A Day of Discussion at Grebel – Unmasking Church Challenges

The Navigating to the Next Normal conference took place at Grebel mid-October where pastors, ministers, lay leaders, and church members from various Christian denominations gathered to discuss issues affecting the Church in Canada. Grebel had 30 in-person attendees while around 50 joined virtually from across Canada through the livestream.  

Co-hosted by Grebel’s Conflict Management Certification Program and Credence & Company, the full-day event began with an introduction from Betty Pries on Hope for the Church in an Age of Anxiety. Grebel Religions Studies Professor Derek Suderman spoke on Encountering Scripture Anew and Paul Okoye presented on the topic of Creating Congregations of Belonging, with moments in-between for the attendees to break out into conversation groups.   

"Sobering and hopeful,” is how Carmen Brubacher, Pastor at Waterloo North Mennonite Church, described the event. “The conversations we had today helped to reestablish a sense of identity,” she said.  

The roundtable breakout groups discussed various topics related to the Church, ranging from the concept of “decolonizing Christianity” to navigating a post-pandemic church landscape. Attendees voiced personal experiences and topics of concern from their own congregations and sought advice and thoughts from their peers. Relevant books, studies, and hymns were shared amongst one another, and attendees came together for a joint Bible reading. 

“Participants resonated with different components of the event,” said Susan Baker, Manager of the Conflict Management Certification Program (CMCP). “For our first hybrid event, we were pleased with the turnout and interactions. There was a lot of content with no simple answers, but certainly room for further conversation.”  

The Conflict Management and Congregational Leadership Certificate (CMCL) is a branch of the CMCP that hosts similar workshop settings for church related topics and leadership skills. More information on the 16-day certificate can be found on the website.  

By Farhan Saeed