Erick Sawatzky dies

Erick Sawatzky, associate professor emeritus of pastoral ministry at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, died December 6, 2007, in Winnipeg, Man.

Sawatzky joined the AMBS faculty in 1986, directing the field education program and teaching in the area of pastoral ministry. During his time on the faculty, he also was a member of the Commission on Education of the General Conference Mennonite Church for 12 years, and chaired that commission for several years. He also was a member of the General Conference Committee on the Ministry from 1988 to 1997.

In 2004 Sawatzky realized a dream of editing essays on ministry written by AMBS faculty, The Heart of the Matter: Pastoral Ministry in Anabaptist Perspective, published by Cascadia and Herald Press. In the preface to The Heart of the Matter, Sawatzky wrote, “During my years of teaching at AMBS I held that practical experience in ministry and formal thought need each other in education for ministry. Without careful reflection, the church loses its vision, its focus. Without experiences of life in the church, formal theological thought loses its context, its locus.”

Sawatzky taught at AMBS for 16 years. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple System Atrophy, he retired early in 2004. He and Beverley, his wife, moved to Winnipeg in 2006.

Sawatzky’s colleagues at AMBS describe him as gracious, supportive and encouraging. Janeen Bertsche Johnson, first a student and then a colleague of Sawatzky, said, “Erick’s class on pastoral leadership was one of the most helpful AMBS courses I took as a student.”

“Erick was passionate about the practice of pastoral ministry and the importance of an adequate theology of pastoral ministry in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition,” Loren L. Johns, associate professor of New Testament and academic dean from 2000–2006, said. “He expressed this passion in teaching and mentoring that were empowering and deeply formative for decades of AMBS students.”

Jacob Elias, professor of New Testament, commented, “Erick and I had a special kinship arising out of our shared roots as Saskatchewan farm boys whom God called into church work. In the mystery of God’s working both of us heard the call, first of all to pastoral ministry, and then also to seminary teaching. Often our reminiscing about our respective journeys from the Canadian prairie heartland to our assignments at AMBS awakened within both of us the incongruous sense that these memories had best be communicated in Low German!”

Daniel Schipani, professor of pastoral care and counseling, said, “Erick had a life-long passion for the church and for pastoral ministry and leadership. As a beloved faculty colleague and friend, he was a gifted, gentle and generous team player.”

Marlene Kropf, associate professor in spiritual formation and worship, said, “Erick’s irrepressible joy in living is what I will miss most. Even as his physical health deteriorated, he brought energy and sparkle to conversations and meetings. Erick loved the church. He loved AMBS. He loved his family. He loved God. What a saint!”

Sawatzky was born in Rosetown, Sask., on November 15, 1944, and grew up in the Herschel Mennonite Church. He attended Rosthern Junior College to complete his high school studies. He was interested in church leadership in his youth and after studying at Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg and graduating from the University of Saskatchewan, he pursued a Master’s degree at AMBS in Elkhart, Ind. His studies prepared him to pastor in Hillsboro, Kan., and Regina, Sask. While he was the director of the Saskatoon Pastoral Institute and studying for his doctor of ministry degree at St. Stephen’s College in Edmonton, Alb., he was involved in prison ministry.

Sawatzky is survived by Beverly (Boldt), his wife of 39 years; son Tyler and his wife, Angela Plank; and daughter Tamara Sawatzky, her husband, Reynold Friesen, and their son, Caleb. Sawatzky was the youngest child of Peter P. and Katharina Sawatzky (both deceased). Brothers and sisters celebrating his life are Peter G. (Margaret), Jacob (Lena), Elsie Neufeldt (Bruno), Henry (Evelyn), William (Ruby), Werner (Louise), Edna Peters (John), sister-in-law Judy Bergen (Philip), along with many nieces and nephews across Canada and the United States, and cousins in Germany.

The memorial service was held at Bethel Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, on Tuesday, December 11 at 3 p.m. A private family interment preceded the celebration. A memorial service also will be held in Goshen, Ind., at a later date.

Memorial donations can be given to Company of 1000, c/o of Mennonite Church Canada, www.mennonitechurch.ca.