May 21stChurch Highlight: Point Grey Inter-Mennonite Fellowship
PGIMF sends 12 representatives to take part in the Mennonite World Conference 500 Years Celebration in Zurich!
Photo left to right: Don and Elvira Teichroeb, Janice Kreider, Veronica Dyck, Evan Kreider, Caleb Yang, in the courtyard of Menno Court where PGIMF meets in the chapel.
Q: Why is going to the MWC 500 Years Celebration in Zurich important to you? / What are you most looking forward to?
From the CM:This Week and I think I have my phrase: being part of a chain of memory: by going back to the place where this movement began. When I was in school, they would on occasion have students come to school dress in the costumes of their national heritage. I never had one (although "German" was the closest substitute but given 20th C history, not my first choice). Participating in this commemoration is sort of a vindication? a credible affirmation? of my roots which does not require national dress. There will be Anabaptists from ALL parts of the globe; that's my heritage. - Veronica Dyck
In 1990 our family attended the Mennonite World Conference in Winnipeg. Experiencing that gathering of many nations and cultures who had embraced the name “Mennonites” gave our 9- and 7-year-old children a unique and enlarged first-hand experience of a global church. Now we will be attending a similar gathering with our 9- and 7-year-old grandchildren, and their parents. We hope they also come away with an enlarged understanding of what it means to be Mennonite. - Laura and Gerry Sportack
I’m looking forward to seeing or discovering how like-minded the Anabaptist culturally diverse group seems to be. I hope to gain a broader and better perspective of the Anabaptist past, present and future. - Lois Funk
We are looking forward to learning about the historical Anabaptist movement and being at the center of where it all began. We wish to gain and learn about the variety of different perspectives and practices from other Anabaptists around the world. - Caleb Yang and Angelina Jeong
*Caleb is MCBC’s representative to the MWC Global Youth Summit. https://mwc-cmm.org/en/global-youth-summit-gys/global-youth-summit-2025/
This is the third MWC that I am attending, the first in Winnipeg and the second in Calcutta (now Kolkata). At that second one, I appreciated that many Mennonites from India could attend. In Zurich, I expect to see an abundance of Europeans and North Americans, despite most Anabaptists living elsewhere. We can celebrate 500 years of the tenets of Anabaptism spreading, as we recognize that we need each other while we move ahead with the worldwide challenges of wealth inequity, a changing climate, violence, and suffering. - Janice Kreider
The church looks back/the church looks forward. What an interesting time to be alive. How far we have come from Zurich in 1525, when the Church's view of itself was one of hierarchy and monologue, of civil peace and religious war. The gift of separation of church and state has made all this possible. For the first time people could be free in conscience while being bound in obedience to each other for a greater good. This did not begin with Mennonites, nor will it end with them. Let us bring the lesson of Zurich home with us, along with a measure of courage to withstand the fires of those who would ignore our lesson. Obedience to a greater good. And the mutual listening to make it come about. - Andre Pekovich