Canadian Mennonite
Volume 6, number 12
June 17, 2002
LocalChurch

Puppets welcome new pastor

The following is from a puppet show written by Joanne Peters for the installation of Elwin Garland at Bergthal Mennonite Church on April 28. In the script, "J" is for Joanne and "G" for her husband, Gary.

Photo: Eric Goertzen (right) presents a Bergthal family album to Elwin Garland. Garland was a teacher and lay leader at Brussels Mennonite Fellowship in Ontario. He recently graduated from Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and this is his first pastoral position.

Didsbury, Alta. - A lilting tune fills the sanctuary: "If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening ." Two puppets appear on the stage and the following dialogue ensues:

G: Hey Jo, you sure are in a good mood. What'cha got there?

J: You bet I'm in a good mood. It's pastor installation Sunday and I brought my hammer!

G: What for?

J: Duh...to install the pastor.

G: Duh...hate to break your good mood, but that's not how you install a pastor.

J: No? Oh...is it more of a power tool thing? Right on!

G: Power tools and hammers have nothing to do with it. Installing a pastor means that we have a special service for the person that we believe God sent and that that person is officially beginning his or her work as pastor of our church.

J: Oh, sounds serious.

G: It is serious. But it's also a celebration and a thanksgiving to God for answering our prayers.

J: Wow, you mean our new pastor isn't just a regular guy, he's an answer to prayer? Whoa!

G: Well, he is a regular guy, but he sure has an extraordinary job and he is an answer to many prayers. In fact, it took almost two years of prayers before we could have this service.... I'll bet people are pretty happy that he's here.

G: You bet! Do you know where our pastor, Elwin Garland, moved from?

J: Yeah, Bluevale, Ontario.

G: He had a whole van full of youth that came with him.

J: That's quite the move! Why'd they all come?

G: Well, two of them are his sons, Nathan and Andrew, and the rest, well I guess they're all people that care about him. Back in Ontario are his wife, Linda, and his two daughters, Rachel and Sarah. They will be moving out here too, after the summer.

J: You mean this group came all that way just to help him move...and then they're going to turn around and head all the way back to Ontario?

G: Yep!

J: You mean to tell me that his wife and his daughters let him come all the way out here, without them, to start this job with us?

G: Yep.

J: That's quite the move!

G: That's quite the trust. They're probably all praying that we'll take good care of him.... We can be an answer to their prayers by using the gifts and talents that God has given us to help him and the church. We can be an answer to their prayers by making him feel welcome and supported.

J: So, an installation service is when the church and the pastor give thanks to God for bringing them together and promise to support and help each other in a loving and caring way?

G: That's it.

J: No power tools?

G: Only God's power.

J: When you think about it, the pastor really does have an extraordinary job, and it's a pretty extraordinary job we have then too.

G: That's the church...just a bunch of ordinary people trying their best to do God's extraordinary work.

 

 

 

Teenager organizes youth ministry

Amy Bergman, age 16, had a vision for outreach. She shared her idea with Darlene Enns-Dyck, one of her pastors at the Seeds of Life church in Altona, Manitoba. Recently, Jean-Jacques Goulet, director of Outreach and Church Planting for Mennonite Church Canada, visited the congregation. Below is how Bergman described her ministry to him.

Photo: Amy Bergman (left) and Darlene Enns-Dyck work together at Seeds of Life church. Photo by Ted Enns-Dyck.

Winnipeg, Man. - It's been almost a year since I told Darlene that the one thing missing at Seeds of Life was a youth group. There was no Sunday school or youth night and I wanted her to know that youth were interested! Dar told me that she and Ted had been praying for someone to come with the desire for a youth cell and that if I wanted it, I could start it.

My intent was for Dar to run the group! She said she could gladly mentor me through leadership with the cell, but she wasn't a youth. She said I had leadership gifts and it made more sense for me to run it.

After some thought, I asked a couple of girls to come to my house to start the Seeds youth. One girl came. But I was okay with it-Dar and I talked and prayed and the next week there were four girls. Then eight. After a summer break we met again, and soon there were about 15 girls.

We would meet for about two hours though sometimes it stretched longer. Now, after almost a year, about 10 girls come on a regular basis, three times a month on Sunday evenings. As the girls arrive we talk about our week-sports, boys, banquets etc.!

We start out with a prayer and then spend time catching up on where we are with God. We sometimes call it our spiritual highs and lows. We worship together some Sundays and the girls really enjoy an activity one of our girls came up with: prayer sisters. We scatter around the house in groups of two (wherever the family isn't) to talk and pray, and commit ourselves to pray for each other throughout the week.

Sometimes the girls don't feel like talking or are uncomfortable praying, or sometimes I'm not in the mood to lead, but my continuing prayer is for the freedom to be open with each other and to the Holy Spirit. But even in those hard times, youth cell is an amazing blessing.

