Small changes and thanks

At the recent Evangelical Press Association convention (see MBH June 11) an editor from Discipleship Journal spent a number of hours with us, evaluating and critiquing the Herald. She gave us ideas on changes to be made. We hope to do a redesign this fall, partly based on the advice she gave us.

But in the meantime smaller changes are in order. Because we produce only 17 issues a year, the amount of space we have available for baptism photos is greatly reduced and a decision has been made to no longer print these photos. This was a painful decision for us – one we did not take lightly. We do, however, still want to know the names of people who are coming into the church by baptism. These names will be carried in our People section and will continue to show the growth of the Mennonite Brethren Church in Canada. We will publish all the baptism photos we receive until Sept. 1.

Church reporters and secretaries do yeoman’s work when it comes to sending us this information for the MB Herald. They regularly send us address updates, birth, wedding and obituary notices, and baptism photos, as well as often sending stories about happenings in their congregations. We greatly appreciate their ministry and want to recognize them through two representative ones.

Lydia Isaak is one of the church reporters who are so faithful in keeping us informed about happenings in their congregations

I talked by e-mail and phone to several of our reporters in order to understand the work they do, and to give recognition to the many others in our churches. Lydia Isaak has been a church reporter for almost 14 years, eight in Yarrow (B.C.) MB Church, and now almost six years in Bakerview Church in Abbotsford. I asked her how she had come into this ministry. Lydia said in Yarrow she had been asked to contribute in this way but in Bakerview, after checking around and finding that no one seemed to be doing it except for the faithful secretaries, she volunteered. She states she has had no competition for the position thus far. But she also acknowledges that not many people in the church recognize the work she does; many don’t even know who the reporter is. She feels churches need to emphasize this work more so that information from each church comes to the MB Herald.

Another reporter is Joanne Stein from West Portal Church in Saskatoon. Joanne is a stay-at-home mom who had been heavily involved in volunteering in the church but drew back because of family concerns. After attending classes at church on finding one’s spiritual gifts she found she had strengths in administration and organization. One of the jobs that fit the profile was helping the office with sending information to the MB Herald. This was in early 2000. She gives credit to the office staff who keep her informed about new members, births, address changes and other events. She says that when she started, everything was faxed from the office. Now she can do it at home through Internet. She states, “I have enjoyed my volunteer job as MBH correspondent immensely and hope to continue it for years to come. Being involved in the office at church and doing my job for the MBH allows me to get to know people. I’m very glad to have this opportunity to do this ministry for West Portal.”

We thank Lydia and Joanne, and all the other reporters and church secretaries who are faithful in keeping us informed about happenings in their congregations.

About this issue

We call this issue our summer reader – one with no real theme, but articles we felt were important, interesting and inspirational. One is by a young writer from Saskatchewan who tells about the bird she nurtured and the lessons she learned about God. Another, by Randy Friesen, analyzes the enduring worth of short-term missions. Mothers and children’s ministry workers tell us about good books for children, and Tony Martens, pastor of Borden MB Church writes about the lament and praise of their church for rain for the crops.

Read these and other stories; let us know what you enjoy. You might want to log onto the forum at mbforum.ca and weigh in on the discussions there as well.

We trust your summer is enjoyable as you vacation or otherwise slow down from the pace of the rest of the year.

—sbb