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Spring 2025 · Vol. 54 No. 1 · pp. 41–55 

The Formation and Operations of ICOMB

David Wiebe

The first Mennonite Brethren (MB) missionaries left Ukraine and trekked over the Himalayas to share the gospel in India. Thus the India conference origins in 1889 occurred at about the same time that mission workers crossed the forty-ninth parallel from the U.S. Mennonite Brethren to start a work near Winkler, Manitoba. By the 1960s, it was not lost on the North American MB mission agency that national churches were maturing. India (1889), Congo (1920), and others had formed their own conferences with national leadership and structure. 1

At the beginning, ICOMB was more a working committee of the mission agency. The step to elect national church leaders to the ICOMB executive committee was critical to gain separation from the agency.

In a 1963 presentation to the General Conference convention, General Secretary J. B. Toews called for “Obedience in Partnership,” where older churches could stand together with younger churches in a worldwide fellowship. 2 By 1966 the mission agency began a policy of sending mission workers where a national MB conference already existed only upon invitation from p. 42 that conference. Other policies for partnership were instituted, but progress toward equality among the conferences was lacking. This led to repeated calls for a global consultation event. 3

At the 1984 General Conference convention in Reedley, California, twenty international delegates visibly presented the urgency of internationalization. An international planning committee of eight members was formed to organize a “Mennonite Brethren World Mission Conference” to be held in February 1988. 4 Victor Adrian, General Secretary of the mission agency at the time, chaired. 5

Despertar 1988

Over eight hundred delegates from fifteen countries assembled in Curitiba, Brazil, to hear speakers from every continent, reflecting the diverse character of the MB global reality. Titled Despertar 1988 (despertar is Spanish for “awakening”), the conference offered simultaneous translation to accommodate five major languages spoken. Evening services drew up to fourteen hundred people. A workshop led by Harold Ens presented the mission agency vision to mobilize national conference workers. 6

Despertar 1988 itself was focused on global mission, but since most of the global MB conferences were represented, General Conference chairman Herb Brandt called an unscheduled side meeting to discuss J. B. Toews’ early-1960s vision for global MB cooperation. The principal outcome was to agree to meet again when the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Assembly occurred in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1990. 7

ICOMB Birth, 1990

About forty individuals attended an “Internationalization Consultation” led by the Board of Reference and Counsel of the General Conference and the mission agency, meeting at Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg. Chair Herb Brandt stated, “The time has come for giving structure and further direction for internationalization of the Mennonite Brethren Church worldwide on a church to church basis.” 8 There was broad consensus for a framework to facilitate dialogue among the national conferences but reluctance to create more bureaucracy. To keep costs down, the “International Committee of Mennonite Brethren” would be composed of representatives from each of the five continents, with Latin America given two, having numerous conferences spread from Mexico to Uruguay.

While the July meeting in Winnipeg is thought of as the “birthplace” of ICOMB, Ens notes that it was nearly a “still birth.” 9 A “Provisional Committee” was identified, but no financial plan other than “low cost”; p. 43 nor was a plan put in place for a “next meeting.” Neither was the chair known; only a decision that the next Moderator of the General Conference would chair. 10 Edmund Janzen was elected to that role in October 1990.

Further, an accident nearly took Victor Adrian’s life, so Harold Ens became interim general director of the mission agency in March 1991. Ens began working with Janzen to plan the next steps in the formation of ICOMB. Juan Veron, leader of the Paraguay MB Spanish conference, organized a regional mission consultation for Latin America in July 1992, held in Asuncion. Ens credits the initiative and energy of Veron as a critical factor in ICOMB’s existence beyond the idea stage. 11

Summary of Original Charter/Constitution and Establishment of Vision

The first actual business meeting of ICOMB happened in Paraguay following the mission consultation. In that meeting the delegates drafted bylaws with four purposes with another added following the meeting. This was presented and accepted at the 1993 gathering in Winnipeg:

  1. To articulate and promote a vision for internationalization of the mission and ministries of the Mennonite Brethren Church on a global basis.

  2. To facilitate interconference communication and information flow, thereby enhancing spiritual unity and brother/sisterhood among Mennonite Brethren Churches of the world.

