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2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Story | Ken Esau (video)

Born and raised in Coaldale, AB, Ken Esau was planning to become an engineer before studying at MBBC led him in the direction of becoming a teacher.

Since 1991, Esau has been part of the Biblical Studies faculty at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, BC.

At CBC, Esau has taught Marriage & Family, Introduction to Psychology, Modern Western History, World Religions, and courses looking specifically at a number of Old Testament books.

It’s his Old Testament survey course, however, that he says has most defined him. Esau has taught the course 90 times.

Ken Esau
Ken Esau, 2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

Formerly a high school teacher, Esau holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Winnipeg and the University of Lethbridge, as well as graduate degrees from the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, CA and Regent College in Vancouver, BC.

Esau is committed to Jesus, Jesus’ church, and the Kingdom mission that Christians are invited to participate in.

As a teacher, his first main goal is to encourage young believers to become disciples who are similarly committed to Jesus, the church, and that Kingdom mission.

His second main goal is to encourage students to become life-long learners; passionate people who think critically and are strong communicators.

“There are many others you could have easily named,” Esau says of receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award. “It’s an honour to be recognized for what is, in many ways, a quiet occupation.”

Esau and his wife, Karen, have three adult children. They attend The Life Centre.

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2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Story | Joanne Thiessen Martens (video)

Joanne Thiessen Martens is an agricultural research technician in the Plant Science Department at the University of Manitoba (U of M) in Winnipeg.

For the past 13 years, Thiessen Martens has worked on ecological and organic agriculture research, including a wide variety of projects like cover crops, integrated crop-livestock systems, soil fertility management for organic farms, and more.

Joanne Thiessen Martens
Joanne Thiessen Martens, 2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

What Thiessen Martens most enjoys about her work is that it involves “all the steps in the knowledge-generation process,” from discussing theoretical ideas, to conceptualizing experiments, to conducting those experiments, and analyzing the results.

“We’re doing everything from the ideas to the nitty gritty of collecting the samples,” she says.

Thiessen Martens grew up on an 800-acre mixed farm in Austin, MB.

After finishing a degree in theology at CMBC, Thiessen Martens began studying science at the U of M. She became passionate about agroecology, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in the field. Thiessen Martens and her husband, Myron, spent 2000-2003 serving with Mennonite Central Committee in northeastern Brazil, where she worked with organic and vegetable farmers.

Thiessen Martens has also travelled to Malawi, where she developed curriculum for local farmers.

Additionally, Thiessen Martens co-authored the third edition of the Organic Field Crop Handbook (2016), which is used in university courses around the world. She is also the co-editor of the Canadian Organic Grower magazine.

Thiessen Martens and her husband have two children. They attend Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship.

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2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Story | Henry Neufeld (video)

Henry Neufeld has spent more than six decades building positive relationships among Mennonite and Indigenous peoples.

Born in Moscow, Russia and raised in Leamington, ON, Neufeld studied theology at CMBC.

He and his late wife, Elna, began working as teachers in Indigenous communities in Manitoba in the early 1950s. From 1955 to 1970, they lived and taught 280 kms northeast of Winnipeg in Pauingassi First Nation.

Henry Neufeld
Henry Neufeld, 2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

After serving two years as pastor at Springstein Mennonite Church in Springstein, MB, Neufeld—who is fluent in Ojibway—began visiting northern communities as a travelling pastor. Since then, he has made more than 600 trips. After 65 years, Neufeld’s work still is not finished. This past spring, at the age of 87, he participated in Mennonite Church Canada’s Pilgrimage for Indigenous Rights. Participants walked 600 km. from Kitchener to Ottawa in support of the adoption and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“I know our celebration on Canada Day was for 150 years, but if we look only at the past 150 years, then we are doing a real injustice to Indigenous peoples, because they have been here for 10,000 or more years,” Neufeld says.

