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Events News Releases

Public invited to launch of new book detailing the life of educator and TV producer Vera Good

SIMCOE, ON — The public is invited to a celebration for a new book detailing the life of Dr. Vera Good, a pioneering educator and television producer from Waterloo County.

Good and author Nancy Silcox will be on hand to launch The Exceptional Vera Good: A Life Beyond the Polka Dot Door on Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 2:00 PM. The launch will take place in the party room at Norview Lodge Retirement Home in Simcoe, ON (44 Rob Blake Way). All are welcome to attend.

Published by CMU Press, The Exceptional Vera Good traces Good’s life from her upbringing in an Old Order Mennonite family to her successful career as an executive producer of children’s programming for TVOntario from 1965 to 1981.

Vera Good with author Nancy Silcox
Nancy Silcox (right) has written a book about Vera Good (left), an award-winning TV producer and accomplished educator.

“Vera was a groundbreaker,” says Silcox, an award-winning writer who has penned a dozen books. “She climbed the ladder both educationally and professionally when there were no other women there, and she didn’t have an easy time of it, either. She is truly a remarkable person.”

Good laid the conceptual design and was the first executive producer for Polka Dot Door, an educational TV series for children that aired every weekday from the fall of 1971 until the show’s cancellation in 1993.

In recognition of her work on the show, Good received a Gemini Award in 2010 as part of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s MasterWorks program, which honours culturally significant works.

Prior to her work in television, Good was highly regarded as an innovative educator.

She holds a PhD from Columbia University in New York City, and she was one of the first female principals in the Toronto school system. She was also the first female Inspector of Schools in Ontario.

Good resides at the retirement home where the book launch will take place. Aside from the fact that she is now blind, she is in excellent health. The launch will double as a celebration for her 102nd birthday.

“Vera is excited about the launch, and so am I,” says Silcox, who became close to Good during the 18 months she spent researching and writing the book. “I consider myself most fortunate to have been given the chance to tell this story.”

Anyone planning to attend the book launch is asked to RSVP to Silcox by emailing silcox@cwisp.ca or phoning 519-662-9303.

About CMU Press
CMU Press is an academic publisher of scholarly, reference, and general interest books at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg, MB. Books from CMU Press address and inform interests and issues vital to the university, its constituency, and society. Areas of specialization include Mennonite studies, and works that are church-oriented or theologically engaged.

For information about CMU Press, visit: www.cmu.ca/cmupress.

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 900 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

Categories
Articles

Endowment for CMU scholarship honouring Mennonite leader reaches $100,000

CMU donor Ted Fransen stands with Joshua Nightingale and CMU represenatives.
CMU donor Ted Fransen (from left) stands with Karl Koop, Director of the Graduate School of Theology and Ministry; Joshua Nightingale, graduate student at CMU; Abram Bergen, Development Associate; and Cheryl Pauls, President of CMU.

Donor reflects on why he and his family give their financial support to CMU

The endowment for a Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) scholarship honouring a Russian Mennonite scholar whose life was cut tragically short has reached six figures.

Ted Fransen presents a cheque to CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls
Ted Fransen presents a cheque to CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls, bringing the endowment for the Jacob A. Rempel Memorial Scholarship to $100,000. Fransen is one of Rempel’s grandsons.

Ted Fransen presented a cheque to CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls in September, bringing the endowment for the Jacob A. Rempel Memorial Scholarship to $100,000. Fransen is one of Rempel’s grandsons.

The scholarship awards $5,000 annually to a student pursuing a Master’s degree in CMU’s Graduate School of Theology and Ministry.

Seeing the endowment reach the $100,000-mark is satisfying, Fransen said, noting that every branch of his grandfather’s family has contributed to the scholarship since it was established in 2000.

“I feel a sense of tremendous satisfaction that the legacy of our grandfather has had that kind of impact, where people in our family believe so strongly that the legacy needs to be remembered and memorialized,” Fransen said. “I feel just an overwhelming sense of gratitude.”

CMU shares that gratitude, said Abram Bergen, Development Associate.

