Canadian Mennonite
Volume 6, number 4
February 25, 2002

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Saskatoon, Sask.

In a time of changing economics, the Saskatchewan Ten Thousand Villages program is taking a hit. After two years of running in the red, the program will be reducing its warehouse and cutting back on staff.

"Generally we want to get the operational costs down," said board chair Dennis Heinrichs.

The reasons for the changes are many. The Regina Villages store, although run by an independent board, recently closed down after 15 years (see related story). The Second Ave. store in Saskatoon stopped using the warehouse a year ago when it began ordering directly from the Canadian warehouse in New Hamburg, Ontario.

Of the five rural stores that were depending on the warehouse, only two are left. The others, once located in Meadow Lake, North Battleford and Warman, were mainly thrift stores and ran a small display of Villages crafts.

Gordon Peters, Villages coordinator, estimates that the warehouse used to order almost $50,000 worth of merchandise per year. Now it is closer to $5,000. He said the thrift stores were not selling a lot of crafts because customers were more interested in used clothing. Once the Villages display was removed, the stores began making more money with used items.

Of sales in Saskatoon, Heinrichs said, "Ultimately we would like to see only one store in a good, strong location,"

In addition to retail changes, there will also be some changes to the festival sales. Held in rural centres in autumn, festival sales are staffed mostly by volunteers but still cost a lot to run.

"MCC doesn't want to close the festival sales, " admitted Heinrichs, "It's a way to get the story out." What will happen to these and the seasonal sales is still up for debate as the Villages board grapples with maintaining this global job creation program.

Bruno Baerg, Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan director, is confident that the program will survive.

"The Villages Saskatchewan Board is strong and will see this thing through," he stated in a press release, while affirming the continued support of the MCC Saskatchewan board.

-Karin Fehderau

Montreal, Quebec

Service opportunities are helping Mennonite churches in Quebec define their identity in one of Canada's most secular provinces.

"If you want to reach out, you have to put your faith into action," says Eric Wingender of Montreal. He is the Mennonite Brethren representative to the Mennonite Central Committee Canada and the president of Ecole de Theologie Evangelique de Montreal, a French Mennonite Bible College.

"It has only been in the last few years that, as a church, we have moved away from the more comfortable margins. We realize that society needs us to take a more active role and build bridges," he says.

Over the past 30 years, Mennonite churches in Quebec have had a more evangelical perspective than some of their Canadian counterparts because of the way their churches developed during the 1970s and early 80s. Many of those who joined the Mennonite churches (most of which are Mennonite Brethren) did so because of the spiritual void left by the so-called "Quiet Revolution" in Quebec.

This revolution marginalized the role of the Catholic church in government and in education, leaving many people disconnected from their historical faith. Although 80 percent of Quebecers claim to identify with the values of Christianity, statistics estimate that only 5 percent attend church more than six times per year.

"MCC has been useful in providing a channel," says Wingender, providing "a tool we have been able to use to grow in our faith" through service to others.

Quebec has about 500 Mennonite members in 9 churches, located in Montreal and Quebec City. Wingender says the churches have been creative in developing service ideas. One church has been helping students with their homework. Another church is helping new immigrants establish their lives in Montreal.

Another church has partnered with a Catholic parish to provide blood donor clinics. In addition, six students from Quebec signed up for MCC's Summerbridge program last year.

"We are not big enough to do everything ourselves," says Wingender. "We don't have a lot of credibility because we have not done much in the way of social ministry."

They may not have a long history in the province, but Mennonite churches have sent members overseas to serve with MCC Work and Learn teams. The overseas experiences has helped energize the people, but work at home still needs to be done, he says.

"It was easy at the beginning [when we discovered our faith] but things have become more difficult," Wingender says. "We are a family and we know social ministries are important. The more service work we do, the more we will help people to understand our [faith] tradition and be an influence on others."

-MCC Canada release

Assisi, Italy

Religion should never be used to justify violence, war or terrorism by any government or group. This belief led Pope John Paul II to invite leaders of world religions to a Day of Prayer for Peace on January 24. Among the leaders gathered here was Mesach Krisetya of Indonesia, president of Mennonite World Conference.

At the final service in a tent on the hill at the Basilica of St. Francis, 10 leaders read the 10 common commitments to peace in their own language. Krisetya, one of the readers, made a separate declaration: "We, as persons of different religious traditions, will tirelessly proclaim that peace and justice are inseparable and that peace in justice is the only path which humanity can take towards a future of hope.... We are convinced that security, freedom and peace will never be guaranteed by force, but by mutual trust."

John Paul II pronounced: "Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again! In God's name, may all religions bring upon earth justice, peace, forgiveness, life and love."