“Even though our cultures are radically different, our backgrounds are radically different, we need to recognize and respect each other,” he adds. “If we respect each other for who we are and what we have to offer, then we can prosper.”

Neufeld has five children, 12 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He attends Springstein Mennonite Church.

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2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Story | John Longhurst (video)

John Longhurst is a communicator, marketer, author, editor, columnist, and media relations specialist in Winnipeg.

In his current role as Director of Resources and Public Engagement at Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Longhurst is responsible for the overall communications, marketing, and fundraising efforts of the organization.

Foodgrains is an ecumenical organization, owned by 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies.

John Longhurst
John Longhurst, 2017 CMU Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

“I find that endlessly fascinating,” Longhurst says, “because I get to interact with so many different people with so many different points of view.”

Originally from St. Catharines, ON, Longhurst has had an indelible influence in the Mennonite world and beyond throughout his 35-year career.

He has overseen marketing and communications work at Mennonite Publishing Network, CMU, Mennonite Economic Development Associates, and Mennonite Central Committee Canada.

Since 2003, Longhurst has written a weekly faith column for the Winnipeg Free Press, and in 2006, he shared his expertise in the book, Making the News: An Essential Guide for Effective Media Relations.

“I was just always curious about why people did the things they did, how things happened, how decisions were made, how the world ticked—endlessly fascinated with it,” Longhurst says of why he became a writer. “I wanted to tell stories and kind of interpret the world.”

Today, one of Longhurst’s greatest joys is mentoring the next generation of communicators.

“I like working with younger staff, helping them find joy and meaning, watching them grapple with a completely different communications world,” he says.

Longhurst attends St. Benedict’s Table. He and his wife, Christine, have two adult children.

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“Festschrift” honours CMU President Emeritus Gerald Gerbrandt

CMU Press is pleased to announce the release of a Festschrift honouring Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt, who served as Canadian Mennonite University’s first sole President.

Titled A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt, the Festschrift—a German word for a collection of writing that is meant to honour a scholar—is a series of essays that reflect on what it means to be a Mennonite university.

“The essays are high quality. The writers were clearly engaged in a labour of love that called forth their best efforts in honouring this leader and friend,” said CMU Press editor Dr. Paul Doerksen. “All of the essays have something to do with what it might mean to be a Christian university. On that level, it’s an important contribution.”

The book, which takes its name from a phrase Gerbrandt coined to describe CMU, was co-edited by Dr. Paul Dyck, Professor of English, and Dr. Harry Huebner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theology.

Dyck and Huebner presented the book to Gerbrandt during CMU’s 2016-17 opening program on Saturday, September 24.

President Emeritus Gerald Gerbrant

President Emeritus Gerald Gerbrandt comments on A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt, the Festschrift—a gift from CMU faculty presented to Gerbrandt at CMU’s 2016 Opening Program

 

 

 

 

Huebner noted that as president, Gerbrandt shaped CMU’s vision and mission, gave leadership in molding its faculty, and created a climate of open, free exchange of ideas and respect for difference.

“The essays in this book are all written out of a deep appreciation for this culture of open discussion, of open debate, guided by a commitment to the Christian faith,” Huebner said. “In a small way, it is an example of what a university of the church for the world might look like.”

Dyck added that the aim of the book was to bring together the various disciplines and activities at CMU and give readers an in-depth look at the life of the university.

It features 17 essays, including contributions from CMU faculty who teach international development, biblical and theological studies, music, English literature, biology, and math.

The book also includes essays on academic freedom, co-curricular activities at CMU, and CMU’s practicum program.

Additionally, the book features essays by University of Manitoba President David Barnard, Bluffton University President James Harder, church leaders David Wiebe and Robert J. Suderman, and more.

“We recommend the book to you as an example of the intellectual life of this university, both in the insights of its chapters and in the joyful interaction of them between these covers,” Dyck said at opening program.

