Canadian Mennonite
Volume 10, No. 15
July 31, 2006
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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
This summer, take time to pray for:
- The integration and involvement of youths and young adults in the life of the church throughout the country. Young adults met at the MC Canada assembly in Edmonton and discussed their passion for the church and their desire to help connect with other young adults who feel distanced from their congregations. Please pray that all might work together to decrease this feeling of distance through constructive dialogue and age-integrated events in congregations.
- Cliff and Natasha Dueck, Mennonite Church Canada Witness Workers, as they lead a camping ministry for youths and children in Ukraine until September. Please pray that the youths will grow in their faith in Jesus.
Mennonite Church British Columbia
Eden Mennonite group works in Mississippi
An intergenerational group from Eden Mennonite Church in Chilliwack spent a week in early July helping build houses through Mennonite Disaster Service in Pass Christian, Miss. The group included 10 youths and five youth sponsors, a family of four and an experienced construction foreman. They raised funds for the trip by doing a silent auction for a barbecue, a landscaping/spring cleaning fundraiser and their own roofing project for one of the church member’s barns. Youth pastor Rob Brown accompanied the group.
Two churches offering festive food and fun
- Emmanuel Mennonite Church, Abbotsford, invites everyone to a hog roast, corn on the cob, watermelon, Rollkuchen and other food and entertainment, Aug. 19. The event is a joint fundraiser for the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) travel fund and for retiring the church gym debt. Food will be served beginning at 4 p.m., along with a silent auction of crafts and services. At 7 p.m., there will be a concert featuring music from Paraguay, Kenya and El Salvador, and MWC associate general secretary Pakisa Tshimika will speak.
- Sherbrooke Mennonite Church of Vancouver plans a community fall festival, Sept. 23, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is a free event and will feature different ethnic foods, carnival games, crafts, a bike rodeo with the Vancouver Police Department, fire truck tours with local firefighters, and much more.
Mennonite Church Alberta
New pastor at Holyrood
Werner De Jong officially began working as pastor at Holyrood Mennonite Church in Edmonton on June 19.
His wife Joanne will begin as co-manager of the Ten Thousand Villages store on Whyte Ave. in Edmonton on Aug. 1.
The De Jongs come to Alberta from Petitcodiac, N.B., where he was pastor at Petitcodiac Mennonite Church and she was Ten Thousand Village’s director for festival sales in Atlantic Canada.
The De Jongs have three children ranging in age from one to 16. They are living in the Mill Woods area of the city.
An installation service for De Jong is being planned for sometime in the fall.
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan
Plans for Bethany Manor unveiled
Bethany Manor in Saskatoon recently held meetings for the public and residents to present information about the new addition and long-range plans for the Mennonite housing complex.
The new building, which is attached to the Villa at the Bethany seniors housing complex, will be known as the enhanced living area.
“We have begun excavating for a 56-unit, four-storey building,” said administrator Dave Ratzlaff. A total of 46 units are life-lease and 10 can be rented. Each 65-square-metre apartment has two bedrooms.
The decision to build comes as the board recognizes the increasing needs of an aging population. The complex now offers 16 assisted living units that are barely able to contain the needs of the over 250 residents.
There is a long waiting list to gain access to the assisted living units and many people end up moving into private care homes. The other problem with the Villa, said Ratzlaff, is that seniors wanted more options to choose from to accommodate the varying needs that growing old brings.
“They can maintain their independence longer,” said Ratzlaff, pointing out that with the increased level of support, the residents don’t need to go into long-term care as soon, which also puts less strain on an already overloaded healthcare system.
The concept is so popular and the need so great that 22 of the new units sold in a week and that was even before the digging started.
Although support services for people in the enhanced living units will need to be ordered, there is one service that comes without extra cost.
“Right from Day 1, there will be 24-hour supervision,” said Ratzlaff. The complex already has staff in place to check on residents once every hour for those in assisted living units. That same service will also be offered in the new building.
The building is to be finished in just over a year.
Mennonite Church Manitoba
Staff transitions
John Klassen, director of Leadership Ministries, has resigned his position with Mennonite Church Manitoba, effective Sept. 30, to become the lead pastor at Emmanuel Mennonite Church, Winkler.
As a result of Klassen’s resignation, interim appointments have been made to fill the position until Sept. 30, 2007.
