Join the Tour! - Elsie Rempel - "Please Pass the Faith"

Naomi Unger recently interviewed Elsie Rempel, Formation Consultant for Mennonite Church Canada.  Elsie holds a master degree in theology with a focus on Mennonites, children and communion, an education degree, has taught primary school in a Christian setting for 40 years, and is a grandparent of four youngsters.  Her new book PleasePass the Faith: The Art of Spiritual Grandparenting is a treasure trove of practical ideas and tips for grandparents wanting to pass on their faith to their grandchildren.  (from the MennoniteChurch Canada Resource Centre)

Naomi:   Tell us a bit about your work as Formation Consultant for Mennonite Church Canada.  What are some of the highlights and challenges of your work?

Elsie:  First of all, I should include a word about my current ministry title. I have worked with Mennonite Church Canada since 2002 under several titles. I began as Director of Christian Education and Nurture. After some years we sought a shortening of the title and thought that Christian Nurture captured the essence of my ministry. When my work was reduced to half time and ministry with and for seniors was added, we felt that the term Consultant reflected the more limited role, and Formation reflected the whole life journey of Christians as they are being formed by Christ. Such a formation consultant, one who helps Christ take form in others, is what I strive to be and do as I gather, develop, and share on a wide variety of faith forming topics for our denomination and beyond.

The greatest highlights of my work are:

     ~ Hearing that resources we have produced or promoted have had a positive faith forming impact in our congregations, or in people’s personal lives. I’ve experienced this numerous times with my book, Please Pass the Faith and it has been deeply rewarding. Writing the book  was a particularly intensive and extensive project, so it’s good to know it’s been worth it.     

     ~ Meeting with dedicated and gifted church leaders in Canadian writing teams to prepare worship resources for Leader magazine.  We immerse ourselves diligently in the seasonal scripture texts and our contexts for faithfulness, but it always feels like we’re on a spiritual mountaintop as we arrive at new themes and worship outlines.    

Naomi:  Over the years, you have written and edited numerous resources for children, such as Lent and Advent family devotions, Lectionary-based children's stories, and Vacation Bible School curricula. You've helped shape; you’ve introduced, and worked with Sunday School curricula. What motivated you to write resources for children of the church?

Elsie:  Whenever I work with children directly, I am inspired by their child faith and their insights into living God’s way. They are eager for stories and messages that help them name and claim God’s role in our individual and corporate lives. On the other hand, our current society exposes children to many competing sources of identity formation, many of which can dim their sense of being created in God’s image to be joyful and loving members of God’s bigger family. This combination of opportunity and need, plus my immense enjoyment of children, motivate my ministry of producing and promoting good resources for the church’s children.

Naomi:   Alongside of writing for children, you’ve also provided christian nurture workshops, and written, and edited faith forming resources for adults, such as Prayer Journeys with Children, Many Gifts: Calling and Growing Congregational Leaders,  Leader Worship Resources, and Special Sunday worship resources. How do you navigate writing for children and adults?

Elsie:  The distance is short between writing for children and writing for adults so that they can work more effectively with children. Because I think like an adult it is easier to shift from writing for children to writing for adults, than the other way around, especially on the topic of children which has been my core focus.  However, I also live, work and worship regularly with adults, so working with other adults to create worship resources is stimulating and enjoyable. Because my theological studies focused on children’s faith nurture I sometimes need to do extra background reading.  For instance, as I accepted the mandate to work on ministry with and for seniors, I did a lot of extra reading and interviewed older seniors to add insight to the experience I was gaining as a young senior.  

Naomi:  Your recent book, Please Pass the Faith: The Art of Spiritual Grandparenting, is a very helpful tool for older adults in encouraging/guiding children and youth in their faith journey. But in a delightful flip, the book also tells how children and youth can shape the faith of their elders.  Please say a bit about this intergenerational flow of faith that goes both directions. How can older people be open to learning from their grandchildren?

Elsie:  Wherever we are on the journey of life and faith, God has a place for us. By spending a good chunk of my professional career working with children, and now enjoying being a hands-on Omi, I’ve experienced how much we can learn from and be blessed by children.  That intergenerational flow of faith was natural for many people through most of church history. About 50 years ago,  we began to specialize and develop age-specific curricula. During that time, the church lost many of the blessings of  intergenerational learning, even as children and youth received age appropriate content.  Now, we need to relearn how to worship and follow Jesus as an intergenerational family again.  To do so will involve learning to enjoy and accept children, their child faith, and their child behaviour as unique reflections of the image of God.

Please Pass the Faith: The Art of Spiritual Grandparenting is available from Mennonite Church Canada Resource Centre.  For more information on the author or to follow her blog, please visit http://elsiehannahruth.wordpress.com/

Memories of a Childhood Christmas

Christmas Memories! 

I asked four women from my church community for a Christmas memory. 

Here is what they shared. 

Have a blessed Christmas.

Erna (82):  

On Christmas Eve, we children each put a clean plate at our place at the kitchen table and then went to bed. Early on Christmas morning, mom would waken us. We all got dressed and gathered at the kitchen door. Dad was waiting there with the coal-oil lamp. We entered the kitchen together and went to the table. On our plate was an orange, candy and peanuts and a small unwrapped present. 

