Living With Generosity – Lori Guenther Reesor (BMATH 1991, MTS 2008)
Lori Guenther Reesor’s spiritual journey began with generosity. As an undergraduate student, she was granted a bursary which allowed her to travel to Egypt for a co-op term. This life-altering experience ignited a vocation of generosity that Lori has shared with her family and surrounding community. As a former Mennonite pastor, author, and faith fundraising specialist, Lori’s life goal is to repay the generosity she has received and share God’s good word.
After beginning her degree at the University of Waterloo studying Math and majoring in Statistics, Lori yearned to explore different areas of study. “I realized that I wanted to study something in the opposite field than what I was in,” she explained. Despite having an academically vigorous schedule, Lori held a strong yearning for social justice work and enrolled in several Peace and Conflict classes at Conrad Grebel University College. This prompted Lori to pursue an international co-op term, and with the support of a generous donation which covered her flight expenses, she travelled to Egypt to teach English to elementary school students. Mennonite Central Committee connected her with a couple volunteering in the same area, where she resided for her four-month term.
“I can trace everything that has followed since, back to that moment,” Lori remarked. “The hospitality and generosity I experienced in Egypt was immense and the people there had a different cultural approach to hospitality.” Being a white, blonde woman, Lori was noticeably a foreigner. This resulted in uncomfortable situations due to the social perceptions surrounding women in that part of the world. However, the cultural differences went both ways; Lori remarked that she was showered with an overwhelming kind of generosity that she had not seen back home. “If we were visiting people on a different floor, we would purposefully tiptoe in the hallways because if people heard you, they would always try and invite you in for a meal.” Instances like these began to mold Lori’s contextualization of generosity, and she returned to Canada with a newfound appreciation for charity work.
Upon returning to her studies in Canada, Lori spent her final co-op term working with an accounting company. Working in Egypt had been an insightful experience, but not financially beneficial. So, when she was offered a position by the same company after graduating in 1991, Lori was left at a crossroads. Ultimately however, Lori chose to value her experiences working in Egypt over monetary ambition and refused the more lucrative job offer. In search of other spiritually rewarding experiences, Lori sought out positions with non-profit organizations. She began working as a computer programmer with World Vision, a Canadian NGO that provides relief in the lives of children, families, and communities to overcome poverty. Lori also became heavily involved in church leadership, where she was encouraged to consider pastoral work, marking a new chapter in her life.
“I was good friends with my previous pastor,” Lori explained, “and someone from the church suggested that I should become a pastor myself.” Wanting to equip herself for pastoral ministry, Lori returned to her studies to pursue a Master of Theological Studies degree at Grebel. “Grebel was familiar, as I had already taken several Peace and Conflict Studies courses there.”
By this point, Lori and her husband Barry, a fellow Grebel alum, had two young children. Barry’s work required that he travelled often, leaving Lori to manage her studies alongside raising their two kids. She recalled that she would often take her kids to the local public pool and would pull out her laptop while sitting in a plastic chair, one eye on her children, one eye on her master’s papers. Juggling pastoral work alongside her academic and parental duties was a challenge, but the flexibility of the MTS program made Lori’s life slightly more manageable. “I was able to take classes at various nearby institutions, including the Toronto School of Theology, thanks to Jim Reimer. Our family was able to move to Australia for Barry’s work, where I finished my degree.”
When she managed to attend the in-person classes, Lori recalled the intense discussions between Professor Jim Reimer and Tom Yoder Neufeld, both Professors of Religious Studies and Theological Studies at Grebel. These conversations taught her the importance of listening to other’s unique perspectives and allowing differences in opinion help enhance her learning. Lori finished her MTS degree in 2008 and continued consulting for charities. In 2011, she began her Doctor of Ministry degree at Tyndale, again researching Christian giving. As part of her research, Lori went on a “Church Basement Tour,” where she visited churches spanning British Columbia to Ontario, gathering stories of generosity. After finishing her DMin, she continued her church and charity work, and began working on her book, Growing a Generous Church.
In many ways, Growing a Generous Church was a culmination of the generosity Lori had received up to that point. “What I wanted to do was tell stories of generosity that would leave a lasting image. I felt that academic writing wasn’t the ideal vehicle for telling those stories and I wanted to get my message across, which is why I decided to make the book a fictional telling.” The book is centered around a financially unstable Church who hires a pastor on a one-year contract in hopes of re-kindling generosity in the community. The novel gives specific examples on how one can be generous, no-matter what their financial situation is: “generosity is about the size of your heart, not the size of your wallet.” It is a brave attempt to normalize the discussion of money alongside one’s faith. As Lori puts it, “Jesus talks about money. We can too."
Lori is deeply appreciative of the Grebel community that supported her during her undergraduate degree. “I don’t think I slept for several days; I was so caught up in all the orientation activities. I really appreciated that Grebel was at the intersection of so many different things without trying to set itself apart.” Grebel provided Lori a place where she could integrate her faith alongside other aspects of her life. “I am still friends with Grebel folk more than 30 years later,” reported Lori; she finished recently compiled a special summer yearbook of her and her friends back during their years at Grebel.
Always conscious of the generosity she had received, Lori and her husband Barry made a gift to “pay back” Grebel during their first married year and they continue to be active members within the Mennonite community. Lori helped with the Grebel Capital Campaign to renovate Grebel’s academic building. Barry has acted as a superb “behind the scenes” worker helping with property maintenance for their local church, as well as helping at the Welcome Inn in Hamilton.
Lori’s words are filled with self-reflection and humility, including her advice to current Grebel students. “I've realized that I actually know less than I thought, and the more I understand that, the freer I become. God has your back, and time is on your side. It’s ok to bounce around. You have time to figure things out.”
By Jiho Mercer
Photo Credits: Mennonite Archives of Ontario
Lori Guenther Reesor has experience as an author, speaker, and fundraising coach. After a spiritually enlightening experience during a student co-op term in Egypt, Lori has explored what it means to be generous. She also has three years of pastoral experience, and is an active member of Hamilton Mennonite Church. Her book, Growing a Generous Church, is filled with stories of how people learned generosity. The Reesor family is well known in the Grebel community; Lori met her husband, Barry, at Grebel, and both their children, Emma and Peter, also lived at Grebel. Emma followed in her parents' footsteps and met her husband, Thomas, at Grebel.
Lori's story is part of Grebel's 60 Stories for 60 Years project. Check out our 60 Stories page for more articles in this series. If you would like to nominate a Grebel alumnus to share about their experiences at Grebel, please submit a nomination form.