Mennonite Church Canada is making a major structural change. A special national assembly was held in Winnipeg over the weekend where delegates voted 94 per cent in favour of a plan to decentralize, something that has been in the discussion stages for five years. Willard Metzger, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada, explains, until now, congregations were members of both their area church, like Mennonite Church Manitoba, and the national church and delegates would be sent to both assemblies.

"Each of our congregations across five area churches (B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Eastern Canada) are members of both their area church and the national church. So then congregations would send delegates to national assemblies. The restructuring means that congregations would become members of the regional churches and that the regional churches together will covenant to make up Mennonite Church Canada. That means there would be no more congregational delegate voice at a nationwide level but, instead, that would be held by regional church delegates. So that's a significant shift. I think what it does is bring the nationwide shared priorities and the nationwide shared agenda closer to congregational conversation in that there are more congregations represented at the regional church delegate sessions than there are at the national gatherings. So there will be more congregations and more delegates engaged now with the nationwide agenda."

Metzger notes two leaders from each area church will make up the board of Mennonite Church Canada.

He notes there will be a number of side-effects from the change.

"It does mean that a lot of staffing and program dollars will be shifted towards the regional church. So, at a national level, it is a significant reduction of staff and the regional churches will pick up some staffing responsibilities."

Metzger adds another impact will be on how Mennonite Church Canada handles its international relationships, or missions.

"We really are wanting to find a way to anchor the discernment of what we do together as a nationwide people in responding to international need, wanting to find a way of anchoring that discernment closer to the congregations so that congregations really discern and determine what it is we do as a larger collective. That's a significant shift and I think, once it becomes experienced, will be very positive and very life-giving to congregations. But it'll take some time to make that shift."

Metzger says there is a lot of excitement among the regional churches about members playing a bigger role in national church decisions.

The changes are scheduled to take effect next February.

Mennonite Church Canada congregations here in southeastern Manitoba include Steinbach Mennonite Church, Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach, Elim Mennonite Church in Grunthal and Niverville Community Fellowship.