As we've grown comfortable with each other, the girls begin to lead, volunteering prayer, or suggesting things to talk about. The life, the hunger these girls bring is like water to my soul!

I remember when we each took a turn saying a sentence prayer back in September, and it was difficult to remain focused for more than 10 minutes. Just two weeks ago, when one of our girls was going through a rough time, we spent an entire hour in silent prayer for her, just talking to God. The same girls who couldn't wait for snack time! They love to pray! And they teach me to pray.

Dar and I still meet as often as our schedules allow. We talk through the hard stuff, and reflect on the countless blessings.

-Amy Bergman

 

 

Manitoba women celebrate 60 years

Pigeon Lake, Man. - It was full house at the Schoenfelder Mennonite Church here on May 4 when women from all over Manitoba gathered for the annual Manitoba Women in Mission (WM) Enrichment Day. The day included an entertaining overview of the past 60 years.

Manitoba Women in Mission began in 1942 when J. J. Thiessen, a church leader in Saskatoon, asked if Manitoba Frauen Vereine (women's groups which had been meeting since 1889) would participate in a scholarship fund in memory of Margarethe Toews, wife of leader David Toews. The scholarship of $100 would be a loan for destitute girls to get an education at the Mennonite Collegiate Institute in Gretna, Manitoba.

The recipient of the first scholarship was Margaret Bergen, who shared her touching story with the group. Bergen became a teacher and her first position was at Pigeon Lake.

Phyllis Wiebe, representing the 16 past presidents of Manitoba WM, entertained the gathering by characterizing each past president in rhyme. Introduced to the group was Susan Rempel, the last president of the first and longest-running women's group-the First Mennonite Mission Aid of Gretna. After 112 years, the group disbanded this year (see right).

The day opened with Irene Suderman, carrying a light and salt, approaching the podium singing, "This little light of mine." In her talk, she wove together the challenge of Matthew 5 with lessons from the Mennonite Women study guide and theme for the day, "Call us anew." The morning concluded with a powerful Taizé worship experience-a meditative combination of song, scripture, silence and prayer.

Pat Gerber Pauls, president of Manitoba WM, and committee members highlighted their activities. Margaret Thiessen, Viola Mirochnick, Marlene Mueller and Mary Ann Hildebrand were elected for new terms. Ruth Siemens was re-elected as secretary.

-From report by Jolanda Friesen

 

 

 

First women's mission group disbands

Photo: Members of the Gretna women's group, from left: Marie Schroeder, Amanda Hildebrand, Susan Rempel, Justina Falk and Tina Falk. MC Manitoba photo.

Gretna, Man. - Susan Rempel wrote two cheques on behalf of the Gretna First Mennonite Mission Ladies Aid in January. The first went to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the second to Mennonite Central Committee.

In doing so, she closed the books on the oldest Mennonite women's group in Canada. Rempel, who has served as the group's president from 1982 on, says an aging membership and dwindling numbers made it too difficult to continue.

"Our numbers were down from 19 (when I started) to only 6 or 7," says Rempel. "We could have kept going but when our secretary/treasurer Maria Reimer passed away, there was no one to take her place."

The women's group, called Wohltätigkeitsverein (group doing good things), started in the early 1890s when women gathered to raise funds for Mennonite Collegiate Institute and overseas missions. The founding members included the wife of the school's first principal, the wife of the school's first teacher and the wives of two local merchants.

In its early years, the group was able to help furnish the school library with 1,000 books and provide a new piano. Other beneficiaries included an orphanage in India and a girls' home in Winnipeg.

"It was an expression of our faith, whether it was making soap or bandages or quilts to sell," says Rempel. "Growing up, we saw what our mothers were doing and it was something we wanted to continue."

Many later women's groups adopted different meeting styles, but the Gretna group chose to keep things as they were. The meetings continued to be held in German and members took turns hosting events.

When the women got older, the meetings were held in the local seniors' units. The program always included a devotional, singing, and a collection for the month's project before the handwork began.

"In 1984 I had the opportunity to go to India and Bangladesh with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank," says Rempel. "Since then our main charity became the Foodgrains Bank but we still kept up our monthly sewing projects. We continued to make bandages and sheets for MCC."

Susie Loewen says she always enjoyed the social gatherings and the events planned by the executive.

"We would get together to make soap that would go overseas," says Loewen. "It was a good day because we were doing something worthwhile.... It was good soap too."

Even though the work of this women's group has come to a close, Rempel knows that others will step forward to do the work that needs to be done. Along with her final two cheques, Rempel sent a note of gratitude to MCC and the Foodgrains Bank for what they had been able to do.

"Even though our small group is disbanding, our wishes and prayers are that you will continue the wonderful work of your organization."

-From MCC Manitoba release by Jonathan Tiessen




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