Gerbrandt expressed his deep thanks for the book, particularly to the authors who took time to contribute essays.

“I really do look forward to reading each one of your reflections and seeing what I can learn from them,” Gerbrandt said, adding later: “I do trust that… the various contributions in it serve to help CMU and perhaps other universities to become more effective to serve the world and the church.”

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico and raised in Altona, MB, Gerbrandt earned his Bachelor of Christian Education from Canadian Mennonite Brethren Bible College (CMBC), one of CMU’s predecessor institutions. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana as well as a PhD in Old Testament from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.

After working for many years as a professor at CMBC, he was appointed the college’s Academic Dean, a position he held from 1982 to 1997. From 1997 to 2003, he served as President of CMBC, and from 2003 until his retirement in 2012, he served as President of CMU.

Gerbrandt and his wife, Esther, are active members at Bethel Mennonite Church, Winnipeg. They have three adult children, Nathan (Ang), Brad (Natalie), and Virginia (Andrew), and four grandchildren.

About CMU

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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Events General News News Releases

CMU celebrates start of school year with Fall Festival and opening program

For Eric Wiebe, attending Canadian Mennonite University’s annual Fall Festival event this past weekend was like coming home.

Wiebe, a retired high school physics teacher who lives in Kamloops, BC, graduated from Canadian Mennonite Bible College, one of CMU’s predecessor institutions, in 1966. He wanted to be at Fall Festival because members from his graduating class were gathering for their 50-year reunion.

“I haven’t seen many of them in the interim, so it was interesting to see what they’ve done with their lives,” Wiebe said, adding that attending Fall Festival was a reminder of “how significant CMU is.”

Wiebe was one of more than 1,000 people who gathered at Fall Festival Sept. 23-24.

FallFest2016Celebrated at the end of each September, Fall Festival features opportunities for students, alumni, friends, donors, and community members to connect, learn, play, and celebrate the CMU community.

In addition to class reunions, the weekend included community meals, a farmers market, a folk music festival, a bicycle race, a CMU basketball game, and a Face2Face community discussion featuring Reserve 107: Reconciliation on the Prairies, a 30-minute documentary by alumnus Brad Leitch that explores Indigenous-settler relations in the small town of Laird, SK.

Fall Festival concluded with CMU’s annual opening program, a time of worship to celebrate the start of a new school year.

CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls delivered a message based on CMU’s chapel theme for 2016-17, If We Walk in the Light (1 John 1:5-7).

“We seek to witness to the truth that God is light,” Pauls said. “My prayer is that the light of Christ will emanate through all who are touched by this learning community in some way—students, staff, faculty, board, council, alumni, friends, guests of all sorts, and many others.”

Distinguished Alumni Award recipients:
Distinguished Alumni Award recipients (l-r):  Adrienne Wiebe, Peter Guenther, Ron Toews, and Brad Leith

The opening program included the presentation of the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Awards, which annually recognizes alumni who, through their lives, embody CMU’s values and mission of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society.

Pauls presented the awards to Peter Guenther, who served as the head of numerous correctional institutions during a 39-year career; Adrienne Wiebe, an international development worker; Ron Toews, a pastor and professor committed to leadership development in the Mennonite Brethren Church; and Brad Leitch, a filmmaker and peacebuilder.

At its best, CMU’s impact is evidenced in the life stories of alumni, said Vice President External Terry Schellenberg.

“While we would never claim full credit for who our alumni become or the good they contribute, we know that CMU does open imagination and passion and skill, and that this university lays foundations for faithfulness,” Schellenberg said.

Later in the program, Dr. Harry Huebner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theology, and Dr. Paul Dyck, Professor of English, presented a Festschrift honouring Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt, who served as CMU’s first sole President from 2003 to 2012.

Titled A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt, the Festschrift—a German word for a collection of writing that is meant to honour a scholar—is a series of essays that reflect on the work being done at CMU.

