Be in Christ Church of Canada
In 2012 Brethren in Christ Canada, previously a regional conference of the Brethren in Christ Church of North America, formally became a separate national denomination known as Brethren in Christ Canada. Its sister denomination in the USA became known as Brethren in Christ U.S.
This change followed the 2006 establishment of the International Brethren in Christ Association (IBICA) as a network of all recognized national conferences of the Brethren In Christ family. The IBICA was formally organized in 2009 with the aim to facilitate communication and to build trust and cooperation within the global community known historically as the Brethren in Christ.
As early as 2010 the Canadian Conference of the Brethren in Christ Church of North America (BIC Canada) asked the General Conference to consider the potential of a name change. The Canadian Conference questioned the relevance of the word "Brethren" in the modern world. "Brethren" was not a word commonly used in North American culture, and had undesired gender implications.
In 2015, the leadership of Brethren in Christ Canada brought a motion to its own annual meeting recommending a change in name effective 1 September 2016. The delegates supported this, and a new name, "BIC Canada" was proposed in May 2016. The delegates asked the leadership to do more work on the name. On 6 May 2017 delegates approved a name change to Be In Christ Church of Canada by a vote of 300 to 28.
In 2017 Be in Christ Church of Canada was composed of 33 community churches; The Meeting House, a megachurch based in Oakville, Ontario, with sites in 19 locations; and The Network, an outreach ministry with 21 locations. In 2017 the community churches had an average weekly attendance of 4,096, The Meeting House locations had a total average weekly attendance of 5,198, and The Network locations had a total average attendance of 724.
In 2017 Be in Christ Church of Canada had a budget of $1.5 million. Ministries supported included BIC Canada-Global, which involved international ministries and The Network.
See also Brethren in Christ Church.
Bibliography
"126th Annual General Meeting." Brethren In Christ (BIC) Canada. 6 May 2017. Web. 2 September 2018. http://www.canadianbic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/AGM-Minutes-2018-RFS.pdf.
"Name Change Announcement: Be In Christ Church of Canada" Be in Christ Church of Canada. 6 May 2017. Web. 2 September 2018. http://www.canadianbic.ca/name-change-announcemet/.
| Author(s) | Sam Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | September 2018 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Sam. "Be in Christ Church of Canada." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. September 2018. Web. 24 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Be_in_Christ_Church_of_Canada&oldid=161482.
APA style
Steiner, Sam. (September 2018). Be in Christ Church of Canada. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Be_in_Christ_Church_of_Canada&oldid=161482.
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