LocalChurch

Winnipeg, Man.

A congregational leadership training program and shared worship events are bringing good things to multi-cultural churches in this city.

Norm Voth presents a certificate to Laotian Mennonite Church participants at the end of a leadership training unit.

“It’s like a little taste of heaven,” said John P. Klassen, director of Leadership Ministries for Mennonite Church Manitoba, when the five multi-cultural congregations here come together. The Spanish, Chinese, Laotian, Vietnamese and Korean congregations have regularly met together for a picnic in the spring and for a multi-cultural worship service in the fall.

“Hearing scripture read, lots of singing and prayers in each of their languages is like a sampling of the Mennonite World Conference,” said Klassen.

The multi-cultural leadership training program is another event that brings these churches together. Using materials provided through the Pastoral Studies Distance Education of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, MC Manitoba Leadership and Evangelism and Service Ministries offer pastors and lay leaders a foundational education in church leadership. Mennonite Church Canada provides funding for the teaching.

The current students will be completing their third 12-week unit in February. Beginning in the fall of 2003, participants studied “Church and ministry,” followed by a unit on “Anabaptist history and theology” in the winter of 2004. February 12 will be the closing session of the unit on “The biblical story: Old and New Testament.”

Each unit, involving 25 to 30 participants, begins with a full-day session led by an instructor who provides a foundational background. “It’s fascinating to watch the discussion in the opening and closing sessions,” said Klassen. “The benefit of these sessions is the fellowship that develops between these churches. Each time, a different church serves the lunch. We experience some wonderful cultural foods. It is a rich experience.”

Participants work through the remainder of the unit with their own language group. A closing session brings all the groups together to share what they have learned.

Luc Tran, a Chinese Mennonite who gives pastoral leadership in the Vietnamese Mennonite Church, has participated in all three units. “The first time, there were five participants from our church and now there are eleven. The response has been very good,” said Tran. He appreciates the leadership that is developing in the church through this program.

“It gives them lots of new insights. For example, it gives them a better understanding of the leadership role and new ways of interpreting the Bible,” he said.

“The program has been inspiring and stimulating, but it involves quite a commitment,” said Klassen. Participants are required to meet once a week with assigned studying and reading between meetings. Tran points out that for many participants “the English language is not easy and they can’t afford seminary training.”

Ignacio Herrera of the Iglesia Jesus Es El Camino appreciates the leadership training because, as a guide and translator for the Spanish-speaking leaders, he has to do preparatory work as well. “We are getting closer together as a group, not just our Spanish group, but with the rest of the people,” he said. “We are learning how to share the love of God…. The good thing about this is that we have the Bible in common even though we come from different countries and cultures.”

Participants “really appreciate the foundational teachings. They found Anabaptism fascinating,” said Klassen. “They really resonated with some of the peace teachings.” One of their questions continues to trouble Klassen: “Don’t our Anglo pastors need this training as well?”

“Some of our people don’t have an understanding of Anabaptism.... We really lost a lot when our Bible schools closed,” admitted Klassen. “A lot of lay people, Sunday school teachers, and congregational leaders were trained in basic foundational theology there. We have never replaced that.”

Tran hopes that MC Manitoba doesn’t “wait too long to start up the next unit.” He sees other areas in which they face challenges and would welcome training; for example, ways to use music to minister better to young people.—Evelyn Rempel Petkau

Guernsey, Sask.

In the summer of 1905, exactly 100 years ago, Mennonite pioneers here organized the Sharon Mennonite Church. They erected a church building in 1911.

On July 10 and 11, 2004, the dwindling congregation celebrated its history and officially closed. Friends and former members came from across Canada and the United States, as well as from the four corners of Saskatchewan, to celebrate the past and to mourn the loss of Sharon Mennonite. More than 300 registered for the event.

The ancient pulpit was brought up from the basement and used once more. People remembered things from the past: hymn books with shaped notes; men seated on the right and women on the left; the elderly seated in the “amen” corners; the addition of the balcony; the introduction of musical instruments, a sound system and coloured-glass windows; the headstones moved to the new cemetery; and two conferences held in the horse barn.

As six former ministers shared their memories and as the faithfulness of God was remembered, the closing celebration frequently referred to the congregation’s history.

In the winter of 1903-04, Peter and John Jansen of Nebraska, land agents for the Saskatchewan Valley and Manitoba Land Company, travelled to the Mennonite community in Waterloo, Ontario, encouraging people there to consider beginning a new Mennonite community in Saskatchewan. A delegation of five men travelled west in May 1904, but they were not impressed with the many sloughs full of spring run-off. In June of that year, a second group made the trip and they reserved a sizable block of newly surveyed unbroken territory in what was known as the Quill Lake Mennonite Reserve. Homesteads of 160 acres could be acquired for an entry fee of $10 and a commitment to reside on the homestead for six months in each of the following three years.

On a Sunday morning in May 1905, about 30 Mennonites, newly arrived from Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, gathered in a tent for their first worship service. The tent was erected on the homestead of their deacon, Aaron Biehn. They worshipped God, thanking him for safe travel and asking for his blessing on their endeavour to establish a new community in a new land.

That day, Eli Hallman, a minister who accompanied them from Berlin, was affirmed as their minister. A short time later, a Sunday school was organized under the leadership of Israel Cressman.

The congregation met each Sunday at the Biehn home. In July 1907, the Waterloo school was built on the southwest corner of the deacon’s property. The next year, the Sharon congregation hosted the Alberta Mennonite summer conference in the Waterloo schoolhouse and became a member of the Alberta-Saskatchewan Mennonite Conference.

Their dream of a church building was realized in 1911, when a 30 ft. by 40 ft. building was erected at the crossroads, on land donated by the minister. Using volunteer labour, the cost of the building was $2,300.

Over the years the people faced many hardships, including raging prairie fires, early frosts, hailstorms, tornadoes, drought and blowing sand, swamp fever and other ailments. In spite of these difficulties, they established beautiful farms.

Eventually, attendance at the church diminished. A potash company bought up several farms, forcing some families to relocate. When young people found employment elsewhere and when grain elevators, stores and schools closed, the congregation also suffered.

In 2003, the difficult decision was made to close the doors of Sharon Mennonite. The final service was held June 27, 2004.—From report by Doreen Snider