  3. To provide a framework (regional and/or global) for the exploration of mutual conference concerns such as the Confession of Faith, pastor-church relationships, calling out leaders, leadership and lay training, ethical issues, publication of Christian literature, evangelism and church planting, etc.

  4. To develop a forum for mutual encouragement—a cooperative church (conference)-to-church (conference) partnership that transcends ethnic, cultural, and language barriers and that celebrates our oneness in Jesus Christ. 12

Another item was added to the purposes later:

  1. To promote and manage a world relief fund for use by member conferences. 13 p. 44

“Committee” Era

The early label was “Internationalization Committee.” Settling quickly into “International Committee of Mennonite Brethren” in 1993, it soon was commonly referred to by its acronym, ICOMB. At this time, ICOMB had a fairly heavy North American character to it, with representation from the mission agency, both U.S. MB and Canadian MB conference leaders, and the General Conference moderator. What of the mission agency? It was discussed whether the general director should be a regular or ex officio member. Delegate William Valencio “suggested his inclusion as an honorary member,” which was approved. 14

Today “ICOMB” carries the connotation of the international MB church body. As noted, at the beginning, ICOMB was more a working committee of the mission agency. The step to elect national church leaders to the ICOMB executive committee was critical to gain separation from the agency. Nevertheless, it is a work in progress even today, particularly among conferences that still receive funding or workers from the mission agency. The early-years delegates can be credited for their vision that ICOMB would unify our international family under a larger umbrella than North America.

Confession of Faith as Development Factor

The 1993 delegates noted that the North American church was revising its confession of faith and wondered “what is thought of the process which North America is doing in a unilateral way?” 15 They considered whether to appoint an observer. Japan noted it had already produced its own confession based on the one from North America. Delegates decided not to get involved, but this early consideration of the confession for international identity and development is noteworthy.

For the 1995 meeting, every conference was to bring its confession of faith for review. The meeting revealed some differences between conferences, spurring the 1999 discussion to “have a common Confession of Faith and every Conference would have its own application.” 16 This was pursued in 2000 when eight different confessions were collected with four others missing. A motion was passed to write an international confession. 17

In 2001 an international committee was formed: Takashe Manabe (Japan), E. D. Solomon (India), Nzash Lumeya (Congo), Heinrich Klassen (Germany, BTG 18), Alfred Neufeld (Paraguay), Arthur Dück (Brazil), and Lynn Jost (U.S.). Heinrich Klassen served as chair. The committee developed an approach that reflected eastern/southern and western/northern cultural differences. Their work was examined and passed by every ICOMB member, and accepted officially at the 2004 ICOMB summit in Paraguay. p. 45

In anticipation of the 150th anniversary of the Mennonite Brethren movement, Elmer Martens, president emeritus of MB Biblical Seminary, and Peter J. Klassen, professor emeritus of history of California State University, Fresno, were appointed to develop a study guide for the Confession of Faith. 19 Sixteen contributors from eight countries wrote reflections and lessons on each segment of the Confession. The result was published in 2008. The contributions were written in various languages, so the entire project benefited from intersectionality on the ground floor as it was translated into English, Spanish, German, French, Lingala, Kikongo, Portuguese, Telugu, and Japanese. 20

The International Confession of Faith has been translated into the working language of every national church. It must be accepted by new national conferences hoping to join ICOMB. It also may serve as a template for a conference that wishes to write its own. Further, ICOMB provides a place for any conference to confer about confessional changes. The U.S. MB conference revised its article on Peace convictions between 2011 and 2014, asking for ICOMB input and support of its efforts in 2012 and 2013.

Authority of ICOMB and Challenges

The issue of authority has been a matter of discussion throughout ICOMB’s existence. ICOMB is concerned that every member is in good health—spiritually, theologically, financially, missionally, and more. When problems are observed, is it appropriate to step in? What are the steps to take? Who makes final decisions about actions to take? This is the “free church dilemma” that protects the autonomy of members but occasionally needs an authoritative body to advise and correct.

The purpose of “exploring mutual conference concerns” took hold quickly. Delegates in 1993 discussed problems within India MB conference leadership. The group decided to call all conferences to pray and fast for the India conference and considered writing a letter to say “we are interested in supporting and helping to resolve the situation.” They also considered excommunication of India MB church leaders. 21 Delegations were appointed to visit with the church leaders but were unsuccessful in finding a path of resolution.

