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The executive board provides overall direction, governance, and fiduciary oversight to the Canadian MB Conference. We want to put “a face” to the current board by introducing its members. We began last month, and continue this month with another 5 of its 20 members.—Eds.
Reg Toews, B.C. provincial moderator, has been on the board since 2007. In his day job, he’s senior pastor at Greendale MB Church in Chilliwack, B.C. Reg and Brenda, who teaches music at the Mennonite Education Institute campus in Chilliwack, have “3 plus 1” children: 2 daughters (plus 1 son-in-law), and 1 son. “I thoroughly enjoy serving on the board as we grapple with the big issues around how to share the good news of Jesus with everyone in Canada,” Reg says. “I am stretched by the other members on the board and consider our dialogue invigorating.” 
Paul Loewen became a member of the board in 2002 and stayed through the transition to the current board model, serving as chair of the board of evangelism, then assistant moderator, and now as member at large. After some 20 years in the pastorate, Paul had his own business for 2 years before joining Columbia Bible College in 2008 for advancement: church and constituency relations. He and Melody participate at Mountain Park Community Church, Abbotsford, B.C., and have 3 sons, the eldest of whom is married. “What a privilege and responsibility to serve the MB constituency as we’ve wrestled through a lot of change – governance, structure, and vision – in these last years,” he says. “Of course, lots of laughter and lifelong friendships that are now part of my travels throughout Canada have made some of the ‘tough slogging’ of governance more than bearable – it has been fun.”
Ken Peters became a board of faith and life representative on the executive board in 2004. He is pastor of Killarney Park MB Church in Vancouver, where he has served for the past 14 years. Ken and Yvonne live in New Westminster, B.C., and have 3 adult children. “I really enjoy the visioning process of the board,” he says. “I have enjoyed the success it has had in working out a workable governance protocol for the conference; now on to the larger work of creating a sustainable vision for the conference.” As BFL representative, he adds, “part of our contribution is to act as a confessional conscience to the board itself – not to give the impression the board would run amok without us, but it’s a theological safeguard the conference has put in place.” Jack Falk is the MB Biblical Seminary representative on the executive board.
The Alberta moderator also sits on the executive board. That position is currently filled by an interim appointee while a new governance model is developed for the province.
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Study conference to go back to basics
The Canadian MB study conference coming up later this month, in Saskatoon, is an opportunity “to re-establish our commitment to Christ as our Lord, as the only way, as our centre,” says executive director David Wiebe.
It’s not that this commitment has ever been in doubt, he says, but sometimes, as a denomination undergoes changes or faces (as it does today) “constant pressure” from a pluralistic culture, “it’s good to go back to the basics.”
One approach to such pressure is to put up defenses, says Wiebe. Another is to “point to Jesus – how utterly magnificent and all-encompassing he is.” Then, he says, “the uniqueness falls into place.” The latter approach underlies this conference.
Thomas Yoder Neufeld of Conrad Grebel University College will present three lectures on aspects of Christology (Christ as wisdom, as peace, and the “utterance” of Jesus as Lord). Then, led by Gil Dueck of Bethany College, participants will interact around the texts of these presentations. There will also be workshops.One of the workshops – on atonement – drew so much interest from initial registrants that conference organizers decided to make it a plenary presentation and discussion. The other workshops will now run concurrently in a later slot.
At press time, some 130 people had registered for the conference. Event planner Michelle Penner says there is ample room for more people to attend. For further information or to register, contact Michelle at 1-888-669-6575 or see www.mbconf.ca/events.—DD
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The MB Herald report of the study conference will not appear until the December issue. We will, however, provide an online “journal,” similar to our journals for events such as MWC Assembly 15, for those who wish to get a sense of the conference as it unfolds. See www.mbherald.com for Community/Event journals.—Eds.
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Archive centres collaborate on technology challenges
Winnipeg, Man.
“Some experts speculate that the last few decades will be some of the poorest documented in history because the information created or the media it resides on will not stand the test of time,” says Conrad Stoesz, archivist at the Mennonite Heritage Centre and the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies.
The two centres have launched a joint fundraising project, dubbed Text to Terabytes, to help fund the intake of archival records that arrive in an array of ever-changing digital formats.
“Technology is rapidly changing,” says Stoesz. “Archivists the world over are struggling to know and predict the best practices, standards, equipment, and formats in which to preserve material.”
At the centre of the project is a gift of films by internationally respected filmmaker Otto Klassen, who has spent a lifetime documenting Mennonite history on film. For a minimum donation of $30 to the Text to Terabyte project, donors can receive one of Klassen’s works.
Klassen’s drive to preserve and provide public access aligns with the core mandates for the two Winnipeg-based national Mennonite archive centres. But in today’s digital world, preserving and providing access is becoming more complicated.
Digital versions of archival materials offer convenient access to rare materials. However, managing and preserving the digital version and the original format demands resources (digital storage space, staff time, and equipment). Increasingly, researchers expect prompt service, with digital results sent electronically. In addition, the centres receive records in native digital format and need to devise durable practices to ensure retrieve-ability of information in the future.
The Text to Terabyte project will also assist the centres to better care for original documents, establish electronic solutions to the new digital reality, and enhance services.
—Mennonite Heritage Centre, Centre for MB Studies
____________________________________________________________________Learning on the job
Students reflect on working as a summer pastoral intern
“I’ve certainly come to see the role of pastor as one of a diplomat. It takes a lot of skill, patience, and knowledge of church culture to help a community work together. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see how supportive the church community is of its pastors; I was overwhelmed by the number of…words of encouragement or thanks.”
—Adrienne Redekopp, a recent University of Winnipeg graduate with a BA/BEd, who attends and interned at River East MB Church, Winnipeg.
“Now that I’ve seen how large that role can really be, I expect to keep more of an eye on how I can best prepare myself for the inevitable desk-work component of church ministry. The biggest challenge was negotiating the psychological barrier people erect between laypeople and pastors. [To just sit down with people and chat], that kind of contact brings a sort of human, relational warmth to a pastor’s day, and can be one of the most rewarding aspects.
—Theo Dyck, a Canadian Mennonite University student in the BMus program, who attends and interned at King Road MB Church, Abbotsford, B.C.
“My eyes have been opened wide to the wide variety of tasks a pastor is responsible for. It’s one thing to read about something like preaching or visitation in a textbook, and entirely another to experience it. I always viewed the pastor’s leading as something similar to a mere maintenance program. But after this summer, I know a pastor should demonstrate leadership with a purpose in action.”
—Stan Derksen, a Prairie Bible College student in the BMin program, from LaCrete, Alta., who interned at Linden (Alta.) MB Church.
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