Stories
Portable CMU: how a university of the church takes care of its roots
Our faith teaches that we belong to those who have made us: to Christ, our families, and communities. Accordingly, CMU belongs to the many-membered church body that first raised it up and nurtures it to this day. Enter Portable CMU. Former president/professor emeritus Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt, the program's first director, says "one of the great things about the offering is that from the beginning, it was congregation-instigated."
Faculty portables began in 1982 at Canadian Mennonite Bible College. Professors constantly received church invitations to come and speak on specific issues—a wonderful problem to have, but a problem, nonetheless. To solve it, Gerbrandt conceived a program that fulfills this hunger for enrichment teaching in the church and personal connection with the university, while easing the burden on faculty.
"The beauty of the program was and is its equalizing power. First, it empowered smaller congregations that might not otherwise have the confidence to invite a professor to their church. Now they were receiving our brochure. Second, it's a flat rate for service anywhere in the country—Winnipeg, for example, is subsidizing northern Alberta. But that's good! It's cooperative that way," says Gerbrandt.
Today, Portable CMU is as robust as ever. With over 40 topics offered by over a dozen faculty, congregations can choose from options such as Refugees and Migrants in the Biblical Period; The Mennonite Brethren Story; Death, Dying, and the God of Life; Science, Faith, and a Christian Response to Climate Change; and more. For more about Portable CMU, visit cmu.ca/portable.
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