Harold Peters-Fransen has been appointed as full-time interim director of Leadership Ministries, effective Sept. 25. He served as a pastor for many years and in the past five years as interim pastor in several settings. He comes with a wealth of experience in pastoral ministry and pastoral transitions. His responsibilities include transitions, credentialing, pastor-congregation relations, event planning, supervising the Chaplaincy Program, general administration, and relations with the Reference Group and Credential Committee. His work will involve developing systems and guidelines for calling pastors and congregational consultants.
Peter Zacharias has been appointed interim director of Pastor Care, effective mid-October. He is retiring after a lengthy career in pastoral ministry. He comes with strong pastoral gifts and will be responsible for pastor care and pastor cluster meetings. Zacharias is volunteering up to two days per week.
The administrative assistant position vacated by Diane Funk last December has been filled by Beverley Sawatzky, who has been appointed to serve MC Manitoba’s four ministry areas. For the past several years she has served as executive assistant to the dean at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries in Elkhart, Ind. She and her husband Erick will move to Winnipeg in mid-August. She begins work on Aug. 21.
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada
Executive minister reports on assembly
Area Conference Only Membership (ACOM) was an important issue at the Mennonite Church Canada assembly in Edmonton, according to MC Eastern Canada executive minister David Martin. Several area churches had made requests to allow congregations to belong to only the area church, without belonging to MC Canada.
Martin said the sense of being fellow believers in roundtable discussions encouraged collaboration and the motion to move toward ACOM passed with a large majority. His experience of congregations sharing their visions for local ministry in these sessions was a high point of the assembly. “After restructuring in both MC Canada and MC Eastern Canada, people seemed ready for a turn outward,” he said.
While at the assembly, leaders from MC Eastern Canada and MC B.C. met to continue their ongoing dialogue about Ontario congregations that are accepting practising homosexuals. MC Eastern Canada “reaffirmed its previous decision to request congregations and pastors to respect the Confession of Faith,” said Martin, adding that the conference has extended its “season of discernment,” with the focus on learning to live with differences while affirming a common commitment to Christ.
Martin’s only “twinge of regret” came during the discussions and resultant vote on a Mennonite Church Canada motto verse. While the final choice of I Corinthians 3:11 is a good choice, it seemed to Martin that quickly moving to the old Conference of Mennonites in Canada (CMC) motto suggested a lack of understanding for the history of the former Mennonite Church congregations in Eastern Canada. He noted that this lack of understanding is found even within former CMC congregations in MC Eastern Canada.
From Our Leaders
Being ‘God’s people now’
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The rain stopped falling and a moist hot breeze replaced it. I wiped away the sweat forming on my forehead and drew my attention to my friend across the table. An important conversation was happening. As I listened, words that seemed foreign slipped from the quivering lips of someone I knew well.
As a pastor, you often see examples of what happens when God’s people forget who they are. Lifestyle choices—while easily embraced when given over to the influence of the media—are not immediately accepted when aligned with God’s principles of justice and charity. Behaviour accepted by an egocentric society looks very different from that aligned with a theocentric focus.
The theme for Mennonite Church Canada’s 2006 assembly articulated this well. God’s People Now!—a statement generated from I Peter 2:9-10—can be understood in a variety of ways. It could be seen from the perspective of a purpose statement, directing us to a response of immediate activity. It could also be seen from the perspective of an identity statement, prompting us to reflect on the quality of a character depicted by such an identity.
The thematic statement from I Peter 2:9-10 could also be understood from the perspective of a prophetic call that invites a response of immediate activity and also prompts us to reflect on quality of character.
It is a reminder of who we are, and what we are all about. It invites us to commitments of discipleship. It calls us to remain aligned with sacrificial giving. God’s people do not live for themselves, but are, instead, aligned to a higher purpose, resulting in the joyful sacrifice of resources, energy, time and influence.
Such a prophetic call is a refreshing invitation to a people within Canadian society. In a context of consumption, what an invitation to freedom! In an atmosphere of greed, what a contrast! In a social framework of individualism, what a gift!
The theme could have propelled us to become God’s people. Instead, it serves as a reminder to be God’s people.
The words falling from the lips of my friend sounded foreign in light of what I knew my friend to be.
“But I know you,” I finally blurted out. “You have a passion for God. You have a yearning to be God’s vessel. What you are describing does not fit with who you are,” I cried out in desperation.
It served as a turning point. Sometimes all it takes is a friend to remind us what we already know. Sometimes all it takes is to be reminded of what really compels us in life. A prophetic call is the voice of a friend reminding us who we are and what we are all about. We are God’s people now!
Unless otherwise credited, the articles in TheChurches pages were written by Canadian Mennonite’s regional correspondents.