“CMU is thankful to the family of Jacob A. Rempel for their generous support of the university,” Bergen said. “I have watched this endowment increase by $60,000 over the past decade, and the earnings now provide a substantial scholarship.”

“I’ve seen the impact this scholarship has had as recipients have taken on significant roles in church and community after graduating from CMU,” Bergen added. “When the award is significant—$5,000 in this case—it makes a lot of difference to a student who is able to then focus more fully on their studies, rather than think about how they’re going to pay for their tuition.”

Fransen and his extended family created the scholarship to honour the memory and legacy of Rempel, a leader of the Mennonite churches of Ukraine/Russia.

Rempel started out as a poor stable boy but eventually became a university professor.

He did this with an enduring faith as he followed God’s leading hand, applied his own abilities, and was encouraged by the generous financial assistance of a wealthy supporter.

Jacob A. Rempel Memorial Scholarship recipient Joshua Nightingale with Ted Fransen
Jacob A. Rempel Memorial Scholarship recipient Joshua Nightingale (right) is thankful to Ted Fransen (left) and his family.

Rempel’s life was cut short on Sept. 11, 1941 when he was executed for his beliefs under Joseph Stalin’s dictatorship.

Rempel’s family is grateful that someone noticed a “diamond in the rough” in that stable boy and provided the means for his education.

Through the Jacob A. Rempel Memorial Scholarship, the family wishes to encourage students who show academic promise and a strong interest and aptitude for church ministry.

Joshua Nightingale, who is completing his Master’s degree during the 2017-18 school year, is the most recent recipient of the scholarship.

Nightingale said he appreciates the money he received.

“It meant that I didn’t have to work this past summer and could focus on writing my thesis,” said Nightingale, whose thesis wrestles with the presence and absence of God for those who have experienced trauma.

Nightingale hopes to eventually go on to doctoral studies.

CMU donor Ted Fransen stands with Joshua Nightingale and CMU represenatives.
CMU donor Ted Fransen (from left) stands with Karl Koop, Director of the Graduate School of Theology and Ministry; Joshua Nightingale, graduate student at CMU; Abram Bergen, Development Associate; and Cheryl Pauls, President of CMU.

Fransen said he feels a warm sense of appreciation meeting and hearing from students like Nightingale who have benefited from the scholarship, as well as a sense of optimism that the future is in good hands.

“These are well-meaning, purposeful, intelligent people who are honouring the wishes of the scholarship and moving forward in theological studies,” Fransen said. “In other words, the scholarship is doing its job: it’s encouraging young men and women of faith to pursue theological studies so that they can serve the church.”

Fransen added that he appreciates CMU for continuing to provide an excellent theological program.

“There’s a sense of alignment between the purpose of the scholarship, the legacy of our grandfather, and the purpose of CMU,” he said. “It’s a great alignment.”

 

 

If you’d like support CMU, please visit www.cmu.ca/donate.

Categories
General News News Releases

CONNECT Campaign reaches $14.4 million goal

A fundraising campaign to build Marpeck Commons, the library, learning commons, and bridge at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), has reached its goal.

“It is our great pleasure and gratitude to announce that the CONNECT Campaign goal of $14.4 million has been achieved in gifts and commitments,” CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls said during a speech she gave on Saturday, November 25 at the university’s annual Christmas concert.

Marpeck Commons, housing the CMU Library, CommonWord Bookstore and Resource Centre, folio café, and a learning commons.

Plans for Marpeck Commons started taking shape in 2009, when leadership at CMU began envisioning a building that would get the university’s library out of the basement, as well as create a learning commons with light and space.

The building would include a pedestrian bridge linking the two sides of CMU’s Shaftesbury campus and ensuring safe passageway across Grant Avenue. It would be a space drawing together the community within and surrounding CMU—the community of students, staff, and faculty, as well as the community of neighbours and constituents.

That dream became a reality when CMU opened the doors of Marpeck Commons on January 5, 2015.

Since then, Marpeck Commons has had a measurable and transformative impact for CMU students, faculty, and the broader community. The CMU Library, for example, annually receives more than three times the number of visitors it received in its previous location.

