MB Herald Winter 2019

WINTER 2019

MB

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Quarterly

VO LU M E 5 8, N O. 1

Deeply rooted and growing ■ ■ R E P E N TA N C E : A T I M E T O WAT E R A N D W E E D ■ ■ T RU E LOV E FO R T H O S E W H O S U F F E R ■■ LET GOD DO THE SORTING ■ ■ W H O I S T H E N AT I O N A L M I N I S T R Y T E A M ?

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Contents 3 6 8 10 12 13 14 16 17 18

GROWING SOMETHING NEW

Carson Samson REPENTANCE

Paul Foth NEW LIFE AT THE ROOT

Karla Braun HEMORRHAGING FAITH

Angeline Schellenberg ROOTING UNSTEADY TREES

Gil Dueck OUT OF THE WOMB; PART OF THE FAMILY

Spencer Meisner ARTICLE 15: STEWARDSHIP

Ingrid Reichard

19 20 22 28 30 31

WHO IS THE NMT?

FAMILY HELPING FAMILY

Angeline Schellenberg A CHANCE TO DREAM

Karla Braun A PERSISTANT INFLUENCE

Catherine Bergs THE RELEVANCE OF HERSTORY

Greg Thiessen SUSPENDED?

Karla Braun

Departments 2

EDITORIAL

TRUE LOVE FOR THOSE

4

HOMEPAGE

WHO SUFFER

24 FAMILY NEWS

Mvwala Katshinga

26 FINISH LINES

LET GOD DO THE SORTING

Connect

J. Nelson Kraybill

FACEBOOK.COM/MBHERALD

WHAT WE HEARD

TWITTER.COM/MB_HERALD

Elton DaSilva

SOUNDCLOUD.COM/MBHERALD MBHERALD.COM

The Mennonite Brethren Herald is a publication of

ON THE COVER Youth on Multiply's SOAR Winner of Canadian Church Press and Evangelical Press Association awards for Writing, Design, and Illustration: 1996–2018.

Heartland program build relationships with children during spring break.

Photo: Nik Enns

MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

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Watering the roots apid change seems to be unsettling every corner of the gardens of our lives, including the church (even this Herald has a new look, fresh upon the change in publishing schedule last year!).

One of the things that concerns the church is the engagement of young people. Why aren’t they committing to church? How will that affect congregational longevity? How will they thrive without the roots of a religious tradition to ground them?

Seven years ago, James Penner conducted a research project with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada to find out why young people were leaving the church.

Called Hemorrhaging Faith, the resulting report identified four “drivers of faith and church” to guide those who want to do something constructive in response.

In Waldheim, Sask., pastor Greg Wiens not only read the report, but heeded the advice and implemented it in his ministry. Go to page 10–11 to find out what he learned.

As a follow-up, the EFC conducted a new study of the youth who do stay in church, exploring their reasons for doing so. Renegotiating Faith digs into how congregations can engage well with younger generations in 2018.

Gil Dueck at Columbia Bible College also offers some insights. Some suggest Millennials don’t blossom into independence early enough, but Dueck explains that the sense of rootedness one derives from belonging to a healthy community (i.e., church) is an imperative aspect of identity formation as well (page 12).

Interestingly, the “horse and buggy” Mennonite churches have excellent rates of retaining members into adulthood.

So observed a participant at November’s A People of Diversity conference in Winnipeg, celebrating the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada’s 50th

R

Thank you!

WE A S K ED, YO U A N SWER ED. TH A N K YO U TO ALL OUR RE ADERS W H O G AV E A D O N AT I O N TO SUPPORT THE C R E AT I O N , P R O D U C T I O N , AND DELIVERY OF I N S P I R AT I O N A L A N D TEACHING CONTENT TO SHARE THE LIFE AND STORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN FA M I LY I N C A N A D A A N D B E YO N D.

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anniversary. There’s something about knowing one belongs in a loving community that is more powerful than the possible detractions of wearing archaic clothing styles, eschewing technology, and living in a rural community.

A lesson these friends might teach us is that the best response to the threat of change may not be a five-step strategy, but a slow investment of time, personal capital, and vulnerability into building relationships.

In a similar way, this applies within “institutional relationships.” We need to spend time knowing each other as one great big family of MB churches, scattered across Canada. We have venerable, long-standing churches, some of whom are struggling to find energy and vision for the future, thriving middle-aged congregations, and new church plants, still figuring out their identity (see page 8).

National director Elton DaSilva invested in our institutional relationships by travelling across Canada last fall to hear questions and passion for mission from our churches. You spoke and he listened (page 18).

The Herald is another place to water the roots and celebrate the flowers, where we can hear each other’s voices in print and online and discuss through letters, online comments, and social media.

This is your magazine. We want you to get to know your family here; to fight sometimes; to bear with one another, learn from each other, and offer mutual support.

Karla

K ARLA BRAUN

Managing Editor

Growing something New I’m new here. I started working with the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (CCMBC) communications team in September after four years with Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba. My background is in graphic design, marketing, and communication.

One of my first jobs was page layout for ChristianWeek, started by long-time former MB Herald editor Harold Jantz. I’ve had a passion for publication production and design ever since.

For the past four months, the small communications team at CCMBC has poured themselves into the MB Herald, as they had been doing long before I came along. The editorial, design, advertising, and circulation staff is top shelf. It’s been a privilege working alongside them.

This is the first issue of our 58th volume: for more than half a century, MB Herald has graced bookshelves, desks, and coffee tables across the country.

We’re proud of this heritage – we’re honoured to be “sharing the life & story of the Mennonite Brethren in Canada.”

Many of you will know our recent history, but, to recap: in 2015, CCMBC began to look seriously at the future viability of the Herald and reduced its publication to bimonthly. The announcement that we were cancelling the Herald to be replaced by a new publication was not well received. Readers made it known they appreciate the magazine and want it to stick around. In 2017, publication dropped from six issues a year to four. At the same time, we rebuilt the subscription list from scratch with voluntary

Hi,

What's new?

opt-ins. This saw print readership plummet from 12,000 to 3,400. It’s been a tough three years.

Still, like the Mennonite Brethren story of faith and perseverance that continues to inspire us, we carry on.

We believe our best years are ahead of us, and we ask you, the reader, to help the Herald’s story continue.

In the new year, we will launch a fundraising campaign and will be asking you to support us financially. We recognize that many of you have been supporting for many years now, and we thank you for that.

You may have noticed this issue looks a little different – we’ve made few cosmetic changes including a new logo inspired by the nameplate from the 1970s. The design is new, yet informed by history and tradition.

We haven’t changed everything: categories like homepage, family news, and obits aren’t going anywhere. Nor are reader letters, though absent in this issue.

If you’re looking for additional content, we post new articles to the website weekly. You’ll find the MB Herald podcast on our website as well.

We want to hear from you.

Please write/email/tweet to tell us what you think.

New look, new size!

We have given the Herald a makeover from the inside out. The new design leverages the larger page size and a ninecolumn grid to allow for more whitespace, including wider margins.

New typefaces

Body copy is now set in Garamond Premier Pro. San serif headlines, subheads and sidebars are set in Averta. Serif headlines are set in various weights of Butler.

Occasionally, we use

Rollerscript Smooth to bring attention to content.

New categories

We are presenting content according to the CCMBC ministry model: Building Community, Developing Leaders, Resourcing Ministry, and Multiplying Churches.

Carson

CARSON SAMSON

Communications Director

MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

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HOMEPAGE

CITIES TIED FOR HIGHEST POVERTY RATES:

Poverty in Canada

VA N C O U V E R A N D TO R O N TO 20%

W I N D S O R , O N T. , A N D ABBOTSFORD -MISSION , B.C. 18%

5.8 MILLION PEOPLE IN CANADA LIVE IN POVERT Y T H AT ’ S 1 6 . 8 % O R 1 I N 6 P E O P L E C A N A D A P U T I N P L A C E I T S F I R S T N AT I O N A L P O V E R T Y R E D U C T I O N S T R AT E G Y, OPPORTUNIT Y FOR ALL, IN AUGUST 2018.

POVERTY RATES AMONG KEY DEMOGRAPHICS C H I L D R EN I N LO N E- PA R EN T

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

R ACIALIZED PEOPLE

FA M I L I E S

2 3 .6%

20.8%

4 7. 4 %

SOURCE: POVERT Y TRENDS 2018, CITIZENS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE

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HOMEPAGE

Songs that shape us We asked worship pastors what music inspires them on their discipleship path.

“Fire of Time” EP: The Rooster David Ramirez

#MBThrowback Although our idea of what’s all that and a

It’s gritty and honest – probably written to a lover (warning: some “adult” lyrics) – but is beautifully reflective of the grace Jesus offers us in our brokenness.

Christian rock band

bag of chips has shifted since the ’90s, young people still express their desire to be Jesus freaks through music.

Do you know the names of the band and/or the people in this photo (which we suspect is from the 1990s)? Help CMBS identify them by emailing identifying information to archives@mbchurches.ca.

This photo from the Centre for MB Studies (NP1491-1555) is available to the public in collaboration with MAID: the Mennonite Archival Image Database.

Research or purchase images from Mennonite churches and organizations at archives.mhsc.ca .

C O R Y A L S TA D

Worship pastor, North Langley (B.C.) Community Church.

Tell us, what songs shape you? mbherald@mbchurches.ca

H O P E O N T H E M OV E : M CC A N D T H E M I G R A N T C A R AVA N Daniel has many reasons for leaving his 8-year-old daughter and parents in Honduras to join thousands of migrants walking toward the southern U.S. border.

Daniel took this photo as members of the caravan climb aboard trucks in Mexico that will carry them north. His real name is not used for his security.

MCC partners with Casa Alitas and other church and community organizations in Central America and Mexico to show compassion to migrants – those who are part of recent caravans and those who have been travelling to or returning from the U.S. for many years.

Read more at mbherald.com/hope-mcc-migrant-caravan

Photo courtesy of Daniel

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DEVELOPING LEADERS

+– Repentance: A time to water and weed + – + – Paul Foth – + – +

+–

Growing up as an evangelical Protestant, I knew a little bit about Lent. It meant renouncing something superfluous like ice cream or movies. If I thought about it, I might also spend a little time in prayer and contemplation of the passion of Jesus.

But Lent was mostly an exercise in restraint.

For early Christians, Lenten fasting served the larger purpose of repentance. Lent began as Christians fasted alongside new converts, or catechumens, who were preparing for baptism at Easter.

Prayer, charity, and almsgiving accompanied these communal fasts.

Lent was a time not only to root out sin, but also to cultivate virtue.

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+– Turning toward

It could be said that repentance, like an atom, has “positive” and “negative” elements that together make up the whole. The negative turning from sin and the positive attraction toward Christ through prayer and good works are the two sides of the process of repentance.

An early Christian prayer clearly describes this process. A ministry colleague introduced this prayer of humility and repentance to me during a staff prayer time.

“O Lord and Master of my life, take from me a spirit of laziness, despair, lust of power, and empty talk.

But give rather a spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to your servant.

Yes, O Lord and King, help me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother or sister, for blessed are you unto ages of ages.

Amen.”

This prayer is attributed to Ephrem of Syria, a fourth-century church father known for his beautiful theological poetry and hymnody.

