![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/IMG_9093.jpg\" "\\"Carol")
Carol Penner has a list of ten reasons why she couldn\u2019t be a pastor. The pastor of The First Mennonite Church in Vineland, Ontario also has ten stories of how God helped her surmount those barriers. Telling those stories to students at Canadian Mennonite University was one of Penner\u2019s priorities during the week she spent at on campus as a pastor in residence.<\/p>\n
In mid-February The First Mennonite Church loaned its pastor to CMU for a week. Penner travelled to Winnipeg and spent a week on the CMU campus as part of the university\u2019s new pastor in residence program.<\/p>\n
Inviting pastors to spend time on campus is a way of providing spiritual care for students and staff and helps CMU strengthen relationships with its supporting churches, says CMU\u2019s spiritual life facilitator, Melanie Unger.<\/p>\n
Twice a year\u2014once in fall and once in spring\u2014a pastor comes to live on campus for a week. The pastor in residence meets with students and faculty, hosts discussions, speaks in chapel and offers pastoral care. Churches give their pastors a week of paid leave and pay for their transportation to Winnipeg. CMU covers room and board.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge blessing to us for a church to free up their pastor to come here for a week,\u201d says Unger.<\/p>\n
Dan Unrau, pastor of Fraserview Mennonite Brethren Church in Richmond, B.C., came to CMU last fall as the program\u2019s first pastor in residence.<\/p>\n
During her week on campus, Penner spoke to chapel gatherings, led a workshop for student leaders on how to care for oneself spiritually, spoke in a seminar class, and hosted lunchtime discussions for students considering the ministry. One luncheon was specifically for women and explored some of the unique challenges faced by women in church leadership. Penner also hosted a forum on sexual abuse and family violence.<\/p>\n
Penner, who graduated from Canadian Mennonite Bible College in 1981, says it was a joy to visit CMU and meet some of her old profs.<\/p>\n
Penner never intended to be a pastor. She earned a PhD in theology at the University of Toronto hoping to become a professor. \u201cDoors weren\u2019t opening for me,\u201d she recalls. So she changed direction and decided to enter the ministry. \u201cIt\u2019s a very rewarding career,\u201d she says, looking back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re passionate about listening to people and sharing the gospel, maybe this is the job for you,\u201d she counsels curious students. \u201cIf you\u2019re bored with those things, maybe not.\u201d But don\u2019t let fears stand in your way, she says.<\/p>\n
Listening to students sitting around the table and asking questions about the ministry is exciting, says Unger. \u201cPeople are quite encouraged at the gifting, the passion for God and the depth of character among these students. We\u2019re encouraged that the church is going to be in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carol Penner has a list of ten reasons why she couldn\u2019t be a pastor. The pastor of The First Mennonite Church in Vineland, Ontario also has ten stories of how God helped her surmount those barriers. Telling those stories to students at Canadian Mennonite University was one of Penner\u2019s priorities during the week she spent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,5],"tags":[59],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=957"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1008,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions\/1008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}