Acronym angst

ACTS — Associated Canadian Theological Schools, Langley, BC; a consortium of five seminaries

BFL – Board of Faith and Life; everyone has one—district and provincial conferences as well as national conferences; keeps us on track theologically and in lifestyle

CBC – Columbia Bible College, Abbotsford, B.C.; a joint MB-MC Canada post-secondary school; not to be confused with the national public broadcaster; hosted Celebration 2010 teen track

CCMBC – Canadian Conference of MB Churches; once called the Northern District, which helps make sense of the CDC; comprised of 37,508 members in 247 churches; celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2010

CDC – Central District Conference; so named because at one it represented the center of the North American MB world; today numbers 24 churches in five states

CMBS – Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies; a trove of historical and theological resources; one at the CCMBC office in Winnipeg, one attached to TC in Hillsboro, Kan., and a third at FPU in Fresno, Calif.

CMU – Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Man.; a joint MB-MC Canada post-secondary school

FPU – Fresno Pacific University; the Mennonite Brethren school founded in 1944 as Pacific Bible Institute; owned by the PDC; now home to MBBS-Fresno

ICOMB – International Community of Mennonite Brethren; the global Mennonite Brethren church fellowship with 19 member conferences

LAMB – Latin American MB Conference; includes eight predominantly Spanish-language churches in South Texas

MB – Mennonite Brethren—that’s an easy one

MBBS – Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary; until 2010, a binational institution for seminary education based in Fresno, Calif.; now consisting of 3 campuses: MBBS-Fresno; MBBS-ACTS at the TWU campus in Langley; WCMS on the CMU campus in Winnipeg, Man.

MBF – MB Foundation; the U.S. Conference stewardship ministry with offices in Hillsboro, Kan., and Fresno, Calif.

MBMSI – Mennonite Brethren Mission and Services International; the North American MB global mission agency

MCC – Mennonite Central Committee; a 90-year old relief and development organization of Anabaptist churches

MC Canada – Mennonite Church Canada; a sister denomination with 33,000 baptized believers in 230 Canadian congregations

MC USA – Mennonite Church USA; a sister denomination with 109,000 members worshipping in 939 congregations across 44 states

MWC – Mennonite World Conference, a communion (Koinonia) of Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness; also the body that organizes periodic mass gatherings of Mennonites and Brethren in Christ, last celebrated in Paraguay in 2009.

NCDC – North Carolina District Conference; celebrating its 110th anniversary in 2010; one of two single-state regional conferences; includes six predominantly African American congregations

NYC – National Youth Convention; the national MB youth event held every 4 years; next one coming in 2011

PDC – Pacific District Conference; largest of the five USC district conferences with 110 churches in five states

RIM – Renewing Identity and Mission, a consultation held as part of the North American celebration of the 150th anniversary of the MB Church

SDC – Southern District Conference; regional conference that today includes 39 churches in five states

TC – Tabor College, founded in 1908; owned by the CDC, SDC, LAMB and NCDC

TWU – Trinity Western University, a Christian university in Langley, B.C.; RIM held on its campus

USC – United States Mennonite Brethren Conference, also sometimes called USMB; numbers 30,567 members in 189 churches

WCMS – Winnipeg Center for Ministry Studies; a center for theological education at CMU