July 8th

On Birthdays...

To my dear TFMC Family,

I’ve been thinking about birthdays lately.  This past weekend, our southern neighbour celebrated 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Canada celebrated a birthday earlier in the week, a modest 159 years.  In a few weeks, the Neufeld family will celebrate 100 years since they took the courageous step to immigrate from what is now Ukraine to Canada.  We, too, are celebrating a birthday milestone, our 225th.  Birthdays are a time to look back and to look forward.  Though I find that as I get older, I spend more time looking back than looking forward.  So maybe it’s a good challenge to think ahead a bit.

I mentioned in a short reflection at our picnic that not every pastor gets the privilege to be present at a milestone anniversary for a congregation, let alone a 225th anniversary.  This congregation has nurtured, supported, grown, and blessed roughly 8-9 generations of folk!  That is an exceptionally faithful presence in this area.

I talked about how this is both a blessing and a challenge.  On one hand, we are a fixture of the community. We are "the church by the cemetery." If there’s a burial, people know where to park. If there’s a cemetery inquiry, people know who to call. Yet, by virtue of being such a fixture, we sometimes blend into the background, becoming less noticed than we once were. But this invisibility brings an excellent opportunity. From this place of stability, with solid feet firmly in the ground, we can speak up, speak out, and set an example—an example that might even challenge and inspire our surrounding community.

We may be small, but we are mighty. We are deeply invested in grounding our faith in the struggles and realities of the world, working tirelessly for peace and justice in so many ways. We carry a centuries-old faithful witness, and we possess a strong witness for the future. While our history informs us, it does not define us. We are continually growing into the church that God is calling us to be.   It’s wonderful, it’s exciting, it’s hopeful and refreshing and a reminder that our story is still being written.

Our opportunity is to ponder and wonder, how might we stand out in our community in the years to come?  What could we be known for, in addition to being the church by the cemetery?  When people in the surrounding community think of The First Mennonite Church, what might they think about?

I am grateful to be a part of this congregation.  And I am filled with hope and promise.  I don’t believe that our witness is waning.  I don’t think that our presence is diminishing, and I don’t for a moment feel like we are a congregation in decline.  Rather, I feel hope, promise, and possibility.  I believe, by God’s grace, we have a very long future ahead of us.

Yours, 

Craig Janzen Neufeld, Pastor