LocalChurch 7-04

Hagerman church fosters two new congregations

Markham, Ont.

Hagerman Mennonite Church was established more than 60 years ago in a small hamlet north of Toronto, surrounded by farms and market gardens. Over the last 20 years, the community has experienced massive change.

Hagerman is now part an urban community bordering Toronto, with many immigrants, particularly from Asia. About 55 percent of the population is people of colour; 3 out of 10 people identify themselves as Chinese.

Rather than being weakened by the confusion of change, the congregation shifted into a mindset that allowed new ideas and identities to emerge. There was a sense that to resist change would be the death of the church. Out of that fertile ground two new congregations have emerged.

In 1990, Winfred Soong and others from the Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church asked Hagerman about using its facilities for outreach to new immigrants coming from Hong Kong. The members of the Hagerman congregation realized that they were not equipped to reach out effectively to their new neighbours and voted unanimously to share their space.

By 1993, the Markham Chinese Mennonite Church was established as an emerging congregation, with about 30 people participating in Sunday afternoon services.

Demographic shifts were affecting Hagerman in other ways. Property values were rising, along with massive new development and higher density living. This encouraged young couples and retirees to buy homes farther north, many in the Stouffville area.

By 1995, a significant number of members from Hagerman had a vision to start a new church in Stouffville. The congregation held a series of meetings to discern future directions. After a challenging but healthy process of listening to each other, it was clear that there were two equally valid visions: to start a new congregation in Stouffville or to renew the Hagerman congregation to adapt to a multi-cultural and urban environment. Both groups agreed to bless the other’s vision.

Community Mennonite Church of Stouffville was established in 1996, with 30 adults and 25 children. A similar number of adults, but fewer children remained at Hagerman. Pastor Gordon Alton agreed to work with each group during a transition period that lasted for four years. Gerald Good is now the pastor for Hagerman.

The new church in Stouffville had the result of strengthening the partnership between Hagerman and the Chinese congregation. The two congregations were now of a similar size, sharing space. The Chinese church began worshipping on Sunday mornings, making it possible for the children to meet jointly for Sunday school. (Although the Chinese adults wished to study and worship in their first language, the children were fluently bilingual.)

Joint services followed by potluck lunches were held several times each year as a way of building relationships.

This partnership was expressed in economic terms when the Markham Chinese congregation purchased the parsonage adjacent to the church from Hagerman. Although each congregation now owns a part of the property, the space is freely shared by both groups for their programs. The members of Hagerman agreed that the funds from this sale would go to help the congregation become established in Stouffville.

Three healthy congregations are now functioning (involving about 180 people), each with a distinct identity but an interconnected history. We could not have mapped out this future ourselves. The only explanation is that God’s guiding hand has helped each group to adapt and support each other through a challenging period of change. The pieces of the puzzle have fit together beautifully, in ways we could not have imagined.

—Joanna Reesor-McDowell

Ushers give first impression of the church

Photo: Part of the ushering ministry team at Emmanuel, from left: Herb Nickel, John Gunther, Pete Bergen, John Toews.

John Gunther has been an usher at Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, British Columbia, for 10 years. It is a role he finds fulfilling and the experience has stretched him beyond his own comfort zone.

Gunther sees the role of ushering as more than the obvious tasks of handing out bulletins and greeting people as they enter the sanctuary.

“You are a part of the worship team and as such have the responsibility of ensuring people are comfortable, they know where to go,” he says, adding that ushers also “answer questions relating to church services, functions and amenities.”

“You have the opportunity to be one of the first to give visitors a first impression of the church, a responsibility that, I think, is sometimes taken for granted.”

Aside from the tasks people see, ushers also do things behind the scenes that others might not be aware of.

“What people don’t see is that we ensure newcomers are shown either to the sanctuary, child rooms or Sunday School rooms,” he says. “We are also given the responsibility of meeting newcomers and...a first impression, or a pleasant experience helps in possibly setting the tone for the remainder of the service.”

As head usher, Gunther is also entrusted with safety and coordinating a response should an emergency arise, something most congregation members don’t even think about on a Sunday morning.

One of the surprises of the role has been the way it has allowed a relatively shy person like Gunther to meet people.

“It is a great opportunity for someone like myself who is not an outgoing person, or a conversationalist to talk to people, because it somehow is easier if you carry the title of usher, and in that respect, at least for myself, it is very fulfilling,” he says.

Being an usher also has its perks. Ushers usually stay in the back during the service, where they often get the most comfortable chairs and can listen in a relaxed atmosphere while still performing their duties. But it is being a part of a ministry team that is most important to him.

“I am a firm believer that you get more out of church if you contribute,” he says, “even if it is in a capacity that is not high profile.”

—Angelika Dawson

Rosenfeld, Man.

After 22 years in lay ministry at the Rosenfeld Bergthaler Mennonite Church, Herman Kuhl is trying to find a comfortable place in the pews.

Kuhl, with his wife Helen, moved here in 1960 to teach. Both served the church in many different capacities, and in 1979 the congregation called Kuhl to be its lay minister.

“I just continued to walk with the people. I often felt inadequate. I always saw teaching as my first calling,” said Kuhl. With encouragement from his family and congregation, he moved humbly into the leadership role.

“I never saw myself as a pastor for the long term.... After one year, at a congregational meeting, the church clearly said, ‘You are our pastor. We want you to baptize and serve communion’ and they commissioned me,” said Kuhl.

Kuhl accepted the call one year at a time. “I always insisted it come up at the annual meetings and they always gave me very solid affirmation.”

For 22 years, Kuhl made room alongside his full-time teaching job to prepare sermons, put together the Sunday bulletin, lead weekly Bible studies, prepare baptismal candidates, conduct funerals and make hospital visits on his way to and from work.

In 1993, Kuhl retired from teaching and recently began to think of retiring from ministry. “Because I’m past 65 I suggested that the issue of pastoral leadership be raised but I realized unless I made a definite move nothing would happen.”

The decision to hire someone from outside the church seemed to be a natural move, said Kuhl. Last summer the congregation, with a membership of about 80, hired Walter Hiebert, half-time teacher at Mennonite Collegiate Institute, to a three-year term. While Hiebert is from the Mennonite Brethren conference, “he is no stranger to our church,” said Kuhl.

Although the move to salaried leadership seemed inevitable, Kuhl believes the church loses something by giving up the practice of calling lay ministers from within the congregation.

At meetings with other Mennonite pastors in the area, “I have often been thankful I am not on salary,” said Kuhl. “I had a flexibility in my schedule that they didn’t have. I did what I could...there were no guilt feelings.”

Although he has no regrets about retiring, he does “feel empty a bit,” he said. “You miss a lot of things that are part of being in that job. I always shook everyone’s hand. There was always that contact, even with the kids.” It’s a bit painful to pull back.

“The church has been extremely gracious to me,” concluded Kuhl. On June 2, the congregation held a special service to celebrate the Kuhls’ ministry. Retiring from the pulpit while staying in the same church will requires adjustment.

“It is what we wanted but it is difficult. The church has been our family. There is a sense of giving our children over to someone else.”

—Evelyn Rempel Petkau