Canadian Mennonite
Volume 10, No. 13
June 26, 2006
Jump to:
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 and praise
• Pray for the participants, workshops and leaders of the Mennonite Church Canada annual assembly in Edmonton, July 4 to 7, as all work to discern together how best to align with God’s work in the world.
• Pray for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the Six Nations community and their neighbours in Caledonia, Ont. Outstanding land issues have been ignored for many years, causing division and polarization among the people. Pray for God’s intervention in this conflict, so that hatred and anger are transformed into energy for peaceful and constructive solutions.
• Pray for Witness Workers Rod and Kathi Suderman, who minister in China, and Tim and Cindy Buhler, who minister in Macau, as they arrive back in Canada at the beginning of July. Pray for them as they visit various locations in Canada and the U.S., for the time with people in their home context, and for their sharing and learning during their North American ministry.
Mennonite Church British Columbia
Delegates affirm identity statement
Mennonite Church British Columbia delegates discussed and tweaked the MC B.C. identity and vision statement on June 3, before eventually affirming it by a vote of 106-4. The meeting took place at Bethel Mennonite Church of Langley, with delegates meeting around tables to allow for greater discussion, and mixing to ensure broad representation at each table.
A six-member steering committee had been working on the statement since the annual delegate sessions in February. In preparation for this meeting, the committee had asked MC B.C. congregations to respond to the proposed Vision and Identity Statement, as well as to give ideas for the implementation of this vision into the life of the conference.
The first half of the morning concentrated on presentation of the motion to accept the statement, with the second half devoted to discussion of the mission of MC B.C. Each table was assigned a different portion of the mission to discuss, with group findings then presented to the whole group.
The statement can be found online at mcbc.ca.
Bible camp marks 50 years
Ootsa Lake Bible Camp will have a celebration weekend for its first 50 years, Aug. 25 to 27.
Located on the northern shore of Ootsa Lake near the town of Burns Lake, the camp was purchased in the summer of 1956 by West Abbotsford Mennonite Church for the sum of $1.
During the first years, West Abbotsford organized the camp and provided staff. Once each spring, the church organized a work week to prepare the camp for summer. Over time, the northern churches were able to organize and prepare the workers for the summer.
Eventually, West Abbotsford sold the camp to the northern churches for $1, although many West Abbotsford young people have continued to work there as counsellors.
Anyone interested in participating in the celebratory weekend at Ootsa Lake is invited to call 250-698-7356 or e-mail littlesc@telus.net.
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan
Churches embrace Gather ’Round
MC Saskatchewan churches will be adopting a new Sunday School Curriculum this fall.
To promote the new material, entitled Gather ’Round, the Education Commission hired Donna Schulz, a member of Eigenheim Mennonite Church, to travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., for training and then meet with MC Saskatchewan churches to discuss it. Between February and May, Schulz put on over 3,000 kilometres on her vehicle, visiting most of the conference churches.
While warmly received, Schulz noticed a number of recurring themes in the concerns that people raised, which were then reported back to the commission.
“Many of our churches share common issues of sporadic attendance in Sunday school, as well as a shortage of children,” said Joanne Epp, commission chair, in a recent Education Commission report submitted to General Council.
Added to that, the commission was concerned that congregations might be deterred from ordering the new curriculum because of an increase in cost.
Their fears proved unfounded, however.
“We are happy to report that most MC Saskatchewan churches have embraced the new curriculum,” noted Epp.
Schulz has also agreed to lead several Sunday school teacher training sessions for different churches starting in August.
Mennonite Church Manitoba
Equipping 2006 set for Sept. 30
This year’s Equipping the Congregation conference takes on a new look, but is still clearly aimed at building up the local church.
Instead of a multi-workshop format, there will be two plenary sessions. The sessions will include opportunities for small group discussion and congregational stories.
Equipping 2006 will be about renewing passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ, transmitting it from one generation to the next and from church to the world, and opportunities and threats in this enterprise.
