Canadian Mennonite
Volume 10, No. 04
February 20, 2006


TheChurches

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Mennonite Church Canada
Mennonite Church British Columbia
Mennonite Church Alberta
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan
Mennonite Church Manitoba
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada
From our leaders

Mennonite Church Canada

Prayer requests

As the season of Lent begins, with its focus on personal reflection and renewal, remember also to pray and give thanks for Witness workers around the world:

• Bruce Yoder, Witness worker in Benin, who has spent the past two years nurturing the Bible college program of Mennonite Church Nigeria. It has grown into a regular one-week-per-month, two-year program for pastors. Praise God for recent graduates who are so grateful for the tools to delve deeper into the Word of God.

• The amazing growth of Connexus, the holistic education and cross-cultural English Language School of the Korea Anabaptist Center. In just 15 months, Connexus has gone from 16 students to 150, with more on the waiting list. Pray that young people and others will respond to the call for teachers to work with these eager students.

• Witness interns Jennifer Loewen, a CMU student from Didsbury, Alta., who left for China on Jan. 23 for a six-month teaching assignment at a local university, and for Laura Snyder, whose teaching and dormitory assistance work in a residential school in Umtata, South Africa, ends in May.

Mennonite Church British Columbia

Vernon church leaving MC B.C.

Mennonite Church of Vernon has notified Mennonite Church British Columbia that they are withdrawing from the conference following a decade of discussions on the issue of homosexuality.

The Vernon congregation opposes allowing practising homosexuals into church membership and ministry, based on their understanding of Scripture and the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.

It feels that neither the provincial conference nor the national church body have adequately addressed their concerns regarding Toronto United Mennonite Church (TUMC)—an MC Eastern Canada congregation that has stated that sexual intimacy should be reserved for covenanted monogamous relationships between two adults without specifying they be of opposite gender.

In 2000, the Vernon church withdrew its national membership over this issue but remained an MC B.C. member.

Following a meeting with the MC B.C. ad hoc committee and TUMC members last April, congregation chair Bruce Hildebrand said members of his church left feeling they had been told that homosexuality should not be an issue of concern in the church.

Vernon church delegates at an Oct. 1 MC B.C. special delegate session were also discouraged by the resolution that MC B.C. continue to be a full and active member of MC Canada with each B.C. church having the freedom to be involved at whatever church level they wish, which was passed by MC B.C. delegates.

On Nov. 2, the 77 percent of Vernon Mennonite members who attended a church meeting unanimously endorsed a board recommendation to leave MC B.C.

The decision has caused a sense of grief and loss in the congregation and the larger conference. In a letter to the church on behalf of the MC B.C. Executive, moderator Doug Epp wrote, “While we are saddened by this decision, we understand it was preceded by a lengthy, difficult and thorough process.” An acknow-ledgement and time of blessing for the church is planned for the upcoming B.C. annual delegate session.

At this time, plans for the future of the Mennonite Church of Vernon are uncertain, although they may seek membership in another Mennonite body.

Mennonite Church Alberta

CIM, conference prepare to part ways

A lengthy process of discernment and discussion around the issue of homosexuality and the Calgary Inter-Mennonite (CIM) congregation’s membership in MC Alberta is anticipated to come to some sense of closure at this year’s annual delegate meeting at Foothills Mennonite Church in April.

In a package dated Jan. 12, the conference executive distributed draft versions of statements on the matter and a letter to CIM. Congregations are encouraged to discuss these drafts and provide feedback to the executive by mid-February. The executive will use the responses to write a more final statement, which it hopes can be accepted by all parties. The final statement will be included in the report book sent to congregations prior to the annual meeting.

In brief, MC Alberta and CIM have agreed that they do not agree on the issue of homosexuality and that, considering the difficulties of working together, it may be best for both parties to work separately. MC Alberta’s draft letter to CIM expresses regret that they have chosen to break with the conference, as well as wishing them God’s blessing in their future ministry.