The building includes an inviting café, along with a bookstore and resource centre with the most extensive selection of theological resources anywhere in the province.

The pedestrian bridge, which spans Grant Avenue, connects the north and south sides of CMU’s Shaftesbury campus.

This has been the largest fundraising campaign in CMU’s history.

Nine hundred donors contributed, with 60 per cent of those contributions coming from Manitoba and 40 per cent coming from out of province. The donations included those of alumni and supporters who purchased 459 engraved bridge tiles.

“We are honoured by the generous investment of 900 families, individuals, foundations, and churches who collectively paid for the whole of Marpeck Commons,” Pauls said. “Their vision has created a cherished gathering place, which we are delighted to share with thousands of people annually.”

The volunteer leadership of the CONNECT Campaign Cabinet, a group characterized by deep generosity and vision, has been critical to the success of this fundraising endeavour.

Led by campaign chair Elmer Hildebrand, CEO of Golden West Broadcasting, Ltd, the cabinet included Arthur DeFehr, Philipp R. Ens, Bill Fast, Janice Filmon, Albert Friesen, Charles Loewen, Jake Rempel, and Tamara Roehr.

“I am really pleased with the way all of the members of our campaign cabinet stepped up to meet the challenge,” Hildebrand said. “It was a real pleasure to work with this group of visionary and generous individuals.”

 

 

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 900 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

 

 

Categories
Events News Releases

Community invited to celebrate Christmas at CMU

There’s something for everyone at annual create-your-own-concert event

Do you hear what I hear? Canadian Mennonite University wants you to join in the festive fun at its annual Christmas at CMU concert.

The event takes place on Saturday, November 25 at the university (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). There are two concerts: one at 2:00 PM and the other at 7:00 PM. Admission for both concerts is free.

“All are welcome to attend this magnificent event,” says Dr. Dietrich Bartel, Dean of the CMU School of Music. “The decorations have been hung with care, people are baking cookies, Father Christmas is preparing to join us, and musicians from the CMU community are eagerly anticipating their chance to perform.”

More than 100 performers are involved in the event, which features CMU choirs; vocal and instrumental jazz; a classical guitar ensemble; and performances by the university’s music faculty.

Christmas at CMU is a multi-generational, interactive event that allows family, friends, and neighbours of all ages to mingle in CMU’s beautiful heritage building.

Part of the event’s appeal is that people who attend do not have to sit in the same spot for an hour-and-a-half.

Music ensembles will be stationed in different parts of the university, allowing attendees to create their own concert by walking around the festively decorated campus—all while enjoying hot apple cider and cookies.

Now in its 17th year, this year’s Christmas at CMU event once again features a couple of items on the schedule specifically for children.

Children and parents are welcome to make music with Music Therapy students at “Christmas for All Ages!” in CMU’s Faculty & Staff Lounge. Afterward, Bartel will read How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

“The entire CMU community comes together for this event,” Bartel says. “It’s wonderful to see.”

Christmas at CMU will end with an audience carol sing in the Loewen Athletic Centre, an annual tradition that always culminates with everyone singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.

The carol sing will be accompanied by the university’s newest ensemble, the CMU Community Concert Band.

Since it was first held in 2001, Christmas at CMU has become an important event on the university’s calendar. Alumni and friends from across Canada travel to Winnipeg to attend.

“It’s always meaningful to connect with both old and new friends at Christmas at CMU,” Bartel says. “It’s a fun event, and a great way to kick off the holiday season.”

For the complete Christmas at CMU schedule, please visit cmu.ca/christmas.

 

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 900 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

Categories
Events News Releases

Panelists to explore the implications of legalizing marijuana at upcoming CMU discussion event

A police officer, a pastor, a rehabilitation counsellor, and a producer of medical cannabis are set to participate in a panel discussion at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) exploring the implications of legalizing marijuana.

Titled, “Our Need for Weed? Sparking Conversations in the Church and Community,” the discussion will take place Wednesday, November 15 at 7:00 PM in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.). Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Canada’s federal government is committed to implementing the legalized production, sale, and recreational consumption of marijuana by July 1, 2018.