IMG_0363
President Emeritus Gerald Gerbrandt comments on A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt, the Festschrift—a gift from CMU faculty to honour Gerbrandt’s impact on CMU during his administration.

The book takes its name from a phrase Gerbrandt coined to describe CMU. Huebner noted that as president, Gerbrandt shaped CMU’s vision and mission, gave leadership in molding its faculty, and created a climate of open, free exchange of ideas and respect for difference.

“The essays in this book are all written out of a deep appreciation for this culture of open discussion, of open debate, guided by a commitment to the Christian faith,” Huebner said. “In a small way, it is an example of what a university of the church for the world might look like.”

Gerbrandt expressed his thanks for the book, particularly to the authors who took time to write essays for it.

“I really do look forward to reading each one of your reflections and seeing what I can learn from them,” Gerbrandt said, adding later: “I do trust that… the various contributions in it serve to help CMU and perhaps other universities to become more effective to serve the world and the church.”

Ultimately, opening program—and Fall Festival as a whole—was about gratitude; gratitude not only for the contribution of alumni and a former President, but gratitude for the community that supports CMU.

“CMU’s present and its future is nowhere if it’s not held within a network of friends and alumni, parents and grandparents, (and) congregations who undergird the possibilities of this university,” Schellenberg said.

About CMU

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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CMU Discussion Series Kicks Off with Screening of Award-Winning Documentary

Directed By Alumnus Brad Leitch, ‘Reserve 107’ Explores Indigenous-Settler Reconciliation

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) will host the Manitoba premiere of the new documentary short Reserve 107: Reconciliation on the Prairies during its first Face2Face community discussion event of the 2016-17 school year.

Face2Face_Sept2016The documentary explores Indigenous rights and title to the land in the small town of Laird, SK, where an old injustice is providing new opportunities for dialogue, friendship, and a fierce determination to right the wrongs of the past.

The public is invited to watch the 32-minute documentary on Friday, September 23 at 7:30 PM. The screening takes place in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.). A Q and A with Brad Leitch, director of the film and a CMU alumnus, will precede the screening, and a panel discussion featuring people from the film will follow. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

“We are excited to screen Reserve 107 and host a discussion about the important themes of Indigenous rights, claims to land, and reconciliation that it explores,” says David Balzer, Assistant Professor of Communications and Media at CMU, who will moderate the discussion.

In Laird, Mennonites and Lutherans discovered that the land they live on is in fact the former reserve of the Young Chippewayan First Nation.

In 2006, Mennonites, Lutherans, and the Young Chippewayan First Nation gathered on the sacred hill of Stoney Knoll/Opwashemoe Chakatinaw. With goodwill and shared goals, they signed a memorandum of understanding, committing themselves to finding justice for the Young Chippewayan First Nation.

“Our film picks up the story a decade later to see what’s happened and how the communities are doing,” Leitch says. “I’m very interested in seeing what peacebuilding looks like in a practical sense, and film is a great tool for showing that.”

The discussion following the film will feature a handful of people who appear in the documentary, including Barb and Wilmer Froese, who run a family farm in Laird; Ray Funk of Prince Albert, SK, who is a board member with Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan, which helped fund the film; and Chief George Kingfisher, hereditary chief of the Young Chippewayan First Nation.

The audience will be invited to participate in the conversation.

Balzer notes that in each year of its existence, CMU’s Face2Face discussion series has included an event relating to Indigenous-settler issues in an effort to promote reconciliation and being good neighbours.

Reserve 107 picks up on an element of the story that our discussion events at CMU haven’t addressed before,” Balzer says. “The people participating in the panel are on the ground level of what is happening in Laird, so it will give people who come to the event an intimate look at how people negotiate treaty relationships in their lives.”

Reserve 107 Kingfisher and Funk
A scene from the film Reserve 107 shows Chief George Kingfisher and Ray Funk discuss themes of Indigenous rights, claims to land, and reconciliation.