Since learning this prayer, I have used it as a plea for repentance, humility, and love.

To be stripped of these vices alone would do little were they not replaced by the fruit of the Spirit.

Chastity, or “whole-mindedness” according to Orthodox writer Alexander Schmemann, is rightly ordered love and attention.

Humility, which Augustine called “the foundation of all the virtues,” delivers us from pride and despair.

Patience and humility together help us resist the impulsive drives to promote ourselves and dominate others.

Love is the crowning fruit of the Spirit, our right orientation toward God and others.

This turning to Christ and growing in the fruit of the Spirit reflects the positive side of repentance – not only being emptied of sin, but being filled with good.

Turning away

Saint Ephrem’s prayer begins with a petition for God to take away the vices that bind and blind us.

First is sloth, or laziness, with its passivity and love of comfort. In this busy technological age, sloth can manifest itself not merely in the absence of action, but in wrongly placed attention and effort. Laziness means forsaking love and obedience to Christ for lesser distractions.

Despair, or despondency, considered a sort of eighth “deadly sin” by early Christians in the Greek East, is a state of all-encompassing negativity, giving up on the grace of God. Ambition manifest as lust for power leads us to try to control one another and shape our world through coercion.

Empty talk catches us up in frivolous pursuits that distract our souls from seeking Christ. And, as James reminds us, the tongue can lead a person’s entire life down a path of destruction (James 3:5–6).

In this prayer, I seek deliverance from these forces that ensnare my soul and trap me in selfishness and despair. This turning from evil is the “negative” side of repentance.

DEVELOPING LEADERS

Atomic charges

Humility

Finally, this prayer encourages humble self-reflection as an antidote to judgment, harkening to Jesus’ admonition to consider the plank in our own eye (Matthew 7:5).

Asking God to help us see our own sins is not an invitation to despair and self-loathing; rather it guards against pernicious pride, leading us toward a realistic and humble picture of our own sinfulness and God’s overwhelming mercy. True repentance is grounded in true humility.

The prayer of Saint Ephrem, which Orthodox Christians use throughout Lent, reflects both the negative and positive aspects of repentance. Repentance means turning from sin, turning to God and seeking to walk in the way of Christ.

John the Baptist commanded the Pharisees to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). Lent is an opportunity to cultivate this fruit, not only to weed out harmful, selfish, and gluttonous habits from our lives, but also to seek to grow in the grace of the Holy Spirit.

PAU L FOT H

is studying church history at MB Seminary in Langley, B.C., after working with prison inmates and migrant farmworkers in Washington State. He can often be found birding around the mountains and wetlands of B.C. Referenced: Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladmir’s Seminary Press, 1990), 36.

MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

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M U LT I P LY I N G C H U R C H E S

N E W LI FE AT TH E ROOT ‘whatever it takes to reach our grandkids…’” says WMB pastor Chris Stevens.

“With open hands, they’re saying ‘this is God’s church,’ and releasing it over to partner with WMB.” A BOLD MOVE

Waterloo and Kitchener MB churches merge he story of shrinking churches is becoming all too familiar across Canada. Declining attendance.

Aging membership. Mission drift.

Across town, there are stories of growth. Numerous baptisms. An ethnically, socio-economically, and generationally diverse congregation. Conversions from other religious backgrounds and more mundane stories of simply finding hope and life in Jesus Christ.

T

A SOFTENED HEART FOR A LEAP OF FAITH

“My heart has continually been nudged as I learned about the KMB merger as a WMB board member. In the middle of meetings, my mind would be racing with ideas of how well my family could help. My husband Chris and I love connecting with youth and making new friends.

I sustained a concussion in May and needed to step off the board for the coming year. Although leaving anything I’ve committed to is not comfortable for me, I felt God had another plan for me and my family.

However, every time I would bring up changing churches, my husband Chris quickly gave reasons why it wouldn’t be great for us.

What if these stories could become one?

Over 2018, the faithful but aging congregation of Kitchener (Ont.) MB Church joined with vibrant and growing WMB Church, Waterloo, Ont., to form one church in two locations to “make more and better disciples.”

It is a vision of being better together.

“God has allowed the seniors [at KMB] with incredible faith to say

During the AGM, after Chris listened first-hand to the KMB merger details, he turned with tears in his eyes and whispered that he trusted God’s plan.

God has a much bigger plan than we can ever imagine, and he works on our hearts. God took hold of Chris’ worries to give him peace to make a decision to move. I was overjoyed that we would be heading to KMB with our 2- and 5-year old boys.

With faith, we know that many new families and individuals will also come to KMB. We pray that over time we will help with God’s plan of what is to come in the future at KMB.” BETH WOLF

“The baptism tank is filled monthly now,” says Stevens. ”It is so exciting to see what Jesus is doing among us.”

Photos: courtesy WMB

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“We’re a nice community, comfortable, but we’re not seeing many people come to Christ, being baptized,” says KMB moderator Harvey Goossen. Since the 1990s, membership plateaued; new members largely came through circulation from other congregations.

The board invited Dave Jackson of L2L (then the Canadian Conference of MB Churches’ leadership development arm) to take them through a ReFocusing process.

“ReFocusing helped identify that we need to do things differently,” says Goossen. “It forced us to deal honestly with our past.

BIRTH OF A PARTNERSHIP

“KMB wanted us to help fulfill revisioning they’d gone through with Dave Jackson,” says Stevens.

It was a similar vision to that of WMB; in fact, “It was their

TIMELINE 1925 – KMB planted 1967 – WMB planted Fall 2016–Spring 2017 – Dave Jackson leads KMB in ReFocusing Nov 2017 – Stevens and Suderman meet at EQUIP conference Winter 2018 – KMB board discerns how WMB can help revitalize Spring 2018 – KMB votes on merger strategy Spring 2018 – WMB begins to process merger possibility September 30, 2018 – WMB votes October 2018 – Stevens begins preaching at KMB Fall – 7 households from WMB move to KMB September 2019 – public launch

DNA they were realigning with, to begin with,” says Stevens.

Most MB churches in Kitchener -Waterloo – WMB, Glencairn – were planted out of KMB. “The same things God had called KMB to, God is calling them to again,” says Stevens.

“Lots of members at WMB were discipled as kids at KMB,” says Stevens. Seven households from WMB, including a representative of the board, volunteered to engage as part of the KMB congregation.

“We haven’t needed nursery care [for a while],” says Goossen. With the influx of young families from WMB, “We have wonderful, noisy children running down the aisle to kids’ church, and people lining up for nursery care.”

With tears in their eyes, senior members whisper, “This is how it used to be,” he says.

M U LT I P LY I N G C H U R C H E S

“We realized we needed to make a bold move.”

After a providential conversation between KMB interim lead pastor Alex Suderman and Stevens at the EQUIP study conference in Abbotsford, B.C., KMB invited Stevens to discern with the board what revitalization might look like.

While Millennials are moving into and revitalizing downtown Kitchener just outside the church doors, KMB was remaining the same. “We have a lot of older people (70 percent over 65)…. We realized we don’t have the skills to do church planting on our own,” says Goossen.

The value of collaboration was extolled at the Ontario conference level, nationally, and by Randy Friesen of Multiply (MB Mission), who challenged churches to “think differently.”

In the meantime, Suderman felt a call to serve with Multiply and was preparing to leave the congregation.

So KMB leadership approached WMB for help. “They are family; we planted them, our mission statements had alignment. And they have resources, staff, people, urban vision.”

The leadership of both churches began to ask: “What if we could do this together?” says Goossen.

The initial request for WMB to birth the new mission with help from Stevens wasn’t ambitious enough. After months of processing the pros and cons of the merger with the board and the congregation, KMB voted 84 percent in favour of joining WMB.

A HUMBLE SPIRIT

The AGM where WMB held its vote on the merger “was not a normal business meeting,” says Stevens. Besides the vote – 97 percent in favour – there was a membership renewal. “A lot of people stood and declared a deep faith in God.” It was a fitting follow-up to the previous year’s 50th anniversary celebration where “God poured an exciting new vision into the church. We celebrated our history, reconciled with the past, and asked for forgiveness,” says Stevens. “Enlarge the place of your tent,” (Isaiah 54:2) was the theme.

“I think it prepared us to be ready for this moment.”

“We have things to work out; I’m sure there will be bumps, but we’re so humbled by [WMB’s] response,” says Goossen.

“It was all humility. All ‘let’s do this together.’”

The congregations meet separately, with campus staff and their own stage teams for worship, but Stevens preaches the same message in both congregations on Sundays.

Change does not come without pain. There was fear of KMB losing their independence; yet independence had not necessarily served the church well.

“I’ve seen people at KMB willing to give things up,” says Goossen.

“There are lots of people in Kitchener-Waterloo who need to see Jesus. Let’s work together. Might this be a way forward to revitalize churches that are struggling?” says Goossen.

“What we experienced has been the body of Christ at its best.”

K ARLA BRAUN

Managing Editor

TH E S TO RY CO NTI N U E S O N LI N E:

• God moves in circles: A lesson in prayer

by Gareth J. Goossen • Among distant cousins: A cross-cultural call

by Alex Suderman • A seed planted: amalgamation plants new life for old churches

MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

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DEVELOPING LEADERS

HEMORRHAGING FAITH: SEVEN YEARS LATER MB CHURCH GIVES YOUTH SPACE TO QUESTION AND GROW

2012, when the Hemorrhaging Faith study reported that only four in ten young adult respondents raised in evangelical churches still attend services weekly, a Saskatchewan MB church took the study’s recommendations to heart.

The result? “We have seen about 80 percent or more of our young people stay in the church,” says Greg Wiens, Waldheim MB Church pastor from 2009–18.

IN

HEMORRHAGINGFAITH.CA The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), The Great Commission Foundation,

MEANINGFUL SERVICE "An approach to living the faith that involves passing on the faith to one’s children in everyday life will help them to live out the gospel in tangible ways.“ –HF

both intellectually and morally.

Wiens explains that many of the youth, especially the more educated ones, were leaving the church because they felt that their faith “couldn’t stand up to what they were learning and experiencing at university.”

“We created a place where young adults can ask tough questions about faith without being judged,” says Wiens.

WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE "We need to create environments where youth and young adults can better experience the love of God and answered prayer by helping them to recognize 'God events' in their lives." –HF

Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada (IVCF), Stronger Together 2011, and Youth for Christ Canada (YFC) funded Hemorrhaging Faith: Why and When Canadian Young Adults are Leaving, Staying and Returning to Church. Canadian sociologist James Penner, member of College Drive Community

“We tried to give opportunities for young adults ages 20–30 to serve in meaningful ways,” says Wiens.

In 2013, on spring break, he drove a van of young people 32 hours straight to be among the first to help Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) rebuild New York City following Hurricane Sandy.

“Out of that trip, I have done eight baptisms over the past five years,” he says.

(MB) Church, Lethbridge, Alta., wrote the study (along with Rachael Harder, Erika Anderson, Bruno Désorcy, and the EFC’s Rick Hiemstra).

Young people shared honestly about their (often

SPACE FOR TOUGH QUESTIONS "Many young adults are drawn to teaching that is readily applicable and challenging. They also want a chance to ask questions and wrestle with what they’re being taught." –HF

broken) relationship with the church. These 72 interviews informed data from a 2011 Angus Reid Forum survey.

