Place of Meeting April 2012

Place of Meeting

On Saturday, March 10, youth pastors Jonathan Slater and Maureen Louth and 10 TUMC youth began their 34-hour journey by bus to Miami along with 8 youth and 2 adults from Ottawa Mennonite Church.

Not your usual March Break TUMC youth experience a different side of Miami on their DOOR learning and service trip, page 3 Toronto United Mennonite Church April 2012

Place of Meeting is the meaning of the Huron word “toronton,” from which our city gets its name. Fittingly, it can also mean “plenty” or “abundance.”

Place of Meeting is also the monthly newsletter of Toronto United Mennonite Church. May you find plenty here to enjoy and ponder. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily of the congregation as a whole.

Contributions of all kinds are enthusiastically received, through the mail folder in the lobby or at dmartens@pathcom.com Deadline next month: May 1 Have you discovered the all-colour online version of Place of Meeting?

If you would like to receive it in PDF form via email, please write a note with details to the above address.

Production Editor: Doreen Martens

TUMC’s Safe Church Policy: an invitation for input Some months ago, a committee composed of Evan Heise, Jonathan Slater and myself began working on a Safe Church Policy for TUMC. The overall objective of this policy is to help ensure that all of our programs for children and youth provide a safe and nurturing environment for all participants.

We began with a similar document from another Mennonite church, along with resource material from MCEC and Mennonite Church Canada. A draft document was developed, titled `SAFE CHURCH POLICY: Creating a Safe Environment for Children, Youth and Adults`. The policy includes guidelines for healthy relationships with children and youth at TUMC, and procedures to help guide our response in the event that an incident occurs.

Once the draft was developed, the next step was to contact some individuals who work with children and youth at TUMC, and invite them to provide input on the draft document and related appendices. Their feedback and ideas were then compiled and incorporated. Areas where there are differing ideas have also been documented for future discussion, such as the process for screening volunteers for positions of trust (see Sec II.5). The Church Board has conducted a preliminary review of the document, and Evan provided a brief background of the progress on the policy, as well as planned next steps, at our Annual General Meeting.

The DRAFT document is now posted on the TUMC website for review by the congregation and a few copies are available for those who prefer a print format. A `Soup and Sophia` discussion of the draft is planned for Sunday, April 29. After changes resulting from this discussion are made, a final version will then be distributed to the congregation by May 13. This version will be presented for approval at the congregational meeting on Sunday, May 27. Once we have an approved document, we will move towards implementing the policy at TUMC. The safety and well being of our children and youth and for those who work with them as staff and volunteers is a fundamental and essential part of the life and work of our church. As is usual with TUMC initiatives, your input is welcome at any stage of the process of developing our Safe Church Policy. If you have ideas you would like to share please feel free to contact anyone on the Safe Church Policy Committee or on the Church Board.

–– Sherry Nelligan

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Not your usual March Break TUMY and friends experience a world of need in Miami

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onths of fundraising work by our high school kids, youth pastors and youth sponsors –– regular announcements, gift card sales, after-church lunches and much more –– culminated on March 10 when our youth and teens from Ottawa Mennonite Church together set out on a bus for Miami.

What would they discover –– with the heightened awareness raised by being in an unfamiliar city –– about the needs around them, the community they are part of, their own gifts or limitations, and God’s call to service?

Here’s a short account of that week by Jonathan Slater, in words and pictures. The youth, grateful for the support they received from TUMC, will be sharing their own stories and perspectives on the experience during the Youth Focus service on April 22.

Four DOOR Miami staff led an orientation session on Sunday evening.

Each morning we were up early to eat breakfast, pack our lunches, and head to the transit stop to take the train to the place we would be working.

On Monday we went to the Easter Seals Josephine Wolf Center, a day program for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

All photos by youth pastor Jonathan Slater

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Not your usual March Break

We did a variety of things while we were there. Activities included participating in structured conversation groups, orientation to current events, less structured interaction and assistance of seniors with puzzles, games, and crafts, and preparing materials for activities.

What is DOOR? DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) was created by Mennonite Central Committee in 1986 as a self-sustaining, short-term program focused on connecting people with service through learning about people in need and about themselves. The first site was in Denver. Beginning in 1996, DOOR and what was then the Mennonite Board of Missions began working collaboratively with local Mennonite groups to create a network of urban short-term experience and longer training programs.

