A man who spent decades pastoring in Manitoba is reflecting on what has, and what has not changed in ministry.
Rick Neufeld is Mennonite Church Manitoba's (MCM) Director of Leadership Ministry a role he has been in for the past six and a half years. He has been a pastor with the denomination for more than three decades.
"I think the changes have come a lot in regards to perhaps the conversations that we are having in the church, from more traditional kind of pastoral roles and expectations to now (asking) what does pastoring mean when we meet virtually when people aren't connecting on Sunday mornings," Neufeld says. "A lot of my role has been to resource and listen, and help and care for pastors when they do call."
Rick Neufeld, our Director of Leadership Ministries, has announced his retirement in March 2022. He has been in this position for 6.5 years and served in pastoral ministry within MCM for 34 years. We are grateful for his many years of service to the churches and pastors of MCM!
— Mennonite Church Manitoba (@MCManitoba) October 29, 2021
In the past couple of years, he says there has been extra attention being given to caring for pastors who are feeling the stresses of the pandemic.
He says they have also been structural changes at MCM, including his own pending retirement in the spring. Neufeld hopes he was a non-anxious presence for pastors
"I hope they have felt cared for. I hope they have felt that there is a person or a place that they can contact then they need to when they have a question."
In the meantime, he will be focussing on meeting with each of the church's more than 60 pastors one last time, focusing on good relationships to offer words of blessings to each of them. Neufeld wants these gestures to help pave the way for whoever is the next director.
Fri, May 17, 7:00 PM
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