Series 5 - Education Committee

The Education Committee or Erziehungs Kommittee, as it first appeared, was first constituted in 1959 with Ältester Gerhard Lohrenz leading. Its 1960 report identified three areas of work: Sunday School, Daily Vacation Bible School and children's camps. By the end of 1972 it was also responsible for coordinating and monitoring all educational concerns, including private schools, ministers' courses and youth work. The Education Committee's task was to study and determine the needs of congregations, work toward meeting those needs and serve as a link to parallel committee of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada and the General Conference Mennonite Church.

The Education Committee promoted a number of practices with regards to the Sunday School program. It encouraged the entire family attend Sunday school, that all families conduct devotions, that all congregations conduct teachers' courses, that teachers change as little as possible, that they meet approximately every two weeks to discuss their work and that they call parent-teacher meetings at least once annually. In 1967 the annual provincial Sunday School Conference was renamed the Provincial Education Conference.

The Education Committee also reported on the work of the Daily Vacation Bible School which had been started during the 1940s by the Manitoba Jugendorganisation (MJO). This program attracted many young women into voluntary service through which they ministered to children, parents and the community. In 1942 Manitoba had had 23 Daily Vacation Bible School workers. Organizers of the Daily Vacation Bible School were: Henry Gerbrandt (ca. 1941-1959), Bernie Wiebe (1960), Egon Enns (1961-1964) and Ernie Dyck (1964-1966). The Daily Vacation Bible School was last mentioned at the Conference of Mennonites in Manitoba session in 1967.

Ministers were encouraged to participate in courses which were scheduled at conference sessions, and bi-annually at Elim Bible Institute and Canadian Mennonite Bible College. Over the years the focus of the Ministers Courses shifted from 'the character of a minister, Bible exegesis and practice preaching for sermon content and deliverance' to the idea that renewal would 'come through the meeting together in small groups for Bible study, prayer and the sharing of experiences'.

In the late 1960s the Education committee began to struggle as programs were scaled down or phased out, private schools required additional funding and a liberal arts residential college was needed. Workshops and conferences tackled such issues as peace, stewardship, sexuality, drugs, pastoral care and counseling. Together with Manitoba Mennonite Youth Organization they developed a university campus ministry. The Conference of Mennonites in Manitoba was represented on the Inter-Mennonite Campus Ministries Committee begun in 1971. In cooperation with the Camp Committee, the Education Committee worked on camp philosophy and the meaning of conversion.

During 1973-1975 the Education Task Force recommended expanded resources for workers in the local congregations, establishment of a Bible school, promotion and financial support for Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) and Westgate Mennonite Collegiate and restructuring where needed. In its resourcing, the committee focused on several major areas, namely, the annual Sunday school convention, counseling through marriage enrichment seminars, the ministers and deacons conferences and other related concerns. In 1977 the Education Committee also became responsible for counseling ministry and the relationship which the Faith and Life Communications Committee had with the Pastoral Institute.

In 1975 the Education Committee assumed some responsibility for the Elim Bible Institute. The school struggled and closed in 1988. In the early 1990s the Education Committee terminated the chaplain's position in favour of a broader-than-university-campus ministry to young adults in 1995. It was suggested that the youth wanted dialogue with the leaders and this prompted the Conference of Mennonites in Manitoba to include youth and young adults at delegate sessions.

Chairs of the Education Committee were:
-1959 G. Lohrenz
-1960-1966 Frank Isaac
-1967-1968 D.F. Friesen
-1969 George Kroeker
-1970-1972 John Neufeld
-1973 Victor Epp
-1974 Reynold Kipfer
-1975 Rena Kroeker
-1976-1980 Victor Epp
-1981-1982 Helen Unrau
-1983-1985 Elbert Toews
-1986-1987 Dolores Lohrenz
-1988-1989 Darlene Driedger
-1990-1992 Justina Heese
-1992 Rick Neufeld & Kathy Penner-Dyck
-1993-1994 Rick Neufeld
-1995-1999 Ron Janzen and Elsie Rempel
-2001- Bob Wiebe