“Table Talk: Does the Church Still Have Legs?” will examine what it means to be the church and the role of worship. The conference will be held on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, through Zoom, a virtual-meeting platform.

The conference is intended for pastors, lay leaders and anyone interested in an academic-oriented approach to discerning the purpose and nature of the church.

“Our lack of in-person worship due to this pandemic has made questions about the nature, identity and essence of the church even more relevant,” says Doug Klassen, executive minister for Mennonite Church Canada.

“Going ahead with this conference in an online format ensures we still connect as a nationwide community in the fall to discern what church looks like moving forward,” he says.

The conference will consist of four sessions featuring plenary speakers from Mennonite Church Canada-affiliated universities and colleges:

• Sara Wenger Shenk, former president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, will give the first plenary exploring the nature and identity of the church;
• Irma Fast Dueck, Jeremy Bergen, Gerald Gerbrandt and Jesse Nickel will examine the role of worship in the Bible and in the church in the Western context;
• CMU New Testament Professor Sheila Klassen-Wiebe will lead a Bible study on the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14;
• and Bryan Born from Columbia Bible College will share what it means to be missional in this time.

Pre-released and pre-recorded plenaries are planned to allow more time for questions and engagement between speakers and participants. A recommended readings list will be released to registered participants leading up to the conference.

The conference will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. EDT.