Described in reviews as “beautifully photographed,” “wonderfully accessible,” and “a valuable resource,” Reserve 107 was an official selection at this year’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver, BC, as well as the Speechless Film Festival in Mankato, MN, where it was given an award of merit. To watch a trailer and learn more about the film, visit reserve107thefilm.com.

Started in 2013, Face2Face is a series of conversations organized by CMU, designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life.

“Journey to Renewed Covenants” is the first of four Face2Face events CMU will host during the 2016-17 school year. For details, visit cmu.ca/face2face.

About CMU

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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General News News Releases

CMU Recognizes Distinguished Alumni with 2016 Awards

A former penitentiary warden, an international development worker, a pastor-academic committed to leadership development, and a 30-year-old who combines filmmaking with peacebuilding are the recipients of Canadian Mennonite University’s (CMU) 2016 Distinguished Alumni Awards.

CMU President Cheryl Pauls is pleased to present the awards to Peter Guenther, Adrienne Wiebe, Ron Toews, and Brad Leitch on Saturday, September 24.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards celebrate alumni who, through their lives, embody CMU’s values and mission of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society. The awards are presented to alumni from CMU and its predecessor colleges: Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) and Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC)/Concord College.

“It is in the stories of the lives of alumni that the good of a university education is made true,” Pauls says. “CMU is honoured by the generosity of thoughtfulness with which this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are feeding church and society.”

Pauls will present the awards during CMU’s Opening Program at 7:00 PM on Saturday, September 24 in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.) as part of CMU’s Fall Festival.

Prior to the Opening Program, the public is invited to meet and interact with Guenther, Wiebe, Toews, and Leitch during an event at 4:00 PM in CMU’s Laudamus Auditorium (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). During this hour, each recipient will be introduced, and each will reflect on their personal and professional journeys. There will be time for questions and interaction.

Information about the award recipients:

Peter Guenther (portrait)Peter Guenther (CMBC ’69) worked for 39 years in corrections, serving as the head of numerous correctional institutions including director of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, warden of the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, and executive director of the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon. He is known as a compassionate, principled, and respected leader who worked to reduce harm, violence, and recidivism. Guenther’s volunteer work includes service on the board of Saskatoon Community Mediation and the advisory committee for Circles of Support and Accountability. He and his wife, Marilyn, live in Saskatoon and attend Nutana Park Mennonite Church. They have three adult sons.

 

AdrienneWiebeAdrienne Wiebe (MBBC 1976-78) has spent the last 30 years working in international development. Her career includes earning a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Alberta, as well as working in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Wiebe has also worked with a variety of organizations in Edmonton that help refugees and Indigenous communities. She currently works for Oxfam Canada, doing evaluation and learning related to the organization’s global programs and campaigns on ending violence against women and girls around the world. Wiebe and her husband, Arturo Avila, attend Lendrum Mennonite Brethren Church in Edmonton. They have two adult children.

 

 Ron Toews (portrait)Ron Toews (MBBC ’84) is the Director of Leadership Development for the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. His focus is serving pastors and churches by making tools available to leaders that are based upon their needs and ministry contexts. Toews holds a DMin from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. From 1987 to 2002, he and his wife, Dianne, pastored two churches. Afterward, he became Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies at the MBBS-ACTS seminary in Langley, B.C. After a short stint as interim principal at ACTS, he transitioned to his current role. Toews and his wife live near Abbotsford, B.C. and attend The Life Centre. They have nine grandchildren.

 

Brad Leitch (portrait)Brad Leitch (nee Langendoen, CMU ’13) is an award-winning filmmaker and peacebuilder who approaches difficult topics with empathy, compassion, deep listening, and boundless energy. He is the executive producer and founder of Rebel Sky Media, a film and video production company in Winnipeg, MB. His directorial work has explored topics of peace and justice in Canada, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Israel, Palestine, and the United Kingdom. His work is currently featured in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, and in a permanent exhibit at the Pier 21 Museum of Immigration in Halifax, NS. Leitch and his wife, Adrienne, attend Hope Mennonite Church.

