At Assembly last June, was the announcement of a motion to be presented for consideration at Assembly 2018. Assembly followed the Imaginative Hope, which included the recommendation by the Next Generation Ministries – CBOQ of the addition of a young – adult delegate. The motion is to allow a church to send a third delegate who is age 18-25 years.

 

So what happens from here?

  1. If you haven’t read the amendment itself, you can read it here.
  2. Discuss as a church and ensure your 2018 delegates are aware of your church’s intentions in regards to this motion.
  3. During the business meeting on Thursday, June 7, have your delegate(s) vote accordingly during the motion.

 

Why are we doing this?

The voice of the next generation is a critical part of our CBOQ family of churches. The annual gathering of CBOQ churches at Assembly is where decisions are made that will shape us, the Canadian Baptist Churches in Ontario and Quebec, for the future. Given these realities, it is important to amend our delegate structure so as to intentionally encourage our family of churches to ensure that the voice of the next generation is among us as we assemble together in the years to come.

Excerpt from the Amendment Preamble

Many times, I hear from our churches that this upcoming generation is the future of the church. I would make an important revision to that: this next generation is part of the church now. I would suggest there are three reasons to proceed with this motion:

  1. As members of the Church, God has equipped young adults be fully-contributing members of his body. Their perspectives and experiences are just as vital to the discernment of the Holy Spirit’s guidance as those of seasoned delegates. The Imaginative Hope report highlights how crucial it is to recognize what young adults can contribute to the life of their churches and to the CBOQ family.
  2. While it true that any CBOQ church has always had the ability to send a young adult as one of their delegates, very few churches have sent a them. As a result, the voice of a large segment of the church is not represented in our annual gathering. This amendment would make possible for church to continue to send the delegates they have often sent, while at the same time making space for a wider collective of our CBOQ family.
  3. This provides another opportunity for mature Christians to influence younger Christians, positively influence their faith formation, and mentor them in this process. The young adults may not understand all the ins and outs of how we operate as a family of churches. What better way than to provide that platform with guidance so they will be better equipped going forward in leading all of us together?

Over the next few weeks, as your church prepares for Assembly, we hope you will consider this motion and your church’s response to it.