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As different generations from Waldheim MB served and travelled to MDS sites together, there was time for youth to share what they were wrestling with,

“As a teen, I questioned God’s love and goodness because I struggled with depression,” says 20-year-old Spencer Fehr, who grew up in Waldheim MB Church.

“I felt so materially blessed, and I was a Christian, which was supposed to bring hope, but I felt hopeless.”

“I had felt a call to ministry of some sort and Greg knew it,” Fehr says. One day, Fehr confessed he no longer felt called to ministry.

Wiens asked, “What is different now from when you felt the call?”

Fehr realized that the thing that had changed was his mental health. He’s grateful for his pastor’s response: “Greg walked beside me and focused my attention on God and his will for my life.”

Through what he calls “miraculous intervention,” Fehr found his way to YWAM Perth, where “I finally let God

IT TAKES TIME "We need to acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers, and encourage discussions in which young people are free to share openly." –HF

The key has been patience, Wiens says. “I want things to happen quickly, but in the life of a Millennial, it simply takes time.” As a pastor, he focused on being available, showing that he cared, that he was a safe person to talk to.

He cultivated a culture of relationship over judgment.

“Speak truth,” he says, “but not without developing a relationship first.”

WHEN CHRISTIAN TEENS RE ACH Y O U N G A D U LT H O O D , 1 IN 3 IDENTIFIES AS AGNOSTIC ,

DEVELOPING LEADERS

Spencer Fehr

speak into my life and decided to follow his calling.” He’s now in his second year at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C., pursuing a BA in biblical studies.

“I don’t know what my future holds,” says Fehr, “but I know I am called to teach the Bible and disciple others.”

“I have seen God through the love of others, his incredible Word, and the ways he has worked through history, miraculous healing, and in the everyday.”

AT H E I S T I C , “ S P I R I T U A L , ” O R “ N O N E . ”

NEW DEVELOPMENT IN 2018: 1 IN 20 IS CONVERTING TO ANOTHER WORLD RELIGION , E S P E C I A L LY B U D D H I S M O R I S L A M .

RENEGOTIATINGFAITH.CA How can we help young adults transitioning from high school to the next phase in life stay connected to church and faith?

This is the question addressed by a new report: Renegotiating Faith: The Delay in Young Adult Identity Formation and What It Means for the Church in Canada

ANGELINE SCHELLENBERG

Copy Editor

by Rick Hiemstra, Lorianne Dueck, and Matthew Blackaby, and published in 2018 by the EFC, IVCF, YFC, Power to Change, and Truth Matters Ministries.

READ MORE ONLINE:

mbherald.com/hemorrhaging-faith-7-years

REMAIN IN ME What the Hemorrhaging Faith research project means for the Canadian Mennonite Brethren church (mbherald.com/remain, September 2014)

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Two views…

On young adults: identity and belonging

ROOTING UNSTEADY TREES ew York Times columnist David Brooks recently offered a striking image to describe our cultural moment. The image was that of an unsteady tree.

A tree depends upon a strong root system to support its “branching out” into the world.

In the same way, Brooks argued, we flourish as individuals and communities when our lives are a “series of excursions from a secure base.” That base is made up of the things that bind us together – faith, family, community, and citizenship.

It is from these secure places of common identity and obligation that we exercise our freedom.

Put simply, you can’t have healthy branches without well-developed roots.

Brooks’ image can be easily applied to the experience of young adults.

Young adulthood, after all, is a time of extending into the world. Ideally, it’s a time for leaving the secure base of home and discovering how one’s unique gifting and calling can be lived out in the world.

Sometimes the term “differentiation” is used to describe the concrete steps young adults take in order to establish an independent sense of self as distinct from their family or community of origin. This is a healthy, normal part of our development. But only if the tree is balanced.

Brooks worries that contemporary society neglects the roots while celebrating the branches. The result is an unsteady tree with sprawling individual rights and unquestioned notions of personal sovereignty resting upon withered roots of shared identity and obligations.

Brooks concludes that we have become a culture that relies on a kind of individual that we can no longer create.

We need people who are rooted enough to set aside self-interest and instead work toward shared goals. But with a radically diminished sense of shared identity and obligations, there is no remaining logic for this level of self-sacrifice.

Brooks’ insight maps directly onto the question of young adults and faith. We take it as obvious that early adulthood is about self-discovery, identity formation, and individual

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expression. We quickly point to these as the branches we’d expect to see on a healthy tree.

But we are less inclined to focus on the roots that enable the branches. It may even be that these roots have become difficult to articulate, perhaps even invisible.

As the identities of tribe and nation have weakened at a cultural level, so too has our shared sense of belonging and commitment within the church.

We sometimes struggle to find a reason for the church that goes beyond individual self-interest – as if the church were a supporting actor in the individual’s quest for meaning and purpose. But without roots, early adulthood can feel like an anxious scramble for identity and meaning with few fixed points to guide the journey.

As churches, we need to nurture the developing autonomy of young adults, so that they can “branch out” into the world. We need to walk with them as they discover their gifts, embrace their callings, and find their place in the church and world. We must affirm the normal and healthy need to differentiate.

But we must remind ourselves that these “branches” are sustained by a deep root system – our identity in Christ, our commitment to Scripture, our embeddedness within the church and guidance under the Spirit, our vision of the Kingdom of God. Without these roots, the individual quest, like the unsteady tree, can collapse under the weight of its own branches.

The image of a healthy tree did not originate in the New York Times, after all. Long ago, the Psalmist applied this image to personal development, promising that healthy roots produce faithful people. “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:3).

GIL DUECK

is academic dean at Columbia Bible College, Abbotsford, B.C. His PhD dissertation was on emerging adult faith development.

DEVELOPING LEADERS

OUT OF THE WOMB; PART OF THE FAMILY he family home can be a loving, caring, nurturing place (for some; sadly, it is incredibly damaging for others); however, staying within that womb of security for too long stunts the emotional growth of young adults.

Babies are only grown in the womb for nine months, then expelled to experience the real world. To continue to mature, the baby needs more space to grow than the mother’s nurturing womb can offer. Without a type of independence outside of the protected space, young adults will have a delayed emotional maturity.

In Renegotiating Faith: The Delay in Young Adult Identity Formation and What it Means for the Church in Canada, a 2018 report on a study by Rick Hiemstra, Lorianne Dueck, and Matthew Blackaby of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, there is significant information about exactly how young adults are forming their identity within Canadian culture.

The findings point toward the trend of a delay in young adults leaving their families of origin, and how that can negatively affect their identity formation.

In the opening summary, Hiemstra et al. point out that “[c]ontinuing parental dependence makes forming an identity apart from one’s family of origin (differentiation) more difficult.”

Troubling for churches is the news that “In some cases, young adults who do not have access to traditional differentiations of place, marriage, and profession are differentiating themselves from their parents by rejecting their parents’ faith.”

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Spiritually fed teenagers become spiritually mature young adults, with significantly more chances of successfully carving out their own identity.

Without emerging in some way different from the life they have always known, young adults will struggle to forge their own identity.

As a youth and young adults pastor, I can unequivocally tell you that youth and young adults ministries are still necessary. There’s an uncanny number of teenagers who have no spiritual support at home as they face these challenges of differentiation.

However, within my own experience, I see a positive emphasis on allowing parents the space to be the spiritual leaders of their children.

This is what the church needs to be focusing on: parents showing their children the way of Jesus so young people have the roots to nourish their emergence into the sometimes cold, hard world.

What I’d love to see is the church offering support, teaching and equipping adults – parents, grandparents, mentors, surrogate siblings – to lead children and youth into spiritual maturity in the church family. This could be an organic absorption of youth who don’t have spiritual families.

Spiritually fed teenagers become spiritually mature young adults, with significantly more chances of successfully carving out their own identity.

Whether you emphasize the role of community or individuality as the best course for young adults to form their identities, please be praying for them as they do. I’d like to leave you with more words from Renegotiating Faith: “When it comes time to develop a Christian identity apart from one’s parents, young adults need persisting communities of faithful adults, mentors, and friends in their lives. When young adults move, it is vital that families, churches, and ministries work to get them connected to new Christian communities in a timely manner.”

SPENCER MEISNER

is youth and young adults pastor at Forest Grove Community Church, Saskatoon.

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STEWARDSHIP What does Mennonite Brethren theology have in common with that of other Christian denominations? And what are the distinctive emphases of Mennonite Brethren theology? Informed by Scripture, our Confession of Faith names the perspectives through which we read God’s Word in order to live as Christ’s followers. This series by the National Faith and Life Team explores the 18 articles of this formative document.

2018 approached, as is my custom, I spent several days listening to the Lord for a word for the coming year. This word serves as a beacon on the far horizon, a direction in which I purposefully move over the course of the year. It is usually a word such as silence or kindness, which points me in the direction of my personal deepening with Christ and becoming more like him.

To my surprise, the word from the Lord to me for 2018 was superfluous – not exactly the spiritual beacon I was expecting. I looked up the definition of the word – it means waste, excess, redundant, unneeded – and began to pay attention to waste and excess in my life. I went around my home taking pictures of clothes, books, drawers full of spices, utensils, and dishes, much of it rarely used. I became aware of the fact that a lot of the stuff I have is superfluous!

Article 15 in our Canadian MB Confession of Faith speaks to our responsibility as stewards who “hold something of value in trust for another through care and management” (Confession of Faith Commentary, page 165) and who eventually give an account to the owner. Humanity was appointed as caretakers and managers of creation; the church holds in trust the treasured asset of the gospel; you and I each are stewards, responsible caretakers of whatever gifts God has given to us. Moreover, the Scripture is quite explicit on what such responsible caretaking looks like.

To be a steward, managing God’s assets well, means:

AS

1. We care for the environment

God created for our enjoyment and sustenance. This is an individual responsibility, not one we pass off to governments.

How are you a good caretaker of the

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earth – your neighbourhood and the whole world?

2. We serve God, not wealth. The Western mindset encourages the accumulation of great wealth. Such accumulation is not wrong, but it ought never to become the key factor in our decision making.

Who is your real master: God or the wealth he gives you to manage?

3. We do not consume all we produce for ourselves. The glean-

ing principle in Leviticus 19:9–10 is just one of the many reminders to us, God’s wealth managers, that a portion of our personal production is meant to be given away. The amount you give away increases as your income and wealth increase. I have a friend of average income who has committed to give away a million dollars in her lifetime.

Such focus necessitates thriftier living and a generous disposition. Living with the knowledge that we have only what has first been given to us by God is a key Christian conviction. Indulging while others go without is unthinkable to the Anabaptist mindset.

Are you balancing your income and spending in such a way so as to give generously and cheerfully?

4. We find contentment in a simple, godly life. We live with

unprecedented intrusions of media that continually pump enticements to accumulate more, to take advantage of a special offer, to meet a need that we didn’t even know we had. Amid such barrage of offers, can you recognize that the item or the

experience in question may be superfluous to your life and calling as a responsible caretaker?

How are you learning to say no to excess and yes to simplicity?

5. We steward well all our resources, including time, skills, and

influence in ways that bring glory to the ultimate owner of all that we are and all that we possess.