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2

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Alumni Profiles Articles

Getting to Know CMU’s 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

On Saturday, September 24, CMU President Cheryl Pauls will present the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Awards to Peter Guenther, Adrienne Wiebe, Ron Toews, and Brad Leitch.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards celebrate alumni who, through their lives, embody CMU’s values and mission of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society. The awards are presented to alumni from CMU and its predecessor colleges: Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) and Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC)/Concord College.

We spoke with this year’s award recipients.

PGPeter Guenther (CMBC ’69)

Working at a prison is an unconventional summer job for a student, but that’s what Peter Guenther did while studying at CMBC.

At the age of 19, Guenther worked at the Provincial Correction Centre in Prince Albert, SK.

“While it was pretty dull and boring standing at various points and being a corrections officer, I saw the harshness of prison and the opportunity to make a difference,” he says.

One older gentleman who worked as a shift supervisor had a big influence on Guenther.

“He’d come talk to me about what was happening, reflect with me on how things could be better, and encouraged me to think of corrections as a career.”

That summer had a profound impact on the direction Guenther’s life has taken. In the years since, his professional career has focused on providing safe, healing, and supportive spaces for offenders.

He has worked as a senior bureaucrat and head of numerous correctional institutions, both provincial and federal.

Guenther possesses a deep commitment to social justice that dates back to his time in high school. His interest in helping the less fortunate was developed at CMBC, where he earned his Bachelor of Theology.

“What struck me and shaped me while studying both the Old and New Testaments was the biblical imperative to help and work with marginalized people,” Guenther says.

After CMBC, Guenther completed a bachelor’s degree in sociology at the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Criminology at the University of Ottawa.

He worked for 39 years in corrections, serving as the head of numerous correctional institutions including director of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, warden of the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, and executive director of the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon.

Guenther says it was the opportunities to lead and make a difference that he most enjoyed about his career.

He became known as a compassionate, principled, and respected leader who worked to reduce harm, violence, and recidivism.

Highlights from his career include increasing programming for women, and access to mental and spiritual support services for inmates and released offenders.

“It was exciting for me to see offenders complete those programs and move through the system, and eventually be released as law-abiding and productive citizens,” Guenther says. “The whole process of not simply warehousing offenders but treating them was most exciting.”

Guenther’s interest in restorative justice has led to volunteer work that includes service on the board of Saskatoon Community Mediation and the advisory committee for Circles of Support and Accountability, an organization with groups across the country that support men and women who have committed serious sexual offences.

Guenther and his wife, Marilyn, live in Saskatoon, where they attend Nutana Park Mennonite Church.

He is both excited and humbled to be receiving a CMU Distinguished Alumni Award.

“It’s very gratifying to be recognized, especially in this career,” he says. “It’s not the typical Mennonite career, but I’m very pleased and proud of the impact that I’ve had with both staff and offenders.”

AdrienneWiebeAdrienne Wiebe (MBBC 1976-78)

When Adrienne Wiebe recalls her time at MBBC, learning to think critically – and rooting that critical thinking in faith – sticks out.

“I learned that God wants shalom for the world, and that we as Christians are part of participating and building towards that,” Wiebe says. “That set the groundwork for how I approach life.”

Wiebe, who holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Alberta, has sought to participate in building toward shalom via a career in international development.

Following college, Wiebe travelled in South America for nine months. After falling in love with Latin America, she returned to her native Edmonton to do a Master’s degree in Geography. A year of fieldwork in Ecuador followed.

After returning to Edmonton, Wiebe worked for several years with Central American refugees at the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers. In the meantime, she married Arturo Avila, a Chilean political refugee living in Edmonton, and they had two children.

