Finding Connection in Youth Ministry

At this year’s MCEC Annual Church Gathering, a lunch meetup for youth leaders took place alongside the larger event.  Hosted by Carrie Lehn (Ottawa Mennonite Church) and Stephen Kennedy (Avon Church), the gathering grew out of a desire to connect in person.  The Youth Ministry Collective, which began as an MCEC Pastors Learning Circle, had been meeting online, but there was a shared sense that face-to-face interaction would offer something different, something needed.  

God, Wildebeest and Red Sunsets

I have often heard people talk about thin moments in relation to encountering God and although I’ve already experienced a few of these moments, this trip gave me the opportunity to have so many more. For me, thin moments are best described as instants when all of time and space co-occur and it feels like sitting with Creator. So, I sat with Creator as I watched baboons from the side of a cliff, and as I watched the wildebeest run, and as I watched the sunset throwing the world around me into shades of red and indigo. I have long said that God is out there. God not only exists in the bell towers and pews of churches, but also in the places you go, the moments you find, the people you meet. Thin moments can happen wherever you are, regardless of if it’s mundane, extraordinary or somewhere in between. While I hope that I will go back to South Africa, what I really want is to keep travelling to whichever there I am called to  next. I long to seek my Creator at every turn, wherever and whenever that might be. 

Priesthood, Peace, and Polyglossia: An Intercultural Becoming

At MCEC, we seek to become a strong intercultural community where the shalom of Christ is our foundation and polyglossia—many languages lifted together in worship—is our shared expression of praise. We desire to cultivate a community where diversity is honoured, belonging to Christ and to one another is deeply embraced, and the gifts of people from every nation are welcomed and used for the strengthening of the body of Christ.

Witnessing to Jesus' Healing and Hope at Bergthal Mennonite

Jesus has healed our concern for our future. The future is God’s work not ours. We know that God’s church will go on, though we are not sure how. God loves the church as a whole and Bergthal specifically. We know that Jesus loves each of us, and cares about our connection to God which is nurtured in this community.  Based on that we can wait, trust and hope in Jesus for the future. 

Finding Meaningful Work, and Work with Meaning

“ Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find knock and the door will be opened to you.” ( Matthew 7:7)

Yet, to close, I return to that beautiful verse from the Gospel of Matthew. It has truly come to life for me, because Mennonite Church Alberta has opened its doors and allowed me to fully utilize the skills, dedication, and knowledge I worked so hard to acquire during my post-secondary journey.

Renewing Ministry with Young People

In fall a storyteller reminded me that young people are a bit of a paradox for the Mennonite church. On one hand, Anabaptism emerged with the (re)assertion that joining Christ’s body requires mature personal choice. This excludes most youth and all children from membership automatically. On the other hand, as an intergenerational community, the church works to welcome its young people's gifts and offer them loving, guiding companionship. Thus, despite standing outside the church, young people sit at the church’s heart.