Personalia

Larry Thomas, who has been associate pastor at Cariboo Bethel Church in Williams Lake, B.C. for two years, became senior pastor in February. He had been serving as interim senior pastor since Dec. 1. His wife Becky is continuing to serve as associate pastor of worship at the church. Larry worked with Youth With A Mission, based in Hawaii, 1983–87. He and Becky then taught at YWAM’s School of Biblical Studies in Switzerland for five months, he was associate pastor at Vernon (B.C.) Christian Centre for two years, and they taught at YWAM’s School of Worship in Montana 1991–94. They then returned to Vernon for six years, where he served as pastor and she served as worship pastor of a Vineyard church. They have two daughters, Kimberly, 15, and Tiffany, 12.

John H. Unger will become senior pastor of Fort Garry MB Church in Winnipeg, effective next Jan. 1. He has served for the past four years as president of Concord College, and for the past year also as acting president of Canadian Mennonite Bible College; both schools are partners in Canadian Mennonite University. Unger will complete his service at CMU on June 30 and will then take a study and renewal break before taking up the position at Fort Garry. He previously served as senior pastor of Richmond Park MB Church in Brandon, Man. for 10 years and as associate pastor of Clearbrook MB Church in Abbotsford, B.C. for six years. He has a degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Saskatchewan and is also a graduate of Bethany Bible Institute (now Bethany College) in Hepburn, Sask. and MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif. He had served as Manitoba MB Conference moderator. His wife Merrill works as a counsellor with Kairos Counselling and Cornerstone Counselling Services in Winnipeg. The Ungers have four children and two grandchildren.

Rick McCorkindale has resigned as senior pastor of Fourth Ave. Bible Church in Niverville, Man., effective Aug. 31, after serving for seven years. He previously served for three years as youth pastor at Faith Missionary Church in Kitchener, Ont., for three years as associate pastor at Port Rowan (Ont.) MB Church and for seven years as senior pastor of Dalmeny (Sask.) Community Church. He has a B.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University and an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary. He is planning to take a time of personal sabbatical. His wife Sylvia is working toward a Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at Providence Seminary in Otterburne, Man. The McCorkindales have three children, Nathan, 20, Karis, 17, and Joshua, 10.

Roger Thiessen has resigned as pastor of the Christian Fellowship Chapel near Orillia, Ont., effective the end of April 2003, after serving in that position for almost four years. Prior to that, he served as associate pastor at Portage Ave. MB Church in Winnipeg. He and his wife Rosanne have three daughters, Marie, 8, Emily, 6, and Grace, 3.

Lorena Seggie, Lorne Stobbe, Bev Stobbe

Rick Lade has resigned as youth pastor at Greendale MB Church in Chilliwack, B.C. after serving for four years. He has a B.A. from Western Pentecostal Bible College, Abbotsford, B.C. He and his wife Julie have three children: Connor, 5, Jonas, 4, and Dayna, 2. The Lades are seeking the Lord for His direction.

An 11-member work team spent two weeks in March in the Dominican Republic doing repairs and partnering with Medical Ministries International Missions to improve the living conditions of needy families. The team included three people from Northwest Community Church in Meadow Lake, Sask.: Paul Alton, Megan Brucks and Stephanie Drumheller.

South Point Community Church has outgrown its meeting place and has moved to a new facility. Effective Sunday, June 8, the church has begun meeting at Mt. Carmel-Blytheswood Public School, 622 Road 5, Leamington, Ont. The church’s mailing address (c/o 718 Mersea Rd. 6, R.R. 5, Leamington, Ont. N8H 3V8) and e-mail address have not changed.

Deo Namwira has been hired by Mennonite Central Committee Canada to fill the position of International Grants Manager, which has been relocated from Ottawa to Winnipeg. It will be his responsibility to match proposals submitted by MCC country representatives with government grants provided through the Canadian International Development Agency. MCC and CIDA are in the midst of a three-year partnership agreement under which the government is providing $7 million to support MCC projects in agriculture–food security, income generation, health, basic education and peace building programs in 14 countries. Namwira earned a degree in general agriculture from the University of Congo in 1993, finished his graduate studies at the Evangelical University of Africa in 1997, immigrated to Canada in 1999, received a graduate certificate in conflict transformation from the University of Toronto in 2000, and completed an M.Sc. degree in international development studies from the University of Guelph in 2002. He served several non-governmental organizations in Africa. Most recently he served with Christian Aid, a British non-governmental organization, working as a consultant to the United Nations branch of Humanitarian Affairs in Kenya and coordinating relief and humanitarian aid to refugees in Rwanda, Burundi and Congo. He and his wife Esperance have a daughter Johise, 6, and three sons, Jeyi, 4, Jaspi, 2, and Jibu, 3 months.

Baptisms and new members

Note: Baptism photos appear in the paper version of the Herald but not in the online version.

• Coaldale (Alta.) MB Church received Sara Dueck by baptism Mar. 2. Pictured with pastor Lorne Willms.
• L’Église Chrétienne Évangélique De Ste-Rose, the Mennonite Brethren church in Ste-Rose, Que., received six new members Dec. 1, three by baptism and three by transfer. Pictured are (l–r) Mario Bourdages (church council member), Jeannine and Luc Lambert (t), Gabrielle Nadeau (b), Mathieu Nantel (b), Rémi Nagant (b) and Charles Martin (church council member). Not pictured was Anne Lambert (t).