We understood that the present was from Nate Claus. When I got older, mom told me that Nate Claus was just a story; I was a bit sad that he wasn't the source of my gift. 

We played with our presents while dad and my older brother did the farm chores. When they came back in, we had breakfast and got ready for the sleigh ride to church to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Jean (65): 

Because both the extended families lived quite a distance from our home, Christmas visits in either direction were rare. We celebrated at home by ourselves. 

On Christmas Eve, we children each put out a stocking for Santa to fill. The next morning, our stockings contained nuts, an apple and one Mandarin orange as well as our gifts. For many years I received a new pencil, a new eraser and a box of eight new crayons. It was a special gift because I loved to color. My September school crayons were already worn down with the paper pulled away. Whether or not I received a coloring book didn’t matter as much as having crayons with sharp points again. 

Dad oversaw the eating of the oranges. We had to lay out and count each segment before we could eat them. By eating our orange slowly and carefully, Dad taught us to really enjoy the taste of those special Christmas oranges.

Marlene (47): 

In my childhood home, the focus of Christmas was the presents from Santa Claus and being happy as a family. Granny didn't come every year but when she did, we were especially happy to have her with us.

My mother owned a shiny green housecoat that she wore only at Christmas. She did this for many years, and so it became a tradition to have mom in her green housecoat as we opened our gifts on Christmas morning. 

When our son was 4 or 5 years old, he was very excited that we were celebrating Jesus’ birthday. As his mom, I was really pleased that the message got through. I was an adult before I understood that Christmas is a Christian celebration of Christ’s coming, so I was grateful to God that my child was developing that awareness in his life. 

Ruth (24): 

In our family, we always wrapped our Christmas gifts to each other in nice Christmasy paper and we opened those gifts on Christmas Eve. 

One year, the 12-year old me was more than a little puzzled when there was no wrapped gift from my parents but only a simple white envelope. I was upset until I opened the envelope and found a printed clue. When I figured that out, I found another clue which led me to the living room sofa. There, tucked behind the cushions was my gift: a .22 shotgun. It had been too long and cumbersome to wrap, so mom made a game of hunting for it instead. Perhaps that was in keeping with the hunting that I’d learn from my dad. Both the game and the gift are a special memory for me. 

The 2012 Sask Women in Mission Retreat

The annual fall women’s retreat sponsored by Sask Women in Mission was held on October 19 & 20, in the Timberlodge at the beautiful Shekinah Retreat Centre.

The retreat began on Friday evening with a fall-themed banquet. Following that great meal, we played a get-acquainted game where we placed ourselves on an imaginary line in answer to such questions as: Do you prefer dogs or cats as a pet? Would you rather watch a movie or read a book? and Would you rather watch curling or hockey?  It was a humorous way to get us moving before settling down to listen to the speaker. 

Our guest speaker was Dora Dueck, historian, editor and writer from Winnipeg. The intertwined stories of Jesus’ healing of the two women who interrupted his journey, (Mark  5:21-43) formed the basis for Dora’s presentations.  Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28-30 are God's call for us to rest and to be renewed: "Come to me and I will give you rest... Take my yoke and learn from me." 

For her first presentation, Dora explained what the needs of the bleeding women were and asked us to consider what our needs are. Her answer to the question, “What does the REST to which Christ calls us look like?” was that rest sees the big picture, listens, forgives, has done the most difficult thing, and believes that I am loved deeply by God. We sang, "Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art; I am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart.... For by thy transforming power thou hast made me whole." 

Friday evening ended with a discussion of Dora’s prize-winning novel, This Hidden Thing. Book club enthusiasts enjoyed the discussion and everyone was glad when the author herself read several selections from her book. 

Saturday morning began with stretching exercises led by Marian Hooge Jones. She made them fun with scarves and sing-along choruses. Through out the day, women could browse and buy from some craft tables and from Ten Thousand Villages. The crafters were Dora Wiebe from Glenbush with pieced blankets, some made of fun fur, Barbara Schmidt, Waldheim, who works with wool, and Lois Siemens from Superb with her calligraphy and prairie photos.  Nola Scofield, doing massages, replaced the pedicurist who was unable to be present. Her fifteen minute “back rubs” were a soothing delight for $10.00.

Barbara Schmidt with her felted and knitted items from angora wool. 

Calligraphy artist and photographer, Lois Siemens, with her cards and bookmarks.

In her second presentation, Dora invited us to consider what new or ongoing work and what challenges are before us. She continued to illustrate Christ's call to rest and renewal with personal stories. RENEWAL in Christ, she said, travels lightly, is not afraid of change, takes time (and space), usually grows out of dissatisfaction or crises and finds energy in the larger vision (and mystery) of God’s work in the world.  

Our final session on Saturday afternoon was given to prayers, lighting candles and offering each other bread and juice in a service of holy communion. 

Approximately fifty women attended, which was a disappointing number for us. A local woman had planned to attend only on Friday evening, but after hearing Dora she  rearranged her Saturday schedule and came back for the day. Her comments, plus other evaluations, indicated that those fifty women had had an inspiring time. One women appreciated the juxtaposition of rest and wrestling, another the reminder that she is God’s beloved daughter, that will be her mantra. 
And so we praise God for another wonderful women’s retreat.