Council approves first over-$2M budget in 10 years
On November 23, 2024, Conference Council members approved a budget of nearly $2.1M for 2025—the first budget over $2M since 2015. Delegates gathered at Evangelical Fellowship Church (EFC) in Steinbach, Man., and virtually over Zoom.
EFC’s lead pastor Ernie Koop gave the opening devotional based on 1 Peter 2:9ff. “
EMC Executive Director Emery Plett reported, saying engagement is a priority for the Conference in the years to come. Plett listed four key areas of engagement: church leaders, church members, the next generation and events.
Diana Peters, chair, reports on behalf of the Board of Church Ministries.
Moderator Abe Bergen introduced a proposal from the General Board on how external partnerships will be handled. “The practice in the past” of filling board positions for other agencies “is no longer as effective as it once was,” Bergen said. The proposed policy on external partnerships includes “a matrix … that will help EMC boards vet current and future partnerships” (External Partnerships Criteria document). The policy goes on to lay out three levels of engagement based on scope (national or more local) and affiliation (how doctrinally and missionally aligned the organization may be). Delegates voted to approve the policy.
Plett then returned to the podium to provide the financial update for 2024. With typically 25 percent of EMC donations coming in the last two months of the year, the postal strike has created an obstacle for EMC and other organizations that rely on year-end giving, Plett said. While “we’re not in an emergency situation,” he requested churches and individual donors consider giving in a way “that isn’t sitting in a mail slot somewhere.”
Plett went on to introduce the 2025 budget, explaining the reason for the nine percent, or $171,000, increase. More than half of the increase ($96,000) is due to salary increases of 1.5 percent for existing staff and a full-time salary for the director of Canadian outreach that is to begin in 2025, he said. The proposed budget also includes an increase in financial support for EMC associate missionaries which “had not [been] touched … in about 15 years or so,” Plett said. Delegates approved the proposed budget.
Board of Missions vice-chairman Art Koop said the board has recently spent “considerable time with the Board of Missions Handbook update.” He also listed several volunteer opportunities for 2025. Prayer teams are planned to Guadalajara and Spain, and work teams are planned for Nicaragua and Paraguay. “If any of you are interested in some of that,” Koop said, “Gerald [Reimer, at the EMC national office] will be the person to talk to.”
Reporting continued from the Board of Church Ministries (working on an AI policy and child protection policy, recently hosted a writer’s conference), the Armchair Anabaptist podcast (introduced new host Geralyn Wichers, who will join Jesse Penner and Andrew Dyck for season three on the theme of faith/works), the National Youth Committee (shifting their overseeing board from the Board of Church Ministries to the Board of Leadership and Outreach, preparing for Abundant Springs in May 2025).
After lunch, delegates connected with one another through a round table discussion on the topic of engagement (see summary on p. ___ by Emery Plett). Delegates then returned to the church sanctuary to hear further reports from Mennonite World Conference (introduced new EMC representative Jen Kornelsen), the Board of Leadership and Outreach (adopted a Pastoral and Congregational Covenant) and Church Planting Task Force (anticipating the hiring of a director of Canadian outreach).
The meeting closed with an outline of the new events schedule, of which the most immediate are the regional leadership forum (for Regions 7 and 8) on February 1, 2025, and the SBC Leadership Conference on March 14–15, 2025.
