Five pastoral callings
A quiet, years-long journey. A voice speaking in a mosh pit full of teenagers. A love for the church. An unexpected second career. These are just some of the ways that Mennonite Church Canada pastors from across the country entered into pastoral ministry. Pastors shared with Canadian Mennonite their stories of pastoral calling and what…
Paving the way to the Promised Land
“You don’t go quickly from Egypt to the Promised Land,” quips Harold Schlegel. “The wilderness is where God forms us.” The wilderness Schlegel speaks of is the transition in a congregation’s life between one pastor and another. Church leaders suggest it’s a time that’s ripe for interim or transitional ministry. An interim pastor, hired for…
From Mexican Quaker to Canadian Mennonite
Ask Andrea De Avila when she first wanted to become a pastor and her answer is simple: “I didn’t.” While studying at Hesston College in Kansas, and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, Va., De Avila became involved with Mennonite Church U.S.A. As part of her biblical studies at EMU, she participated in the Ministry…
Prodigal pastor
Seventy-four-year-old George Ediger rushed out of church during the final song and caught up with the newcomer in the parking lot before the big young visitor with the shaved head and biker beard could escape in the maroon hot rod that stood out among the grey and beige sedans. That gesture of welcome, although not…
Called to be a part of the church
Whenever she tells her faith story, Carrie Lehn always mentions her paternal grandmother, who, she says, is a key example of gentleness and love. She always has other people on her radar, Lehn says, writing them letters or cards, bringing them dessert or giving them thoughtful gifts. “She thinks about those little things that other…
Letting Christ abide, from Saskatchewan to Gambia
Tending to the grapes she grows in the house she lives in provides Terri Lynn Paulson with a very tangible way of considering John 15, a chapter of the Bible she has been reflecting on in recent months. It begins: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every…
Meet the pastors who moonlight
Someone once said, “There’s no such thing as part-time pastors, only part-time salaries.” If this is true, a lot of congregations within Mennonite Church Canada are getting good value for their money. Bi-vocational ministry has become increasingly commonplace as churches decrease in size and can no longer afford full-time pastors. Even large congregations who employ…
Outside his comfort zone
Six months into his first pastoral job, Moses Falco feels very inadequate. “Am I really cut out for this?” and “Do I have the skills to be in this position?” are questions he has discussed with members of the church council and deacons. Although he feels inadequate, Falco—who is the sole pastor at Sterling Mennonite…
Flipping on the pastor switch
Ask Amanda Zehr what her favourite Bible story is, and she points to John 9, where Jesus heals a blind man. “It really questions who the blind one is,” says Zehr, associate pastor at Listowel Mennonite Church in southwestern Ontario. “In the end, it was the spiritual leaders who were blind, not the actual blind…
Remade from the inside out
When Josh Wallace survived a serious car accident at age 10, his father said, “God saved your life in that accident, and he must have done so for a purpose.” Since then, he has tried to figure out what that purpose is. Josh grew up near Bozeman, Mont., in a conservative Christian milieu. As a…
