Time to celebrate! On February 13, staff from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC) and Grebel gathered with additional Anabaptist Learning Workshop (ALW) stakeholders for a time of celebration and thanksgiving for five successful years of collaborative learning within the ALW program. The photo above features current and former ALW staff, Steering Committee members, instructors, and other resource people who attended the February event.
Launched in the fall of 2015, the ALW program organized 58 events in a variety of locations across Eastern Canada. In total, more than 2,000 people participated over five years, including laypeople, pastors, chaplains, and other church leaders. Topics included spiritual caregiving, intercultural ministry, Bible study, church governance, #ChurchToo, Anabaptist history, songleading, climate crisis, and many more.
Toward the end of the program’s run, a program evaluation solicited feedback from participants and other stakeholders. The following is one of many positive comments received from ALW participants: “The workshops were conducted in a participantfocused manner which I really enjoyed. I liked that the instructors sought an understanding of how the people in the room felt before engaging the topic fully. I felt that this allowed the content to be tailored toward the needs of the participants.” In the coming months, both MCEC and Grebel will strategize about how projects like community-based education, pastoral training, and lifelong learning can move forward in new ways. We know that there is always a hunger for learning, and the current COVID-19 crisis emphasizes the need for innovative ways of doing faithbased participatory education.
The Anabaptist Learning Workshop has been a five-year partnership between Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and Conrad Grebel University College. We look forward to new ways of working together and learning together!
