Faith in Practice: How CMU Inspires Community-Centred Leadership
25 at 25 | Kyle Penner (CMU '05)
Kyle Penner (CMU ’05) graduated with a major in youth ministry. Today, as pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach, he draws on lessons of faith, community, and character first nurtured at CMU.
For Kyle Penner, CMU was where he learned how to think about faith, community, and leadership in ways that continue to shape his life today. "My time at CMU helped shape who I am and how I think in the world," he says.
After graduating in 2005 with a major in youth ministry, Penner reflects on the practical lessons CMU offered. Courses on preaching, church history, and biblical texts didn't just give him knowledge, he says they taught him how to communicate with clarity across generations. Something that he says comes in quite handy in his current role as the pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach.
Certain classes showed him how faith matures differently for each person. "I understood faith through faith development through human development lenses...that has been infinitely helpful for me in ministry," he says.
For Penner, these lessons made navigating a multi-generational congregation far more approachable. "At any given moment, we are serving five generations. Outside of healthcare and politics, there's very few institutions that serve five generations," he says.
Beyond academics, Penner emphasizes the CMU's focus on community and intentional relationships. He describes his current pastoral role not as a top-down authority, but as "a curator of community."
"The strength, the relationships, the commitment, the loyalty, the faithfulness comes because of how you love each other," he says.
These lessons in listening, dialogue, and respect for differing perspectives have shaped the way he leads, teaches, and engages with people both inside and outside the church.
To Penner, "CMU offers a healthy balance between educational goals for employment opportunities or to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but also to build character in a way that honors everyone's contributions to the community." That dual focus, he says, is rare in higher education and has lasting value far beyond a transcript or diploma.
Looking back, Penner says he would wholeheartedly recommend CMU to the next generation. "If my kids were to choose to go to CMU for their post-secondary education, I would endorse it in the heartbeat," he says.
For him, the lessons of community, faith, and moral character aren't just academic but are tools for life.
"In many ways... CMU helped me understand that life is about how we love our community, how we love each other, and how we show up thoughtfully and intentionally in whatever we do."