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Meet your executive board

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The executive board is one of two boards of the Canadian MB Conference. (The other is the Board of Faith and Life.) It usually meets 3 or 4 times a year and provides overall vision, governance, and fiduciary oversight to the denomination. We would like to put “a face” to the current board by introducing, over the next months, all of its 20 members.—Eds

Sam Reimer lives in Moncton, Nova Scotia, where he’s an active member of River of Life MB Church. He’s a member at large (MAL), not an official representative of the Atlantic region, but he does see himself as a liaison between the Mennonite Brethren churches in the Maritimes and the board. Sam is professor of sociology at Atlantic Baptist University in Moncton, the author of Evangelicals and the Continental Divide, and one of the scholars involved in the Centre for Research on Canadian Evangelicalism’s first-ever study of evangelical congregations in this country. Sam is married to Mary Beth and they have 3 children.

Peter Durksen (MAL) spent his professional life in education, including 24 years as a secondary school principal and 10 years as instructor at the University of Western Ontario. He’s retired but still supervises student teachers for two colleges. Peter was moderator of the Ontario conference for 5 years and has a keen interest in how organizations work, as well as in the development of the MB conference. Challenges the conference faces, he says, are a shortage of “biblically trained pastors” and “willing servants at all levels of church life.” Peter and Erna have 3 grown children and 5 grandchildren. They attend Grace MB Church in Waterloo, Ont.

Ramsy Unruh is a “rookie” on the board, having recently joined by virtue of being elected moderator of the Manitoba conference this spring. He enjoyed his first meetings with “this group that is quite passionate about leading our conference well.” Ramsy has been pastor at Community Fellowship Church in Newton, Man. since 2003, and was earlier worship pastor at Eastview Community Church, Winnipeg. He and Shannon have 3 children.

Kristen Corrigan (MAL) recently relocated from B.C. to Quebec, where she is dean of administration at École de théologie évangelique de Montréal (ETEM). Her career has been in organizational design and leadership development, including 5 years as executive director of human resources at Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C. She is licensed in the Relationship Model of Board Governance which the Canadian conference uses, and says steady progress is being made in its application to our context. Kristen and Garry have 2 grown children and 2 grandchildren.

Gerald Peters (MAL) says he was told when he joined the board last fall that if he kept his head down and didn’t make eye contact, he might be able to avoid being on a subcommittee! He was soon on the board’s finance committee, however, and it’s a good fit, as he has worked in Mennonite financial companies for 19 years. Gerald lives in Leamington, Ont., where he is financial planner for the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union there. He and Debbie have 4 children and are members at Meadow Brook Fellowship. Gerald appreciates the “brisk and unvarnished” discussion of board meetings.

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