Canadian Mennonite
Volume 10, No. 09
May 1, 2006
New pastors gather for reflection and support
Elkhart, Ind.
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Being pampered. Relaxation. Rejuvenation. These are words that pastor Tim Kuepfer of Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond, B.C., used to describe his time at “Clarifying the Call.”
A weekend of conversation, support and learning for pastors in their first five years of ministry, “Clarifying the Call” was held last month at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS). The event was co-sponsored by Mennonite Church Canada, MC USA and AMBS.
“It was just great to get away,” said Kuepfer, “to be with others who were equally vulnerable and new to ministry, to be with true compatriots.”
Denominational ministers and AMBS faculty members led workshops on such themes as transitioning from pastoral training to ministry, and working with church politics.
“For me, the penny really dropped with the whole discussion around office and the role of the pastor,” said Kuepfer, referring to a session led by Sven Eriksson, MC Canada denominational minister.
Allan Friesen, pastor at Eigenheim Mennonite Church in Rosthern, Sask., agreed. “The discussion we had was so illuminating for me—the idea that we are representing something bigger than we are as persons in the ministry.”
For Pieter Niemeyer, pastor at Rouge Valley Mennonite Church in Markham, Ont., learning centred on the significance of his upcoming ordination. “Calling is rooted in, and shaped by, a covenant relationship between God and the pastor and the congregation,” he said. “The pastor is to encourage and release the gifts of the congregation for God’s purposes in the world.”
Pastors’ participation and travel was free of charge. “I was blown away—and I think all of us were,” said Niemeyer. “It created a deep sense of being hosted and being affirmed.”
Although a resource person, Eriksson also found the weekend a rich experience. “It was wonderful to be able to sit with young pastors and to hear their experiences,” he said. “It was a very sacred kind of experience to be a part of this kind of learning, this kind of grappling.”
“Clarifying the Call” is part of a larger initiative at AMBS—the Engaging Pastors Project. Engaging Pastors aims to “transform seminary-church connections through sustained interaction between professors and pastors,” according to the program mission statement.
—AMBS release by Hannah Dueck
In Gethsemane in blue jeans
Edmonton
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In the garden, in jeans, a plaid shirt and a worn ball cap, Jesus agonizes. His disciples have abandoned him for sleep. Fear and a pressing desperation build as the time of betrayal draws near. Should Jesus disguise himself and slip away from the approaching soldiers, or should he use his rightful power to defend himself? Falling to the ground, he calls out to God to take this cup from him. Then slowly he surrenders. “God, not my will, but yours, be done.”
In a powerful monologue, Arlyn Friesen Epp, manager of the MC Canada resource centre in Winnipeg, enacted what he imagined Jesus might have gone through while he waited alone in the garden, knowing his time of torture and cruel death was drawing near.
The dramatic presentation underlined the tension of the moment, emphasizing Jesus’ courage, love for God and his people, and his commitment to follow through on God’s plan for salvation. In the quiet following Jesus’ surrender to God’s will, a spotlight pierced the darkened stage and the unaccompanied voice of Matthew Pauls sang the haunting words to the African-American spiritual, “Calvary” (No. 249 in Hymnal, A Worship Book). Worshippers left pondering the enormity of God’s love with the question, “Sinner, do you love my Jesus?” echoing in their hearts.
This was the 33rd year that the Inter-Mennonite Good Friday service has been a meaningful part of Edmonton Mennonite churches’ worship year.
Communion was served on Maundy Thursday evening at Sunrise Community Church, where Friesen Epp performed a monologue on the theme of God breaking in to human time as the Last Supper is being prepared.
Then at a Saturday breakfast in Lendrum, he presented a series of character sketches featuring Judas, Peter, Pilate, a mourner and a cross-maker. The monologues and accompanying readings were adapted from materials produced by the Iona Community worship group from Scotland.