Amplifier of youth voices moves on
The end of summer 2024 also marks the end of over a decade of commitment to youth ministry for Kirsten Hamm-Epp, regional church minister for Mennonite Church Saskatchewan. The Manitoba native, now 34, took over the reins of the Saskatchewan Youth Ministry Organization (SMYO) in the summer of 2013 after graduating with an English degree…
A mother’s ‘yes’
Part I: For Junia Grace, 2017 Photo by Taylor Summach I don’t like to write sermons. I am, at best, an unlikely preacher in our small Mennonite church. I languished through theology courses in college, earning mostly high C’s. I feel easily overwhelmed when researching scripture, and I have no knowledge whatsoever of…
‘A well-nourished spirit’
Sue Steiner left behind a huge legacy when she passed away on Aug. 26, 2019. As beloved wife to Sam Steiner for 50 years, treasured aunt to a number of nieces and nephews, and a cherished member of several circles of close friends, she left personal legacies. As a woman who served the church as…
‘She was ahead of her time’
Before #MeToo and #ChurchToo—before there even was the Internet—there was Winnipegger Peggy Unruh Regehr. Unruh Regehr, a member of River East Church (a Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba congregation) died September 27 last year at the age of 89. She was a pioneer in championing the cause of women in leadership in Mennonite denominations in…
Where he leads me I will follow
At a time when a woman’s sphere of influence was limited to hearth and home, Anna Dyck was making a difference. Dyck spent nearly 40 years of her life as a missionary in Japan. During those years she lived in three communities and worked as a nurse, Bible teacher, pastor and church planter. She helped…
Steiner pushed open doors for other women
Sue Clemmer Steiner’s recent publication crosses genres within autobiography. It is personal memoir and spiritual recollection. It is reflections on a life in pastoral ministry. It is a historical snapshot of a 1950s eastern Pennsylvania traditional Mennonite community and a Mennonite girl facing the social upheaval of the 1960s. Steiner offers poetry and evocative images.…
Profiles in education
The Mennonite church is at a unique time in history. Currently, women lead three of the four major institutions of higher learning serving the church in Canada. In October 2010, Sara Wenger Shenk began her term at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind.; Susan Schultz Huxman began serving at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont.,…
