Willard Metzger - Begins as General Secretary of MC Canada November 1st.

Willard Metzger - many have known him as a friend or pastor and some have known him as a father and family man. Willard has ministered as a pastoral leader in Mennonite Church Eastern Canada at the Bethel, Floradale, and Community (Drayton) Mennonite Churches. For the past five years, he has worked with World Vision as the Director of Church Relations across Canada. Most recently, he has accepted a call to Mennonite Church Canada to serve the church as General Secretary.

Why would Willard leave a position with World Vision to move into the role of General Secretary of MC Canada? His response to that question was immediate and simple - obedience to God’s call.

The discernment process for Willard was an intense one. Relocation to Winnipeg, MB was a serious discussion point as he and his wife Lois have worked diligently to integrate their son Matthew, born with Downs Syndrome, into the regular main-stream schooling and community in Drayton, ON. Matthew, now twenty-one, has been embraced and loved by their community. The idea of uprooting Matthew and Lois from family and familiarity was unfathomable and arrangements were made to ensure that the Metzger family was able to remain in Drayton. In speaking of the effect this will have on MC Canada staff, Willard asserts, “It will take creativity and commitment to make this arrangement work but with the strong, committed staff at MC Canada, I am confident that we can make it work.”

During the recent MC Canada Assembly in Calgary, Willard received much affirmation from the church body, confirming God’s call on him for such a time as this. “I can sense the discernment and calling of the broader church and have confidence that if God has spoken through the people of God, I will be equipped with what I need to embrace this new responsibility.”

He continued, “I don’t have all the gifts that the church requires. As General Secretary, I want to call forth all gifts into action and strengthen a sense of call. I want to call the gifts forth from our children and junior youth and help them to recognize that the church is worth giving their lives to. I want to call the theologians into action, as well as the business persons and entrepreneurs. As an expression of love to God, we offer our gifts to God – to the church - because God has given those gifts to us for the strengthening of the church. If you are a part of the church we need your gifts. The church should never be in need because God has already supplied all the gifts required for this day and for this time.”

Willard is excited by the future of Mennonite Church Canada. “I long to see the Mennonite denomination strengthened and am called to do my part in the big picture. The heroes of the Bible were able to see the big picture and pray for the fruition of God’s vision for their children or grandchildren, content to believe in God’s word even though they may not see the end result. It’s freeing when you release the expectations. My job is to obey and bring the gifts that I have to the church while empowering those around me to do the same. If we all do this, who knows what God will be able to accomplish! Strength and renewal will come. It may or may not come in my generation or even my children’s generation; but it will come. That’s exciting!”

Willard begins his ministry as General Secretary on November 1^st. “You can never be happy outside of God’s will,” he concludes. “There is no safer place than doing what God wants you to do.”