Perspective — Canada
Mennonite Church Canada has 205 congregations spread out across the vast land of Canada. Our eastern-most congregation and our western-most congregations are 5 300 kms apart.
I first entered pastoral ministry in 1992 as a youth pastor. I loved the youth of my congregation. I loved their energy. I loved how sincerely they practiced their faith. I loved the sincere hope that they had for the future.
I have been in ministry almost 34 years now. The last seven years I have been helping to lead our denomination.
What’s going well: youth
It was those years in youth ministry that has helped me see the necessity of making youth ministry a priority for Mennonite Church Canada. I feel strongly that the best gift we can give our youth is a faith that is anchored in a local congregation and a faith that is shaped by the global church.
Many youth in Canada see the church as an aging institution. Many think that church is something that older people like to do. They don’t see its relevance. However, we have found that when we give youth a taste of what is happening in the global church, their perspective changes.
So, for the MWC Assembly in Indonesia three years ago, we appointed one youth from every region of our national church, and we paid all of their costs to attend.
When my board asked me what this was going to cost, I replied by saying that we can think of it as a cost, or we can think of it as an investment. This investment has already been giving us very good returns. We are growing leaders for our church, and these leaders have a global perspective.
I would also like to share something with you that is a challenge for us. Over the years in North America, we have had many scholars write excellent books on the subject of peace. Many of us have read their books and taken their courses.
Where we struggle: peace
We have also enjoyed many years of peace in our country. There are no active conflicts. Canada has not been actively involved in wars for many years.
While we are very thankful for this, it is also a problem. Learning how to build peace is something that takes practice. Being able to talk about why you believe in peace takes practice. It is like a muscle in your body. If you don’t use it, it gets weaker.
In November, the Canadian government announced that it wants to recruit more soldiers to be ready in case any of the global conflicts come to Canada. We ask ourselves, what if things get really bad and the government calls for conscription? What will the responses of the Mennonite Churches be?
More than 80 years ago, during World War II, there were many of our young people who asked for conscientious objector status. Today, I am not so sure what most would do.
We need to learn the lessons of the Mennonite churches in Colombia. We need the Mennonites in Myanmar to teach us what we once knew. We need to peace witness of the global church to come back to us in fresh ways.
Please pray for us. Pray that we do not be afraid. Pray that we have eyes to see how so many of the Mennonite churches in the Global South have been such incredible witnesses for the peaceful way of the gospel.
Pray that we can know again, deep in our hearts, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who, through his sacrificial love, has overcome the world and shown us the way of the Kingdom of God.
—Doug Klassen is the executive minister for Mennonite Church Canada. He is one of the North America representatives on MWC’s Executive Committee. He spoke this reflection at the Renewal 2026 event in the Philippines in March 2026 “Solidarity in the family of Christ: Sharing burdens, sharing hope.”