The Day of Prayer began with a two-hour train trip from Rome to Assisi. It included "testimonies for peace" from various religions and prayer by different faiths in separate places in the city. The division was a way of "avoiding the accusation of being syncretistic," said Krisetya.

Later the guests joined John Paul II on the train back to Rome where they were hosted at guest houses in Vatican City. Their visit ended with lunch with the pope the next day.

According to John Radano, who is a Catholic participant in the Mennonite/Catholic dialogues (Feb. 11, page 24), a similar event in 1986 aroused disfavour among Italian Protestants. This year, as the train passed through stations along the way, Radano said he noticed many Protestants among the crowds.

"They were waving at us as though we were the champions of peace," Krisetya said.

Krisetya spent a day with Mennonite church leaders in Palermo before returning to Indonesia. He hopes that MWC, particularly by working with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, can help the Italian Mennonite church gain recognition. He also hopes that his presence at the inter-religious Day of Prayer demonstrated the Mennonite commitment to peace.

-MWC release by Ferne Burkhardt

Breslau, Ont.

Twenty-six pastors met at Breslau Mennonite Church here January 14-17 for a workshop on "intentional interim ministry." The event was planned by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries and Mennonite Church Canada.

The title "interim pastor" describes pastors who serve congregations between one pastor's departure and the next one's arrival. In many situations this is largely a maintenance function. However, there are times when a congregation must stop and reflect on its attitudes, behaviours and structures before it is ready to receive a new pastor.

Pastors who help congregations do this transitional/transformational work are sometimes called "intentional interim" pastors or "transitional" pastors. They can help congregations move forward in a healthy way.

Dale Stoltzfus, from the ministerial leadership office of Mennonite Church USA, was the primary resource person. Ken Bechtel, Gerald Good and Martha Smith Good shared insights gained from the intentional interim ministries they have done. Using congregations as case studies, they described several approaches to effective transitional ministry.

Margaret Bains, a United Church minister, described the kind of training available through the Interim Ministry Network. Marianne Mellinger, therapist and interim minister of an MCEC congregation, outlined systems theory as a helpful way to understand congregational dynamics.

In what situations is it desirable to have an intentional interim pastor? Certainly when a congregation votes to "release" a pastor because of conflict. Congregations in conflict need time to "take themselves apart, then put themselves together again," said Stoltzfus.
Some congregations are stuck in power systems or intransigent family systems-they think they don't need transformation. But intentional interim ministry is not only for times of crisis; it can help a congregation grieve the loss of a long-term minister, even if the congregation's health seems otherwise intact.

What kinds of pastors make good intentional interim pastors? They should have pastoral experience and training for this work. They should be gifted in transformational skills. They should feel called to this type of ministry and able to absorb criticism since unhappy people tend to project problems onto the consultant.

Intentional interim pastors should be able to do a good analysis of the situation (where does it hurt?) and be able to help congregations move toward greater health.

One church member described their intentional interim pastor: "He was able to hold us gently, but also squeezed us to shape us, which created some pain. But at the end, he didn't drop us."

-Maurice Martin

Christian channels
planned for digital TV

Digital television is opening the way for Christian channels in Canada. Digital channels are a user-pay service and not under Canadian broadcasting regulations. Canada currently has four religious television stations: CTS-TV (home of 100 Huntley Street), Vision TV (a multi-faith channel), Trinity Television (host of the 24-year-old "It's a New Day" show with Willard and Betty Thiessen), and The Miracle Channel (the only exclusively Christian channel, begun in Alberta in 1993). Vision TV is now launching two digital spin-offs: The Christian Channel, and One: the Body, Mind and Spirit Channel. The Miracle Channel is planning a digital youth station called "About God," which it hopes to provide on the Internet and in partnership with EWTN, a Catholic channel from the U.S. Trinity Television has started NOW-TV in Vancouver/Fraser Valley and plans a similar channel for southern Manitoba.

-From Dec. FaithToday

First couple marked
for sainthood

John Paul II has beatified a couple for the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi of Rome were married in 1905. He was an attorney, she a writer, educator and homemaker. Their three surviving children attended the beatification ceremony at St. Peter's on October 31. The two sons, both in their 90s, are priests. Daughter Enrichetta, 87, is a consecrated laywoman. The other daughter, who died a few years ago, was a nun. "Ours was a normal family that sought to live its relationships on a plane of high spirituality," said son Tarcisio. Declaring the couple blessed, the rank just below sainthood, John Paul called the couple a model of Christian spirituality who "lived heroically through marriage and family."

-From Oct. 31 Prairie Messenger