Canadian Mennonite
Volume 5, number 11
June 4, 2001

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Photo: RJC graduating class members present the first cheque of $2005 to the endowment fund.

Rosthern, Sask.-Lord, how majestic is thy name o'er all the earth! These words set the tone of the Rosthern Junior College spring concert on April 29 as RJC launched its "Live the legacy, sustain the future" endowment fund drive.

The spring concert is a highlight of the year, featuring the Concert Choir (whole student body) and the RJC Chorale (the touring choir). But this year was a little more special than usual. The year had begun on a note of concern as RJC experienced a low point in enrolment and financial stability.

The board responded to the challenges by setting up committees on admissions and fund raising. Lorraine Harder, director of admissions, led the turnaround by starting a series of creative initiatives to increase awareness in the RJC alumni, the Mennonite constituency and beyond. The Student Reward Project uses the enthusiasm of current students in recruiting.

The result was a high attendance at the RJC Open House, a weekend for prospective students. As well, a radio campaign has brought favourable response, resulting in a high number of applications for new and returning students.

The fund-raising committee established two goals: 1) to deal with this year's budget shortfall, and 2) to deal with access (affordability) and stability; that is, the long-term financial issues which affect tuition rates and balancing the books.

The short-term fund-raising events created one of the most enjoyable seasons in the history of the school (and they aren't over yet!). An RJC ski fest at Twin Towers Ski Hill planned by Tim and Lavonne Wiens ended with a "potluck" supper (all the pots were brought by Edye and Armin Krahn; all the luck was enjoyed by the rest of us), a visit with RJC friends, and a Paul Tiessen Auction.

An RJC Gala was attended by former RJC principals Elmer Richert (with Florence), Joe Neufeld (with Jean) and Ernie Epp (with Elva). It included a fabulous meal, beautiful music, a silent auction and a Roth Auction. Then there was the Mennonite Fashion Show, featuring the latest in fashions for Mennonites and "die Englaender" (that's code for everybody but us).

Events yet to come? An RJC golf tournament on June 21 at the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club. Phone Paul Tiessen to save yourself a spot for this year's Molotchna Scramble (this just means you don't have to be good to have fun and win a prize). The RJC Heritage Trail Ride, from Dundurn to Rosthern, will take place August 2-6-another exciting first! Phone Erwin Tiessen to book your spurs and saddle, or to volunteer to carry supplies or give massages and first aid.

The good news after all this hard work and fun is that RJC may end the year in the black!

Long-term financing plans took two directions. One was to lobby the Saskatchewan government to raise funding for RJC students to the same level as that for public high schools. We were very grateful when this measure was announced in the province's recent budget. This is the first major change in funding for Saskatchewan's Historic Christian High Schools since Dave Boldt introduced provincial funding (at about half the level of public schools) in the 1960s. This new funding will greatly reduce costs for students attending RJC.

The other long-term plan is a campaign to raise $1 million for an endowment fund. People are asked to contribute $2005 in recognition of the centennial year. This fund is intended to make an RJC education affordable for everyone and to renew the building. It is motivated by the fact that in 2005 we will be celebrating 100 years of educating students who have blessed our church and the world in which they serve.

-From RJC release by Berny Wiens

Photo: The D'Souza family, from left: Tara, Diane, Mira, Andreas and Noel.

Toronto, Ont.-How are interfaith dialogue, reconciliation and justice linked? Andreas D'Souza addressed this question on April 19 at a Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre forum.

D'Souza, a Roman Catholic and expert on Islam, directs the Henry Martyn Institute in Hyderabad, India. He is in Canada under the sponsorship of several church groups and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) as a scholar-in-residence at Emmanuel College in the Toronto School of Theology.

MCC is a partner in the Martyn Institute. The institute was founded in the 1950s to teach Islam to Christians so that "Christians may fulfill their missionary obligation to Muslims." But the nature of the "missionary obligation" has changed over time. Leaders came to see a role for peacemaking and sponsored several Muslim/Christian dialogues to promote understanding

In 1990, the institute embraced a mandate of reconciliation-to study and understand all religions, to promote justice and peace, and to facilitate interfaith collaboration on specific projects. This mandate is still evangelical, said D'Souza, because the Good News entails peace, economic justice and the removal of enmity between groups, including religious groups.