Are you managing yourself well as an asset that belongs to God? Some might consider an article on stewardship to carry less weight in the Confession of Faith than an article on the nature of God. Yet, it is out of the nature of God that articles such as the one on stewardship flow. God is the maker and owner of all there is. He is a generous and cheerful giver.

Our primary witness to the society around us is not based on our intellectual assent to theological truths; rather it comes from how we live out these convictions. Living as good caretakers of the manifold resources of God and imitators of his generous nature is part of that witness.

Hence, 2018 was a year of purging and simplifying for me. I am slower to buy and quicker to give away, eager to discharge well my duty of a being good steward.

I encourage you to read Article 15 and the related Scripture references with your family or study group. Are there any changes in your life that the Lord would ask you to make as a steward of his creation?

INGRID REICHARD

is director of the National Faith and Life Team. She attends Glencairn Church, Kitchener, Ont.

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CRÉATION ET INTENDANCE Quels aspects de la théologie des frères mennonites rejoignent la théologie d’autres familles d’Église ? Quels sont les points saillants de la théologie des frères mennonites ? Éclairée par les Écritures, notre Confession de foi énonce les perspectives à travers desquelles nous lisons la Parole de Dieu afin de vivre en tant que disciples de Christ. Cette série présentée par le comité Foi et Vie examine les 18 articles de ce document formateur.

l’approche de 2018, selon mon habitude, j’ai passé quelques jours à écouter le Seigneur à la recherche d’une parole de Sa part pour l’année à venir. Cette parole est comme une balise qui éclaire l’horizon, une orientation vers laquelle je me dirige avec intentionnalité au cours de l’année. Il s’agit généralement d’une parole telle que le silence ou la gentillesse qui m’oriente vers un approfondissement personnel de ma relation avec Christ et qui m’amène à Lui ressembler davantage. À ma surprise, la parole qui m’est parvenue pour 2018 était superflue — pas exactement la balise spirituelle à laquelle je m’attendais. J’ai cherché la définition du mot — il signifie de trop, excessif, inutile, pas nécessaire — et j’ai commencé à faire attention au gaspillage et à l’excès dans ma vie. J’ai fait le tour de ma maison et j’ai pris des photos de vêtements, de livres, de tiroirs remplis d’épices, d’ustensiles de cuisine et de vaisselle, la plupart rarement utilisés. J’ai pris conscience que beaucoup de ce que je possède est superflu !

L’article 15 de notre Confession de foi des frères mennonites canadiens s’adresse à notre responsabilité : « l’intendant est celui qui se voit confier… un bien de valeur en vue de sa préservation et de sa bonne gestion » (Confession de foi, commentaire page 162) et qui aura à rendre des comptes au propriétaire.

L’humanité a été désignée comme intendante et de la création ; l’Église est intendante du trésor de l’Évangile ; vous et moi sommes intendants et avons la responsabilité de prendre soin de tout don que Dieu nous confie. Par ailleurs, les Écritures sont explicites quant à ce que cela signifie.

À

1. Nous prenons soin de l’environnement que Dieu a créé pour

notre jouissance et notre subsistance.

C’est une responsabilité individuelle et non une que nous déchargeons sur le gouvernement.

2. Nous servons Dieu et non la richesse. La mentalité occidentale incite

à l’accumulation de grande richesse. Cette accumulation n’est pas mauvaise, mais elle ne devrait jamais devenir le facteur principal dans notre prise de décision.

3. Nous ne consommons pas tout ce que nous produisons pour

nous-mêmes. Le principe de glanage en Lévitiques 19.9-10 n’est qu’un des nombreux rappels qui sont adressés à nous, les gérants de la richesse de Dieu.

Nous sommes censés donner plus loin une portion de notre production personnelle. La quantité à donner s’accroît à mesure que le revenu et la richesse augmentent. J’ai une amie à revenu moyen qui s’est engagée à donner un million de dollars au cours de sa vie.

Un tel objectif exige un mode de vie frugal et une disposition généreuse. Vivre en sachant que tout ce que nous avons nous vient premièrement de Dieu est une conviction chrétienne fondamentale.

S’adonner à la consommation alors que d’autres sont en manque est impensable dans la mentalité anabaptiste.

4. Nous trouvons le contentement dans une vie simple qui honore Dieu. Les médias nous incitent

sans relâche à accumuler plus, à profiter d’une offre spéciale afin de répondre à des besoins dont nous ne soupçonnions

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même pas l’existence. Dans un tel déluge d’offres, pouvez-vous reconnaître que l’article ou l’expérience dont il est question est superflu et nuit à votre vie et à votre rôle d’intendant responsable ?

5. Soyons de bons intendants de toutes nos ressources, y compris

de notre temps, de nos compétences et de notre influence de manière à rendre gloire à Celui qui est le propriétaire ultime de tout ce que nous sommes et tout ce que nous possédons.

Certains pourraient accorder moins d’importance à un article sur l’intendance qu’à un article sur la nature de Dieu au sein de la Confession de foi.

Pourtant, c’est à partir de la nature de Dieu que de tels articles sur l’intendance jaillissent. Dieu est le créateur et le propriétaire de tout ce qui existe. Il est généreux et il donne avec joie.

Notre témoignage principal à la société qui nous entoure ne se fond pas sur notre adhésion intellectuelle aux vérités théologiques, mais sur la manière dont nous mettons en pratique nos convictions. Vivre en tant que bons intendants des multiples ressources de Dieu et imitateurs de sa grande générosité fait partie de ce témoignage.

Ainsi, 2018 a été pour moi une année pour purger et pour simplifier.

J’achète moins facilement et je donne plus rapidement, impatiente de m’acquitter de mes responsabilités de bon intendant.

Je vous encourage à lire l’article 15 et les références bibliques connexes avec votre famille ou votre groupe d’étude.

INGRID REICHARD

est présidente du comité national Foi et Vie et pasteure de développement à Glencairn Church, Kitchener, Ont. Traduit par Suzanne Dunant Brown.

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inaccessibility, the Batwa need the holistic salvation of Jesus Christ. We have no argument – theological, racial, cultural, social, or geographical – before God to not teach them to become disciples of Christ.

And so, the Conférence des Eglises des Frères Mennonites en RD Congo (CEFMC – Congolese MB church) began an evangelism work among the Batwa in 1998, the fruits of which are encouraging despite numerous social challenges: they have a different approach to nudity, are mostly illiterate, they lack title to their land, and experience severe discrimination and objectification by the majority peoples of DRC. By the grace of God, despite our financial and material challenges, this missionary work counts 34 local churches today among the Batwa, with 2,475 baptized members, six primary schools supported by offerings in the CEFMC to give free schooling to Batwa children, and four pastors trained at Bible school. The denomination has also purchased land for the new converts to farm and settle on.

To build a new generation of people – both Batwa and Bantu – saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ, living together and growing in Christian unity, our current vision in CEFMC is to provide scholarships for Batwa and Bantu students to attend our school. We will continue to build schools for Batwa children, and to establish a medical clinic for the children and for the women who are often raped and forced to give birth without assistance. We want to foster true, holistic reconciliation between Bantu, Batwa, and God. This requires tireless efforts from every Christian.

The people of CEFMC offer prayers, school uniforms and supplies, and finances ($4USD per month). Education is a good channel to show true love to these people who have suffered so much. We want to share the gospel and the love that comes from God.

TRUE LOVE FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER

The gospel and education for the oppressed Batwa in DR Congo he people of whom we speak live deep in the equatorial forest, far from passable roads, between the great rivers, below the villages and the great trees. They are still subject to apartheid – marginalization, oppression – and they are deprived of land rights, forgotten even by Christians. They have been called Pygmies, but their real name is Batwa.

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Worse than a slave

For the Bantu (majority people group in DRC), ancestral tradition teaches that a Pygmy (or Motwa, in Batwa parlance) is not a person but a thing, a good, a slave, even though he or she appears like a human being.

This is why their Bantu neighbours make the Batwa work for no payment and forbid them from going to school or hospital among the general populace. The Batwa may not eat or drink with the Bantus, nor walk side by side with them.

In certain churches within the region, the Batwa are not admitted to membership. The Batwa may not sit on the same bench as the Bantu worshippers, nor greet them with a handshake; their place is at the back of the church.

They are not admitted to the priesthood – not allowed to preach, perform baptisms or marriages for the Bantu.

The image of God

But since I have begun visiting them in the course of my evangelism work of church planting in the Kiri, Bikoro and Mbandaka regions (Matthew 28:16–20), I’ve discovered that the Batwa are a beautiful people. They are very different from my own people, but they are wonderful, created in the image of God and gifted with many underappreciated human qualities.

Despite the challenges of access posed by their rustic living conditions, remote location, and geographical

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M V WA L A C . K AT S H I N G A

is a missiologist, a linguist, and a Bible translation consultant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Associate pastor of a local congregation in Kinshasa, he directs the mission department of CEFMC (the MB conference in DR Congo). He is also a lecturer at the National Teachers’ Training University and at the University Centre of Missiology in Kinshasa, DRC. Translated from French by Karla Braun.

rom a boat on the Sea of Galilee, a fisherman demonstrates the ancient art of casting a circular net. Weights along the outer edge sink rapidly, pulling the web around any living thing below. Waters next to Jesus’ ministry base at Capernaum teemed with tilapia, carp, and sardines when his first disciples plied their trade.

Fishing was a significant part of the regional economy in the first century, evidenced by names of nearby towns: Bethsaida (“house of fishing”) was hometown to Peter, Andrew, and Philip; Taricheae (“pickled fish town,” called Magdala in Hebrew) probably was home to Mary Magdalene. Disciples of Jesus appear in the Gospels variously mending nets, fishing all night, counting fish, extracting a coin from the mouth of a fish, and eating seafood breakfast on the beach with the risen Christ.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind,” Jesus told his

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Let God do the sorting

followers. “When it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire” (Matthew 13:47–50 NRSV).

At a time when some Christian denominations excommunicate or divide over contested matters, Jesus’ fishing parable is instructive.

Galilean fishermen typically used nets, not hooks, to harvest their catch. Evangelism and church discipline, according to this imagery, are broad and inclusive. Nobody gets hooked individually by ruse or violence. Rather, the wide embrace of a net draws in a motley and diverse catch. At the end of the age, these get sorted – not by you and me, but by angels.

How tempted I am to start sorting now!

Toss out fish whose politics irritate me.

Discard those not to my taste.

Get rid of any whose views don’t seem biblical according to how I interpret the Bible.

But instead of putting you and me into the sorting business, Jesus implies that we are to cast a wide net.

“Follow me, and I will make you [net] fish for people,” he said (Matthew 4:19).

Other biblical images likewise suggest that Jesus advocated an inclusive people-gathering. The kingdom of heaven is like a farmer’s field with both wheat and weeds, he taught. These grow side by side until harvest, then reapers (angels?) sort them and destroy the worthless plants (Matthew 13:24–30).

In John’s Apocalypse, it is Christ who can remove lampstands (congregations), not the churches themselves (Revelation 2:5).

Our Lord did not suggest that belief and behaviour are irrelevant to salvation. There are consequences for those who do not measure up. When God brings harvest at the end of the age, weeds will go up in smoke and bad fish end up in the furnace, “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We do well to learn, practise and teach what God requires for holy living.