The 1995 meeting in Japan involved a great deal of time discussing the complications of having the Mennonite World Conference Assembly in India in 1997. In 2015–2016, a crisis in Angola precipitated an important discussion about the authority of ICOMB to intervene in national church problems. The India delegate to the 2016 summit argued strongly against p. 46 any such involvement, calling it “interference.” 22 The India problem was not resolved until a regime change took place in 2023.

Angola had experienced problems within its leadership starting in early 2014. The conference president borrowed a large amount of money to build a home and operate taxis for income. For collateral he signed over the offerings of the churches. Internally the churches refused to contribute to the national church treasury. ICOMB leadership sent a delegation to review the situation first hand and recommended that the president resign.

He did not and, instead, attended the MWC Assembly in the U.S. (2015) and the ICOMB summit following. Brazilian delegates conferred extensively with him and secured his promise to resign—not to ICOMB but to his national church. This carefully crafted intervention removed North Americans from the lead—a key emerging value in the leadership of ICOMB. 23

Development of “Community” and Identity

The “C” in ICOMB originally stood for “Committee.” It made sense at the beginning under mission agency guidance. Regional representatives to ICOMB overlapped with mission agency working regions. For example, Franz Rathmair of Austria led European missions and attended ICOMB. Travel expenses were covered by the mission agency plus funds from the General Conference.

In 1997, representation shifted to one delegate per national church, with a decision that each would contribute one percent of annual church revenues to support expenses. 24 A plan was accepted to move the meeting location around to allow conferences to host in their unique cultural ways in order to enrich the mutual knowledge base. Delegates also called for another mission consultation for 1999, “[b]ut this time the event should be planed (sic) by ICOMB, not by MBM/S.” “During these first six years of ICOMB, the vision was enlarged, the awareness for other MB’s around the world was raised in many conferences, and several help projects were started and carried out as a result of growing together as a world-wide MB family.” 25 At the 2007 ICOMB summit, the “C” was changed from “Committee” to “Community,” clarifying the identity of ICOMB further.

Major anniversaries gave many national churches the occasion to host. 2010 marked the sesquicentennial (150th) of the Mennonite Brethren movement. ICOMB celebrated in Germany with tours to historic sites there and in Ukraine. Many members held 150th anniversary celebrations in their own contexts and shared videos and reports to build community. ICOMB gave five thousand dollars for the publication of The Mennonite Brethren p. 47 Church Around the World: Celebrating 150 Years. 26 It was conceived by ICOMB delegates as a way to have each national MB church story told by one of that church’s leaders. Contributions came in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English. The able editorship of Abe Dueck consolidated the stories into a whole.

ICOMB Leadership and Key Foci

From 1990 to 2005 the elected Executive Committee led ICOMB with strong input from the North American mission agency general director. ICOMB initiated the discussion for a more independent role in 2003. A task force was formed and reported in 2004 in Paraguay. The report called for an ICOMB-based mission commission to guide Mennonite Brethren mission work from an international perspective, and an ICOMB director (at least half-time). 27 Coincidentally, in 2004 the International Confession of Faith was finalized and accepted, and the Portugal MB conference joined ICOMB under new protocols for membership. It seemed that ICOMB was beginning to find that stronger role.

At first, because of the mission commission vision, it was proposed to center the new director at a mission agency headquarters, with priority on South America. However, delegates realized ICOMB needed to theologize and address church maturity—to be an international “church,” not an “agency.” Mission Director Harold Ens noted that the mission agency was pulling back from being the “mother” to the conferences—another analogy for ICOMB—and allowing them to establish an international collaboration with its own leadership. Alexander Neufeld noted, however, that we did not want a “pope.” 28

ICOMB Director Victor Wall, 2005–2010. Within these parameters Victor Wall of Paraguay was hired half-time as ICOMB’s first executive secretary, commissioned at the Japan 2005 summit. One of his first efforts was to appoint volunteer Dalton Reimer, professor emeritus at Fresno Pacific University’s Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, to head up initiatives regarding educational concerns. Wall observed that pastors of churches lacked sufficient theological training to be able to lead their congregations from a position of strength, and had a vision to build stronger connections to schools to that end.

