July 8thThis is Me
A Menno Minute
Thank you to all who have already welcomed me to my new position as MCA Communications Coordinator! I look forward to meeting more of you as the days and weeks unfold.
I’m excited to embrace this position as it takes me back to an earlier passion for communications. In the mid 1990s, I was the volunteer “editor” of what I believe was the first Conference of Mennonites in Alberta newsletter. I typed it out on my new computer, printed it at the church, and mailed bulletin inserts to each congregation. My farm kitchen table was the assembly line for getting the word out. No one could have foreseen the instant communication we expect now! I also represented Alberta on the very first Canadian Mennonite board/executive and thus have some background in church communications. Surprisingly, still a few connections.
Since then, however, much in my life changed. I went back to university in 2004 and completed two degrees at the University of Lethbridge “as fast as a middle-aged woman can do them”. Since my graduation in 2009, I have worked as a counsellor. My professional designation is Canadian Certified Counsellor (C.C.C.). I will continue, for a time, to have a small private practice alongside my MCA position. I moved to Calgary from Lethbridge in late 2018 to be the host at the Foothills Mennonite Guesthouse. I also re-started my counselling practice out of an office on 16th Avenue. Now, thanks to Covid-19, I work from home via video and telephone.
In addition to being Mom and Grandma to my family, I’m a photographer. Sometimes I’m their photographer! I particularly enjoy doing portraits and and being “on the floor” at pow-wows. A number of years ago, when I lived in Lethbridge, I was invited to a pow-wow by my Lethbridge neighbour, an international jingle dress champion, with the words “and bring your camera”. Since then, I have been warmly welcomed by the pow-wow community. I treasure my indigenous friends.
As I grow into this role, you may see that indigenous/settler relationships are important to me. I try to live out the articles of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in my own life and look forward to learning how we as a church can do this better collectively. The book Lifting Hearts off the Ground, published by Mennonite Church Canada is one I treasure and quote.
I continue to have warm relationships with those in the L’arche Lethbridge community, as I once worked in a L'arche home as a respite worker, and hold friends with different abilities close to my heart. I currently work weekly, as a photography mentor, with a young man whose different abilities always amaze me.
I look forward to meeting many of you in my new role as we continue to tell the story of the church, our church, together. Our Vision Statement is communal: God calls US to be followers of Jesus Christ…