Alumni Profiles

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.

Faith in Practice: How CMU Inspires Community-Centred Leadership

Posted in Alumni Profiles  |  Wednesday, September 3, 2025 @ 12:00 AM

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, MB.

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Joanne Moyer (CMU ’01) completed a Bachelor of Theology with a focus on service education. Her studies at CMU sparked a lifelong journey connecting faith and environmental work, which led her to become Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Geography at The King’s University in Edmonton.

Rooted in faith, growing through ecology: A CMU alum's path of environmental leadership

Posted in Alumni Profiles  |  Tuesday, September 2, 2025 @ 12:00 AM

Sometimes the most pivotal moments are only possible because of the communities we've already been part of. For Joanne Moyer, that moment came at an airport.

While seeing off a friend who was volunteering in Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams (now Community Peacemaker Teams), she bumped into Esther Epp-Tiessen who then worked for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Because they already knew each other through CMU's close-knit circles, the conversation quickly turned into opportunity.

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Jess Klassen (CMU ’04) graduated with a major in International Development Studies. Now Manitoba Research Alliance Coordinator at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and a textile artist under the name Stories of Textiles, she continues to weave together curiosity, community, and creativity—threads that began at CMU.

Research, art, and advocacy: Threads that began at CMU

Posted in Alumni Profiles  |  Monday, September 1, 2025 @ 12:00 AM

This September, Jess Klassen co-created an art installation at Nuit Blanche, a night of art, music, and festivities that lights up Winnipeg's downtown. Along with fellow CMU alumna Chantel Mierau ('05), Klassen hosted a communal art project to dream up an alternative municipal budget in response to the one put forward by the City of Winnipeg. Up on the roof of a parkade at the Forks, participants could select a strip of cloth in a colour that corresponded with a budget category—housing, library services, and public transit were just a few—and weave it into a tapestry.

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Zachary Peters (CMU ’10) completed a BA in Political Studies after beginning his CMU journey with the Outtatown Discipleship School. His time at CMU nurtured curiosity, community, and critical reflection—values that continue to shape his work in marketing and communications.

From student council to corporate communications: A CMU alum’s journey of curiosity, community, and connection

Posted in Alumni Profiles  |  Monday, September 1, 2025 @ 12:00 AM

Zachary Peters came to CMU for adventure.

In 2005, Peters joined CMU's Outtatown Discipleship School, a program that enabled students to experience travel through a mission trip while still keeping up with their studies.

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Andrew Klassen Brown (CMU '16, '21): "[CMU] enabled me to explore my faith, deconstruct and blow up whatever preconceived ideas that I had. CMU encouraged me to think about things intellectually, theologically..."

From basketball star to keeper of stories: CMU alum brings Mennonite history to life

Posted in Alumni Profiles  |  Thursday, August 28, 2025 @ 8:06 AM

Andrew Klassen Brown makes working in archives sound as exciting as an experimental jet test pilot.

The 32-year-old CMU alum works as the Archivist and Records Manager with Mennonite Central Committee Canada, serves as the vice-president of the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, and spends his free time visiting secluded attractions important to Mennonite history, such as the Mennonite Memorial Landing Site on the Banks of the Red River near Ste. Agathe, MB.

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