Reimer initiated two higher education consultations in 2007 (Fresno Pacific University) and 2011 (Canadian Mennonite University), assembling leaders of schools associated with Mennonite Brethren conferences. Goals were established at these consultations resulting in a series of actions to p. 48 benefit schools and conferences. For example, the Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies program at the Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College in Shamshabad, India, is a direct result of the consultation goals.

Reimer also initiated a consultation for primary and secondary education in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2009. In this case it involved all three Mennonite conferences in DRC, which collectively operate over three hundred schools. 29 One result was the development of curriculum to teach Anabaptist values to school children from Grades 1 through 12. Pakisa Tshimika (Mama Makeka House of Hope) and a Congolese committee oversaw the writing process. The curriculum was launched to some fanfare, including local media presence, in 2016.

Another initiative was to move the Global Scholarship Fund from the mission agency to ICOMB with a memorandum of understanding signed in 2010, and a standing committee to administer annual distributions to applicants. The scholarship fund has developed well with promotion, fundraising efforts, policy development, and reaching more students. Wall’s tenure ended in 2010 at the sesquicentennial celebration in Germany.

ICOMB Director David Wiebe, 2011–2018. In 2011, David Wiebe of Canada assumed leadership in a full-time capacity, thanks to generous funding by the Canadian MB conference. During his tenure to 2018, Wiebe focused on building the fellowship. Some conferences had difficulty attending ICOMB meetings because of logistical complications. Some leaders felt distant. Wiebe visited every national conference, meeting leadership councils to explain what ICOMB was about and learn how to overcome logistical barriers to attend. Annual attendance improved, and Wiebe introduced intentional equipping for conference leaders at summits.

Wiebe grew organizational strength by hiring Rudi Plett of Paraguay as Latin American associate director. Plett provided coaching and support for the eight Latin American conferences, and began including the Venezuela churches. Wiebe strengthened the European fellowship by linking MB conference leaders with the MWC members who had resources and historical depth, and who generously extended their care.

Khmu Mission (2012) and Lithuania (2014) were added as members. More conferences were growing toward membership, so Wiebe enlisted Victor Wiens, former missionary to Brazil, to develop a more robust grid to assess conference strength and readiness for membership in ICOMB.

In education, Wiebe assisted Reimer in the 2011 higher education consultation. At that event, Mennonite World Conference observers p. 49 expressed a desire to create a network for schools associated with their larger body of one hundred and ten member conferences, which included all the schools at the ICOMB consultations. Wiebe codirected that effort, achieving official acceptance of the MWC Global Anabaptist Higher Education Network in 2021. Wiebe also continued backing the Congolese effort to write the school curriculum and participated in its launch in 2016.

As the education focus shifted toward MWC, Wiebe called for a mission and prayer consultation, asking the mission agency to partner with ICOMB for an event in Thailand in 2017. This event rode on ICOMB’s shoulders financially and organizationally, a mark of maturity and confidence. The mission agency fully participated by supporting its mission workers to attend from over a dozen countries, accompanied by national workers.

A major publishing effort to prepare for Thailand 2017 was The Church in Mission—a missiology compendium of forty-five articles written by forty-seven contributors and edited by Victor Wiens. 30 While not the first multi-perspective, multi-authored missiology publication (that was A. J. Klassen’s The Church in Mission, published in 1967 31), this version’s authorship came from twelve countries representing all continents. Writers came from church, academy, mission-agency, and mission-field backgrounds. It is the first MB missiological compilation for which the articles originated in multiple languages reflecting different cultures of origin. However, its authorship was still heavily weighted to North American males, leaving room for greater diversity in a future such compendium. 32

A total of 235 participants from thirty-six countries gave Thailand 2017 a glimpse of the diversity of the global Mennonite Brethren church. Careful oversight of registration ensured that no more than fifty percent of attendees came from North America. The mission agency introduced a mission strategy map to help conferences chart readiness for membership in ICOMB and capacity for launching their own sending agency.

ICOMB Director Rudi Plett, 2018–2023. In 2018 Rudi Plett became ICOMB director. Plett immediately called for a Latin American mission consultation in 2019 to build momentum from Thailand 2017. This resulted in several cooperative moves with the mission agency; ICOMB voted Brazil conference leader Emerson Cardoso as chair, while the mission agency appointed him Latin American mission developer. Having both ICOMB director and executive committee chair located in South America facilitated the work.