“CMU is inviting people to join a conversation that broadens awareness, explores questions, and discerns ways forward as churches and communities confront this new reality,” says Terry Schellenberg, Vice President External at CMU.

Questions that panelists will discuss include:

  • Can we understand more clearly the government’s full intention and the implications that arise with legalization versus decriminalization?
  • What medical realities do we need to understand about cannabis use?
  • Can the church be a place for real conversation about this issue? What are our fears? What questions, theological and otherwise, should Christians and the church be asking?

The panelists are: 

  • Max Waddell, commander with the Organized Crime Division of the Winnipeg Police Service;
  • Erin Morash, pastor at Crystal City Mennonite Church (Crystal City, MB) and Trinity Mennonite Church (Mather, MB);
  • Daniel Dacombe, rehabilitation counsellor with Addictions Foundation of Manitoba and addictions specialist with the Manitoba Government; and
  • Nelson Martens, member representative and business developer at Bonify, a licensed producer of medical cannabis located in Winnipeg.

Dr. Chris Huebner, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at CMU, will moderate the 90-minute event, which will include opportunities for questions and comments from the audience.

“There are economic, social, moral, and ethical dimensions to all of this,” Schellenberg says. “We’re not professing to have all of the answers. Rather, we want to provide a respectful forum where people can begin to discuss the implications of legalizing marijuana.”

Started in 2013, Face2Face is a series of conversations organized by CMU, designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life.

“Our Need for Weed?” is the first of two Face2Face events CMU is scheduled to host during the 2017-18 school year. For details, visit cmu.ca/face2face.

 

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 900 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

Categories
Articles Faculty Profiles

Faculty: In Their Own Words – Dr. Rachel Krause

Dr. Rachel Krause, Assistant Professor of Biology, has taught at CMU since 2015.

What are you teaching right now that you’re most excited about?

A first-year course called The Evolutionary and Ecological Revolution. Part of the course is based in the Assiniboine Forest. We had a field trip out there with naturalists from the city, and now students are spending the whole semester in the forest, thinking about it and learning about it individually. I spend a lot of time in the forest because I want to know what’s going on there, too. I love that going to the forest is part of my curriculum.

What are you researching and writing?

I’m finishing a project in Panama on food security and child growth. I also have an ongoing collaboration in Panama on wildlife parasitology and human health, and I recently started working with a research scientist with fisheries and oceans here in Manitoba, working on the Carmine shiner, which is a threatened species in the province. It’s a little, tiny fish that is found in a few rivers here. We’re doing a study of parasites in the fish, and also looking at how parasite infection influences metabolic rate and sensitivity to temperature changes, kind of with climate change in mind.

What you are reading for enjoyment?

During the school year, I tend to just read fun things, so I’m reading a P.D. James murder mystery right now. Something with “Murder” or “Blood” in the title—I don’t remember. (laughs)

Where or how do students give you hope?

They care. Many of them are really invested in connecting the things they’re studying to the other parts of their lives. To me, the things that I teach matter, so to see students pick up on that and try to work it into how they live their lives is really rewarding for me.

Do you have any interesting projects underway in the broader community or church?

I’m part of a project spearheaded by Jobb Arnold, Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies at Menno Simons College. This project brings together youth from a couple of Winnipeg high schools that have a lot of Indigenous and newcomer youth. The youth learn about climate change, but really, the intention is to build community, and build connections and relationships. Jobb teaches conflict resolution, so he’s all about building resilient communities in the face of something like climate change. I went along with them on a field trip to Shoal Lake 40 to talk about water stewardship. It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of that, and to use my expertise as an ecologist to help facilitate a part of this larger network of learning for these youth.

What saying or motto inspires you?

A few years ago, I heard a sermon and the speaker made a comment about how it’s OK for us to be imperfect, because that gives people around us the permission to be imperfect. I’m trying to embrace that as part of my mentorship to students. For them to see me as imperfect gives them permission to be themselves and not have to be perfect, either.

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Video

2017 J.J. Thiessen / Friesen Lecture Series (video)

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation on October 30 and 31 with a special lecture series delivered by the world’s foremost scholar on Swiss Anabaptism. 

