been deeply linked. If through nothing else, they were linked through marriages! Our churches used to get together regularly for conferences, ministries, and events called “Love feasts” which included speakers, music, community meals, and even foot washing ceremonies. At those events, and through a shared high school called Niagara Christian Collegiate, many young people met and got married. As is true of Mennonite communities, there are a few last names that are very common in historic BIC churches!
While modernization has led to changes in how we operate we haven’t fully lost our familial sense as a denomination. Even in the past decade of my connection with the BIC, I have felt a desire for that fraternity growing among those who attend denominational events and our annual meetings. We don’t just cooperate in ministry activities. We belong with and to each other.
Financially, our contribution to this cooperative ministry helps support denominational staff who serve us. They actively support, encourage, and seek to equip our pastors. They host events for training and connection. When we have questions or are looking for wisdom, they are available. Denominational staff help lead pastoral reviews alongside boards. When churches are going through transit, they help provide interim leadership and guide pastoral searches. When churches are in crisis, they often step into very active leadership roles. Denominational staff facilitate payroll for us and help navigate things with the CRA. CRA made some changes recently that have led to some behind-the-scenes confusion. BIC staff has been an incredible resource to Covenant to help navigate this.
Denominationally, our churches are divided into regional clusters for regular and active encouragement, accountability, and prayer. In these clusters, ministry leaders serve each other and through that serve each other’s churches. If I am struggling, I have relationships with people who share my values for ministry that I can call. And they can call me.
Our BIC connection has helped support and facilitate our connection with the University Church in Santa Clara, Cuba. Our introduction to the church was facilitated through the Latin-America Regional Coordinator of BIC Canada Global - the global arm of our denomination. When we sent money to our church partners in Santa Clara so they could buy an engine for their vehicle, it was facilitated through our denomination.
This week, I am privileged to attend a New Pastors Orientation session for our Be in Christ Church of Canada. I’m not new anymore. But after almost a decade in this family, I get to go and serve as a mentor and host to other new pastors. I get to help welcome them to our family and help them find the same welcome and embrace that I received when I came. I pray they also find the same kind of welcome at their local church as I did at Covenant.
Within the BIC, churches are encouraged to forward 10% of our offerings to cover our shared denominational expenses. At Covenant, we have sent at least 10%. Much of this has come back to us in services and support. But it has also gone to serve and support other churches who have needed it more than we have.
Be In Christ Church of Canada is our denomination. But it is more than that. It is our family. They helped us become a church family. And we have supported and served other churches. Like all families, we aren’t perfect. We don’t always get along easily. We don’t all think and act alike. But we are family and, at least in my time here, we’ve sought to create a welcoming space for people to participate in the family together.
I’m not naive. I know some have been hurt within and by this family. As a part of this family now, I would love to know how we can work towards healing and peace where that has happened. Where trust and connection have been broken, I would love to work towards gathering around the table again in unity.
For those for whom this family is new, it would be amazing to have you get to know the extended family better! On Saturday, April 26, 2024, our BIC Annual General Meeting will be held at Sixth Line Church in Stayner - less than an hour from here. Non-delegates are welcome to join the sessions! An annual meeting can feel as much like a family reunion as a business meeting and we’d love to have you there.