Plett focused efforts to come alongside the India MB conference, appointing a task force of people with deep experience in India. It included p. 50 mission agency people: Paul Wiebe, who had grown up in India and had near-daily contact with Indian leaders in Telugu, and Doug and Sherry Heidebrecht, who had lived and worked in India. David Wiebe and Dalton Reimer also participated. The task force met frequently to advise the ICOMB executive committee. Conditions in the India conference finally evolved in 2019 to a point where ICOMB could officially state it did not recognize the current administration and make it “stick.” The letter was dispatched in early 2020. Plett intended to visit immediately following to reinforce and explain ICOMB’s position to the body as widely as possible. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted, complicating this maneuver, but a 2022 visit clarified things. The administration changed in 2023, and today the India MB conference is on a new path, thirty years after the first ICOMB discussion.

During Plett’s tenure, ICOMB Canada and ICOMB USA were launched as charitable organizations. In part, charity law required separation from the conferences’ financial structures. Additionally, fundraising in both Canada and the U.S. had funneled money through the conferences, which meant ICOMB suffered from lack of differentiation from the conferences.

ICOMB Director Elton DaSilva, 2024. Plett completed his term at the end of 2023, and Elton DaSilva began on January 1, 2024. Brazilian by birth, DaSilva had been executive director for the Manitoba MB provincial conference and then the Canadian MB conference. He has brought good organizational experience and talent. He began by strengthening the ICOMB structure through a global ministry team of senior and regional leaders. Reflecting on the agenda of the 1990s, the “internationalization consultation” saw, from a mission agency perspective, a chance to appoint regional leaders who would facilitate mission “sending structures” within conferences in their regions and expand the mission agency framework. This vision is indeed now coming to pass, but it is more distinctly from the “church side,” since it is a team under ICOMB direction. Unfortunately as this was being written DaSilva needed to be let go because of ICOMB’s financial situation. ICOMB’s financial fragility remains a factor in limiting its development.

ICOMB and the North American MB Mission Agency

From the point of view of some international church leaders, ICOMB and the mission agency were initially almost identical. ICOMB did not have the long history of the MB mission work. It was only gradually that one could see where people outside of North America separated ICOMB and the mission agency in their minds. Many national churches received funding from the mission agency; ICOMB’s “claim to fame” was that it had “no money,” p. 51 but for some that meant ICOMB had no practical usefulness. When “MB Mission” merged with Canada’s “C2C” church planting program to become “Multiply” in early 2019, a rather sharp shift in expectations was called for. 33 “Multiply” wanted to become an “MB-based mission agency that serves cross-denominationally.” 34 Conference leaders outside of North America raised the question at the 2018 ICOMB summit, “Will (the new entity) Multiply continue to care for us?” The answer was, “No, ICOMB will.” 35

In theory this was where the international church needed to go, but practically speaking, ICOMB did not have the infrastructure to accomplish this wished-for mandate. The short-lived merger was dissolved in June 2019, which returned Multiply to a stronger MB identity. Today Multiply continues to resource ICOMB member conferences to build their mission capacity. The vision and trend is for Multiply to decrease this resourcing, and ICOMB to increase it.

Several regions have experienced natural disasters, which has given opportunity to use the World Relief Fund established in 1999. ICOMB contributed funds to alleviate suffering from flooding in Panama and Peru and for relief efforts in Japan after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Much remains to be done to provide the appropriate kind of care toward leadership, church, and missional health. Church health includes functional structures and finances as well as theological capacity and education.

ICOMB and the North American Church

The free church movement in North America suffers from an individualistic soteriology that isolates the Christ follower from the importance of the church. Christians follow a pastor or a media-based communicator with little understanding of the role of the church in their salvation. As a result the average member might not be aware their church belongs to a provincial or district conference, much less a national conference, and even less the international. A conversation about ICOMB produces blank faces, and the explanation needs to include some reference to what a national conference is—since it is national conferences that are members of ICOMB. This is a stretch for the average member, though thankfully many pastors and regional leaders increasingly know about and appreciate ICOMB.