From 1992 to 1996, their family lived in a Mayan village in the highlands of Guatemala, where Wiebe and Avila did community development work with a small Canadian NGO.

Wiebe’s experience in Guatemala stands out as a career highlight.

“It was really mind-opening,” she says, adding that initially, she went to Guatemala with the idea that she was going to help the people there. She soon realized that the community had been there for hundreds of years, and she was “just a blip” in its history. “Then I got really curious about the history of the community and the nature of the community, so out of that grew the PhD research I eventually did.”

Wiebe did her PhD from 1997 to 2002, with many research trips back to Guatemala, and worked part-time in a hospital as the multicultural services coordinator. This was followed by seven years spent working full-time in research and program development with Indigenous communities for Alberta Health Services.

From 2010 to 2013, Wiebe and Avila served with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Mexico, where Wiebe worked as a policy analyst and educator for Latin America.

Upon returning to Canada, Wiebe spent two-and-a-half years working as a provincial thrift shop coordinator for MCC Alberta.

This past March, Wiebe took on a one-year assignment in Ottawa with Oxfam Canada. At Oxfam, Wiebe works on evaluation and learning related to the organization’s global programs and campaigns on ending violence against women and girls around the world.

“I like the interaction between being an activist in some sense, and working with people and communities to understand what’s going on and how we can make things better, and then learning from that – reflecting on that experience, increasing our knowledge and awareness… taking that new knowledge and putting it into practice again,” she says. “I enjoy that research-action-reflection cycle.”

Wiebe says she feels honoured and humbled to be receiving a CMU Distinguished Alumni Award, adding that she sees her upcoming visit to Winnipeg as a great opportunity to reconnect with her alma mater.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what’s going on at CMU today.”

Ron Toews 01Ron Toews (MBBC ’84)

In the Saskatchewan farming community in which Ron Toews grew up, a godly farmer tapped him on the shoulder and said, “I believe God is calling you to leave the farm and study to become a pastor.” Hearing and responding to God, even when it feels risky, has defined Toews’s journey.

“That shoulder-tapping impulse is something that I’ve carried on,” says Toews, who currently lives in BC’s Fraser Valley, where he works as Director of Leadership Development for the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

Toews oversees Leaders2Learners (L2L), which connects leaders across Canada to learn together, share and pray together, and exchange resources that they have found helpful in their ministry settings.

Toews’s main focus is to serve pastors and churches by making tools available to leaders that are based upon their needs and ministry contexts.

“Through coaching we help leaders become attentive to the Holy Spirit’s promptings so that their lives can have maximum ministry impact,” he says.

For Toews, who holds an MDiv from the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, CA and a DMin from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, his role with L2L is the latest in a life spent serving the church.

From 1987 to 2002, Toews and his wife, Dianne, pastored two churches: Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church in Kitchener, ON, and Dalhousie Community Church in Calgary, AB.

When Toews was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2000, he began to look closely at his life and calling. He realized one of the things he valued deeply was helping young people in their journeys to become pastors.

In 2002, he accepted a faculty position at the MBBS-ACTS seminary in Langley, BC where he spent five years as Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies.

He eventually ended up in the corner office at ACTS as interim principal, a role he accepted after going away to Africa for a month with Dianne to think and pray about the decision.

They returned to Canada to the news that their 24-year-old son, Nathan, had been killed in a car accident. The experience, Toews later told the MB Herald, “made cancer look like a cakewalk.”

Toews left ACTS after 21 months, and eventually accepted a leadership development role with the BC Mennonite Brethren conference, where he served from 2009 to September 2012.

Toews began working in the current role he’s in shortly thereafter. He enjoys the job.

“No two days are ever the same,” he says. “Helping leaders and churches be on mission with Jesus is a privilege.”

In spite of personal challenges, Toews has remained steadfast in his faith, trusting in God and serving others so that he might “make a kingdom difference.”