But thank God, we can focus on net-casting and let God do the sorting.

J . N E L S O N K R AY B I L L

is the president of Mennonite World Conference. He lives in Indiana.

This article was adapted from “Holy Land Peace Pilgrim” (May 5, 2018, peace-pilgrim.com). MWC is a community of Anabaptist-related churches; the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches is a member.

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What we heard e want to work together. Last year, I travelled across Canada, gathering with Mennonite Brethren pastors, leaders, and interested members. As we met, from Sainte-Rose in the suburbs of Montreal to Neighbourhood Church on the Island in B.C., you told us you want unity in the church.

It was so important to be there, face-to-face, around the table with members from the MB family. After a brief explanation on the collaborative model, we had the opportunity to simply listen. We wanted to hear the heartbeat of MB churches.

The Canadian Conference of MB Churches, the MB family in Canada, is changing structures to adjust to changing times, and we want to listen to the wisdom and concerns from within our family.

We asked a few questions: • What would make you excited to be part of this family of churches together (or what already does)?

• Should we name “holistic witness” – already a demonstrated commitment – as a value of the conference’s ministry? (This would not entail the creation of any entities, but a recognition of the importance of this aspect within our existing ministry and ministry partnerships.)

• What is the best way to fund the conference’s ministry?

We noted your feedback, and it will be processed in detail by the Executive Board, the National Ministry Team (meet a few members on the facing page), and the National Faith and Life Team.

Across the country, we heard several themes of what our churches want from the conference: • Leadership development for the next generation. We want to wisely invest in discerning and training new leaders.

• Local and global mission. Bearing witness to God’s transforming power in individuals and in groups continues to be a central focus for our churches.

• Evangelical Anabaptist. Many outside influences colour our understandings of these words in ways that create ambiguity or division. Amid our diverse understandings, we want to rally around shared commitment to the values implicit in our theological positions.

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• Unity. From one side of the country to the next, we want to hear each other’s stories, share resources, and support our partners.

We need a communal identity and sense of belonging despite distance and diversity.

We want a strategy that calls for all our participation and contribution.

So what next?

At Gathering 2018 in Saskatoon, we made an important change in the motion to accept the collaborative model. You voted to approve that CCMBC develop the collaborative model “in partnership with the provincial conferences and MB ministry partners.”

The Executive Board, National Ministry Team, and National Faith and Life Team are working hard over these days to develop a new governance manual and bylaws, and funding structures, and five-year plan for the collaborative model.

You will continue to have opportunity to speak into these plans at provincial conventions this spring.

Under the existing governance structure, delegates will vote on implementation of the collaborative model at the annual general meeting at the EQUIP study conference in Ontario in October.

My great thanks to all those who participated in the regional meetings across Canada. It was so good to hear from you.

I like to think of the conference as a family; everyone has a role to play, and we need to gather regularly around the dinner table together. I hope to revisit each region every year to continue to listen in a round table setting.

Please pray with us to see God’s transforming power at work in Canada as we live out the unity to which God calls us.

E LT O N D A S I LVA

is the national director of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

He and Ana live in Winnipeg.

They have three children.

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Who is the NMT?

The National Ministry Team is a strategic group of senior staff who work collaboratively to accomplish national vision within the Mennonite Brethren family in Canada. It is comprised of provincial conference leaders, the seminary president, church planting and global mission directors from Multiply, the national faith and life director, and the national director of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. The NMT casts vision for Canadian MB churches, and prepares a budget and strategic plan for presentation at provincial assemblies.

PHILIP A. GUNTHER

Director of ministry, Saskatchewan Conference of MB Churches On the local church: My greatest joy in serving the churches of SKMB is meeting fellow brothers and sisters in Christ across the province and hearing what God is doing in their lives.

The most significant challenge is being at peace with offering encouragement and entrusting the rest to the Lord as they struggle with issues I can’t fix.

Recommended resource: Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman. A tremendous source of encouragement and wisdom when ministry feels like a desert.

INGRID REICHARD

National faith and life director, Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches On the local church: At Glencairn MB Church, Kitchener, Ont., I continue to be involved in global mission ministry, teach Bible classes, lead a life group, serve as a sounding board for church ministry leaders, and preach occasionally.

Recommended resource: Tim Mackie from The Bible Project website and Exploring My Strange Bible podcast. I appreciate Tim’s passion for Jesus and the Old Testament narrative.

He leans on biblical rather than systematic theology and he is a huge Hebrew and Greek geek, so I identify.

ROB THIESSEN

Conference minister, B.C. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches On the local church: I support my wife Janet who serves as executive pastor at my home church. I am engaged in discipleship with young men through Freedom Session. I love praying for and encouraging my pastor Matthew Price.

Recommended listening: The Jordan B Peterson Podcast, Menlo.Church – sermon audio (John Ortberg) My prayer for the conference this year: May we continue to build unity and develop the new collaborative model to multiply our national impact.

MARK WESSNER

President, MB Seminary On the local church: Jennifer and I are co-leaders of a community group at Central Heights Church, Abbotsford, B.C. Recommended reading: Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries by Gerald L. Sittser Best pastoral advice: “Left to themselves, Christians will always take care of themselves; it is the responsibility of the pastor to lead them outward.” The longer that I’ve been involved in ministry, the more that I’ve seen this to be true. Great things happen when we live and lead outward and away from our self-interests!

The National Ministry Team exists to inspire, equip, and encourage the church for effective ministry and mission in Canada and beyond.

MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

WINTER 2019

19

RESOURCING MINISTRY

Family helping family CCMBC payroll service a gift for administrators he benefit of using CCMBC’s payroll service is having a friendly person to talk to who understands ministry and knows MB churches,” says Marilyn Ens, finance director and human resources administrator at North Langley (B.C.) Community Church, which currently has 29 staff, including their internship program.

The church of about 1,400 attenders on two campuses has taken advantage of CCMBC’s payroll service for more than a decade. “I appreciate that we’re supporting our own conference,” says Ens. Rather than feeling alone, when changes such as a retirement, maternity leave, or short-term disability come up for the first time, Ens is grateful she can talk through them with Wanda Thiessen, with the confidence of knowing everything she shares is confidential.

It’s also cost-effective.

“Especially for smaller churches it would be a ‘no brainer’ to use the conference,” says Ens, “but even for us, at only $5/ person/payroll, I couldn’t Legacy payroll find anything else that team (l–r): Vicki Dyck, affordable.”

Char Hildebrand, “It’s worth every Wanda Thiessen, and penny,” says Broadway Sangita Kristjanson.

Church administrator Photo: Tony Schellenberg Joanne Dekkers.

For the congregation of about 200 in Chilliwack, B.C., with a small staff, moderator Barrie McMaster says, “It’s been a gift.”

“Many churches have a new volunteer treasurer every year or two, which can lead to inconsistency,” says Char Hildebrand, CCMBC payroll and benefits manager.

"T

20

WINTER 2019

M B H E R A L D.C O M

“The conference has four payroll staff who are up-to-date on Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regulations and ready to serve.”

Hildebrand lists the items the conference can take off church staff and volunteers’ plates: • deposit employees’ pay directly into their bank accounts; • process withdrawals for payroll costs including pension and benefits directly from the church’s bank account; • send monthly remittances for taxes, employment insurance, and Canada Pension Plan to CRA; • issue T4s and Records of Employment.

“It frees me up to do everything else!” says Dekkers. “I love the online service” where churches can report part-time hours and print off payroll documents.

Recently, their congregation had an employee become ill. “I don’t know what we would have done without the expertise at the conference,” says McMaster.

“They had wise counsel and bent over backwards to make the medical leave possible.”

Not having to do payroll makes me want to sing.

benefits manager.

Photo: Tony Schellenberg

RESOURCING MINISTRY

Char Hildebrand, CCMBC payroll and

“I can’t imagine doing as well for our employee as we did, without the incredible help of this CCMBC ministry.” The staff member is back in full capacity, which McMaster credits to the knowledgeable support of CCMBC. “As a Christian organization, we want to treat our staff right,” says McMaster. “And Char was there with helpful advice.”

“I wish other churches knew how easy it is, how freeing it is,” says Dekkers.

“I can’t say enough about it. Not having to do payroll makes me want to sing.”

“It’s expertise we don’t have to have under our roof because we have it under the larger roof of the conference,” says McMaster.

“This is one of the things we can do for each other as a family of churches.”

ANGELINE SCHELLENBERG

Copy Editor

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MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

WINTER 2019

21

DEVELOPING LEADERS

A chance to dream

Fumana family (l–r): Mathew, Gloria, Gailynne, Gloria, and Theo Fumana.

Photo courtesy Gloria Mwangi

Computer Assisted Learning bridges strengths ducation offers girls a chance to dream and boys an alternative to recruitment by military groups. The role of education – especially for women – in healthier families is one factor that drives Gloria Mwangi and Theo Fumana of Edmonton. The members of River West Christian Church are fundraising, collecting computers, and getting ready to pack up their family to move to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2019 as directors of Computer Assisted Learning Congo.

Between 2015 and 2016, both Mwangi and Fumana lost a parent, causing them both to reflect on life in a deeper way.

“We saw our parents’ lives, how they served God, and left a legacy,” says Mwangi. “We started thinking about our relationship to God, and how life is not all about us.”

Though Fumana bears the town of Winkler, Man., on his birth certificate, DRC is his homeland. (His father was studying at Winkler Bible Institute on a leadership development scholarship for international MB leaders in the 1970s.)

So Fumana and Mwangi took an exploratory trip to seek opportunities to serve in DRC. “My first reaction was to run, but the Spirit told me this is why you need to stay and help,” says Mwangi.

E

After some conversations with MB Mission, they encountered Dave Hubert from Lendrum Mennonite Church [MB] in Edmonton. The Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) project and village-building initiatives of Hubert’s organization Canadian Peacemakers International (CPI) were just the kind of enterprise they wanted to be involved with.

“We evangelize indirectly through our work,” Mwangi says.

“You preach peace and you do it.”

Mwangi and Fumana travelled to Honduras, where CPI’s program has operated for years, to learn how to run the education program they desire to bring to DRC. Discover and develop assets

In DRC, expensive fees and overcrowded or far-away schools deter students from formal learning. Recent violence in Kasai province resulted in masses of displaced people, barely able to afford food much less education.

National data indicates that 3.5 million children are not in school, and only 67 percent of children who enter Grade 1 will complete Grade 6.

“The biggest asset is the mind,” says Mwangi. CPI’s

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WINTER 2019

M B H E R A L D.C O M

Mwangi observed. Her background is in finance; Fumana’s in economics and psychology. To learn tools for working with children, she arranged to serve at Lendrum alongside children’s ministry pastor Sherri Guenther Trautwein.

In addition to the large Mennonite Brethren conference (CEFMC), there are two other major Mennonite groups in DRC. Fumana and Mwangi hope CAL can be a resource for all three. The other two Mennonite churches have been affected by the violence and displacement in Kasai.

River West Christian Church is also active in assisting the Fumana family with the CAL project.

“Theo and Gloria are passionate Jesus followers, stepping out in faith,” says River West pastor Erica Boschman. “Their relationship with Jesus and the way they raise their children is an example.”

Mwangi hopes CAL Congo will act as a bridge between MB churches in North America and DRC, envisioning exchange programs for the youth. “Intrinsic ideas will be exchanged and stronger partnerships will be forged,” she says.

