wfn.org | U.S. religious right won't come to Canada

[JDL@MennoniteCC.ca]

July 23, 1996 Mennonite Central Committee Canada
John Longhurst, MCCC Communications
(204) 261-6381
JDL@Mennonitecc.ca

U.S. RELIGIOUS RIGHT WON'T COME TO CANADA: EVANGELCIAL LEADER

Evangelical Fellowship President says Mennonite influence 
moderates discourse between evangelicals, government

WINNIPEG, Man. -- Will a movement like the U.S. religious right
take root in Canada?  No, says Brian Stiller, President of the
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and one of the reasons is the
influence of Canadian Mennonites.
     In a speech at the opening of the EFC's new office in Ottawa
on March 20, Stiller noted the "strong influence of the
Anabaptist/Mennonite tradition" as one of the reasons why Canadian
evangelicals would not become like their more strident U.S.
counterparts.
     Elaborating on his comment in an interview, Stiller says that
Mennonites "have a disproportionate influence on Canadian
evangelicals, relative to their size."  One of the reasons for this
is the groundbreaking work of William Janzen and other staff at the
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada Ottawa Office.  "MCC was
the first to set up an office in Ottawa to address political and
societal issues from a religious perspective.  Your quiet, behind
the scenes approach has established the way the religious community
should relate to government in Canada."
     Another way that Mennonites and Anabaptists influence the way
evangelicals relate to government is through the way they give. 
Noting that Mennonites are very generous, and that there are some
large donors in the business community with a Mennonite heritage,
Stiller says "they won't tolerate groups that have a strident
ideology.  They won't support groups which don't act in a Christ-
like way."     
     Without funds from Mennonites, and those of Mennonite
background, religiously-based social or political movements can
find success elusive, he suggests.  
     A third way Mennonites influence Canadian evangelicals away
from right-wing politics is through education, he says. 
"Mennonites have a lot of influence at evangelical 
schools and colleges through teachers and students," he says. 
"Your `quiet in the land' approach has influenced the way the
Gospel needs to be worked out in our culture.  Your approach has
infiltrated the evangelical community in a good way."
     For these reasons, among others, Stiller says that "strident
right-wing American religion simply doesn't have a chance in
Canada.  The way we approach government and society won't be done
that way."
     There are an estimated 2.8 million evangelical Protestants in
Canada and around 118,000 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ church
members.       

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John Longhurst, MCC Communications
JDL@MennoniteCC.CA
Visit our World Wide Web site at http://www.mennonitecc.ca/mcc