Executive Update

My apologies for having neglected posting for the past few weeks.  

Mennonite Women Canada is anticipating some transitions in leadership as you might already know. Since last March we have been actively searching for someone to take over my position as President as well as Lois Mierau's position as Secretary-Treasurer. We have used this blog, our Facebook page, our CONNECTIONS newsletter, announcements in church bulletins across the country, emails to attendees of our two previous annual meetings and have done some shoulder-tapping ..... all to no avail until a few weeks ago! We are please to have received confirmation from Shirley Redekop from Floradale Mennonite Church in Floradale, ON that she will be our new President beginning in July. She will be formally installed at our annual meeting during Mennonite Church Canada Assembly in Saskatoon. Our prayers for a new leader have been answered. Unfortunately we still do not have a Secretary-Treasurer to replace Lois Mierau who has served for 6 years. Perhaps this is a position that you might be interested in volunteering for? Please contact us if you are interested or if you know someone who is.

Every spring we meet as an executive consisting of President, Secretary-Treasurer and a Representative from each provincial/area church to discuss the shared ministries we support.  As you might know, out of Mennonite Women Canada's five area organizations, only two are still formally functioning.  Women in BC (2008), MB (2009) and SK (2015) have all dissolved their formal structures although they do have a provincially appointed representative that is part of our executive who connects with the women in their province and facilitates provincial Women's Retreats/Enrichment Days.  With this in mind and knowing that Mennonite Church Canada will also be undergoing restructuring as a result of the Future Directions Task Force recommendations, we are anticipating some changes in our future role, direction and structure. 

PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS!

Over the last 64 years Mennonite Women Canada has been a place where women across Canada have been able to come together with a common vision and purpose:  to find fellowship, inspiration and support from each other as well as to support various ministries outside their local spheres such as international projects and scholarships for women.  As the world around us changes we, too, must be open to finding new vision and purpose and open to doing things differently.   

Our hope and dream is that we, and the women in our congregations, will envision new ways to use our gifts and our energy to do God’s work. 

Liz Koop, on behalf of the executive

President Elect - Shirley Redekop 

Secretary-Treasurer - Lois Mierau
BC Rep - Waltrude Gortzen

AB Rep - Kate Janzen

SK Rep - Mel Harms

MB Rep - Elsie Wiebe

MCEC Rep - Phyllis Ramer

  

WEBSITE UPDATE

Great news!!!  Our new website  http://women.mennonitechurch.ca/ is up and running. For the past year and a half we have been working together with Grant Klassen at Mennonite Church Canada for a new look with more information available.  As of yesterday all of our old information has been transferred.  Some newer sections are still being worked on and hopefully bit by bit we will have it completed.  So go and have a look and please be patient while we continue to update!

http://women.mennonitechurch.ca/

Update on Activities/Projects/Programs

Greetings from Mennonite Women Canada:

Now that we are a couple of weeks into the New Year it's time to let you know about what's happening in the various projects and programs we support through our Opportunities for Giving. This includes the Pennies and Prayer Legacy Fund (PPLF), Spiritual Growth Assistance Fund (SGAF), International Ministries, Short-term Ministries and our Publications and Communications.

I'm planning to do separate posts for the projects/programs listed above and hope to do one a week until they are all covered.

We'll also let you know about women's activities that happen across Canada in our five geographic areas: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Eastern Canada.

Website Update:  Together with the Communications Department at Mennonite Church Canada we have been working on a fresh new look for Mennonite Women Canada's website.  It will be ready to be released in the next month or so. Some parts of it will likely need a bit more work but we are excited to be this far in the process. The links in this post are to the old website and I believe will switch over seamlessly to the new website once it is up and running. I will post an announcement here when we reach that point.

Thanks for visiting our blog and please leave a comment, suggestion or question below.

On behalf of the executive,
Liz Koop, President