Learn more: calcongo.org.

DEVELOPING LEADERS

accessible education through CAL enables learners to recognize and develop their strengths.

Curriculum is loaded onto the computer, so a shortage of teachers is not a barrier to learning. Each computer includes curriculum for Grades 7–9, Grades 1–6 (for adults), the GED preparation manual, and a library of more than 450 titles.

The local Mennonite churches can help provide spaces for learning. A DRC-generated curriculum integrates Anabaptist-Mennonite beliefs, values, and ethics.

Students’ learning is self-paced and accomplished in collaboration with other learners.

Fumana and Mwangi will recruit and train facilitators to answer questions and troubleshoot computer problems. Material that isn’t mastered can be repeated without pressure. “There is no stress from strict, disciplinary teachers,” says Mwangi.

Mwangi also dreams of using CAL to support vocational training; for example, loading manuals to repair the motorcycles that are ubiquitous in DRC. She hopes to use the computers to raise up church leaders as well. Recordings of pastors from North America can model methods, teach, and inspire pastors in DRC – “and vice versa for partnership purposes,” Mwangi says.

Children’s ministry is not given much attention in DRC,

K ARLA BRAUN

Managing Editor

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MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

WINTER 2019

23

FA M I LY N E W S

Hellos

Ellen Funk

On ministry: This is my first pastorate so

Title & congregation:

everything is very new and exciting to me. My

Chris Battle

associate pastor –

favourite thing right now is preaching. I look

Title & congregation: campus pastor, Lake

children’s ministry,

forward to the preparation and delivering the

Errock (part of Central Community Church,

Ross Road, Abbotsford, B.C.

message with clarity, simplicity, conviction, and

Chilliwack, B.C.)

Start: Aug. 1, 2018

humour. I also love seeing the church reach its

Start: July 1, 2018

Education: MA in Christian formation and

potential and new believers come to Christ.

Education: diploma in biblical studies,

discipleship from Nazarene Theological

Columbia Bible College, Abbotsford, B.C.; BA in

Seminary; certificate in Mennonite Brethren

pastoral ministry, Prairie Bible Institute, Three

Studies from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary

Hills, Alta.; MTS (in progress), MB Seminary at

Previous ministry: director of children’s

Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba board announces Cam Priebe as provincial director

ACTS and Tyndale Seminary, Toronto

ministry (2005-2017): Community Bible

Cam Priebe currently serves as the director

Previous ministry: pastor, Oakridge

Church in Olathe, Kansas, director of

of the Outtatown program with Canadian

Bible Chapel, Oakville, Ont.; associate at

Kids Camp (2013-2017): Southern District

Mennonite University, a role he has held

Apologetics Canada

Conference of MB Churches [activities

since 2011. Prior to that, he served the

Family: Sara, 1 son

director 2008–2012]

newly restructured leadership development

On ministry: The thing that makes me

Family: Donovan, 3 grown children, and 4

department for the Canadian Conference of

passionate about the church is the opportunity

grandchildren

MB Churches with a focus on emerging leaders

she has to bring hope to the hopeless.

(2009–11), and as director of Ministry Quest, a

Jeremy Crowe

program of MB Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Cal.

Robert Patterson

Title & congregation:

(2006–09).

Title & congregation: lead pastor, Scott Street

campus pastor, Creekside,

Church, St. Catharines, Ont.

Willow Park Church,

leadership and direction Priebe will bring to

Kelowna, B.C.

Manitoba MB churches starting in Spring 2019 as

Start: Sept. 5, 2018

The board looks forward to the new

Education: BA, York University; MDiv, MEd,

Start: Aug. 26, 2018

Acadia; DMin, Carey, UBC

Education: bachelor of biblical studies,

Previous ministry: missionary in East Africa;

Eston College

Cam’s gifts of coaching, mentoring, teaching,

lecturer, director of church relations, Tyndale

Previous ministry: youth pastor (2008-2011)

and leadership will assist in fulfilling the

University

Grenfell Apostolic Church; manager (2011-2013)

conference initiatives of developing leaders,

Passion for ministry: Raising up leaders and

TD Canada Trust; accounts officer (2013-2018)

building community, multiplying churches, and

seeing Christ use them as his hands, feet, and

dean of men (2016-2017), faculty (2017-2018)

resourcing ministries.

mouthpiece. Working with our leaders to serve

Eston College

as salt and light in our community.

Family: Kim, 4 children (Malachi, Zion,

atmosphere of discipleship in learning to love

Family: Sarah

Jude, Evie)

and follow Jesus Christ,” says Priebe.

they live out mission in serving Christ.

The board has joyful confidence that

“My desire is to bring my gifts to promote an

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24

WINTER 2019

M B H E R A L D.C O M

In parternship with

Priebe completed an MA in Christian

focused on the Old Testament. She holds

Community News

a DMin in spiritual formation from Tyndale

Seminary, Fresno, Cal. He and his wife Shauna

Seminary, Toronto, where she also trained

The C2C Network and MB Mission merged

currently attend The Meeting Place, Winnipeg.

as a spiritual director in the evangelical

January 2018 to form a new global church

They have three children, Tyson (married to

tradition.

planting network. The new entity came under the

Reichard left a corporate career to become

name Multiply in January 2019. “As Multiply, we

a full-time Bible teacher and executive director

continue to partner across denominational lines

of Solid Ground Bible Study Ministries in

with a vision of seeing gospel-centred, spirit-led,

CCMBC calls Ingrid Reichard as National Faith and Life director

Kitchener, Ont. She served as lead pastor of

mission-focused churches established. Our new

The Dwelling Place (MB church), 2008–14, and

partnership brings resources and energy for

In consultation with provincial MB leaders,

most recently, as pastor of development at

reaching diverse people groups globally,” reads

the Canadian Conference of Mennonite

Glencairn MB Church.

their news release.

Alanna), Megan, and Madison.

—MBCM board

Brethren Churches (CCMBC) called Ingrid

When she is not travelling for her new role,

Reichard as National Faith and Life director

Reichard will continue contributing to her church

James Penner will volunteer as pastoral associate

beginning Dec. 15, 2018. In this newly created

as Bible class and life group leader, occasional

with the Saskatchewan Conference of Mennonite

full-time staff position, Reichard offers

preacher, and sounding board for leadership.

Brethren Churches. As a counsellor, pastoral

strategic leadership to the National Faith

FA M I LY N E W S

ministry from Mennonite Brethren Biblical

Ingrid and her husband of 30 years, Scott,

support to church and camps, and as pulpit supply.

and Life team (NFLT, formerly the Board

have two adult sons, who are also active in

He has served as lead pastor in three churches in

of Faith and Life) in its role of Building

their home church.

two denominations over 15 years.

See mbherald.com/transitions-winter-2019/.

Births

Community among MB churches across Canada.

“My passion and service in the church have always revolved around strengthening

Transitions in your ministry? Let us know.

the followers of Christ in the soundness of

mbherald@mbchurches.ca.

Dick – to Spencer & Dana (Peters) of Warman,

our theology and in the depth of our love for Jesus,” says Reichard.

Reichard has served as the chair of the

Sask., a son, Jaden John, Aug. 22, 2018.

Klassen – to Brandon & Keely (Driscoll) of

Goodbyes

Saskatoon, a son, Elijah Dax Troy, July 24, 2018.

Penner – to Jeremy & Adrienne of Thailand, a

Ontario Board of Faith and Life (BFL), and as the secretary and vice-chair of the national

After much fasting and prayer, the leadership

daughter, Elya Joy, Aug. 29, 2018.

BFL. In November 2017, she returned to the

team of Grace Mennonite Brethren Church,

Peters – to Ryan & Nicole (Wollf) of Saskatoon,

national BFL in the role of chair, ratified at

Penticton, B.C., presented a motion to close

a son, Hudson John, Sept. 22, 2018.

Gathering 2018 in July. Leadership of the Faith

at their AGM. It passed unanimously. Grace

Reich – to Josef & Melanie of Steinbach, Man.,

and Life team will continue to account for 70

was established as a result of a cooperative

a daughter, Rachel Kate, Oct. 18, 2018.

percent of her staff role.

effort between local Mennonite Brethren

Serger – to Morgan & Krista of York Landing,

individuals and Associated Gospel Churches

Man., a son, Isaiah Abel, Oct. 23, 2018.

caring for the spiritual health of the national

(AGC) ministries in Penticton. The first joint

Stork – to Mike & Brittany (Peters) of Waterloo,

ministry team, fostering relationships at

service was held in 1982 and 57 members

Ont., a daughter, Anna Rebekah, Aug. 30, 2018.

national and provincial conference events,

chartered the congregation with the B.C.

Wall – to Johnny & Holly of Lethbridge, Alta., a

encouraging the provincial Faith and Life

Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches,

daughter, Bethany Rae, Oct. 19, 2018.

teams, assisting provincial directors with

with Edward Hamm becoming pastor a few

faith and life matters, facilitating greater

months later. Blake Wagner served as pastor

collaboration between the NFLT and MB

from 2002 until 2018, when he stepped

Seminary, and developing and promoting

down to relieve the financial burden created

theological resources for the churches.

by a sudden decrease in membership due

Taylor Braet of Lethbridge, Alta., & Lauren

to deaths and relocations. In their time of

Thiessen of Coaldale, Alta., July 28, 2018.

Spirit, a heart for discipleship, and a wealth

fasting and prayer, the leadership team

Cody Doerksen of Coaldale, Alta., & Susie

of effective leadership experience to this

received a message of hope for rebirth. Three

Froese of Bow Island, Alta., July 7, 2018.

role,” says CCMBC national director Elton

new members were baptized in February. The

Simi Falaye of Calgary & Christa Penner of

DaSilva. “With her passion for relationship

closing celebration service May 20, 2018, was

Justice, Man., July 7, 2018.

and love for MB history and theology, she

well attended.

Darren Harder of Moore Park, Man., & Erin

Reichard’s responsibilities will also include

“Ingrid brings a sensitivity to the Holy

Weddings

Fehr of Winkler, Man., Feb. 17, 2018.

will champion a vision for collaboration and unity within our Mennonite Brethren family

Phil Wagler completed his service with

Logan Siebert & Brittany Holzli, both of

across Canada.”

Multiply (MB Mission) Nov. 30, 2018. He

Coaldale, Alta., Sept. 8, 2018.

served as lead team member and B.C.

Johnny Wall & Holly Griffiths, both of

regional team mobilizer.

Lethbridge, Alta., June 30, 2018.

Reichard’s biblical studies at Heritage Seminary and McMaster Divinity College

MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

WINTER 2019

25

Finish Lines

years. John encouraged his 6 children to work

family farm. His wink from across the kitchen

hard and do their best. Together with Helena,

Mary Helen Pauls

led to love and a marriage proposal. Lydia

he made sure they knew about Jesus’ love,

Aug. 25, 1930–May 11, 2018

and Otto lived in Herbert, Sask., for their first

grace, and forgiveness. His greatest wish was

Birthplace: Beechy, Sask.

year before purchasing a farm. At Herbert MB

that they accept the gift of salvation. He was

Parents: John & Tina Pauls

Church, Lydia taught Sunday school, sang in

a long-time member of Niverville (Man.) MB

Church: North Kildonan

the choir and in a trio with her sisters-in-law,

Church. John and Helena sold the farm to

MB, Winnipeg

volunteered as a pal to Pioneer Girls, and

their son Vern and moved to Winnipeg in 1993.