Dr. C. Arnold Snyder presented  the three-part series, titled, “Faith and Toleration: A Reformation Debate Revisited.” Snyder, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, ON, posed the question: Should dissenting religious beliefs be tolerated on religious principle, and toleration established as civic policy?

The lectures explored some of the events and debates that ensued 500 years ago when Martin Luther composed 95 theses for debate in Wittenberg, drawing some conclusions for our day. 

Lecture #1: Monday, October 30

Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Toleration Doubtful
One might have thought that the central evangelical teaching that faith is a God-given, spiritual, inner, and personal matter would have led to a wave of religious toleration accompanying the Reformation. This never materialized. Instead, a tsunami of intolerance and violence swept away thousands of people into prison, exile and martyrdom. What happened?

Lecture #2: Tuesday, October 31

“Compel them to come in”: The Theology of Intolerance Examined
Protestant theologians, both Lutheran and Reformed, soon became champions of state churches that required all subjects and citizens to attend their churches and swear allegiance to state-sanctioned confessions of faith. How did these Christian theologians justify coercion, torture and even execution in the name of true faith?

Lecture #3: Tuesday, October 31

Hiding in Plain Sight: Anabaptism and Toleration in Switzerland
Anabaptism was officially outlawed in every state of the Swiss Confederation, with all Reformed pastors and civil officials under oath to report violations. Nevertheless, Anabaptist communities survived into the seventeenth century. Archival records shed important light on the phenomenon of de facto toleration that made Anabaptist survival possible in Switzerland.

Categories
Events News Releases

Art and Mennonite history book to be launched at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Nearly 10 years in the making, the official book launch of Along the Road to Freedom – Mennonite women of courage and faith featuring the paintings of artist Ray Dirks will take place at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on Wednesday, November 8 at 7:00 PM. All are invited, and admission is free.

The book includes comments from each Along the Road to Freedom committee member and Manitoba Lt. Gov. the Honourable Janice C. Filmon. The foreword by Dr. Marlene Epp, Professor of History and Peace and Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, offers a historical backdrop that connects with today. Dirks reveals his artmaking process and recounts his journey with each painting and sponsoring family.

Dirks, founder and curator of the MHC Gallery on the campus of Canadian Mennonite University, was visited by four senior citizens in 2008 who wanted to initiate a project honouring their mothers and others like them. These four individuals—Nettie Dueck, Hans Funk, Wanda Andres, Henry Bergen—escaped the Soviet Union during WW2 on what Mennonites call the Great Trek. In the midst of the war, 35,000 people, many widows with children, left their homes in what is now Ukraine and fled north and west, hoping to eventually reach Canada. Twelve thousand made it out to either Canada or Paraguay, while 23,000 did not make an escape. 

Three of the four people had lost their fathers at an early age. The men were taken by the NKVD, secret police, and like so many others under Stalin, were either quickly murdered or shipped to Siberia where they died in the miserable gulag system. When it came time to flee, their mothers, alone, led them out under the worst of conditions. 

Along the Road to Freedom has also been a travelling exhibition of large story paintings honouring women, most of them widowed, who led children to freedom either during the time of anarchy, famine, and chaos following the Russian Revolution or during WW2 on the Great Trek. The exhibition has toured to 20 venues in Canada and the US. The corresponding book will include all the paintings and stories on each of the women featured.

The book will be available for $35.00 plus GST.

BOOK ORDERING DETAILS FOR SINGLE AND MULTIPLE BOOK ORDERS WILL FOLLOW IN DAYS.

Please contact Connie Wiebe (cwiebe@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300, ext 344) for information on ordering book, including all bulk book orders.

Along the Road to Freedom Mennonite is a MHC Gallery project 100% funded and created by donations and in kind contributions from writers, editors, and artist/book designer Ray Dirks.

The MHC Gallery is a self-funded gallery of Canadian Mennonite University.

For more information, please contact:
Ray Dirks, curator
CMU Press/MHC Gallery
500 Shaftesbury Blvd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3P 2N2 

To interview Ray Dirks, write to rdirks@cmu.ca or call 204.487.3300, ext 346. Print resolution images are available upon request.

