MC Saskatchewan holds annual delegate sessions
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan held its 2022 annual delegate session (ADS) as a hybrid event, allowing for both in-person and virtual attendance. Delegates met at the Youth Farm Bible Camp just south of Rosthern, Sask., on March 12. Josh Wallace, interim executive minister for MC Sask commented, “After meeting only virtually for two years, we knew…
Hanley Mennonite closes after nearly 100 years
“I understand this as part of the life cycle of the church,” says Gary Peters. “We’ve been in the process of aging, now we’re in the process of dying.” This may be a painful way to view what has happened to Hanley Mennonite Church, the congregation he has pastored for the past 32 years, but…
Embracing disequilibrium
“We have to embrace the disequilibrium we feel right now and let it teach us what it needs to teach us,” said Claire Ewert Fisher, interim pastor of Rosthern Mennonite Church, speaking at Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s virtual town hall event, “Dreaming church beyond pandemic.” The gathering, held via Zoom on June 16, involved pastors and…
Deepening their walk with each other in spite of social isolation
After a year spent exploring the theme, “Deepening our walk with each other,” Mennonite Church Saskatchewan continued, inadvertently, to ponder what this means during its annual delegate sessions (ADS). When COVID-19 forced the postponement of the regional church’s annual general meeting, slated for mid-March, planners scheduled a virtual meeting, via Zoom, for April 25. Seventy-eight…
Sharing muffins and friendship
In 2017, when Kirsten Hamm-Epp was appointed to the newly formed Faith Leaders Council at the University of Saskatchewan, she likely didn’t imagine she would be hosting breakfast for up to 50 students every week. Lincoln, left, helps himself to breakfast as he chats with Kirsten Hamm-Epp, who represents the Mennonite church on the University…
Considering bylaws and budgets
“We looked at the bylaws and asked, ‘Is this what we’re actually doing?’” said Tim Wiens. “Usually the answer was ‘No.’ ” Wiens was reporting to Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions, held March 8 and 9 at Waldheim’s Zoar Mennonite Church. He and Kirsten Hamm-Epp, regional church minister, were appointed to form an ad hoc…
Hitting reset
Anyone who has operated a computer knows that, from time to time, it’s necessary to hit reset. The same is true in the life of faith. “Resetting is an affirmation of God’s grace,” said Rachel Miller Jacobs, an associate professor of congregational formation at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind. “Things do not have…
Celebrating what was, anticipating what will be
“We celebrated 108 years of life in that building,” said Ed Bueckert, referring to Zoar Mennonite Church’s sanctuary in Langham, which faces imminent closure. About 110 members, former members, friends and neighbours gathered on April 22 to celebrate the congregation’s history and the life lived in the old building. Members from across the age spectrum…
Giving the bucket list a ‘deeper’ meaning
Deepening. The word resonated throughout Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s 2018 annual delegate sessions. While a budget and elections were most definitely on the table, delegates at the March 9 and 10 sessions also witnessed the culmination of the yearlong Refresh, Refocus, Renew process, in which the regional church engaged consultant Betty Pries to help them set…
Putting goals into practice
Setting goals is a good practice, but how does a faith community translate those goals into reality? At their Refresh, Refocus, Renew mini-retreat in September, members of Mennonite Church Saskatchewan identified three goals for the coming years. Although the reference group appointed to work with these goals will unveil a plan for their implementation at…
