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Recommendation
on Exploring MC/GC Integration, 1989
General
Confernce Mennonite Church and Mennonite Church
In relation to the matter of
cooperation between the General Conference Mennonite Church and
the Mennonite Church, we affirm the following:
1. We acknowledge that the Lord of the church is bringing us
into close spiritual fellowship and increasing unity of faith
and mission.
2. We believe that it is in the will of God to heal the part
of our history which is a story of division and conflict. We
also believe that God would be pleased to bring together that
family--the Dutch/North German/Russian and the Swiss/South German--who
have come to North America and all persons who have become part
of the Mennonite family.
3. We therefore commit ourselves to enter into a time of deliberate
exploration of integration, until 1995, during which we will
work at the following cooperative tasks and directions:
a. The articulation of a rationale for integration and the development
of common vision.
b. The undertaking in our congregations of a study of Christian
unity.
c. The writing of a conjoint confession of faith.*
d. The development of a leadership polity statement that would
achieve a degree of unity sufficient for harmonious working relationships
as a unified denomination.
e. The formation of a model, or models, of denominational structure
at the area conference, national, and binational levels that
would bring together the strengths of our current structures.
f. The continued movement toward integration of program activities
and of area conference structures where the local situation makes
it appropriate. In the case of program boards and agencies, we
should pursue policies of program cooperation that move toward
convergence but without the loss of separate denominational identities.
g. The deepening of mutual understanding through exchanges of
personnel, fraternal visits, common publications, and the like.
4. We request that the current Committee on Cooperation conclude
its work at Normal 89 and that a new conjoint committee be appointed
by the General Boards to guide and implement the process outlined
above, with regular reporting to the General Boards and the biennial/triennial
assemblies.
5. We propose that by 1995 we will discern whether or not to
enter a period of actual integration of our two denominations
based on the development of a complete plan for such integration.
*These projects are already in
progress but are seen as important aspects of the exploration
of integration.
Adopted by the
Tenth Mennonite Church General Assembly, August 4, 1989, Illinois
State University, Normal, Illinois, Proceedings p.37.
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