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June 12, 2017

Historical Commission serves with trimmed budget

Winnipeg, Manitoba—The Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission met June 2 and 3 for its annual general meeting (AGM) in Winnipeg at the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies. The Commission heard reports from its four archives, awarded several grants and scholarships, and planned for ways to continue its services to MB congregations while trimming its budget.

Jordan Duerrstein

Jordan Duerrstein

Jordan Duerrstein reported on his five-week archival internship. He helped with the normal archival tasks at each of the four MB archives and explored aspects of community development, especially the entrepreneurial initiatives that have and continue to be part of MB church planting. Jordan returns to seminary this fall (Wycliffe College, Toronto). The Commission was pleased with the outcomes of the internship and agreed to offer the internship again next summer.

Buduma Ramesh

Buduma Ramesh

Buduma Ramesh, an MA student from India, was awarded a Katie Funk Wiebe research grant of $550 for his project on the role of women—both women missionaries and the Indian “Bible Women” they trained—in the empowerment of Dalit women in the Mahabubnagar district of Telangana, India. Buduma's thesis project at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India, honors the life and ministry of Katie Funk Wiebe who passed away in 2016.

JB Toews $1,000 scholarships were also awarded to Micheal Ryder of Columbia Bible College and Daniela Stahl of Canadian Mennonite University.

At the AGM, the Commission agreed to continue funding the six initiatives that it has developed in the recent years (archival internship, Katie Funk Wiebe research grant, MB studies project grant, JB Toews college scholarships, GAMEO stipends, and archival development grants), but scale back the number of awards in each category. For details about all six initiatives—and the news releases announcing this year’s recipients—see the Commission’s website (mbhistory.org). The submission dates for the new grant year will be posted by the end of summer.

MB Historical Commission gathered in Winnipeg (June 2-3, 2017) for its annual general meeting (l to r): Dora Dueck, Don Isaac (chair), Peggy Goertzen, J Janzen (vice chair), Valerie Rempel (recording secretary), Hannah Keeney, Jon Isaak (executive secretary), Patricia Janzen Loewen, and Julia Reimer. Missing members: Richard Thiessen and Kevin Enns-Rempel.

Photo credit: Gaylord Goertzen

MB Historical Commission gathered in Winnipeg (June 2-3, 2017) for its annual general meeting (l to r): Dora Dueck, Don Isaac (chair), Peggy Goertzen, J Janzen (vice chair), Valerie Rempel (recording secretary), Hannah Keeney, Jon Isaak (executive secretary), Patricia Janzen Loewen, and Julia Reimer. Missing members: Richard Thiessen and Kevin Enns-Rempel.

The Commission works with a network of four Mennonite Brethren archival centers: Center for MB Studies (Hillsboro, Kansas), Mennonite Library & Archives (Fresno, California), Mennonite Historical Society of BC (Abbotsford, British Columbia), and Centre for MB Studies (Winnipeg, Manitoba).

Since its formation in 1969, the Commission has helped coordinate the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Mennonite Brethren archival records: congregational meeting minutes, conference proceedings, personal papers, periodicals, and photographs.

More information about the work of the Commission, a funded ministry of both the US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, is available on its website.

—Jon Isaak, Executive Secretary