Family: 8 siblings; cousins; nieces & nephews;

worked in the library. She threw great birthday

John continued to work until a car accident in

great-nieces & -nephews

parties, cheered at her sons’ sporting events

2005 left him unable to farm. He recuperated,

and attended all their theatre performances.

grateful that God spared his life. After a fall in

the pastures and fields of their farm, making

Lydia’s health struggles began in 1975 but didn’t

2017, they sought out assisted living. John and

miniature fences with nails and string. She was

stop her from enjoying life. She loved camping,

Helena had 5 weeks at Donwood before he

10 when she led her 6-year-old sister Bertha to

playing games, reading, doing macramé,

entered the hospital May 26. On Father’s Day,

Jesus while they were walking to a birthday party

creating pottery, playing autoharp, and talking

John moved to his eternal home.

organized by their Sunday school teacher. Mary

for hours on the phone. In 2001, Lydia and Otto

had mental illnesses in her teens but overcame

moved from the farm to Herbert, where she

them. She lived with her family in Main Centre,

made meals for people who were ill or had a

Martha (Willms) Dyck

Sask., until leaving for Bible college in Winnipeg at

baby, played games with Otto, and connected

Feb. 5, 1921–Aug. 11, 2018

21, and later, teacher’s college in Saskatchewan.

with her children and grandchildren. For 51

Birthplace: Rosenthal,

She was a teacher most of her life. She also spent

years, Lydia cherished having devotions with

39 summers working at Camp Arnes. Mary cared

Otto every morning and evening. She will be

Parents: Heinrich & Katharina (Neufeld) Klassen

for her mentally disabled brothers, teaching the

remembered for her beautiful smile and positive

Marriage: Aron Willms, 1944 [d. 1981]; John Dyck [d.]

youngest, Wally, to take the bus to and from

attitude. Her faith in God remained strong until

Church: Gem (Alta.) MB; Coaldale (Alta.) MB

work. She helped her parents with her brothers,

she entered his presence.

Family: children Edwin (Ruth) Willms, Ruth

FA M I LY N E W S

she met Herb’s brother Otto, working on the

Mary and her older brother Abe played in

even after the other children left home. Mary

(Edgar) Dueck; 5 grandchildren including

loved art and music; she lent her strong alto

John Arthur Peters

voice to choirs. She entered the Winnipeg Music

Nov. 30, 1929–June 17,

Festival in the folk song class. She learned to play

2018

her family, arriving in Kleefeld, Man., before

the auto harp, recorder, and cello, always helping

Birthplace: Tofield, Alta.

settling in Munson, Alta. They enjoyed a

music groups and offering solos. Her great-nieces

Parents: Franz A. & Helena

tight-knit Mennonite community, with her dad

and great-nephews were precious to Mary, who

(Konrad) Peters

serving as minister. Martha attended Gem

Denise Willms [d.]; 14 great-grandchildren At 5, Martha immigrated to Canada with

spent time go-karting and making pictures with

Marriage: Helena Hildebrand, Aug. 5, 1961

(Alta.) Bible School 1936–37. She worked for

them. She took pleasure in always being ready to

Baptism: Lindbrook (Alta.) MB, age 15

a family in Drumheller, Alta., until Aron Willms

give a ride when others needed it.

Church: Niverville (Man.) MB (now Fourth Avenue

entered her life. After their marriage, Martha

Bible); St. Adolphe (Man.) Bible Fellowship

and Aron farmed 6 years in Countess, Alta. In

Lydia (Dueck) Wiebe

Family: Helena; children Barb (Larry) Driedger,

1950, they moved to Gem. Here they raised

Apr. 9, 1945–May 17, 2018

Neoma (Dave) Goertzen, Lorne (Carol), Vern

their family while being active in the church. A

Birthplace: Gouldtown,

(Lorie), Delbert (Anita), Heather (Derek); 24

massive heart attached forced Aron to retire

Sask.

grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren; 6 siblings

from farming. Five months after moving to

Parents: John & Helen Dueck

26

Ukraine

On the Trent Ranch north of Tofield, Alta.,

Coaldale, he died. In her loneliness, Martha

Marriage: Otto Wiebe, Apr. 1, 1967

from his parents, John learned hard work and

relied heavily on the Lord to sustain her. She

Church: Grace Community, Herbert, Sask.

the love of Jesus. In 1936, the family moved

was thankful for the support of family and

Family: Otto; children Steve (Connie), Cliff

to the Mitchell farm south of Tofield. Here,

friends. Martha was married to John for several

(Heather), Bruce (Melanie); 5 grandsons

John completed Grade 10. When a travelling

years, until his death. She enjoyed getting to

Lydia accepted Christ as Saviour at

minister (whom his parents were hosting)

know his family, with whom she continued a

a young age. She had fond memories of

led devotions on the lost sheep and coin,

warm relationship. Through her difficulties,

singing and taking walks together with her

12-year-old John repented and committed

Martha looked outward in service to others.

mother. Lydia was baptized as a teen into

to following Jesus. At 15, he rededicated his

She found it therapeutic to visit seniors in care

the Gouldtown church. In Swift Current, Sask.,

life. After the family moved to a dairy farm in

facilities, often bringing baking with her. Even

she took 2 years of Bible school, followed by

Matsqui, B.C., in 1946, John completed Grade

in her final years, with failing eyesight, she

a sewing course. Lydia discovered early that

13, then worked with his dad. While attending

continually found ways to serve others. She

she loved working with children. She provided

MB Bible College, Winnipeg, in 1960, John

was a light to those around her, a delight to all

childcare and housekeeping support to several

met Helena. They married and settled on a

who knew her.

families. While serving Herb and Adeline Wiebe,

dairy farm near Île-des-Chênes, Man., for 32

WINTER 2019

M B H E R A L D.C O M

Marie (Hiebert) Doerksen

Christmas. On the way home from school, they’d hope to see her gold Nova on their yard. She

to Dinuba, Cal. From age 11 on, she lived in

Nov. 26, 1919–Aug. 25, 2018

often asked visiting nieces and nephews to pick

Abbotsford, B.C. She married Nick in 1992.

Birthplace: Rueckenau,

produce from her large garden for supper or

Margie’s life focused on her family, church,

Ukraine

dessert. Lena cared for her parents in their old

and friends: volunteering in her children’s

Parents: Henrik & Katharina Hiebert

age. She took a 3-year hiatus from her work as a

schools, actively serving at Bakerview Church,

Marriage: David Doerksen, April 1939 [d. 2002]

counsellor at Bethesda Home to take care of her

participating in a supportive dance community,

Baptism: Port Rowan (Ont.) MB, July 1943

mother after a stroke. She felt privileged to own

and bringing life, humour, and God’s light to

Family: children Elizabeth (d. Arthur Kutz),

a car and served others well into her older years

everyone she encountered. During her 25 years

Martin (Selma), Linda (Wilbert Unger), Ellen

by driving friends and seniors to appointments,

at Bakerview, Margie had many opportunities to

(Bill Reimer); 14 grandchildren; 35 great-

stores, and restaurants. She lived at the

serve: as youth sponsor, song leader, and member

grandchildren; 23 great-great-grandchildren

Mennonite Home for Seniors for her last 10 years.

of the service-planning, search, governance, and aid committees. She also participated in several

Marie’s parents left Russia for Canada in 1924,

Alice (Wall) Driedger

mission trips to Mexico. Following a 7-year battle

settling in New Dundee, Ont. Later, they bought

Apr. 28, 1935–Oct. 22, 2018

with cancer, she entered the presence of her Lord.

a 50-acre farm near Erie View, Ont., where Marie

Birthplace: Vineland, Ont.

Margie will be greatly missed by her husband,

enjoyed school until she graduated from Grade

Parents: John & Anna Wall

adult children, extended family, and countless

8. At 15, she went to work as a domestic worker,

Church: Port Rowan (Ont.) MB

others whose lives she touched.

where she met David, who was working on a

Family: Peter; children Dennis (Janie), Lorraine

neighbouring farm. They married April 1939,

(Bill) Wiebe, David (Marlena), Timmy [d. in infancy];

and that July, they were both baptized into Port

grandchildren; great-grandchildren

Rowan (Ont.) MB Church. In 1943, David’s dream

Albert Jacob Klassen

Alice’s home was Christ-centred, filled

Feb. 28, 1951–Nov. 13, 2018

of owning his own farm became reality. Times

with Bible study and prayer. She attended

Birthplace: Glenbush, Sask.

were hard at the beginning, but they had each

Eden Christian College and Eden Bible School,

Parents: Cornelius &

other and worked together to raise 4 children

maturing in her faith and developing her

there. Marie always said it a wonderful life.

Spirit-inspired gifts. She was baptized in Lake

Marriage: Donna Bernice Neufeld, Sept. 7, 1974

Across the road from their farm, they built their

Ontario and remained dedicated to the Lord.

Church: Glenbush MB

retirement home, where they lived until David

The Lord gave Alice musical ability, which

Family: Donna; children Cora Lynn (Dave)

had a stroke in 1999. David moved to Tabor in

she used to glorify him in countless churches.

Carey, Brent, Brad; 2 grandchildren; his mother;

January 2000, and a month later, Marie joined

In 1954, Alice met Peter, who had moved to

5 siblings

him. David died 2 years later. Marie treasured

Ontario from Manitoba. The Lord joined their

Albert had strong faith in God and an

family visits and prayed for each member by

hearts in harmony; a year later, they married.

attitude of grace toward others. Wise, humble,

name daily. Until the last few years, her hands

Alice joyfully shared her gift of music with 3

and generous, with a calm presence, he often

were always busy crocheting. Her word search

generations of family. She was a rare blend of

found himself in leadership roles, including

puzzles, books, and music filled many hours.

serious and whimsical. A tireless worker, she

trustee on the school board for 20 years, rural

cared for her loved ones by creating a clean,

municipality councillor, and various roles at

Lena Enns

orderly environment. Alice was an amazing cook

Glenbush (Sask.) MB Church. Farming gave Albert

Nov. 20, 1926–Sept. 28, 2018

and baker who desire to feed both body and

joy as he worked with his brothers, then trained

Birthplace: Waldheim, Sask.

soul. She loved studying the Bible. A religious

his sons to make the family farm prosperous.

Parents: John & Margaret

education teacher in public schools, Alice had

With wisdom and foresight, he was not afraid to

Enns

a burden for children’s souls. Always willing to

try new things. Whether building houses, finding

Church: Glenbush, Sask.; Elm Creek, Man.;

serve, Alice and Peter ministered faithfully in the

efficiencies on the farm, or creating something

Vineland, Ont.

