When you become a part of our congregation, we want you to know that we are
committed to you and your vocation before God. Together we seek to discover
our calling, confident that our everyday life is participation with God’s mission in
this world.
Fort Garry Evangelical Menonite Church in Winnipeg Manitoba began a year- long journey exploring their congregation’s vocational callings and the intersection with their worship and mission. Pastor of Worship and Youth, Glenda Friesen, attended a work and worship seminar, hosted by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in the summer of 2023 and was inspired to apply for a Worshipping Communities grant to deepen her congregation’s practices of vocationally-conversant worship.
Through the course of the last year, Fort Garry has engaged the working lives of their congregation in a variety of creative ways. They have hosted workshops and small group gatherings, installed a vocational mission map in their main gathering area, commissioned pottery for their sanctuary, and deepened their worship practices on Sunday mornings.
Grounded by the conviction that “work and worship” should be intergenerational, speaking to the lives of all ages in their congregation, they hosted a creative, interactive event where they created vocational prayer beads. This simple exercise has had profound impact on this church’s members and could be easily replicated in other congregations. We hope it inspires you and fuels your imagination for your own context.
On a Sunday morning in October, during our Sunday School hour, our
congregation gathered for the workshop. Our team at Fort Garry EMC wanted to find a way for our congregation to experience how their own story is embedded in the Church’s Story of God’s work in the world. We came up with the idea of prayer beads that lead us through statements about ourselves and God. The goal was that these beads could be used on the way to school, work or however people begin their day. They could be placed on backpacks, jacket zippers, and key chains.
The vocational prayer beads were created step-by-step, with us saying the prayer aloud together as we added the each bead. We intentionally used symbols and words we see and use in our church every Sunday. Through these beads, our hope was that we would deepen our worship practices on Sunday, giving people words and spiritual practices to use in their Monday work.
- The Apostles Creed and The Lord’s Prayer, along with the symbol of the triquetra, connect us to our shared experience of The Lord’s Supper.
- The triquetra is etched into our communion table.
- The Spirit as dove is displayed on a banner in our sanctuary and a painting in our foyer.
- The wooden cross is hanging at the front of our sanctuary.
Seeing the generations come together to work on these beads was a true gift. Sometimes a younger person needed to help an older person with the fine work. At one point I needed help from a seamstress, who could easily thread the wire through the triquetra. It took the hands of many to create these prayer guides that we will together share in the future.
Carrying the iconography of the church into our everyday life helps us to embody the truth that everything we do matters to God and to the church. All over Manitoba, wherever we find ourselves during the week, praying the prayers of the church on our way to school or work our faith deepens and we are encouraged in our communion with one another.
Interested in learning more about what this and other churches are doing? Has your church done something that you’d like to share? Email project director, Katie Roelofs (kathrynroelofs@fuller.edu)