 

Categories
Student Projects Video

CMU and Kenji Dyck Present: Reflections on Student Life (video)

As a self-directed project, CMU student Kenji Dyck recently shot and produced a video which highlights an significant part of any student’s post-secondary education and sense of belonging—student life.

Here’s a look at what he chose to capture as a reflection on what makes the CMU experience special.

Kenji is a 3rd year Communications and Media major.

Categories
Events News Releases

Lecture series to explore Protestant Reformation and its implications for today

Acclaimed Anabaptist scholar Dr. C. Arnold Snyder scheduled to speak on campus

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with a special lecture series delivered by the world’s foremost scholar on Swiss Anabaptism. 

Dr. C. Arnold Snyder

Dr. C. Arnold Snyder will present the three-part series, titled, “Faith and Toleration: A Reformation Debate Revisited.” The lectures will take place in the CMU Chapel (600 Shaftesbury Blvd.) on Monday, October 30 at 7:30 PM and Tuesday, October 31 at 11:00 AM and 7:30 PM. 

Snyder, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, ON, will ask the question: Should dissenting religious beliefs be tolerated on religious principle, and toleration established as civic policy?

The lectures will explore some of the events and debates that ensued 500 years ago when Martin Luther composed 95 theses for debate in Wittenberg, drawing some conclusions for our day. 

“Dr. Snyder brings together incredible scholarly acumen, a love for the church, and an incredible ability to communicate to people at all levels,” says Dr. Karl Koop, Professor of History and Theology, and coordinator of CMU’s Biblical and Theological Studies program. “He is not afraid to explore a variety of Anabaptist issues.”

The lecture topics are as follows:

Lecture #1: “Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Toleration Doubtful” – One might have thought that the central evangelical teaching that faith is a God-given, spiritual, inner, and personal matter would have led to a wave of religious toleration accompanying the Reformation. This never materialized. Instead, a tsunami of intolerance and violence swept away thousands of people into prison, exile, and martyrdom. What happened?

Lecture #2: “‘Compel them to come in’: The Theology of Intolerance Examined” – Protestant theologians, both Lutheran and Reformed, soon became champions of state churches that required all subjects and citizens to attend their churches and swear allegiance to state-sanctioned confessions of faith. How did these Christian theologians justify coercion, torture, and even execution in the name of true faith?

Lecture #3: “Hiding in Plain Sight: Anabaptism and Toleration in Switzerland” – Anabaptism was officially outlawed in every state of the Swiss Confederation, with all Reformed pastors and civil officials under oath to report violations. Nevertheless, Anabaptist communities survived into the seventeenth century. Archival records shed important light on the phenomenon of de facto toleration that made Anabaptist survival possible in Switzerland.

“The theme of faith and toleration is at the very centre of our global context,” Koop says. “In the news every day, we’re hearing about the clash of religions… It strikes me that this particular topic is really at the forefront of the issues that we’re dealing with presently.”

Snyder holds a PhD from McMaster University. His research focuses on sixteenth-century Anabaptism. He has written and edited several books on this topic, including Anabaptist History and Theology: An Introduction (Pandora Press, 1995), and Later Writings of the Swiss Anabaptists, 1529-1592 (Pandora Press, 2017). 

Snyder’s lectures are co-presented by the J.J. Thiessen Lecture Series as well as the John and Margaret Friesen Lectures.

Founded in 1978 by one of CMU predecessor institutions, Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC), the J.J. Thiessen Lectures are named in honour of a founder and long-time chairperson of the CMBC Board. The lectures seek to bring to the CMU community something of Thiessen’s breadth of vision for the church.

The John and Margaret Friesen Lectures in Anabaptist/Mennonite Studies are co-sponsored by CMU, the Mennonite Heritage Centre, and the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies. The inaugural lectures in November 2002 were delivered by Dr. Abraham Friesen (Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara), the generous donor who initiated the lecture series.

For details about this year’s lectures, visit cmu.ca/jjt.

 

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2