Canadian Mennonite
Volume 11, No. 01
January 8, 2007
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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
Survey, posters in January Equipping
Start the new year right with a moment of reflection in response to a brief user survey included in the January issue of Equipping. This can be done online at mennonitechurch.ca/tiny/100. Due date is Jan. 31.
Also, included in the packet are:
• Two colourful posters which highlight Youth Assembly 2007 in Abbotsford, B.C., and “Join the song of healing and hope,” which invites everyone to celebrate the diversity of God’s people.
• A celebration story from South Korea entitled “Discovering Anabaptism in solidarity.”
• The 2007 At Home Lenten resource booklet, “Blessed Hunger…Holy Feast,” by Elsie Rempel.
• A Resource Centre update that highlights a five-session “Season of Prayer” worship, prayer and study guide for congregations entitled “Walls: Divine and dividing” by Brian Dyck.
• Mennonite Publishing Network Spring 2007 resource catalogue.
• AMBS Summer 2007 course offering booklet.
New Year’s prayer requests
As the New Year begins, pray for and celebrate new initiatives and plans for 2007. Remember especially:
• Anabaptists and Mennonites who will be gathering for a regional meeting near Montevideo, Uruguay, from Jan. 22 to 28. Sisters and brothers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay will attend sessions led by author John Driver and Witness partner Dennis Byler from Spain.
• The need for additional English teachers in China. Churches in Dazhou and Nanchong have made requests for English teachers, but there are not enough teachers to meet program needs.
• Julie and Philip Bender, Witness workers in China, who give thanks for prayer and counsel regarding their discernment of future direction. They have renewed their term through mid-2010.
• A new leadership training initiative in Paraguay. The Evangelical Mennonite Centre of Theology in Asuncion (CEMTA), partner of Mennonite Church Canada Witness, is supporting this initiative, which will allow church leaders in rural towns to participate in intensive theological courses once a week.
Mennonite Church British Columbia
Pastor recovering from heart procedure
Lorin Bergen, pastor of Living Hope Christian Fellowship in Surrey, is recovering from angioplasty on Dec. 11.
Although a surgeon was on standby to do open heart surgery, the angioplasty was successful and this was not deemed necessary. Bergen, 41, had no genetic or lifestyle risk factors, and no previous indication of heart problems before this incident.
“The support has been unbelievable,” Bergen says. “Our church and MC B.C. have been supporting and loving, and we have received numerous e-mails from all across the country and from as far away as Africa. People in many churches have been praying for me; it’s just been remarkable.”
Recovering at home in mid-December, Bergen said his doctors have given him permission to return to work in January.
Junior youth retreat to focus on heroes
“Project U: The evolution of a hero” will be the theme for third annual Mennonite Church B.C. junior youth retreat at Camp Squeah from April 27 to 29. The resource person will be Reece Friesen, associate pastor of Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church in Abbotsford and comic book artist of the Pax Avalon series.
According to Friesen, the retreat will focus on “forming our identity on the basis of Christ’s identity” and the different masks people wear in various situations. A myth theme will be carried out over the three days of the weekend using story, Biblical application and personal application.
Youths in grades 6 to 9 are welcome to attend. For more information, contact your church youth pastor or e-mail Friesen at eeaspast@telus.net.
Mennonite Church Alberta
Camp Committee evaluates Valaqua
For many years, Camp Valaqua has been at the heart of much of the children’s and youth ministries in Mennonite Church Alberta. Like all good programs, it developed according to the needs of the church and society. These needs are constantly changing, and so must programs.
On Dec. 2, the Camp Committee held a visioning event at Valaqua. Representatives from Alberta churches gathered to discuss and discern possible short- and long-term goals for the camp.
Doug Klassen, pastor of Foothills Mennonite, began the event by sharing about the history of Christian youth movements and the need for constant revisioning to stay relevant to the needs of their time. Discussions facilitated by John Schellenberg, a former MC Alberta moderator with a wealth of experience with Camp Valaqua, followed. The group examined such topics as activity development, facilities, conference relationships, programs, and the overall purpose of the camp.
Current camp director Jon Olfert was pleased with the discussions. “They were broad-based discussions,” he said. “It was neat to look ahead at a number of ideas…. It was a vision-based discussion.”
A summary of the discussions, compiled by Schellenberg, has been forwarded to members of the Camp Committee. The committee will consider these as it plans for the future. Any recommendations resulting from the discussions will be brought to the annual sessions in Lethbridge.
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan
Hague pastor resigns
Dave Feick, pastor of Hague Mennonite Church, has resigned.
Feick, who has been working there for 10 years, gave his notice of resignation on Nov. 3.
“It’s time for a change,” he said.
The congregation, situated about 30 minutes from Saskatoon and with an average Sunday morning attendance of about 80, plans to take some time for discerning possible new directions the church could consider.
“The deacons are meeting with people to find out where we need to go from here,” said Feick.
‘Vibrant’ rural churches to meet
Almost four years ago, a plan was formed through the Ministries Commission to focus on the smallest rural churches in the MC Saskatchewan conference. Called the Vibrant Rural Churches Program, the project involved Eric Olfert and Naomi Unger and was begun to hear what these rural congregations had learned about remaining hopeful and vibrant in spite of issues such as population decline and farming difficulties.
The project was launched during the 2003 delegate sessions and the resulting report was presented nine months later.
Ten small congregations were included in the initial project.
