Transitions abound at MC Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions
David Boshart, president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., encouraged Mennonite Church Saskatchewan participants at this year’s annual delegate sessions (ADS) to hold on to a hopeful perspective, even as the challenges of church life after the pandemic grew. “This all begins with Christians who see the world in a different way,” he…
Allowing God’s light to shine ‘out of us’
“We hear God’s voice from a place of knowing who we are,” said Kirsten Hamm-Epp. In her meditation that opened Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions, the regional church minister talked about how Mary heard God’s voice and responded. When God called Mary to be Jesus’ mother, she went to stay with her cousin Elizabeth…
MC Saskatchewan launches online Sunday school for children
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan is offering Sunday school for children via Zoom. Josh and Cindy Wallace started hosting the half-hour sessions at the end of May. So far, about eight families, with children ranging from 3 to 10 years of age, have participated. They represent four or five congregations. Midweek, families receive a thematically appropriate craft…
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…
A meaningful way to dispose of unwanted Bibles
Tim Martens carefully unwraps a pair of tattered-looking old books. One is an ancient German Bible, its text printed in fine Gothic script, the other an old Gesangbuch or songbook. The Duck Lake, Sask. resident believes these worn and frayed tomes, no longer wanted or needed by anyone, deserve to be treated with respect. To…
Singing, serving and studying
When summer comes, many churches experience a drop in attendance. But being fewer in number can be an opportunity to try new forms of worship. Singing together This summer, several Mennonite Church Saskatchewan congregations chose to worship in creative and perhaps less conventional ways. For the second summer in a row, Eigenheim Mennonite, located eight…
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…
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…
Saskatchewan youth explore what it means to answer their call
Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization retreats are an annual highlight, and the senior-high retreat held at Shekinah Retreat Centre has been an opportunity for youth to reunite with each other for a long time. The weekend event has seen some changes over the years, but always includes worship times featuring a speaker and band, outside winter…
Recognizing potential in an uncertain future
Potential. That word kept surfacing at Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s fall leadership assembly, as pastors and congregational leaders met with MC Canada’s executive minister, Willard Metzger, to learn about their regional church’s role in the newly covenanted nationwide body. At the Nov. 25 gathering, held at Osler Mennonite Church, congregational leaders learned that MC Canada’s new…