The word "reconciliation" presented a challenge. It tended to have the Christian sense of restoring the brokenness caused by sin-a view not shared by other faiths. The following definition was agreed on: "In the context of existing oppression, reconciliation is a process of struggle of the people to bring together estranged persons, leading to transformed relationships and structures based on justice."

Toward this end, the institute has been involved in transforming conflicts ingrained in social structures and manifest in violence. They have also promoted understanding between faiths. For example, the institute sponsored four Canadian women (Muslim, Hindu, First Nation, Christian) and four Indian women (Muslim, Hindu, tribal, Christian) to travel together in each other's country. Participants expressed a "deep-down shared spirituality" based on concern for relationships, family, and each other.

For D'Souza, Jesus is God's definitive revelation and his model for reconciliation, but he feels this view cannot be imposed on others. Other revelations are also unique, though ultimately point to the same reality. In a multi-faith context like India, the question is how to maintain religious identities while working together to bring God's love and concern to society.

One participant asked if the image of many paths leading to the same truth doesn't undermine the integrity of humanity's quest for truth. From what perspective can we say that all paths lead to the same goal? A Muslim participant agreed that we ought to find common ways of working towards justice and peace, although in Islam justice must come before peace. However, we should also recognize that our understandings of God are truly different.

There was appreciation for D'Souza's emphasis on the link between interfaith dialogue and justice. When adherents of different faiths meet to talk or work together, issues of power and economic inequality are often present and may undermine reconciliation.

-Jeremy Bergen

The writer is administrative assistant of the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre.

Mennonite churches have received a petition on aboriginal land claims. The petition grows out of the Jubilee project which has joined forces this year with the Aboriginal Rights Coalition to focus church attention on land claims. The following, from a sermon at Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg on February 4, explains more about it.

I propose that we bring the Right Relations petition--and a pen--into the heart of our worship. In the place where we seek spiritual communion with God, let us symbolize our desire to heal fractured relationships with our aboriginal neighbours.

Leviticus 25:17 reads: "Let none of you wrong your neighbour, but fear your God; I am Yahweh your God." Experiencing God's worship cannot be divorced from working towards right relationships.

As part of the ecumenical Jubilee initiative, Mennonites are asked to sign a petition which calls for "a renewed relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples based on mutual respect, responsibility and sharing." Specifically, it calls on the federal government to establish a more effective process to "implement aboriginal land, treaty and inherent rights."

A recent letter to churches stated: "The difficult and delicate work of negotiating new treaties, adjusting specific claims, and changing entrenched economic patterns needs to be borne forward on a great river of public concern and shared, respectful vision. We pray for that river to rise in our land."

Mennonite Central Committee signed the letter endorsing the petition on the basis of its nearly 30 years of work alongside aboriginal peoples.

There are land rights processes in Canada right now, but they themselves can perpetuate injustice. The "comprehensive claims" process addresses situations in which aboriginal title to land has never been surrendered by treaty (in much of B.C., for example). That process assumes that the only way to achieve certainty around land and resource use is to somehow extinguish aboriginal title.

The "specific claims" process addresses situations in which First Nations have not received promised reserve land, benefits from resources that were legally theirs, or have had reserve lands taken from them. There are well over 400 such claims in negotiation, but only a handful get resolved each year.

In the wake of the 1990 Oka crisis, which occurred because of a dispute over a land claim, a royal commission recommended a new aboriginal land and treaties tribunal-something more independent of government and more effective than the current Indian Claims Commission. A proposal for such an entity exists, but it requires public will to bring it into existence. In its narrowest sense, that is what this petition is trying to create.

Does this petition epitomize the Jubilee that is close to the heart of God? Does it promote peace and solidarity? Does it have a hope of being effective? I have no doubt that the God of Israel cares about the way we treat each other, view land, and share the earth's abundance. I am also convinced that this petition enjoys broad support among aboriginal communities.

The petition is a statement to our federal government about how we wish it to act on our behalf. It is not a costly act of solidarity but it commits us to value just social relationships on the land as much as profits from the land. It is a nonviolent action calling for orderly change in a volatile environment.

