December 2nd

Pastors host Sunday Night Live

The sounds of laughter and applause filled Marpeck Commons at Canadian Mennonite University on Sunday evening, November 23, as several Mennonite Church Manitoba pastors put on a talent show for an audience of more than 150.
“Sunday Night Live” was initiated and planned by pastors as a grassroots fundraiser for MCM. The primary organizer was Janessa Nayler-Giesbrecht (pictured here), pastor at Jubilee Mennonite Church.
“When I started at Jubilee, I had some worries about what it would be like to try to ‘break in’ to a denomination that was new to me,” said Janessa. “MCM was the softest and most

 gentle landing I could have asked for. Very quickly I experienced the care and support of MCM staff as well as my pastoral colleagues. From this gratitude a little seed was born, and I thought, what if we did a fundraiser for MCM?”

Out of her experience as a youth pastor, Janessa immediately thought of a talent show for the fundraiser, and began recruiting MCM pastors to join her.

The range of acts reflected the range of our congregations and their pastors. Kevin Drudge (Covenant) playing the accordion, Bethel pastors Kevin Derksen, Kathy McCamis, and Valerie Alipova doing a readers theatre parody, Mark von Kampen (First) and Erika Enns Rodine (Altona Mennonite) singing together, the youth of Vietnamese Mennonite Church playing their ukuleles—these acts and more made for a special evening. The event concluded with all credentialed ministers present singing a humorous rendition of a well-known country song, changing the lyrics to, “Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to pastors.”

Audience members came from congregations across our regional church, making for a unique opportunity for people from different churches to engage with each other. “I've heard the call for a regular event,” says Janessa. “I came away so energized and beaming.”

All proceeds from the event will go toward Mennonite Church Manitoba’s general operations to help offset a budgeted deficit for 2025.

Thank you to all those who donated at the event! So far, $5,575 has been raised, but there is still time if you would still like to contribute to this fundraiser toward our shared ministries as a regional church at www.mennochurch.mb.ca/giving and include "Sunday Night Live" in the memo