According to their website (www.doornetwork.org), DOOR currently includes 6 cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Hollywood/LA, Miami and San Antonio. In 2008, DOOR hosted 3,224 Discover (short term) participants, 48 Discern (semester) participants and 28 Dwell (year long) participants.

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Not your usual March Break

Spanish was the first language for the majority of the seniors, and the only language for quite a few.

This service opportunity was challenging for some of us but we all rose to the challenge. We learned that songs and dominos cross language barriers, and that smiles can speak even when we do not know the words.

On Monday evening the DOOR staff led a homelessness simulation activity.

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Not your usual March Break

On Tuesday we worked at the Miami Rescue Mission (miamirescuemission.com). Activities included cleaning and helping to sort clothes and other items in the thrift store, working in the kitchen to serve lunch, and providing child care so that mothers could attend parenting classes.

We found the work with the children and in the kitchen particularly meaningful, and enjoyed interacting with the staff and other volunteers working at the mission.

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Not your usual March Break

On Tuesday evening the DOOR staff led a prejudice simulation activity.

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Not your usual March Break

On Wednesday we were up early to get to the Missionaries of Charity soup kitchen (motherteresa.org). We helped with preparation and with serving two of the three sittings of meals. We heard about how six nuns and a myriad of volunteers and donors provide hundreds of meals a day to those in need.

It was amazing to see what these six women are able to accomplish, relying on God to send the people and material resources that they need to feed and care for so many.

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Not your usual March Break On Wednesday afternoon we travelled to Little Haiti and went for a short walk through the main section of it before travelling to “the farm,� where some of the year-long DOOR volunteers live. They welcomed us and showed us around the small urban farm, after which we took the bus to South Beach for a few hours of relaxation and swimming.

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Not your usual March Break

On Thursday we returned to Little Haiti to work at Grace Haitian United Methodist Church. This is an old church building that has begun to be used by a new congregation, so there was a lot of cleaning that needed to be done, especially in the kitchen.

A few of us also visited the Yvonne Learning Center (ylcschool.com), an organization that provides educational programs for those in need, before joining the others at Grace Haitian UMC. Some of the youth mentioned that this day of hard work and immediate results was the most personally satisfying of the service opportunities for them.

Thursday evening was very full. The church where we were staying, Wayside Baptist, invited us to join them for supper and an evening programme. This was an evangelism recruitment event for the church and turned out to be quite a cross-cultural experience, giving us a glimpse into a church tradition that is very different from our own.

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Not your usual March Break

Later Thursday evening the DOOR staff led a closing worship time where we reflected on our experience and thought about how we would apply what we learned when we return. We each traced our foot on a piece of paper, and wrote one next step we would take to serve others when we returned home.

We were also invited to write one of the hurts/needs that we saw during the week on a bandaid and to affix it to a small wooden cross, entrusting these concerns to God and remembering that we cannot heal all of the hurts in the world by ourselves.

On Friday we had a day off! Our Charter Bus took us to Everglades National Park, where we went on a few short hikes, seeing the flora and fauna of this unique ecosystem, including alligators and many interesting birds.

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Not your usual March Break

In addition to these different activities, each day included a time of reflection that we had together with the Ottawa Mennonite Youth. We spent this time journaling individually and talking together about the people we had met and the experiences we had that day. We also read through and reflected on how we were living out the covenant that we had made together.

It was a rich and full week! It was a joy for us to see the youth engage in these different service opportunities, meeting new people and being stretched in different ways. It was exciting to see the youth rise to the challenges they faced, and to see the teamwork that devel-

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oped, both within the TUMC youth and also with the youth from Ottawa Mennonite Church. The DOOR staff and volunteers who supported and guided us during the week were a pleasure to work with and really engaged the youth well.

There were a few challenges during the week. The days were long and exhausting, and this became more challenging as the week progressed. There were a few moments of frustration with the length of time spent waiting for transit buses, and there were times for a reminder that we were there to serve rather than be served by the organizations who hosted us.

Not your usual March Break

Learning and Service Trip Covenant Miami 2012 As we travel to Miami, we look forward to learning, serving others, and having fun together.

