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Oasis Retreats for pastors and missionaries is scheduling its next retreat for Feb. 27 – Mar. 3, instead of Jan. 23-28 as previously announced. Oasis Retreats are designed to help those in ministry who experience burnout or are in need of spiritual renewal. Six couples attended the first retreat at Cedar Springs Conference Center in Sumas, Wash. last fall. Topics covered included “The value of hurtful conflict”, “Shepherding in a world of CEOs”, “Growing marriages in times of crises” and “Criticism in a world of affirmation”. For more information, contact Campus Crusade for Christ at (800) 563-1106, ext. 211, or e-mail punrau@direct.ca. – Pete Unrau
Lancaster Conference, a regional conference of the Mennonite Church, has approved the licensing of women as ministers, but not their ordination. The Conference’s Bishop Board called for a vote on the issue at a leaders’ conference Sept. 17. Ballots were sent to 515 credentialed leaders in 30 districts. Of the 393 who voted, 69% favoured the recommendation. The recommendation needed a two-thirds majority to pass. Results of the vote were released Oct. 25. Eight districts voted unanimously for the proposal, while others gave about 90% approval. A couple of districts voted unanimously against the proposal. The recommendation reserves the position of lead pastor (as well as the position of bishop) for men, but allows for the Bishop Board to make exceptions to this directive. An earlier study paper called on the Conference to issue the same ministerial credentials for both men and women, with the exception of bishop. However, that proposal lacked support from congregations and pastors. Three congregations currently have women as lead pastors. – Mennonite Weekly Review, Canadian Mennonite
Helmut Harder, former Conference of Mennonites in Canada general secretary, will be writing the biography of David Toews (1870-1947), a key figure in the CMC and head of the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization. The Board of Colonization assisted Russian Mennonites to immigrate to Canada from the 1920s through the 1940s. Toews also founded and taught at Rosthern (Sask.) Junior College. The research for the biography will begin in January 2000, and the writing should take at least two years. – Mennonite Heritage Centre
The Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award was handed out for the first time Nov. 16 at a ceremony at Ferndale Institution in Mission, B.C., marking Restorative Justice Week. The award went to the staff of the Church Council on Justice and Corrections, which is celebrating 25 years of educating and advocating for restorative justice. The award was also given posthumously to Eleanor Brown, a dedicated senior citizen volunteer who helped promote healing among many groups and individuals in conflict. Correctional Service of Canada established the award this year in honour of the late Ron Wiebe, who was the warden of Ferndale and Elbow Lake Correctional Institutions. Wiebe died in July of cancer. He was a member of Highland Community Church, Abbotsford, B.C. Restorative justice is an approach to justice emphasizing healing for victims, accountability of offenders and the involvement of citizens in creating safer communities. – Correctional Service Of Canada
Cash donations to Mennonite Central Committee have increased in Canada by 60% in the last five years. In 1998-99, $16.85 million was received, compared to $10.55 million five years ago. The totals include general donations, giving to designated projects, income from relief sales, thrift store revenue and cash donations to MCC’s food account at Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The biggest increase this year ($6.5 million) came in designated giving, primarily for emergency relief for Kosovo and Latin America after Hurricane Mitch. Last year, $2.8 million was given for emergency relief. – Mennonite Central Committee Canada
Salah and Shaline Adam, a missionary couple on their way to a family wedding and reunion in Sudan, were among the 217 people killed in the crash of Egyptair flight 990 Oct. 30. Salah had moved to the US on a track scholarship before settling in Toronto and becoming a Canadian citizen. He soon became interested in spiritual matters and converted to Christianity after meeting Shaline through a church outreach group. He studied for a year at a Bible college in Alberta. The couple married in 1993. They were on staff as missionaries at Churchill Heights Baptist Church in Scarborough, Ont., leading Bible studies and teaching English classes for immigrants. They planned to do missionary work in refugee camps in war-torn Sudan. The Boeing 767 crashed in 270 feet of water 60 miles south of Cape Cod. – Evangelical Press News Service
Polio, the crippling viral disease that the World Health Organization declared eradicated in the Western Hemisphere in 1994, is still a threat in many pockets of Africa and South Asia. Civil wars in countries like Angola, Sierra Leone, Congo, Sudan and Somalia prevent children from being immunized, and the virus could spread from these countries to reinfect other parts of the world. The polio virus needs a human host to live and could be eradicated permanently if it could be eliminated in these countries. – World Pulse
This year’s World Fellowship Sunday is Jan. 23. Promoted by Mennonite World Conference, World Fellowship Sunday is an annual celebration of anabaptist-related churches held on the fourth Sunday in January. Each year a different continent plans the worship service and writes the materials, which are distributed by MWC. This year, anabaptist churches in Latin America have written the materials consisting of a bulletin cover, suggested order of service and a sermon outline based on Isaiah 65:8-25. In 1998, there were about 102,500 members in about 1,100 anabaptist-related congregations in 25 countries in Latin America. – Mennonite World Conference
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Last modified January 11, 2000.
© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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