Canadian Mennonite
Volume 11, No. 16
August 20, 2007
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From our leaders
Mennonite Church Canada
Prayer and praise requests
Please take time to pray and praise God for:
• Julie and Philip Bender, Witness workers in China, and other Mennonite Partners in China teachers, as they attend a three-week summer language program where they will study Mandarin with Chinese teachers. They are looking forward to studying Mandarin because “the more language we learn, the more we can make friends and experience Chinese culture.”
• Bridging the Gap, a weekend of gospel singing and testimony that brings together aboriginal and non-aboriginal people to worship on Aug. 25 and 26, at Siksika First Nation in Alberta. Mennonite Church Canada Native Ministry is a supporting partner and asks for prayer that this would be a time of bridge-building and forming new relationships.
• Monica Shank, a Mennonite Church Canada intern, who is living in Botswana for a 12-week student internship. She spent her first few weeks with an HIV/AIDS initiative led by a Baptist church and she will also volunteer at Old Naledi Educational Center, a school for people who want to complete their primary education. Pray for Shank and for the Allison-Jones family as they continue ministering in Botswana.
Mennonite Church British Columbia
Korean Mennonite installs pastor
Sherbrooke Korean Mennonite Fellowship of Vancouver, which meets at Sherbrooke Mennonite Church, continues to be a multicultural congregation. It installed its first pastor, Nak Sun Kim (“Knocks”), along with his wife Key Kwon, at a joint worship service on July 8.
German, English and Korean services combined for the day, and were joined by the Vancouver Vietnamese Mennonite Church, which also meets in the Sherbrooke building. The service, though conducted in English, included singing in all four languages. Conference minister Henry Kliewer assisted in the installation, which was followed by a barbecue lunch.
After two years, the Korean Fellowship continues to be an active part of Sherbrooke life, joining the English congregation monthly for a worship service and fellowship lunch. It also signed the MC B.C. covenant during the Covenant Celebration service on May 27.
Mennonite Church Manitoba
Do something different
The Bible theme this summer at Camps with Meaning was “Come, follow me.” However, a secondary theme also emerged over the summer, “Do something different.”
Summer program directors brought it to life through various innovative twists. A first night introductory activity included frozen T-shirts. Nature games were incorporated into the weekly campout. Night hikes involved smells, sparks and awe at God’s creation. Over a dozen new scenes were developed for use in a weekly “Passion Play.” These new twists brought life-giving energy to the summer program.
Bob Wiebe, director of Camping Ministries, reports other “different” programs this summer that were a welcome addition to Camps with Meaning. This year, the Bible curriculum was shaped in a cooperative manner by the three camp Bible teachers, with guidance and direction from a pastor of one of the MC Manitoba congregations.
A fine, enthusiastic group of teens took part in a new Servant in Leadership Training program, which included a challenging week-long out-trip at Camp Koinonia. A Day Camp program at Camp Assiniboia, in which children came out daily to the camp for a week of activities, was so successful some campers signed up for a second week. Enrolment targets were met for a brand new Assiniboia youth camp in August.
Wiebe expressed gratitude for the creative and passionate individuals who brought these new ideas. These changes have had a positive effect on CwM programs, he said.
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada
Upcoming events of interest to all
MC Eastern Canada and Conrad Grebel University College’s annual catalogue of education and training for pastors and lay leaders arrived in August. The events cover the whole year, focusing largely on pastors but including several events of interest to others.
Of interest to lay leaders are the fall spiritual retreat on “Self Care: Notes from the Spiritual Traditions” in September; and the John Bell (Iona Community, Scotland) event on worship, and “Caught in the Web? Pornography and the Church,” both in October; as well as the annual pastors, chaplains and congregational leaders event, “With a Spirit Large and Free…Generous Giving, Grateful Living,” in January.
Pastors new to MC Eastern Canada are invited to a one-day event to orient them to the area church, while all pastors in their last decade of ministry are invited to an event to help them prepare for retirement. February brings the annual School for Ministers; this year, Mary Shertz of AMBS will focus on the theme of “Jesus and the quest for human fulfillment” in Luke’s gospel.
Following former director Laurence Martin’s lead, numerous opportunities for spiritual development and direction are also listed in the catalogue. Miriam Frey will lead five two-hour sessions in a month-long journey of spiritual renewal from mid-October until mid-November. Four days of quiet prayer are scattered throughout the year, and contact information to begin spiritual direction relationships is included in the catalogue.
Besides all these opportunities, Conrad Grebel’s calendar of master’s level courses is printed in full. This year, being Jim Reimer’s last year before retirement, the annual Pastors’ Theology Seminar (for credit or audit) on “Mennonites and political theology,” led by Reimer, will be of special interest to many.
Contact Marianne Mellinger (marianne@mcec.ca) for more information.
We are busy people
From our leaders
Whether our day is filled with appointments or striving to meet heavy schedules, we seem driven to accomplish as much work as possible. Perhaps our culture expects us to be busy. To be acceptable, to have worth, we tend to begin our conversations by relating all the activities we are involved in.
Being involved in agriculture, which is closely connected with the seasons, I too am caught up in a multitude of activities that at times seem to make the days too short to accomplish the required amount of work. I am always grateful for the rest periods. Embracing these times of rest allows me to reflect on God’s rhythms of peace, celebrations and blessings.
Sabbath is a gift, rather than a duty, when we are drawn to God, the creator of all, a God of peace and hope, a loving God who walks with us. Sabbath makes our lives meaningful. We listen, we pray, we sing, we celebrate God’s gifts, we learn about values that sustain us—away from the need to accomplish or be productive, away from tension and worry.
We have pastors and church leaders in our congregations who are committed; who care deeply; who encourage us to cultivate healthy relationships with God, family, community and the larger world. I am grateful for these spiritual leaders who encourage us to stop and nurture our soul:
• Aberdeen Mennonite Church serves Sunday noon lunches throughout the summer months to people attending their church services. Many people from the community also enjoy the food and fellowship. Proceeds from these meals are given to Canadian Foodgrains Bank, thus meeting the needs of a worldwide community.
• Rosthern Junior College staff are committed to guiding their students’ search for a living faith, while church youth leaders encourage them in their spiritual journey.
God is also active in several new endeavours:
• Eagle’s Wings Ministry, a drop-in centre for visitors to have coffee, engage in conversation, use various resourses and attend Bible Study, in Prince Albert is being led by Ray Dumais.
• Hispanic ministry has taken shape at Mount Royal Mennonite Church in Saskatoon under the leadership of Jaime Meza, a pastor from Bogotá, Colombia.
Perhaps the time has come to take inventory of our talents and resources, allowing them to blossom and flow freely. To whom much is given, much will also be required, Jesus said in Luke 12. May stewardship of all our resources lead us to a life of discipleship—a life filled with gratitude, peace, joy, justice, love, faith and hope.
May our love “overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11).
Unless otherwise credited, the articles in TheChurches pages were written by Canadian Mennonite’s regional correspondents.