The draft acknowledges the ministry CIM has had in ways that many other churches have been unable to achieve. Hope remains that CIM and MC Alberta will some day journey together again. Congregations are encouraged to nurture a common bond in Christ in spite of a lack of formal relationship.

In other MC Alberta news, the conference budget for 2005 has been met and exceeded. The surplus is due mainly to the fact that the position of camp director was vacant from mid-August to year-end. The position of quarter-time youth worker was also vacant for much of the year. MC Alberta thanks congregations for their generous support. The financial statements for 2005 and budget for 2006 will be included in the annual report book.

Mennonite Church Saskatchewan

Churches vote to quit conference

Two of the largest MC Saskatchewan congregations have voted to leave the conference.

Cornerstone Mennonite in Saskatoon and Neuanlage Grace Mennonite just outside of Hague, both held meetings within the last three months.

Cornerstone, with a membership of 323, met on Nov. 20 and members voted on the motion on the following two Sundays.

“How to deal with sin was important, and as important was that our vision and how to get there was different than the conference’s,” said Russell Reid, senior pastor.

Neuanlage Grace, with a membership of 301, held their vote during their annual business sessions on Jan. 20. Over 90 percent voted in favour of the motion to leave.

Neither congregation signed the covenant put forth at last year’s delegate meetings in Rosthern.

“We’ve found ourselves needing to express our values and conclusions in a different way,” explained Henry Janzen, pastor of Neuanlage, who admitted it has been a difficult decision for him personally because of the many friendships he has developed over the years.

“It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge this break in relationships,” said MC Saskatchewan moderator Henry Block. “Broken relationships always remind us that we are living in a broken world. Jesus came to bring peace and wholeness into relationships; clearly we have much to learn.”

Block noted that neither church had been a major financial or personnel supporter for the conference programs for some time, and said the provincial leadership “regrets not being invited to be more involved in the discussions in both these congregations.

“We pray for God’s blessing and peace on these churches, and on our conference, as we now go our separate ways.”

Pleasant Point mounting new drama

Pleasant Point Mennonite is putting on another prairie-themed version of a Bible story this year. Last winter, the small country church, located nine miles south of Clavet, staged Jonah and the Culvert, which featured Ron Froese as Jonah stuck in a culvert with a bunch of smelly skunks.

“This year we’re working on the Daniel story,” said Pastor Harry Harder, who noted that the production is scheduled to take place March 31 and April 1, and is open to the community. The event acts as a fundraiser to help improve access to the church. In the last production, some of the money raised also went to MCC.

Pleasant Point took their theatrical cue from Superb Mennonite in using the winter months to plan a musical theatre event for their community. This year, Superb performed The Wheatbelt Parables at the town hall in Rosetown.

Mennonite Church Manitoba

Pastoral search updates

• Blumenort Mennonite Church is entering a season of prayer before beginning their pastoral search. Peter Zacharias is retiring in June.

• Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church has begun a search for a new leading pastor following Peter Penner’s announcement that he will not take another term when his present term ends this summer.

• Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Winkler has invited Larry Kehler to serve as an interim pastor until June.

• Niverville Mennonite Church is searching for a new leading pastor and an associate/youth pastor. Leading pastor Paul Adams will be moving to MC Eastern Canada this summer. Deanna Loeppky is presently filling the associate/youth pastor position on an interim basis.

• Hermann Dueck has resigned as associate pastor at First Mennonite Church in Winnipeg.

• Steinbach Mennonite Church has hired Isbrand Hiebert as half-time associate pastor for German ministries. Applications are being received for a three-quarter-time associate family ministries pastor and a half-time associate worship and music pastor.

• Shane Perkinson has resigned his half-time associate pastoral position at Home Street Mennonite Church, Winnipeg. The congregation will be discerning future steps.

• Crystal City Mennonite Church and Trinity Mennonite Fellowship in Mather are both continuing their searches for pastoral leadership.