Recognizing our differences, we commit to respecting each other, the people we meet in Miami, and ourselves.

This means: We will be kind to one another, help each other out, and include everyone so no one feels left out.

We then went to a beach for a few hours before travelling to Little Havana to enjoy a Cuban meal together. On Saturday morning (below) we boarded the bus for home.

We will look for the best in one another, forgive rather than trying to get back at each other, and live peaceably together.

We will listen to each other, stay focused and on topic in discussions, ask questions, follow instructions, and do what we are asked cheerfully, without complaining.

We will put aside prejudices when meeting new people and be open to what we can learn from each person we meet.

We will bravely step outside of our comfort-zones while respecting our own boundaries, and making sure we return home safely.

As we do this we will ask: How does this relate to what Jesus did?

Where is God in this experience?

We are very encouraged by the success of this trip and look forward to exploring with parents and youth what other service opportunities, at home and further afield, we might undertake together. We will also explore whether there is interest in further joint activities or service opportunities with the youth from Ottawa Mennonite Church, as bonds of friendship have begun to be formed with these youth.

For more stories and reflections about the experience, talk to Jonathan or Maureen, or, better yet, the youth! The youth will also be sharing their own stories and perspectives on the experience during the Youth Focus service on Sunday, April 22.

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Reflections on a career at the CBC Harold Redekopp speaks at the Mennonite Heritage Club

By Anne Konrad

‘W

hat is a Nice Mennonite Boy Doing at the CBC?” Responding to this provocative title and invitation, the audience at the Mennonite Heritage Club waited to hear what Harold Redekopp would say about his career with the CBC. The chair, Harvey Dyck, introduced the speaker by recalling Harold Redekopp’s father as an honest and engaging teacher and preacher at Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg. Many in attendance had some connection with Winnipeg or were lifelong CBC listeners and supporters.

In a question and answer session after the lecture, people asked: “How does CBC work with a man like Don Cherry?” “How do you count the viewers?” “What is the future for CBC?” It was a stimulating evening that endeared not only the CBC, but also Harold Redekopp to the audience.

Redekopp worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Company for 32 years, beginning in 1973 as Radio Music producer and ending in 2005 as vice-president of CBC Television.

There he was, contemplating a career in music, when Walter Unger, executive producer of Radio Arts and Music at CBC Winnipeg, phoned.

“Would you consider applying for the job of CBC radio music manager? The position is vacant.” At that point, Redekopp said, he knew nothing about radio production or broadcasting. When he heard a music producer say that his start came as music producer because he knew Morse code, well, it did not seem to be so daunting. The job meant a cut in pay and insecurity, but Harold’s wife, Erna, told him to apply.

Harold said he began with what became many makeovers. He moved to Toronto and as executive producer began to restructure existing programming. To tackle the then dull CBC arts music and drama programs, he created the new network program Mostly Music that featured the best Canadian orchestral, chamber and choral performances. He hired Howard Dick as program host. This program became a big hit.

With Harold Redekopp from Winnipeg, Howard Dick from Winkler, Walter Unger (he had moved from Winnipeg to Ottawa to start a weekday show on FM Radio 2) and Eric Friesen from Altona coming to Toronto to host the Eric Friesen Show, it appeared that a “Mennonite mafia” was about to take over the “people’s network.”

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Reflections on a career at the CBC A few years later, Redekopp became head of Radio Music and oversaw programs that included major music competitions like the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Van Cliburn Competition in Texas and the Banff International String Quartet Competition.

Other initiatives included launching Jurgen Gothe’s Disc Drive, the Canadian Opera Company series and other national music programs.

It came as a shock when Redekopp was asked to move into senior management in 1986. To him, content was what mattered in broadcasting, not housekeeping. For the next two years he was “endlessly” dealing with budgets, labour and staffing issues. By 1990 he was in Ottawa as vice-president of Regional Broadcasting operations for both English and French Radio and Television.

Then came what Redekopp called a “dismal chapter,” a serious financial crisis. On Dec. 5, 1990, CBC announced a cut of $108 million from its budget. Local and regional television stations and programs were to absorb the biggest hit, and over a thousand employees were to lose their jobs. To add indignity to the move, “local and regional hosts of programs were not permitted to sign off their shows.” The public, as Redekopp said, “went ballistic” with appeals and denunciations, “anger and disappointment” coming from every province. The CBC had broken faith with its staff by employing private sector business practices. Many local CBC television viewers abandoned CBC. The corporation was told to change its practices.