Will increased aboriginal access to land and resources bring about more equity? The Jubilee letter to the churches states: "The primary responsibility for the liberation and healing of aboriginal communities rests...on aboriginal shoulders." However, no amount of community development will succeed without an economic base. The alternatives to aboriginal access to land and resources are either the disappearance of the group or its continued marginalization.

I hope that this kind of action can be faithful and effective. May it find a home in the heart of our worship.

-Rick Zerbe Cornelsen

The writer coordinates MCC Canada's Aboriginal Neighbours program. The Right Relations petition can be found at: http://home.istar.ca/~arc/english/petition.html

Waterloo, Ont.-Mary Malone opened the fifth Women Doing Theology conference, held May 4-5 at Conrad Grebel College, by reviewing the recorded history of women's service in the church. The lesson was short-there isn't any.

"Women's deeds have not been found worthy of remembrance, from 35 A.D. to about this evening," said the retired religious studies professor from the University of Waterloo.

The Christian church has viewed women as created for servitude; they have been notable only if they refused their prescribed roles, Malone told the 160 conference participants. Women's works have not been considered holy works that bring them closer to God; rather, their service has been seen as a form of penitence for being female.

It took "charismatic moments of eschatological maximalism" --Spirit-led stepping outside the boundaries of accepted behaviour--for women to begin to choose their forms of service. Drawing from her book Women and Christianity: The First Thousand Years, Malone talked about women who found ways to follow God's leading-whether through martyrdom or mysticism.

Concluded Malone, "We need to learn a new approach to service, one rooted in love, choice, and mutuality."

This desire to serve without servitude-to serve as daughters of God-lies at the heart of the conference theme, "Embracing hope: Envisioning an inclusive theology of service."

Lydia Neufeld Harder, who teaches at the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, sketched three models of service: service from beneath (being forced to serve those higher on the social scale), service from above (choosing to aid the "needy" from a place of privilege), and service based on equal status (service freely shared between friends).

Jesus exemplified the third model, treating his disciples not as servants but as friends, and teaching them that givers must also be receivers. Harder showed how the two footwashings-Mary anointing Jesus' feet, and Jesus' washing his disciples' feet-turned the expected upside down.

Mary recognizes the master's need to be comforted: "She serves from a place of equality and Jesus receives it as it is given," Harder said. Then Jesus performs the role of servant, reversing traditional order which places teacher above disciple.

Following Christ's example, we may serve not out of guilt or inadequacy, Harder said, but as an expression of hospitality and freedom.

Alix Lozano explored service from the context of violent Colombia. Director of the Mennonite seminary in Bogotá, Lozano encouraged others to join the witness of her church as "communities of Jubilee." These are communities "where crying with those who cry is a distinctive, regular practice." Biblical Jubilee is based in solidarity, compassion, grace and mercy in defence of all of creation.

"We thank God for calling us to serve-to recuperate the land, to liberate the oppressed, to support those in mourning, to have the bread we need each day, to proclaim the day of the Lord," she said.

Several women shared stories of serving and being served, of inclusion and exclusion. Storytellers were Eunice Valenzuela, an immigrant who is part of a Mennonite Brethren church in Kitchener, Marion Wiens of Windsor Mennonite Fellowship, Mary Stewart of Waterloo North Mennonite and Jenn Thiessen of Danforth Mennonite Church in Toronto.

While most theological conferences are structured around academic papers, in this case the three theologians will write articles for the Fall 2001 Conrad Grebel Review. They will draw from the reflections shared in small group discussions.

"Women do theology through their service; our works tell about whom we believe God to be and about our relationship to God," said planner Arli Klassen. "By having the papers come out of women's experiences, the whole group is doing theology together."

Planner Gloria Kropf Nafziger introduced another unusual aspect. "Sewing is one of the pieces of service women have given the church for a long time," she said as she invited women to knot comforters during the event.

The weekend concluded with a concert by Cate Friesen and the auction of a quilted wall hanging. Proceeds will help women from the Southern Hemisphere attend the next Mennonite World Conference assembly.

Women Doing Theology conferences have been held roughly every other year since 1992.

-Meetinghouse release by Cathleen Hockman-Wert