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada

Gather ’Round on the way

Christian educators in congregations of MC Eastern Canada can find out all about this new Sunday School curriculum by attending one of the sessions of the Gather ’Round Learning Tour happening from Feb. 25 to March 4.

“A whole generation of kids has experienced Jubilee. We want the next generation to have material which is as current and contemporary as possible,” says Eleanor Snyder, Mennonite Publishing Network staffer, of the reason for the new curriculum.

“The story has not changed; but the way we tell the story has changed,” she says, noting that there is considerable effort to forge a strong home and church connection. There is a take-home “talk-about” piece that can be used with families at home to continue the conversation that was started in Sunday school.

The curriculum is designed for ages three to adults, with two new sections designed for parents/caregivers and youths. The first session begins, appropriately, “in the beginning” with Genesis 1.

Elsie Rempel, Formation staff person of Mennonite Church Canada; Lisa Carr-Pries of MC Eastern Canada; and, on occasion, Mennonite Publishing Network staff person Eleanor Snyder and others, will participate in the Learning Tour.

Events will occur at the following locations:

• Feb. 25: First Mennonite, Kitchener—9 a.m.
• Feb. 27: Hillcrest Mennonite, New Hamburg—7 p.m.
• Feb. 28: Vineland United Mennonite—7.30 p.m.
• March 1: St. Jacobs Mennonite—7 p.m.
• March 2: Faith Mennonite, Leamington—7 p.m.
• March 4: Rouge Valley Mennonite, Markham—9 a.m.

To register, contact Joan Schooley at joan@mcec.ca or 519-650-3806; or Lisa Carr-Pries at dcarr-pries@rogers.com or 519-888-1943.

From Our Leaders

—Mark Wurtz

Camp ministry two-way street

From across our street to around the world. Jennifer lives across our street. Ed lives in a nearby town, and so does Colleen. Jack and Henry live 40 miles away. One of the things they have in common is coming to summer camp at Youth Farm Bible Camp for more than 20 years.

I remember in 1990 when I first became a counsellor-in-training. The camp director informed me that I would be working one week with the children campers and three weeks with adult special need campers. I was a little mortified. I had no experience. I was scared.

But that first year, I met Joe, Eugene and Peter. I helped Joe shower. I had a great time with Eugene, the comedian and all-round joker. And crusty old Peter gave me a hug at the end of the week. The next summer, I made sure I was at all of the adult special need camps that Youth Farm offered. I had overcome the first barrier in this ministry —I felt comfortable with the campers. I began to treat them as my neighbours.

It is amazing how quickly these campers see through insincere and unaccommodating staff. For much of their lives they have been treated like second-class citizens. We need to be different at camp; we need to be different as servants of Christ. Show them love. Show them respect. Show them integrity. Show them dignity. Through this they learn that the Christian faith is a powerful way to overcome all obstacles.

One of the most powerful outcomes of adult special need camp is what our staff learns from this group of interesting, dynamic and fun-loving campers. From the 16-year-old junior staffer to the volunteer pastors and cooks who come for a week—everyone appreciates their experience.

These campers show love unconditionally, they accept us for who we are, they seem to understand more about humanity than philosophers and theologians. They have fewer boundaries and are more open to speak their minds. They place a lot of importance on prayer and have a simple faith that serves them well. After a couple of weeks working with these campers, staff begin to realize how these campers end up being our teachers.

Over the years, many of our staff have gone on to serve in care-giving professions. They point to their experiences at adult special need camp for their desire to seek positions as nurses, care-givers and in other medical professions. They realize the impact of ministry when it encompasses meeting physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs within a two-way relationship. It is truly a ministry to those across the street.

Mark Wurtz is director of the MC Saskatchewan Youth Farm Bible Camp near Rosthern, Sask.

Unless otherwise credited, the articles in TheChurches pages were written by Canadian Mennonite’s regional correspondents.


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