Office - 116 LaRonge Rd. Saskatoon, SK. S7K 8E5
Phone - 249-4844 Fax - 955-7462

The majority of congregations in Mennonite Church Saskatchewan (MC Sask) are located in small towns or in the country. Saskatchewan Mennonites have a long history of being people of the land. Over the past decades, our agriculturally -based congregations have been facing significant declining populations and economic difficulties due to climate and political factors in recent years. People, finances and energy have moved and continue to move from rural areas to urban centers. Among other Kingdom tasks, rural congregations have a ministry to those who are hurt by these trends. Therefore, it is important for our denomination to support rural churches in their ministry of being a strong presence for Christ in their communities despite these losses and other stresses.

Mennonite Church Saskatchewan, through its Ministries Commission, set up the Vibrant Rural Churches Project (VRCP) in January, 2003, in order to help us all learn about and from the experiences of small rural congregations in Mennonite Church Saskatchewan. Naomi Unger and Eric Olfert were contracted to implement the project. Naomi grew up in rural Saskatchewan and presently lives in a rural village where her husband serves as pastor of three small rural Mennonite congregations. She has experience in education and administration with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Africa. She recently began a term in the Christian Formation Council of Mennonite Church Canada. Eric Olfert grew up in a small rural congregation and still has a stake in the family farm. Most of his career has been in education and administration with MCC. He currently works half time as Missional Formation and Partnership Facilitator in Saskatchewan for MC Canada.

The VRCP objectives were originally stated as follows:
1. To identify and hold up what small rural congregations in MC Sask are already doing to maintain their life and vitality in the face of rural community decline; and,
2. To provide a process to allow them to dream even more boldly about life-giving possibilities for the future.

The hope was that the results of this process would be a catalyst:
a. to help all small rural congregations to live and grow as vibrant centers of faith in their communities; and
b. to engage other MC Sask churches (especially urban) in thinking about how they can return energy and resources to small rural churches.

The project was launched at MC Sask's annual meeting in February, 2003, with an afternoon program that celebrated hope in a parched land. Eric and Naomi visited the ten smallest congregations in MC Sask from March to June of 2003, and heard many stories of what energizes them and keeps them vibrant. We discerned common themes and attempted to analyze what we had heard. One of our conclusions is that these small rural churches have much to teach us. The depopulation of their rural communities tends to force remaining members of these congregations to become more engaged, more committed and more active, just for their congregation to continue to survive. They have learned by experience that for each member to take up his or her part in the work of the congregation is vital to being church. In this way and in many others they are an example to all of us.

Naomi Unger, Eric Olfert

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