The challenge for ICOMB here is that this is the level that primarily funds ICOMB operations and suffers from a lack of funding themselves. Can fundraising from individuals be enough? Only if strong efforts are made to make people aware of ICOMB—and with that awareness, enough understanding and conviction to support it. p. 52

ICOMB and Mennonite World Conference

Most of the ICOMB members are also members of the Mennonite World Conference General Council, creating unique opportunities for collaboration. In 2012 MWC leadership transferred to César García who was the leader of the Colombia MB conference for a term. García initiated high-level meetings between MWC, ICOMB, and IBICA—the International Brethren in Christ Association. These annual two-day meetings gave opportunity to report on developments and address challenges.

When churches struggle, MWC generally has similar experiences to ICOMB. For example, regarding India, MWC clarified to ICOMB in 1995 how the India MB conference leadership affected its plans for the MWC Assembly there in 1997. 36 They sought unity for determining a path to healing for India so that there would be no opportunity for India to play MWC against ICOMB. MWC has looked to ICOMB to solve issues, which generally resolve the problems for MWC.

To a smaller extent, and for a much shorter period of time, the Angola challenge had the potential to pit ICOMB against MWC. The Angola president was asked not to attend ICOMB, but the opportunity to travel to the U.S. and participate in the 2015 MWC Assembly was so great, he came anyway. It created an opportunity for ICOMB and MWC leaders to collaborate on a joint approach. 37

What the Future Might Hold

At present ICOMB is comprised of twenty-four member conferences in twenty-one countries; 458,133 members in 2,465 local churches. In 2024 ICOMB received three newcomers (Philippines, Thailand, Uganda) and reclassified Portugal to a regional member, having been reduced to one local church.

After the 2024 ICOMB summit, the MB Herald summarized a five-fold vision that the delegates accepted: “strengthening family dynamics, resourcing leadership development, facilitating holistic mission, sharing foundational theological convictions, and nurturing global Church and conference health.” 38

Strengthening family dynamics will come from web-based prayer meetings and a new schedule of alternating global gatherings with regional summits, a pattern envisioned already in the 1990s.

To resource leadership development, the Global Scholarship Fund needs to grow. Wiebe’s vision to build the fund beyond one million dollars has yet to be realized. There are still many pastors who have not completed high school, much less a higher level of training. The “MLT” (Missional p. 53 Leadership Training) curriculum developed by Doug Heidebrecht and others will reach such pastors because it is non-formal and modular, but formal education is critical for the development of conferences. The new generation of leaders may be as young as teenagers, as was noted at the summit by sub-Saharan representatives. 39 Facilitating holistic mission will continue as Multiply seeks to cultivate mission efforts globally.

The international MB community’s theological convictions are expressed in the International Confession of Faith. Ongoing translation and promotion of the Confession has led to plans for a theological council to be established that will also oversee teaching workshops at the biannual summits and address various contemporary issues as they arise. One might ask if the Confession, now at twenty years of age, would benefit from a new round of reflection and perhaps revision. There is an opportunity to practice a wider community hermeneutic since ICOMB membership of national churches is at least twenty-five percent greater than when the Confession was developed.

Nurturing global church conference health requires personal engagement and funding. The appointment of the team of regional (continent-based) leaders greatly enhances the level of personal connections in their region and potential for coaching. All those appointed have worked for Multiply at some point. Given its funding limitations today, ICOMB will be dependent on these individuals’ ability to raise funds for their work through their historic connections to funding channels of the mission agency.

Conclusion

A quote from the end of Victor Wall’s essay, “Celebrating 150 Years,” may suit to conclude this essay, particularly as a reflection of Anabaptism at 500:

Early Anabaptism, as well as the renewal movement in 1860 that gave birth to the Mennonite Brethren church, was a Jesus movement, a church movement, a movement of the Holy Spirit, and a mission movement. It was local, but always had an international, transcultural, and global orientation. ICOMB’s spiritual mandate is to remain faithful to God as it seeks to serve its many conferences and churches. 40 p. 54

