MC Manitoba re-imagines church together at annual gathering
The buzz of conversation and singing was a welcome sound as people filled Douglas Mennonite Church in Winnipeg for Mennonite Church Manitoba’s first in-person gathering in three years. This year’s event hosted more than 150 people, including 111 delegates, on March 3 and 4. The theme was “Re-imagining church together.” “It’s a focus befitting the…
Watch: How to read church financial statements
Regional churches are preparing to hold their annual gatherings in the coming weeks, and Mennonite Church Manitoba is offering a resource for delegates who are feeling anxious about discussing financial matters. In a video posted on the regional church’s YouTube channel last week, MC Manitoba executive minister Michael Pahl offers a brief introduction to reading…
New book features imaginative meditations, monologues from the margins
In her new book, People and Places of Sacred Interior Spaces, spiritual director Laura Funk provides opportunities for imaginative walks of faith through guided meditations, and monologues inspired by the Jewish tradition of Midrash. Funk is currently spiritual director in residence for Mennonite Church Manitoba and attends Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. CommonWord will host…
‘I am not being persecuted’
Michael Pahl A former church minister in Morden is pushing back on churches arguing for freedom from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. In a series of tweets sent out May 3, Michael Pahl, executive minister of Mennonite Church Manitoba, called on Christians in his southern Manitoba community to continue to follow public-health orders as a way to…
MC Manitoba looks to the future amid a pandemic
Mennonite Church Manitoba’s 74th annual gathering was confined to screens this year due to the ongoing pandemic, but reports of the regional church’s work came from all over the province, like a small-town ice rink and the Camp Assiniboia lodge. These pre-recorded videos from regional church staffers joined a morning of worship, Q&A periods and…
‘God is at work among us’
Michael Pahl Michael Pahl’s first month as Mennonite Church Manitoba’s new executive minister was a traffic jam of Zoom meetings and a steep drive around the learning curve. Pahl, 50, officially began his role on Jan. 1 and spent several weeks in a rush of year-end reviews, budgeting and planning for MC Manitoba’s upcoming annual…
I’m thinking about sparrows
I am thinking about sparrows today, about how many of them there are, and yet how little I notice them until they stop for a quick perch on the railing of my deck and I find myself wishing that they were some other variety of backyard bird, perhaps something with just a little more colour—like a…
MC Manitoba executive minister blessed by relationships
After nine-and-a-half years of service, Ken Warkentin concluded his time as executive minister of Mennonite Church Manitoba on June 30. But his ministry goes back much farther than that. He remembers the exact date he began at First Mennonite Church in Saskatoon—Oct. 4, 1981—where he was a music and youth minister for five years. In…
Manitoba Mennonites to explore vulnerability and mission
Embracing vulnerability can help congregations “engage with the world the way Jesus did,” says Ken Warkentin, Mennonite Church Manitoba Executive Minister. Through plenary talks and workshops, Manitoba congregations will have the opportunity to learn about mission and vulnerability at InFuse, a one-day learning event that takes place at Canadian Mennonite University Nov. 3, 2018. “We…
A picture of gradual decline
Often our society relies too much on numbers. In gravitating to quantification we tend to short-circuit the truth, which is nuanced and multilayered. But when it comes to our denomination, I would like to see more numbers. Specifically, how has overall giving to area/regional churches and Mennonite Church Canada changed over time? The charts here…
