Our Stories
A collection of stories shared by, with, and for
our Mennonite Church Alberta congregations.
This is what we were made for
written by Ryan Dueck, pastor, Lethbridge Mennonite
Like most churches during this last year or so, ours has migrated online in various ways, to varying degrees, for varying periods of time. We’ve done everything from recording grainy services on my laptop on a Friday night to celebrating communion in our homes to live-streaming on Sunday mornings to holding “Zoom foyers” and other informal social gatherings and virtually all of our meetings online.
Written by Linden Willms and Tany Warkentin, with input from Linda & Jim Dyck, Ed & Leona Janzen, and Elaine & Abe Janzen and Del Willms.
Springridge is a small rural congregation of 30-35 people, near Pincher Creek AB.
The story of Springridge Mennonite Church goes back almost 100 years, to when leadership was supplied by local members gifted in preaching. In the past 50 years, we have moved from lay leadership to other models - full time pastor, part time pastor, lay leadership team, interim pastor to cover a sabbatical, commuting pastor from Lethbridge… to our present model of again looking to local members for leadership.
SHOW and TELL (Or Serve and Share)
by Kate Janzen, Foothills Mennonite Calgary
When the COVID virus first invaded our lives we, like most of you, felt stuck.
We wanted to follow the rules but how could we continue to be the church?
At Foothills we felt doubly challenged as our two pastors, interim pastor and office administrator all moved on to new positions.
The Joy of Giving
Story and card by Ev Buhr, Office Administrator. First Mennonite Edmonton
A little creativity, a lot of joy!
“How are we going to get our Christmas Cards to everyone in church?” “We usually just bring them before Christmas and put them into the church mail boxes.” “I don’t want to spend that much on postage.” These were a few wonderings and concerns that we heard in mid-November. One comment came with a suggestion from a friend that lived out of town. “Why don’t you have everyone drop their cards off at the church and then arrange for times when people can come
Reflections on a Summer Baptism
Ruth Griffeth deacon First Mennonite Calgary
Every so often, if your eyes are open, you get a glimpse of the Holy! It is a holy encounter that wraps you in a time of wonder and awe, an encounter that needs to be experienced in the present – not remembered from the past or anticipated at some time in the future. It is an encounter with God that defies description; mere words fail to do it justice. Yet, some of us experienced the holy this past summer.
The Presence of God With Us in the Midst of our Hardship
Leng Nawn Thang Calgary Chin Christian Church
"As the Bible told us that life is uncertain, everything in the world has been change. Things are not going as planned."
The story of the Calgary Chin Church is one of hardship and perseverance. Read more about the challenges they have faced in recent months as they renovate and prepare their new worship space.
Steve Guigovaz Bergthal Mennonite Church
What does a church do when they haven’t met in person since the middle of March due to a pandemic and now it’s July? You bring in a Pastoral Intern! Steve Guigovaz and his family have been attending Bergthal Mennonite Church for just over 2 years and he had approached Pastor Anna-Lisa Salo about doing his internship with us as part of his Pastoral Ministry studies.