Registration open for Mennonite Church Canada’s virtual study conference

Online registration for the October 24 event is available on Mennonite Church Canada website

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 5, 2020

Registration open for Mennonite Church Canada’s virtual study conference

Online registration for the October 24 event is available on Mennonite Church Canada website

Registration is now open for “Table Talk: Does the Church still have legs?”, Mennonite Church Canada’s virtual study conference on October 24, 2020.

The registration link is https://www.mennonitechurch.ca/tabletalk2020.

“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 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 seven plenary speakers from Mennonite Church Canada-affiliated universities and colleges:

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

Pre-released plenaries are planned to allow more time for questions and engagement between speakers and participants. The fee per registrant is $25.00. A recommended readings list will be released to registered participants leading up to the conference.

To register, please go to https://www.mennonitechurch.ca/tabletalk2020.

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Media contact:

Katie Doke Sawatzky

kdsawatzky@mennonitechurch.ca

306-520-8049 (cell)