Arlyn Friesen Epp, manager of Mennonite Church Canada Resource Centre, and Elsie Rempel, director of Christian education and nurture for Mennonite Church Canada, will be the speakers.
“Equipping 2006: Roots and fruits of passionate faith” will take place at Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg on Sept. 30.
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada
Students praise conference support
Ministry has been a picnic for Charlene Jongejan Harder and her husband Kendal so far! At the time of this interview, they had just walked in their door on return from the annual picnic at Harrow Mennonite Church, where they are serving as a pastoral team this summer while pastor Greg Jantzi is on sabbatical.
They, of course, know that ministry will entail much more than church picnics, but so far in the three weeks at the Harrow church there have been no surprises as yet. They value this practical ministry experience between seminary years.
Charlene explained her enthusiasm for seminary studies at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS). “It is a place you take into account your whole person, not that you will come away from the place knowing everything you need to know for ministry, but you are enabled as a person to lead in the church,” she said.
The couple has completed one year at AMBS and may finish next year, then look for a congregational ministry assignment in the fall, hopefully as a pastoral team.
In life prior to seminary, Charlene worked at the Yonge Street Mission in Toronto in a women and children’s program, while Kendall taught English as a second language at the Toronto New Life Centre.
They are grateful for grants received from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in support of their seminary studies. “This buoys us up a lot, to know that we have the support of the larger church in our studies and call to ministry,” Charlene said.
MC Eastern Canada’s Financial Aid Committee is providing $32,000 in grant money to students continuing seminary education in 2006-07. Besides the Harders, aid is also going to Alissa Bender and Craig Neufeld (AMBS), Penny Driediger (Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, Va.), and Anne Campion (Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont.).
From Our Leaders
Unity, diversity and the life of the body
I am visiting congregations. I am listening. I am reflecting on what I hear. I am wondering. I have visited 170 congregations so far. This is a very invigorating and energizing process. I am learning huge amounts from the folks who are taking the time to engage this opportunity. I am grateful.
I am hearing and experiencing a very wide range of opinions, preferences, theologies, languages and ministries. This experience has made me think a lot about questions of unity and diversity in the body of Christ. We are indeed diverse. Some in our church wonder whether women should be allowed to cut their hair, while others wonder whether belonging to our church can come before believing what we believe. We worship in 13 different languages on Sunday mornings.
Living with diversity is an everyday experience in our church. We are doing this rather well. These visits have shown me that, in spite of the diversity among us, we are confident there is enough common ground that unites us. This means that, while diversity is an important reality in our church, it is not the primary virtue. What makes folks nervous is when they begin to suspect there is nothing at the centre that unites the diversity among us. That suspicion generates “dis-ease.”
Our efforts in the recent past to “learn to live with diversity” and to “agree and disagree in love” make sense only if there is an identifiable core that unifies us. Diversity, like change, is not a stand-alone virtue. It becomes a virtue only if “where we’re going is better than where we’ve been” (a quote from one participant in a recent meeting). Diversity becomes a virtue when it effectively promotes and edifies that which unites us.
There are high levels of patience with each other when folks sense a common platform. There is very little patience when this is deemed to be missing. It is again time to concentrate on common ground, so that we don’t need to fear that the diversity among us is eroding the common ground that unites us. It is not, but to some it feels that way.
I would call on everyone in our church, on our related ministries, and on all those who wish to participate in important discerning processes in the church, to lend each other a hand by assuring that our diverse passions and “pronouncements” are predicated on ground that is common among us. I believe that if we can do this, then we can continue to be the church.
The list in Ephesians 4 can serve as an excellent starting point: There is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God. The purpose of the diversity of gifts of the Spirit is to arrive at a “unity of faith” that is expressed in multiple ways.
Unless otherwise credited, the articles in TheChurches pages were written by Canadian Mennonite’s regional correspondents.