George Groening was a pastor and church leader in the Conference of Mennonites in Canada and in the provincial conferences of Manitoba and BC. He was born to Heinrich Groening and Maria Penner in 1918 in the Lowe farm area of Manitoba. During the Second World War he served as a conscientious objector (CO), working at Riding Mountain National Park, B.C. forestry service, a BC dairy farm, and teaching in Norway House, Manitoba. In 1944 he married Aganetha Heinrichs and they had three daughters.
After His CO service he attended normal school in Winnipeg to become a teacher. His CO service helped prepare him for church leadership, which started in his home congregation of the Lowe Farm Bergthaler Mennonite Church in 1947. Because of his CO experience in aboriginal communities, he was elected to serve on the board of the Mennonite Pioneer Mission. He pastored Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg (1954-1966), member of the General Conference Mennonite Church Board of Missions (ca. 1965-1967), pastor at Foothills Mennonite Church in Calgary (1966-1971), Eden Mennonite Church in Chilliwack, B.C. (1971-1984), and Clearbrook Mennonite Church (1989). He was the chairman of the Mennonite Pioneer Mission in the 1950s, chairman of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada Board of Missions in the 1960s, Member of the Conference of Mennonites in BC Missions committee (ca. 1971-1974), moderator of Mennonite Church British Columbia (1975-1979), and chair of Columbia Bible College in the 1980s.
Groening was invited to speak at a variety of churches and events including Young United Church in Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, graduation ceremony at Canadian Bible College in Regina, at the dedication of a Men’s Dormitory, at funerals, weddings and wedding anniversaries.
