Community & Alumni Blog
Class of 1953 to gather for 60-year reunion at Fall Festival
Times of sharing, remembering, fellowship, and prayer are planned as graduates from the 1953 classes of CMU’s predecessor colleges gather at the university’s Fall Festival for their 60th class reunion.
Fifteen Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) and Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC) alumni and spouses will reunite at the university Sept. 27-28.
“A good number of us are still alive and with it—we can’t take that for granted,” says John B. Epp, who is one of six men from the Class of 1953 organizing the reunion. “We’ll celebrate, we’ll thank God, we’ll look at... what we have, by the grace of God, all been involved in, [and] we’ll share personal experiences.”
John Unger, another reunion organizer, is excited about a “ministry map” the committee is putting together that indicates the places in the world where 1953 graduates have worked and served.
Of the seven CMBC graduates and 20 MBBC graduates from that year, seven went into pastoral ministries and four went into church conference ministries. Twelve went into education, with seven acquiring PhDs in fields including mathematics, sociology, and history, and teaching throughout North America.
At least five went into missions, with their work taking them to countries that include Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Israel, China, and Japan.
Almost all are or were affiliated with a church congregation where they served as well.
“We’re amazed at what God can do with 27 people if they really are the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” Unger says. “God only knows how much impact they have had on society.”
The organizing committee wanted to plan a 60th reunion after hosting a successful 50th reunion in 2003. At that reunion, the Class of 1953 established a $20,000 endowment for a student bursary. To date, more than $6,000 has been distributed to CMU students in need.
By now, members of the Class of 1953 are in their 80s. Eight class members have passed away, and some aren’t able to make it to the reunion due to health concerns.
Still, Epp and Unger are looking forward to connecting with those who will be there.
“I’m glad we can celebrate together,” Unger says. “My hope is that we can really get together and have a good fellowship. My bottom line is the thought that was mentioned in Job 19:25 – ‘I know that my redeemer lives.’ We have to keep our central focus on the Lord, and He is still ruling, and we want to live by faith day by day until He calls us.”
Fall Festival 2013 will also include CMBC, MBBC, and CMU class reunions for the years 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993, and 2003. For details, visit http://www.cmu.ca/fallfest/schedule.php?s=reunions.
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