Notes

  1. The North American MB conference mission agency has been known as BOMAS, MBM/SI, MB Mission, Multiply, and more through the decades. To simplify, the generic term mission agency is used throughout.
  2. The official name of the conference is General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church of North America.
  3. Harold Ens, Mennonite Brethren in Global Mission: Observations and Reflections, 1966–2006 (Winnipeg, MB: Kindred, 2010), 29–30.
  4. Victor Adrian and Donald Loewen, Committed to World Mission: A Focus on International Strategy (Winnipeg, MB: Kindred, 1990), 11.
  5. Ens, 30.
  6. Ens, 30-31.
  7. Ens, 31.
  8. 1990 “Internationalization Consultation” minutes, Roland Reimer, secretary.
  9. Comment to the author by Harold Ens.
  10. 1990 “Meeting on Internationalization, Mennonite Brethren Missions” minutes, Ernie Friesen, recording secretary. The two-day meeting minutes were recorded by three different individuals.
  11. Ens, 32.
  12. Witness, September/October 1992. The minutes for this meeting have been lost. Witness only names Edmund Janzen (General Conference Moderator and Chair) and Juan Veron (Latin America Representative and Secretary).
  13. Ens, 32.
  14. 1993 ICOMB meeting minutes, Juan Veron, secretary.
  15. 1993 ICOMB meeting minutes, Juan Veron, secretary.
  16. 1995 ICOMB meeting minutes, Franz Rathmair, secretary.
  17. 2000 ICOMB meeting minutes, Harry Janzen, secretary.
  18. Bund Taufgesinnter Gemeinden (Baptism Minded Association). BTG is one of three MB bodies in Germany.
  19. 2006 ICOMB meeting minutes, David Wiebe, secretary.
  20. Elmer A. Martens and Peter J. Klassen, eds. Knowing and Living Your Faith: A Study of the Confession of Faith (Winnipeg, MB: Kindred, 2008), 10–11.
  21. 1993 ICOMB meeting minutes. It is interesting to see “excommunication” as a possible path so early in the discussion. As ICOMB developed, its authority to excommunicate dissipated as the international delegation grew in numbers and greater sensitivity to a colonialist approach developed.
  22. This comment is not recorded in the 2016 ICOMB meeting minutes (Heinrich Klassen, secretary) but was heard by the author and all present.
  23. 2017 ICOMB meeting minutes, Emerson Luis Cardoso, secretary. p. 55
  24. 1996 ICOMB meeting minutes, Franz Rathmair, secretary. In 2005 the delegates voted to double the amount to two percent, which remains the rate today (2005 ICOMB meeting minutes, David Wiebe, secretary).
  25. 1997 ICOMB meeting minutes, Franz Rathmair, secretary.
  26. Abe J. Dueck, ed., The Mennonite Brethren Church Around the World: Celebrating 150 Years (Winnipeg, MB: Kindred, 2010).
  27. 2004 ICOMB meeting minutes, David Wiebe, secretary.
  28. 2004 ICOMB meeting minutes, David Wiebe, secretary.
  29. Communauté des Eglises de Frères Mennonites au Congo (CEFMC, the Congo MB conference), Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (CEM), and Communauté Mennonite au Congo (CMC).
  30. Victor Wiens, ed., The Church in Mission: Perspectives of Global Mennonite Brethren on Mission in the 21st Century (Winnipeg, MB: Kindred, 2015).
  31. A. J. Klassen, ed., The Church in Mission: A Sixtieth Anniversary Tribute to J. B. Toews (Fresno, CA: Board of Christian Literature, Mennonite Brethren Church, 1967).
  32. Wiens, 4–5.
  33. A process that took several years from 2016 to 2019.
  34. A critical term of reference, from 2016 mission agency board meetings. For a review of events, see also https://christianleadermag.com/multiply-board-of-directors-has-a-complete-reset/.
  35. Not minuted but heard by the author and all present.
  36. 1995 ICOMB meeting minutes, Franz Rathmair, secretary.
  37. From the author’s experience at the 2015 MWC Assembly and ICOMB Summit. Meetings were in camera.
  38. “Forging a Family Identity: ICOMB Summit Report,” MB Herald 14 August 2024, https://mbherald.com/forging-a-family-identity/.
  39. “Forging a Family Identity.”
  40. Victor Wall, “Celebrating 150 Years,” in Dueck, 369.
David Wiebe was the Executive Director of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches 2000–2010, then served as Executive Secretary for the International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) until his retirement in 2018. He and his wife, Valerie, reside in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where they are members of the Westwood Community Church (MB). They have three grown children.

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