Staff

Rebecca Kauffman
Pastor

I was raised as the second of five children on a small farm in northern Alberta, Canada. Family life included working together on the farm, reading, playing games, holiday time with cousins, and seeing parents role-model Christian faith and practices. Attending Mennonite Youth Convention and Mennonite World Conference events were important faith builders for me during my teen years. I received Jesus as my Lord and was baptized into the church at age 17.

During college at Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, VA), I discovered an interest in justice and peace-building. That led to voluntary service assignments in New York City with the Mennonite Central Committee’s United Nations Liaison Office, and Pax Christi Metro New York, a Catholic peace and justice organization. After moving back to Alberta, I had a variety of rewarding work opportunities, including being an aide to special needs children, operating machinery as a farm-hand, and as a program assistant at Welcome Home Community in Edmonton. Following a sense of adventure, I moved to Tiskilwa, IL and served at Menno Haven Camp & Retreat Center for six years as Administrative Assistant.

Participating in congregational life and worship has always been important to me, and I was blessed by the encouragement for ministry I received from others. That nudging, as well as a sense of spiritual restlessness, led me to study at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary where I could test the call to pastoral ministry. Following graduation in 2012 (Master of Divinity), I served as a pastor at Paoli Mennonite Fellowship, in southern Indiana, for six years. Beginning in January 2019, I was pleased to accept the call to serve at Bethel.

One verse that has been meaningful to me for many years is Luke 1:45, “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

Outside of ministry, I enjoy singing, walking, baking, hiking and traveling with my husband Andrew, and keeping in touch with family and friends.

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