Niagara Peninsula, Aylmer, and Port Rowan.

new, Albert sought ways to improve life for his

Family: sisters Marie (Jake) Penner,

Katherine Tena Klassen

family. He was always willing to lend a hand

Margaret (Margie) Elizabeth Peters

with carpentry; until his last months, he enjoyed

July 7, 1974–Nov. 1, 2018

camping, boating, driving quad, and playing

She was a wiz at raising gloxinia and African

Birthplace: Abbotsford, B.C.

acoustic and bass guitar. Never too busy for his

violets plants, doing embroidery, and spoiling her

Parents: Walter & Connie

family, he did all he could to provide for them and

family with cooking and baking. Lena grew up

Rempel

help them succeed. He had a deep bond with

Sue (Bill) Klassen, (Margaret Enns Friesen); nieces & nephews Lena spent most of her life in Vineland, Ont.

FA M I LY N E W S

Due to hard times under Communist rule,

When Margie was 9, her family moved

building onto his home with his sons. Albert loved

reading and believing God’s Word. She enjoyed

Marriage: Nick Peters, July 4, 1992

his grandchildren and took great interest in their

church life. Tante Lena showered love on her

Baptism: Zion MB, Dinuba, Cal., mid-1980s

activities. Generous with his time and resources,

nieces and nephews, who adored her. She spent

Church: Bakerview, Abbotsford, B.C.

he did whatever he could to help others in need.

time with them and offered treats and gifts on

Family: Nick; children Rebecca, Jackson; brother

Through his consistent example, Albert taught his

Sunday afternoons, vacations, birthdays, and

Aron; niece & nephews

family and others how to love.

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HERstory:

I M P O R TA N T W O M E N I N H I S T O R Y Y O U ’ V E P R O B A B LY N E V E R H E A R D O F ( B U T S H O U L D ) AUGUST 31, 2018 TO FEBRUARY 1, 2019 M E T ZG E R C O L L E C T I O N AT C O L U M B I A B I B L E C O L L E G E , A B B O T S F O R D , B . C .

Dorothy Day 1973

By Jim Forest Photo: Bob Fitch; images for this feature supplied by the Metzger Collection

28

Hildegard von Bingen

A PERSISTENT INFLUENCE

W

Women throughout history with a passion for God

hen I think about great theologians, philosophers, missionaries, and politicians, it is often men’s names that

come to mind.

My church tradition of origin does not include women as official members of the clergy, so my experience of women in pastoral roles is limited as well.

Even the amazing women of Scripture can often be forgotten and passed over in favour of better-known stories.

This has always frustrated me.

I felt burdened by my own ambitions and desire for full involvement both within the church and in the world at large.

For a long time, I believed I would have to blaze my own trail and upend the status quo in order to achieve my goals. It was an exciting thought, yes, but also a daunting prospect.

Working on the HERstory exhibit has helped me to understand that the women of my generation do not have to claw out a place for themselves from scratch. Rather, we stand on the shoulders of martyrs and mystics, political activists, adventurers, and artists from all walks of life.

The exhibit highlights just a few of the incredible women who pursued the calling of God in their lives with an integrity and passion that demanded recognition even in periods much less empowering toward women than our own. One of them, Hildegard von Bingen, has been a personal inspiration to me.

This 12th-century abbess wrote books, plays, and hundreds of musical compositions, leading her community in creative worship of God.

She experienced visions all her life, but it wasn’t until she was in her 40s that she shared her visions. She heard an audible call to write, then spent months of internal debate before recording her visions in Scivias. Her works, preaching, and correspondence with political and religious leaders gave her significant lasting influence.

Hildegard’s courageous lifestyle of faith and holistic view of spirituality and worship inspire and challenge me to seek out a more personal, tangible relationship with the God who interacted with her and continues to move among his people today.

Though their lives are unfortunately unknown to many, women like Hildegard have left a persistent influence on their own traditions of faith, the church as a whole, and society at large.

Each of the women featured in the HERstory exhibit brings unique perspectives that are influenced by the socio-spiritual reality of their femininity as they reflect the nature of God. I believe that it is incredibly significant for the church to understand the beautiful legacy of women throughout the ages, adopt their passion for the heart of God, and inspire future generations of men and women to empower one another toward better serving our Lord, the church, and the world around us.

C AT H E R I N E B E R G S

is a student at Columbia Bible College who has both volunteered and worked in the Metzger Collection. She was particularly involved in helping to prepare the HERstory exhibit.

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29

Perpetua and Felicity Mosaic Photo: Nick Thompson

THE RELEVANCE OF HERstory A word from the curator

M

useums are not just for tourists and history buffs.

Historical and cultural centres can be invaluable guides for navigating the socio-cultural milieu of today, bringing broader perspectives to bear on the issues we face as individuals, within the church, and in society.

The Metzger Collection, a biblical-historical museum located at Columbia Bible College, Abbotsford, B.C., vigilantly pursues this vision. Its current feature exhibit, “A Selection in HERstory: Important Women in Christian History You’ve Probably Never Heard of (But Should),” is not merely an exercise in historical interest for the historically interested. It rises out of a desire to seek justice and the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom both within the discipline of history and in our contemporary context.

As manager of the Metzger Collection and instructor of history at Columbia, I see all too well that History tends to focus on men to the exclusion and marginalization of women’s voices in the past. Part of the vision behind this exhibit is to push back against this trend in favour of greater equity.

Why does this matter?

A telling of the story of history almost exclusively with men – typically powerful white men – as both the authors and the subject matter results in a narrow and skewed view of history.

If we knowingly or unknowingly allow such history to shape our values and viewpoints today, we not only buy into a narrow outlook ourselves, but participate in and compound the marginalization of women both in the past and today.

The HERstory exhibit has particular relevance in the social climate of #MeToo and #ChurchToo. These movements all the more help us see the injustice of failing to pay attention to alternative voices.

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WINTER 2019

M B H E R A L D.C O M

Beyond the act of paying attention to women in history, the HERstory exhibit participates in the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom through the witness of the women’s voices themselves. Their exemplary stories display hearts aflame for God, lived out in powerful ways despite the challenges and obstacles they would have faced.

I have been inspired by the witness of women like Perpetua and Felicity, third-century North African martyrs. Master and slave (respectively), they challenged the social inequalities of the day by standing arm-in-arm as equals in Christ while awaiting their death by wild animals and gladiators.

As a Mennonite, I am strikingly challenged by the pacifist witness of 20th-century Catholic Dorothy Day. Rather than sit on her hands when confronted by the plight of the homeless and unemployed people around her, she welcomed them as Christ, opened her doors, established Houses of Hospitality, and even went to prison for her peaceful protests on behalf of others.

My hope for this exhibit is to help open our eyes to see the untold HERstories (as well as other narratives from the margins) that lie under the surface, both in history and in our midst.

Such histories expand our horizons of the ways that Christ is at work. The individual stories can inspire and empower us to similarly rise above the challenges and obstacles we face today.

They call us as ambassadors of Christ to witness to and impact the world around us in peaceful but persistent ways.

GREG THIESSEN

is an instructor of history at Columbia Bible College, Abbotsford, B.C., a Mennonite Brethren-affiliated school, and manager of the Metzger Collection, a museum owned and operated by the college.

SUSPENDED AND THE ART OF FORGIVENESS

daughter, it was through art, not words, that he expressed his journey.

The remarkable thing A N D R E W WA L L , about the Derksens is WRITER DIREC TOR that – despite decades of REFUGE 31 FILMS not knowing who killed their daughter, followed by years of trial, appeal, acquittal – they don’t seem to have gotten stuck.

The Derksens’ stubborn insistence on here is a remarkable amount living out their stated value of forgiveness of laughter in this film about freed them to keep learning, growing, a man who has gone through and serving. such pain.

Cliff admits there was a period when In 1984, Cliff and Wilma Derksen’s the forgiveness began to slip away and 13-year-old daughter Candace didn’t anger insidiously took its place. come home from school one winter’s eveImagination – that “devil’s playning. When Candace’s body was found ground” in the Mennonite upbringing seven weeks later, the Derksens, steeped that incubated the gift of forgiveness – in Mennonite teaching, declared they turned out to be a divine key to releasing had to forgive whoever did this to her. the burden of anger.

More than 20 years later, the DerksIn the process, he discovered an ens endured the trial of the accused, and unexpected gift. Confronting the ugliagain amazed people with their intention ness in his own heart opened a door to – less naïve now, but equally determined understand how someone could do a ter– to forgive the perpetrator. rible thing.

But the film focuses on Cliff’s “Faith is the core” of their ability to less-publicized journey. forgive, Cliff and Wilma assert. But art – Although raised in a pragmatic relivisual for him, verbal for her – is the tool gious community that held art with that allowed them both to not only surdisdain or suspicion, Cliff could not stem vive but thrive. the tide of creativity that flows out of And humour. A genuine mirth him. So, in the decades of processing the bubbles out of both of them. There’s a horror from which he could not save his hard-won serenity that emanates from

T

Candace House opened in November 2018, less than a block from the Law Courts building in Winnipeg. A longcherished dream of the Derksens’, this homey space is an escape for the families of victims who are going through trial.

“The courthouse is not a warm place,” says executive director Cecilly Hildebrand.

“A trial is emotionally and physically exhausting.”

The first of its kind, Candace House provides a private place – including kitchen, bathroom, living area – to process some of that in a space that feels like home.

Within days of opening, a family from out of town who were involved in a trial stopped by and spent several hours.

Candace House is now part of our family, they said as they left.

“We’ve done it,” says Hildebrand as she relates the story. She hopes the “healing haven” will help something beautiful come out of the pain that enters.

Cliff and Wilma, even through the screen.

Suspended? Not as frozen or rootless, but unencumbered and at peace. Cliff and Wilma are a testament that forgiveness frees.

Suspended is a production of Refuge 31 Films, available on Bell MTS’s Fibe TV1.

K ARLA BRAUN

Managing Editor

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My seminary experience has opened me to real life learning with others. It has given me a framework and a safe place to challenge my thinking, strengthen my faith, and renew my dedication to the church, in all of its complexity. My first online course experience built networks with ministry partners and opened many supportive relationships—even at a distance.

Janelle Braun (BA 2009; Current CMU-MB Seminary student, MA Theological Studies; Leadership Development Coordinator, MBCM, Winnipeg, MB)

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AND MINISTRY

Master of Divinity Coming Fall 2019

Graduate Certificate in Christian Studies CANADIAN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY

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Master of Arts:

Concentration in Christian Ministry Concentration in Theological Studies

cmu.ca/gstm

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Pastors & Leaders Day

Coming Events ONMB Pastors & Leaders Day February 22, 2019 | Glencairn MB Church, Kitchener ONMB Convention | February 22-23, 2019 Glencairn MB Church, Kitchener MBCM Assembly | March 1-2, 2019 Steinbach MB Church, Steinbach

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Convention

Save the date!

Pastors Credentialing Orientation (PCO) May 14-16, 2019 Winnipeg, Manitoba pco.mennonitebrethren.ca

SKMB Assembly | March 8-9, 2019 Parliament Church, Regina AEFMQ Convention | April 5-6, 2019 TBD, Montreal ABMB Convention | April 12-13, 2019 Sunwest Christian Fellowship, Calgary BCMB Convention | April 26-27, 2019 Willow Park – Church @ 33: Rutland Community Campus, Kelowna

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MENNONITE BRETHREN HERALD

Interpreting Scripture Today Bible and Culture Spirit and Community

2019 STUDY CONFERENCE

October 23-25, 2019

WMB Church Waterloo, ON

equipstudyconference.mennonitebrethren.ca

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