Our MCN Dispatch — January 31, 2026

Hello Missional Friends,

As coordinator of this group, I’ve been heavily committed to priorities within our extended family and with a major refugee project. I’d love to tell you more, but many of us most centrally committed to organizing this missional network are people of strong commitments to ministries and services. We’d love to broaden our base of active participants, and get back into routines of Zoom discussions and even face-to-face meetings. Meanwhile, there is a core of us that exchange articles and messages, often multiple times a week. Let us know your interests. And, yes, we are a laity group without institutional funding or related support services. We simply enjoy networking as we focus on what it means to be a Missional Christian.

A scripture for our consideration:

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7

Comments:

  • MCN values wisdom gained from both the natural world of lived experience and as insights from scripture with promptings of the Holy Spirit
  • As laity, heavily into ministry within the secular world, we value the idea of a Reasonable Faith. Rationality is a bridge into the world into which we want to communicate. In a mature Christian life, Faith and Reason should be integrated. We attempt to find ways to communicate our Faith intelligibly into a skeptical secular world. Please join us and share your strategies and stories.
  • We watch for topics of interest that can bridge communication across our Kingdom boundaries, such as the topic of Wisdom. Likewise, we are exploring the new AI tools such as MS Copilot that we use for our Quick Searches on topics of interest. Compared to the old technology of using a library card system, Copilot is a wonder to work with. View our recent search and Copilot responses here:
    QS — Exploring the Meaning of Wisdom


On the Topic of Truth

Some of us feel strongly that Truth, like Love and Righteousness/Justice, is an attribute of God. If God is Love, is God also Truth? Not sure I have found a theologian who would disagree with that. If Love is a sacred pursuit as we attempt to be God-like/Christ-like, is Truth likewise a sacred pursuit? Here is what my online search revealed:

QS — Attributes of God: Truth

Many of us are drawn to Philosophy (a field dominated by Christian thinkers over the past 1500 years or more). Central to its purpose and activity is a commitment to discerning Truth. Logic and rationality is used in philosophy to identify what is sound reasoning. Philosophers diligently attempt to identify and reject that which is not true. It is within this tradition that theologians do their study and likewise practice discernment. It is in this sense that Theology (the highly structured rational approach to understanding scripture) is a branch of Philosophy. It is in Theology that Christians attempt to clarify the many threads that weave together with integrity and unity (as in a unified picture or tapestry). It is driven by a belief that there is One God, One Reality, and we seek to know both to the limits of our human abilities. People of science likewise claim to engage in a search for Truth within the limited field of the natural world order, and they likewise have their tests for discerning Truth and exposing error. It is part of the ideational world that is common to both Christianity and the secular world. Philosophy, then, can be one of the bridges that are attractive for many.

Some months ago I did an online search of philosophical/theological works to discover what I could learn about a Christian commitment to Truth. This is what I found:

QS — Christian Commitment to Truth and Avoidance of Error

In the interests of establishing relationships with nonbelievers, the topic of Truth and its meaning, is always of potential interest. Do we feel comfortable discussing Truth with nonbelievers? Are we open to listening to find fruitful starting points on which to build a mutual search for Truth. Many non-Christians do regard Truth to be sacred. Does that give us any kind of common ground from which to build?

We see much value in digging deeply into the meaning of Wisdom and Truth. God has gifted us with intellect that can be developed over time and brought to bear on the Big Questions that are so foundational to a religious search for meaning. We love to explore how this works out in Philosophy generally (a strong commitment to clarity of words, meanings and thought, guided by rationality/logic). And, yes, we view both Theology and Science to be subsets of this same commitment to disciplined thought. Mind and Spirit, must it be either/or, or both/and?

To what degree is Wisdom and Truth part of the Light that Christians are to exhibit to the world? Do we hold in our hands, as it were, the Light to reveal The Christian Way? It’s a theme we feel to be highly relevant to our Missional Commitment. Would you agree? Do you sense problems?

Recently I was intrigued by the reputation of the Bereans in scripture. I chose to explore it more deeply, as follows:

QS — Bereans: Models of Discerning Faith


Our Stance on American Politics and Commitment to Unity

Early in our formation as a network, we sought out the views of Evangelical leaders, specifically starting with the following:
— Brian Stiller, past Director of Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and now with World Evangelical Fellowship. We discussed early podcasts he hosts on Evangelical 360.
— Walter Kim, Director of National Association of Evangelicals, who also hosts podcasts (see our resource list)
— Russell Moore, until recently senior editor of Christianity Today and host of The Russell Moore Show
— David Goretzki, Current Director of EFC.

All of these Evangelical leaders have taken a biblical stand against Christian Nationalism, confirming a general agreement of those of us guiding the MCN role within our local church community.

Having taken that position, however, we do understand that many related issues are not black and white and there are a mix of views in many of our church communities. In this context, we are committed to a sense of Unity (as Christ himself sought when sending out his disciples, and as Paul and other apostles also taught). Differences of opinions exist and we feel committed to respectful dialogue.

We encourage Christians to engage in learning, to reflect on the reasons for holding any theological or expressed opinion, as in “being ready to give an answer…” for holding such within our functioning Christian community and beyond. We believe there are reasons to show respect and love in spite of our differences. It’s a case of Unity Within Diversity. In the process, we stimulate one another to deeper reflection and the practice of Godliness.

But, are there ways to learn to do that most effectively? Here are some resources we recommend:


Critical funds needed for Playground Park for Morning Star Christian Academy

Lannette Cyr, daughter of the late Glen Povey, is now principal of MSCA. She and the board of the Morning Star private school have negotiated a project for clearing and redeveloping adjacent property for a fully-equipped school playground. Projected cost of the current plan is $110,000 with funds to be matched 1:1 by Sask Parks. Current donor commitments now total $35,000 with $20,000 still needed. Sask Parks funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so donors are asked to respond in the next week or so. Project may be scaled depending on total funds raised.

Contact Lannette: 306-581-1048. or by email at mscaregina@gmail.com

There are many such ministries of service we would love to cover in more depth in our newsletter. Morning Star Ministries, founded by Glen and Julie Povey have not only served the inner-city well but their example has spawned development of many other such ministries over the years. Lannette reports that all students in the school are ethnically First Nations. Most are guided to high achievement levels, including university and SaskPoly success. Some of us have first-hand acquaintance with this and other inner-city Christian ministries. We look forward to sharing more from time to time.


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Views expressed above, if not otherwise identified, are of the current coordinator and do not necessarily reflect the views of all of our advisory team.

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Ron Richmond
Acting Coordinator
Missional Church Network
306.591.3936
Ronald.Richmond@sasktel.net