Katie Funk Wiebe, my mom, taken in Edmonton, July, 2009
There’s a special “Festschrift” event being held April 24 at Tabor College, in Hillsboro, Kansas, the town where I grew up and went to high school and college.
A “Festschrift” is a collection of writings published in honor of a scholar. This celebration in April is a two-hour by-invitation reception in honor of my mother, Katie Funk Wiebe and launching a new book, which is a collection of essays about her. The book is being published by The Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission (sponsored by the U.S. and Canadian MB conferences). The vision of this book is to provide an opportunity to reflect on the significance of mom’s contribution to the thought and life of both the Mennonite Brethren and the larger Mennonite/Anabaptist community.
The book is in three sections. First, her life is examined in order to understand the development of her thinking within her particular context.
I wrote a chapter for this section, titled “What Would Mother Do?”.
The second section looks at mom’s multiple roles as a writer, theologian, historian, teacher, and speaker.
The last section is about mom’s interest in the issues facing women, widows, and older adults.
The event is sort like a Nobel prize within the Mennonite universe. Mom never expected her work would garner her such acclaim. I think she is the first woman in the Mennonite Brethren church to gain such honor, possibly the first woman in the Mennonite church in general.
I am proud of her — but not surprised!
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