Ministry Resources
As churches together, we gather valuable resources which we want to share. We are connected with many partners who provide us with opportunities.
MAID/Green Burial Resources
The following resources were specially gathered for the 2023 MCEC Equipping Day on November 11, 2023. It was a resource day planned for pastors, chaplains, congregational leaders and all who are interested to talk about green funerals, funeral planning, advanced care planning, MAID (Medical assistance in dying) and palliative care.
Creating a Safer Church
Helping faith communities to keep children, youth and vulnerable adults safe.
AMBS Faith Formation and Spirituality: Children
Rachel Miller Jacobs
Online course with a weekly zoom gathering (at a time determined by participants).
The purpose of Faith Formation and Spirituality: Children is to enable students to develop the necessary foundations for understanding how the presence of God is known, experienced, and nurtured in the lives of children under 13. Whatever your relationship with children (as a parent, a member of an extended family that includes children, a congregational member, a teacher, or mentor), if you care about children, this class is for you.
Practical Leadership Training
In 2021, AMBS asked church leaders, “What is the most meaningful thing that AMBS can do to support current and future leaders for the church?” Many leaders shared that while seminary had prepared them well for Bible study, preaching and pastoral care, they needed practical leadership skills to meet challenges resulting from the pandemic, polarization, shifting church commitments and an unpredictable future.
If you, too, are longing to expand your leadership skills, sign up for any or all of AMBS’s new Practical Leadership Training modules! We’ve designed them to help pastors, lay leaders, community leaders and leaders of nonprofit organizations increase their capacity to provide effective Anabaptist leadership in a variety of settings.
The modules — which vary in depth, length and format — focus on four areas:
- administration
- leadership
- contextual engagement
- well-being
We can also bring these modules directly to conferences, church gatherings and other events — either in person or online.
Church Finance Toolkit
Whether you’re the treasurer, lead pastor, administrator, or a friend of these folks, you’ll benefit from Kindred’s free, simple-to-use church finance toolkit.
The ToolKit includes:
- Above-Budget Financing and Special Gift Policy - NEW
- Best Practices for Handling Offerings
- Best Practices for Year Round Stewardship
- Church Finance Check-up Guide
- Creating and Managing a Benevolence Fund - NEW
- Line-Item Budget Report Template
- Narrative Budget Report Explainer
- Narrative Budget Report Template
- Online Giving for Congregations
- Stewardship Ministry Teams - NEW
Core Competency Resources from CommonWord
Mennonite Church Canada has identified 6 core competencies for lay and pastoral leadership that enhance effectiveness in congregational ministry. The following is a resource list of key titles relating to the second core competency, "Anabaptist/Mennonite Story, Theology, Conviction."
Core Competency Resources from CommonWord
Mennonite Church Canada has identified 6 core competencies for lay and pastoral leadership that enhance effectiveness in congregational ministry. The following is a resource list of key titles relating to the third core competency, "Christian Spirituality and Discipleship."
Core Competency Resources from CommonWord
Mennonite Church Canada has identified 6 core competencies for lay and pastoral leadership that enhance effectiveness in congregational ministry. The following is a resource list of key titles relating to the sixth core competency, "Leadership."
Eco-Ministry Theology
From the desk of our ECO-Minster, Wendy Janzen
General resources on creating ecofriendly gardens, at home, community and church yard:
- Outdoor Greening
- Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church community garden
- Church Grounds
- Pollinator Gardens
- Gardens - Places of Worship (USA based)
- Every Church Should Plant A Garden
- Bees for Peace
- A Garden for the Rusty
Where do I find native plants?
- Origin Native Plants – Ignatius Jesuit Centre, Guelph ON
- Kyanase – Six Nations ecological restoration and native plant and seed business
- Specializing in the online ordering and shipping of native plants; they have an amazing track record at shipping plants by mail!
- Interactive map directing viewers to businesses that sell native plants and seeds.
Strengthening leaders – exploring your ministry gifts
The workshop invites you to explore your the leadership gifts according to Ephesians 4. Part of the experience is an assessment. Furthermore, we invite you to continue your discovering through self study.
- Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch
- 5Q by Alan Hirsch
- Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen
- Permanent Revolution by Alan Hirsch and Tim Cathim
- Written from a Free Methodist perspective, but offers helpful insights into understanding APEST
- More Resources
- Video
MCEC Intercultural Resources
Dr. Safwat Marzouk offers a biblical vision for what it means to be an intercultural church, one that fosters just diversity, integrates different cultural articulations of faith and worship, and embodies an alternative to the politics of assimilation and segregation. A church that fosters intercultural identity learns how to embrace and celebrate difference, which in turn enriches its worship and ministry.
The Leadership Office has curated resources for you, for times like these and any other time to be encouraged, to flourish in ministry and be physically and emotionally healthy.
Pandemic Tools
- MCEC Pastors, Chaplains and Congregational Leaders Workshop 2022
New Normal - Facing Our Grief and Living with Our Anxiety
In scripture, a good deal of attention is paid to human emotion in the aftermath of loss. We will build on this under-theologized area and look at how, with greater access to and contact with global and local events, there is a proneness to grief and anxiety that is causing unprecedented changes in the psychological and social landscape. Join Rev. Sunder John Boopalan in this interactive workshop. - Rev. Sunder John Boopalan's Presentation Slides - New Normal - Facing Our Grief and Living with Our Anxiety
- The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings by Jan Richardson
- The Passion of Christ: A Mediation by Ronald Rolheiser
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - “Now is not the time to give in to Omicron despair”, André Picard
An interview with the author, you can search for the full article but it might need a temporary subscription. - The pandemic wellness tool kit will give you insight if you are stressed or overwhelmed or in need of support. It is written for the medical profession, you will find the assessment tool can easily adapted into your context.
- Wellness for pastors – flourishing in ministry, is a tool which will serve you at any season of your ministry. It will apply in endemic times and beyond.
- Last but not least a fun page which reminds us of all we can still do and enjoy.