Mikayla Doerksen takes to her YouTube channel to tackle tough questions about Christianity.
CONVERSATIONS ON THE MB CONFESSION H OW M B CO N G REGANTS ARE TH I N KI N G TH RO U G H T H E I R C O N F E S S I O N O F FA I T H ow is the MB Confession of Faith, first embraced by the Mennonite Brethren Church over one-hundred-and-nineteen years ago, still impacting and influencing Christians today? Since its revision in 1999, the MB Confession of Faith has been a crucial resource of faithful living for more than 36,000 Christians across Canada. With the recent proposal made by the Canadian MB conference to revise article eight (“Christian Baptism”), questions around the purpose and role of the confession are becoming more and more frequent. One individual asking such questions is Mikayla Doerksen, an undergraduate student from Canadian Mennonite University and member of Westwood Community Church, who recently featured the MB Confession of Faith in a YouTube video answering frequently asked questions about Christianity. Majoring in Biblical and Theological Studies and Social Sciences, Doerksen’s video seeks to engage with questions that many Christians might have about
H
6
M AY 2 0 2 1
M B H E R A L D.C O M
their theological traditions as well as questions non-Christians might have about the Christian faith. In answer to a question about denominational differences, Doerksen refers to the MB Confession of Faith as a resource for MB Christians that has helped her “figure out her beliefs.” “The idea for the video came out of my time working at the VIA Rail train station,” says Doerksen, “Through my conversations there with many former Christians, agnostics, and atheists, I had to take a step back and evaluate what my faith actually means, beginning with the MB Confession of Faith.” Doerksen describes how, in an age of religious deconstruction, there will always be many credible sources on the internet where many people her age acquire information, “yet when it comes to the Confession of Faith there is a relationship to it that far exceeds its role as a document or a list of rules.” While it may not be mentioned in the average Sunday morning sermon, Doerksen claims that “it is the community that embodies the Confession.
