Other Resources

Monday, February 9 (at Camp Assiniboia)

4:00-4:30 PM: Registration and Coffee

4:30-5:30 PM: Meet and Greet Pastors at Play

5:30-7:30 PM: Banquet, with inspirational address by Stuart Blythe

7:30-7:50 PM: Worship and Word for the Church with Jerry Buhler, Area Church Minister, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan)

Tuesday, February 10 (at CMU)

9:00–9:20 PM: Worship and Word for the Church with Carol Penner, Pastor, Lendrum Mennonite Brethren Church, Edmonton, Alberta

9:20–10:10 AM: Plenary Session #1A – Bible Study with Stuart Blythe

10:10–10:35 AM: Morning coffee and fellowship (Great Hall)

10:35–11:25 AM: Plenary Session #1B – Congregational stories with Carman Mennonite Church, Carman, Manitoba (Karen Schellenberg, Pastor), and Little Flowers Community Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Jamie Arpin-Ricci, Pastor)

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Participate in regular CMU chapel

12:00–1:00 PM: Lunch

1:00–2:00 PM: Workshops

1. Reading the Church: Learning about Ministry from Fiction and Film, with Sue Sorensen
2. Religion and Politics: Is there such a Thing as a “Public Square?”, with Paul Doerksen
3. Worship in a Foreign Land, or “We are not in Kansas anymore” with Christine Longhurst
4. Making Space: Welcoming New Immigrants into the Church, with Justin Bradbury

2:00–3:15 PM: Afternoon coffee, fellowship, and introduction of CommonWord (hosted by CommonWord in Marpeck Commons)

3:15–4:00 PM: Plenary Session #2A – Bible Study with Stuart Blythe

4:00–4:10 PM: Brief break

4:10–5:00 PM: Plenary Session #2B – Congregational stories with Pleasant Point Mennonite Church, Clavet, Saskatchewan (Harry Harder, Pastor) and Chin Mennonite Church, Calgary, Alberta (Leng Nawn Thang, Pastor)

5:30–7:00 PM: Dinner

7:00–8:15 PM: Face2Face: “You Lost Me: The Church and Young Adults,” with Irma Fast Dueck and Peter Epp

8:30–9:00 PM: Discussion of Face2Face around snack

Wednesday, February 11 (at CMU)

9:00-9:20 AM: Worship and Word for the Church with Kirsten Epp, Area Church Youth Ministers, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan

9:20-10:15 AM: Plenary Session #3A – Bible study with Stuart Blythe

10:15-10:45 AM: Coffee and fellowship

10:45-11:45 AM: Plenary Session #3B – Congregational stories with St. Benedict’s Table, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Larry Campbell, Music Minister) and Foothills Mennonite Church, Calgary, Alberta (Doug Klassen, Pastor)

12:00-1:15 PM: Lunch

1:15-1:35 PM: Worship and A Word for the Church with John Neufeld, formerly President of Canadian Mennonite Bible College, and Pastor of First Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1:45-2:45 PM: Workshops

1. Church Health and Outreach, with Dan Graber
2. What is a “Church for the un-churched”?, with Dustin Funk, Pastor of Oasis Community Church
3. Changing technology, changing communication, changing worship, with Craig Terlson and Christopher Neufeld
4. Debriefing and Processing What We Have Heard, with Ken Warkentin, Executive Director, Mennonite Church Manitoba

2:40-3:00 PM: Afternoon coffee and fellowship

3:00-3:30 PM: Closing worship

Tuesday, 1:00-2:00 PM

Reading the Church: Learning about Ministry from Fiction and Film – Sue Sorensen, Associate Professor of English, CMU; author of The Collar: Reading Christian Ministry in Fiction, Television and Film.

Novels and movies are sites where the problems and joys of ministry can be worked through and discussed in unconventional and insightful ways. What can actual pastors gain from the rich heritage of stories that delve into clerical duty, compassion, frustration, heroism, hypocrisy, intercession, and so much more?

Making Space: Welcoming New Immigrants into the Church – Justin Bradbury, Pastor of International Friends Centre, a church plant integrating immigrant communities in Winnipeg, and a PhD student at the University of Manchester

There is both a great migration and a great transition underway in Canada and in Canada’s churches today. People from the global South are moving to global North such as Canada countries in increasing number. Approximately 50% of recent immigrants to Canada arrive here as Christians of varying denominational backgrounds. At the same time, most established Canadian churches have plateaued or are declining, and often struggle to embrace a “plant & pivot” approach to change. How aware is your local congregation of the changing ‘face’ of Canada’s population? Is your church engaged with recent immigrants relationally and in service? If recent immigrants are showing up at your church, what efforts are being made to enfold and empower them to shape the conversation, priorities and leadership of your congregation? This workshop will get you thinking about and discussing these themes together.

Religion and Politics: Is there such a Thing as a “Public Square?” – Paul Doerksen, Associate Professor of Theology, CMU

We often think of politics as that which happens within the so-called “public square,” a place where the church might make its voice heard and raise concerns about matters such as same sex marriage, euthanasia, and so on. But such a view presumes that there is such a thing as a “(naked) public square.” We want to consider whether there might be other ways of conceiving of these matters, ways that take the existence and practices of the church as the body of Christ seriously without embracing an alienating form of sectarianism.

Worship in a Foreign Land, or “We are not in Kansas anymore” – Christine Longhurst, Instructor of Music, CMU

The church has experienced significant shifts in its understanding and practice of corporate worship over the last few decades. Some of these shifts have been planned and deliberate, while others may be happening without conscious thought. How is the culture in which we live shaping our understanding and practice of worship? What challenges and opportunities do these shifts present to our congregations?

Wednesday, 1:45-2:45 PM

What is a “Church for the un-churched”? – Dustin and Lauren Funk, Pastor and Service Programming Director of Oasis Community Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Oasis Community Church is a rapidly growing congregation within Southern Winnipeg which strives to be a community shaped by the description of the early church in Acts 2. In the process it has identified itself as a “church for the un-churched.” Through conversation, Dustin Funk, the founding pastor of Oasis, will share from the congregation’s experience and vision.

Changing technology, changing communication, changing worship – Craig Terlson, Communications & Marketing, CMU and Christopher Neufeld, Information Technology, CMU

This workshop explores how the shifting landscape of technology, the internet, and communication in general has affected our worship services, as well as our church’s presence on the internet. We will look at church websites, using technology in sermons and other parts of worship services, and the use of social media platforms as a way of build relationships, promote events, and even...spread the good news.

Church Health and Outreach – Dan Graber, Area Minister, Mennonite Church Alberta

Church health and outreach feed off one another. Supporting people to be our proxies at a distance is wonderful and necessary. But if our church cultures are to feed life into people, and we aren't connecting with our immediate neighbours with verbal witness—how healthy are we really?

Debriefing and Processing What We Have Heard – Ken Warkentin, Executive Director, Mennonite Church Manitoba

Here is an opportunity to visit with other seminar participants about what you have heard and learned over the past two days, and how this might impact your congregation.