He views receiving a CMU Distinguished Alumni Award as a tribute to the faithful farmer who tapped him on the shoulder, and many others who have invested in him and contributed to who he is today.

“Dianne and I give thanks to God for his faithfulness over a life that has taken some twists and turns,” he says. “We give God thanks for his ongoing journey with us.”

BLBrad Leitch (CMU ’13)

At 30, Brad Leitch (nee Langendoen) is carving out an impressive career as an award-winning filmmaker, peacebuilder, and playback theatre actor who approaches difficult topics with empathy, compassion, deep listening, and boundless energy.

“I firmly believe there’s so much overlap between peacebuilding and documentary filmmaking,” Leitch says, adding that both require empathy, curiosity, flexibility, and adaptability.

Leitch is the executive producer and founder of Rebel Sky Media, a film and video production company in Winnipeg, MB. His directorial work has explored topics of peace and justice in Canada, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Israel, Palestine, and the United Kingdom.

Some of his work is currently featured in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, and in a permanent exhibit at the Pier 21 Museum of Immigration in Halifax, NS.

“The majority of the projects I work on these days have led to a more explicit merge of peacebuilding and filmmaking, through the topics explored and through the lives of individuals who are modeling what peace and reconciliation may look like,” Leitch says. “The film itself then becomes a kind of tool and resource that can spur the audience’s own imagination for creating peace. This is exciting to me.”

Leitch’s interest in theatre and film was sparked growing up in Fenwick, ON, a community located 30 km. west of Niagara Falls.

He studied filmmaking for two years at the Center for Creative Media, a Christian film school in Texas.

Leitch, who comes from a Christian Reformed background, was appalled by the support for the war in Iraq that he witnessed when talking to Christians in Texas.

He developed an interest in peacemaking that led him to Christian Peacemaker Teams. He was part of a two-week delegation to Palestine in 2008.

While studying Peace and Conflict Transformation at CMU, Leitch joined Winnipeg’s Red Threads for Peace Playback Troupe.

He is currently in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary about playback theatre: participatory, improvisational theatre where audience members share a story from their life and an acting troupe immediately plays back that story using a variety of improv theatre forms.

In the field of peacebuilding, playback theatre is being used as a conflict transformation tool in education, mediation, psychotherapy, and trauma healing.

Leitch is also about to premiere Reserve 107: Reconciliation on the Prairies, a documentary that explores the goings-on in Laird, SK, where Mennonites and Lutherans have committed themselves to finding some justice for the Young Chippewayan First Nation whose land they have settled on.

“I’m very interested in seeing what peacebuilding looks like in a practical sense, and film is a great tool for showing that,” Leitch says.

“It’s something that can be easily missed: That these peacebuilding journeys are long journeys that people commit to and embark on, and they can sometimes be fragile,” he adds.

For Leitch, receiving a CMU Distinguished Alumni Award is both a surprise and an honour.

“It means a lot coming from a community I have so much appreciation and respect for,” Leitch says. “I am grateful.”

Categories
Video

2015 Alumni Award Stories – Cheryl Woelk (video)

Cheryl Woelk (CMU '12)
Cheryl Woelk (CMU ’03)

Peacemaking, language, and education are interests that have continually woven together in the life of Cheryl Woelk (CMU ‘03).

From 2002-08, she was a Mennonite Church Canada Witness Worker in Seoul, South Korea where she worked as education coordinator at the Korean Anabaptist Center and head teacher at Connexus, the English language school Woelk and her KAC colleagues founded. After earning a Master of Arts in Education, Woelk and her family moved to Saskatoon, SK.

She is currently involved in a variety of projects there, including Language for Peace, which brings together teachers and learners interested in the connection of language, peace, and education from a Mennonite perspective.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards celebrate alumni who, through their lives, embody CMU’s values and mission of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society. The awards are presented to alumni from CMU and its predecessor colleges: Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) and Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC)/Concord College.