Since the study was completed, two of those churches have closed. The Hoffnungsfelder Mennonite Church in Rabbit Lake joined another nearby Hoffnungsfelder congregation, and Bethany Mennonite in Watrous officially closed last year and put its building up for sale.
Now, the remaining eight churches have been invited to meet with members of the MC Saskatchewan executive, the Ministries Commission and the Pastoral Leadership Commission, as well as with Unger and Olfert.
“It’s a chance for those churches to get back together to talk about what else could be useful,” explained Olfert.
Scheduled to take place the weekend of the next delegate sessions in February, the meeting will be held at Grace Mennonite Church in Regina.
Mennonite Church Manitoba
Nurture Next to Nature now offered
There is no hiatus at Camps with Meaning. Once summer camp is over, they quickly put out the welcome mat for guest groups who come for quiet, fellowship, nurture or learning. Interest groups, families, churches and schools are among those who take advantage of Camps with Meaning.
Nurture Next to Nature is a new program that is proving to be very popular for school groups. Nature hikes, outdoor cooking, and bannock- and candle-making are some of the activities this program offers to guest groups at Camp Assiniboia. It also provides Manitoba Education curriculum-related lessons on riverbank environments and local history. Another stream offered under this program is peacebuilding, which includes such activities as team-building at the high ropes course. Although the riding horses are away “on vacation,” a draft team of horses allows for some horsemanship instruction and sleigh rides.
The Nurture Next to Nature program is being developed through a team effort. Sheila Giesbrecht prepares the lessons and teaching materials. Tanya Suderman began her role as guest group program coordinator and group instructor in December, taking over from Elisa Barkman.
Barkman said, “Initial response by groups who have experienced the lessons has been positive. Hikes and outdoor living skills have been thoroughly enjoyed.”
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada
Workshop to focus on young adults
A year ago, “Young adults and the church” was named as an area of interest for MC Eastern Canada’s 2007 Pastors, Chaplains and Congregational Leaders Workshop. Robert J. Suderman’s comments in regard to congregational concerns about the lack of young adults in church (“What about the young adults?” Sept. 4, page 2) verified for the planning committee that it had chosen the topic well.
Keynote speaker for the 2007 workshop is Ed Janzen, chaplain at Conrad Grebel, who claims, “One thing that young adults have, that older ones don’t, is restless passion. This is the energy to try something new, to search for authenticity and meaning in life,… to uproot and risk comfort and security for the sake of truth, love, compassion, service to Christ. This is the very energy that makes the missional church possible…. This is more than finding a program to keep young adults occupied until they become old adults. This is about understanding that without the restless passion of young adults we actually aren’t a whole and healthy church. Young adults model for us the vital energies that keep us searching for the love of Christ, that keep us active in sharing the love we’ve found, that keep us honest and open.”
While not all would agree with Janzen, his comments are sure to encourage conversation at the workshop, to be held Jan. 13 at Steinmann Mennonite Church, Baden, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Afternoon sessions will focus on questions like:
• “Young adults and the church” was named as the No. 1 concern by Mennonite churches across Canada. What do you think keeps the generational issue so front and centre?
• What should the church be doing that would engage you as young adults?
• What are some of the challenges the church and young adults face in working together?
From Our Leaders
Why pray?
We are beginning a new year. One of the good traditions of our church is to spend time in the early days of a new year in a spirit of prayer with others for ourselves and the world.
Mennonite Church Canada encourages its members and congregations to pray. Mennonite World Conference encourages the global Anabaptist Church to pray. And the ecumenical councils also encourage the church to pray for its faithfulness and unity. It is good to pray for personal, local and regional needs, for national and global concerns, and to encourage the unity of faith that Christ calls us to as his body.
There are many reasons why it is so important to pray:
• Prayer is our response to God’s presence and initiative in our lives. Prayer is God’s initiative, and we cannot manipulate God through prayer. Prayer reminds us that our lives are ultimately in the hands of God.
• Prayer is an opportunity to express our gratitude for God’s presence in our lives, and it is good to live in a spirit of gratitude.
• Through prayer we pay attention to God’s agenda for our lives. Prayer helps us suspend our egos in order to anticipate a possible word from God.
• Prayer focuses our attention on God’s permanent presence in our lives and seeks guidance for what we should do in light of it.
• Prayer is an instrument for human reconciliation. It is difficult to harbour resentment or hate someone for whose wellbeing we have earnestly prayed.
• Prayer is an alternative to inaction. Prayer accompanies effort and allows us to keep up our courage, to persist, and to continue in our Christian walk.
• Prayer is an antidote to our pretensions of self-sufficiency. In prayer we surrender our own wisdom and strength to the greater wisdom and authority of God.
• Prayer does not simply justify and bless what we are already doing. Rather, prayer sheds light on things that we need to be doing as children of God.
• Prayer confesses hope. Even desperate prayer and lament assume there is hope. To pray ‘Thy kingdom come’ is the same as saying there is hope for something better.
Ultimately, prayer is the political act of a community that seeks guidance for its life from beyond the self-proclaimed saviours of our world. Prayer is an act of resistance against the claims of consumerism, militarism and secularism, and thereby becomes an initiative for justice. Prayer is essential for a community that wishes to demonstrate an alternative to the many dead end paths of our society.
I encourage our church to pray profoundly and sincerely at all times. The Apostle Peter exhorts us to be “clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray” (I Peter 4:7).
May God provide us with the wisdom and courage needed to be God’s people now.
Unless otherwise credited, the articles in TheChurches pages were written by Canadian Mennonite’s regional correspondents.