MBCI celebrates 75th anniversary ‘journey of faith’

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This article was published 21/09/2022 (1122 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seventy-seven years ago, Neil Fast was one of the first 20 students to attend Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute.

“I have good memories of my two years there,” Fast, 93, said of the Winnipeg middle/high school, which started with two classes and two teachers.

Back then, the school was very insular.

“We were groups of friends from Mennonite Brethren churches in Winnipeg,” he said, adding some students came from rural communities.

At home and church, the German language was used, although MBCI used English for instruction.

“We were living in closed communities,” said Fast, who spent his career in the furniture industry and also served on the MBCI board.

There weren’t any sports, either. “Just some outdoor activities.”

Things are different today at MBCI.

The school has 425 students in grades 6 to 12, with only about 40 per cent coming from Mennonite Brethren or other Mennonite churches. Twenty-eight per cent have no church affiliation.

“We’re very diverse,” said principal Andrea Buller, who graduated from the school in 1996. “Our focus is on love and acceptance of each student while remaining true to our Christian faith and Mennonite-Anabaptist roots.”

The school, located just north of the Disraeli Freeway on Henderson Highway in the Elmwood neighbourhood, is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a homecoming reunion Saturday — postponed two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The day begins at 11 a.m. with a short program, followed by a range of activities (more info at http://wfp.to/ooM).

Unlike in the past, when nearly all students came from Mennonite Brethren churches, no one today is required to attend church to study at the school.

“We invite students into a journey of faith with us” no matter their background, Buller said, adding the school is “Christ-centred” and “educates for character.”

The goal is to explore “the walk of faith in today’s world, and for us as staff to know the best way to educate students in that context.”

In addition to the regular provincial curriculum, students attend mandatory biblical studies and a weekly chapel is offered. Each day begins with “a time of grounding” that could be a time of silence, a prayer or a reading.

Things the school has become known for are its basketball and volleyball programs, which have won provincial championships, and its music program.

“Our teams have done well,” Buller said, adding the strong emphasis on music comes from the school’s Mennonite heritage.

Altogether, the school has more than 6,500 alumni. One of them is six-time Olympic medallist speed skater Cindy Klassen (who now goes by her married name of Landiuk).

The 43-year-old mother of a 21/2-year-old, with another child on the way in October, now lives in Airdrie, Alta. She remembers her time at MBCI (1991-97) fondly.

“I was really involved in sports there,” Landiuk said of her involvement with volleyball, basketball — and rugby, for one year. “I learned so much from good coaches.”

Time spent at the school also strengthened Landiuk’s faith and helped her get perspective on life.

“Being at MBCI taught me sports aren’t everything in life,” she said. “Life is more than how fast you can skate and how many medals you can win.”

Landiuk also appreciated the emphasis on service at the school.

“It taught me life isn’t about yourself, but about living for Christ,” she said. “We are supposed to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.”

Richard Olfert, 58, graduated in 1981. The Winnipeg chartered professional accountant remembers MBCI as being a “fun time,” where he developed lifetime friendships.

He was also involved in sports. “It taught me what was possible with teamwork,” Olfert said, adding there was satisfaction when “a little school played against bigger schools and won.”

Olfert, who went on to chair the MBCI board and oversee some of its expansion, also appreciated how teachers inspired students to take leadership, and how faith was built into the program at every level.

“We learned what faith meant in the real world,” he said, adding he graduated knowing “what it meant to be a Christian in the world.”

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