MWC's Unique "Global Church Sharing Fund" Provides Resources to 56 Conferences
by Ray Brubacher
In 1995 Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mutual Aid responded to the challenge of Jubilee by contributing about $900,000 US over a three-year period to Mennonite World Conference. MWC called this new resource the Global Church Sharing Fund (GCSF). Congregations, groups and individuals have also contributed, and continue to do so.
What Is "New" about the GCSF?
1. This is MWC's first significantly large fund received for purposes other than covering the costs of the global assembly held every six years. These contributions are having a significant impact on MWC's transition from a conference (fellowship, assembly) to a communion (mutual accountability, reciprocity).
2. Contributions were made with virtually no strings attached other than to "build up the church," which is the expression MCC used when making its initial donation. To share in this manner is an act of faith, trust, and solidarity. One congregation in Canada stated the vision thus: "While giving to a fund where one doesn't know how the funds are to be used seemed rather strange at first, it felt right. It really does make a lot of sense when you think of sharing resources that were given to us unconditionally."
This fund is providing a new avenue for creative sharing with the global church. Two congregations in the US have established a schedule of giving based on a tithe (one at 2% and the other at 10%) of the cost of building new church facilities.
3. While reporting on end-use is expected from each recipient conference, the use of these funds is entirely at the discretion of the conference. In an age of detailed project submissions and multiple conditions, these contributions did indeed feel like genuine gifts. Many conferences described the gift as an act of solidarity, trust and encouragement.
How Was the Fund Used?
1. $600,000 US was allocated to a general distribution to MWC member conferences in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Each conference received a minimum of $3,000. Larger conferences received $5,000 with the commitment to receive more after a report was received on the first distribution. The final amount is based on membership. Conditions for receiving a gift from GCSF are: submitting membership statistics, providing a list of current officers, and not being embroiled in a major leadership conflict.
Fifty-six conferences received gifts in the first distribution. Reports indicate that much of the funding was used as an investment in the future: leadership training, building schools, revolving loan funds for job creation, church buildings and repairs, youth ministry. One conference purchased bicycles for their evangelists. Another is building a guesthouse as a source of income for the church. One conference has built a communications center where people can purchase Internet time or phone calls, with the hope of eventually getting into broadcasting. There is only one known case of misuse. Twelve conferences have not yet met the conditions of eligibility. An administrative fee of 5% has been retained by MWC.
2. $95,000 of the GCSF has been given to the Global Gifts Sharing Project, an effort to develop a global inventory of non-monetary gifts that churches around the world can share with each other. Much of this work has already been done in Africa and there are plans to do the same in all four of the other continental regions. The very process of having churches name their gifts, rather than their needs, has been a transforming experience for many. This endeavor is truly one of the most creative cutting edges of MWC activity today.
3. About $200,000 was retained for future considerations, based on the feedback from first distributions.
The Future of the GCSF
At its meeting in Guatemala in July 2000, the MWC General Council reflected on the GCSF experience and discussed options for use of the unallocated funds and of future contributions. Following is a list of the possibilities mentioned: strengthen regional MWC-related bodies, such as the Latin Consulta or the Asia Mennonite Conference, so that they can better implement their particular goals; strengthen Francophone publications, such as a French version of the MWC publication Courier, strengthen the role of women in the church and community; start an endowment fund; and continue the Global Gift Sharing Project.
The MWC Executive Committee will make a decision about these options at its next meeting in August 2001. The Committee will also discuss the future of the Fund itself. There have been so many positive results from this initiative that there is a strong desire to continue this activity.
Ray Brubacher, the MWC Director of Special Projects, works out of the MWC office in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
