Replacing Gary will be Jack Dyck, currently pastor of St. Catharines United Mennonite Church in Ontario. Jack and his wife Carol, whose children range in age from 6 to11, are starting at Mount Royal in September. The farewell for Gary and Carol Martens will be held on June 17. The General Council of the Conference of Mennonites in Alberta met at Edmonton First Mennonite church on April 7. The various committees planned their programs for the coming conference year and then reported to the larger council so that everyone had a sense of the overall direction and activities of the conference.
Most committees now have a full complement of members and are focused on carrying out their tasks.
The annual Songfest will be held in Calgary May 26-27. Marilyn Houser-Hamm will be the guest conductor of the Mass Concert Choir. Aldred Neufeldt of Calgary First Mennonite will conduct the Male Chorus, and Kim Wiens of Edmonton First Mennonite will direct the Children's Choir. The Sunday morning and afternoon worship services will be held at the Red and White Club, adjacent to MacMahon Stadium. Shane Neufeld, youth minister at Bergthal Mennonite in Didsbury, has been appointed as Youth Ministries coordinator for the upcoming year, ending in March 2002.