MC Canada flying solo

	Front to back: Irene Suderman, Kathy Fast, Sandi Plett, Gordon Janzen, and Tany Warkentin participate in a litany. The litany and other worship resources for congregations for Sunday, Feb 3, were available from www.mennonitechurch.ca. Past general secretaries Helmut Harder, Larry Kehler, and Henry Gerbrandt also attended the event.

February 1, 2002

Winnipeg, Man.— "We’ve been flying solo for twelve hours now," said Mennonite Church Canada general secretary Dan Nighswander, opening a lunch-hour event that marked February 1, 2002, as the end of the bi-national Mennonite Church in North America, and the official beginning of new responsibilities for Mennonite Church Canada.

Denominational minister Henry Paetkau presented Nighswander with two symbols. A globe represented MC Canada’s missional goal of reaching out from across the street to around the world, while a guest book symbolized the goal of striving to do together what we cannot do alone. Paetkau’s hope was that in the future MC Canada will receive many visitors from around the world, and that we will be able to reach out to them with hospitality by recording their visits in the guest book.

About seventy staff from Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church Manitoba, volunteers and guests gathered for a brief worship service, thanking God for 140 years of Christian service through the bi-national church, and seeking fresh guidance as Canadian and American churches continue to relate to one another and work together in new ways. The event took place at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Art Gallery.