Redekopp’s next role (back in Toronto) was as vicepresident of CBC English Radio. What did that entail?

“Being accountable for everything that goes on, every biased comment, every technical problem, all financial, staffing or labour issues, hateful music or language … everything.” Also a major strike. The good part of the job was getting wonderful feedback about things CBC was doing. These were his happiest days.

New initiatives now meant the re-branding of radio networks into Radio 1 and Radio 2. Radio 1 delivered news, documentaries, arts and current affairs with programs such as Vinyl Café, Tapestry, C’est La Vie, Out

Front and others. The CBC Overnight, a 24-hour service, was created and local/regional morning shows across the country were initiated. Radio 2 offered classical music as well as jazz, folk and world music. It also featured Easter sunrise specials across the country, many “specials’ and regular shows like In Performance, Take Five and Sound Advice with Rick Phillips.

Radio 3 was created for younger listeners, and digital broadcasting began.

The next appointment came as a shock. The “radio guy” became vice president of CBC Television –– a person who has to make hard decisions as a manager.

How did being a Mennonite help him in making tough decisions? Redekopp quoted his friend Eric Friesen, who had written, “The way I see evidence of his religious belief is first of all in the kind of honesty he shows in dealings with human beings…This is an element of plain speaking that Mennonites hold to be important. There is also an ethical aspect to … being a Mennonite…. I think this sense of duty and service has greatly influenced Harold.”

For his new role, Redekopp took advice from Peter Herrndorf, who said that CBC Television, unlike CBC Radio, was part public broadcaster, part commercial broadcaster. The commercial CBC Television depended on advertising and the lure of U.S. shows like Jeopardy. Redekopp said his aim had been to keep CBC TV focussed on the public service mandate and not the commercial aspect. New programs were successfully introduced to renew support for CBC TV. One such success was Canada: A People’s History, a miniseries that ran six hours without commercials because, as Harold convinced the executive producer and board, “It would be wrong” to commercialize the history of Canada. Mark Starowicz wrote, “It would be wrong” was a phrase that hadn’t been heard in financial discussions at the board level for years.

Redekopp left “active service” with CBC on his own initiative at the end of 2004, but continued as adviser for another half year.

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6 Lark Street –– Time to act?

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hurch members purchased the house just north of the TUMC building at 6 Lark Street 18 years ago. Since that time the building has been used as rental accommodation, sometimes for persons connected to TUMC and sometimes not.

Now that both units are about to be vacant TUMC has an opportunity to transform 6 Lark into something more than 2 rental apartments. How will we use this opportunity?

Various articles with technical details have been written about 6 Lark in the past. You can also read the report in last years AGM booklet. The main facts are these: TUMC owns most of the shares in LQIL that owns the building.

Loans of about $70,000 are outstanding on the property.

Including loans it costs about $2,500 per month to maintain the property.

The property abuts both the parking lot and the current church building Our building partners are not involved in 6 Lark TUMC volunteers manage the property. One important question is whether we should use valuable volunteer resources to be a landlord. Have we had enough time to think of a more innovative use for the property?

Can you think of a better use for the building?

Would you be willing to invest your time and energy to bring that new use into being?

The TUMC Space Task Force II has looked at uses for the property to help with TUMC’s own space needs. Some of these ideas were discussed at the AGM in February. Are there other options to explore? Can we solve our own space needs and still have room for other projects? If we have no church-related use for 6 Lark, should we consider selling and use the funds released in a variety of ways?

The TUMC board will be discussing these options later in April and needs your ideas and support. Please discuss your ideas with any member of the Board or the Space Task Force (Bruce Pope, Peter Dick, Vic Heinrichs, Melana Janzen) –– the TUMC board

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Scenes from life at TUMC

Clockwise from right: Gini Lepp and Jon Brandt as Abraham and Sarah in the March 4 service; the band plays on March 25; the youth participate in a commissioning service before their trip to Miami on March 4; Gabriel Penner and grandfather Paul read the scriptures together on March 25.

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