Michael Williamson was hired by the Leamington United Mennonite Church (LUMC) in 2011 to join our pastoral team which included four other pastors.
Michael’s Early Life
Michael lived in Cambridge, together with his parents Marlene Hamilton and Greg Williamson until he became a teenager. He was baptised in the Anglican Church as a baby and joined his parents as a nominal church goer until he was seven years of age. Michael experienced death and divorce in his life between the ages of 12 and 14. First his parents divorced, and then his grandparents died. At that time, Michael didn’t like church because he didn’t know any of the young people. His friends did not attend church.
He started thinking about death, and began praying – he wanted to be a good person. When he was in sixth grade he received a King James Version of the New Testament from the Gideon Bible Club. Michael said that “he supposed it should be read” although bible reading was not nurtured at home. Michael said that he found himself being drawn to the bible – perhaps this was God’s will. At the age of 16 he made friends in high school and began to attend the Dutch Christian Reform Family, where Michael took part in prayer before meals, where he read the bible regularly, and joined youth groups.
Michael saw things from the side: he had two groups of friends, one of which regarded faith as not being cool while the other group saw it as being important. The Youth For Christ young people was a lunch time crowd and Michael joined them. Although they become members of the church he himself was reluctant to do so. Then a friend of Michael offered him a free bus ride to Florida. After that experience Michael began attending club meetings; he wanted to be like them – he wanted to follow Jesus, to live it out. Immediately he noticed the transformation. However it was a struggle to attend church; it was like going to a tomb.
Nevertheless, Michael looked for a church to join. He discovered two churches which differed quite a bit but he didn’t like either one of them. He couldn’t read music, and neither church was like Youth for Christ. Michael attended various youth groups, but still no church. Then, at the age of 17 he came across a small conservative gospel church, where he met a new youth worker and he hit it off right away. It went well with him.
It was a small church. The sermons were 40 minutes long, based on discipleship, and their approach to the bible was literal. Michael had no problem with all of this, and he began to attend services regularly; he got to know people, they invited him to their homes, and the bible became a big part of his life. The church stressed personal gifts. They had a time of sharing (one time, for example, a lady was concerned with moving her furniture). Michael said he did not experience any personal conflicts at the time. Dating was not yet in the picture.
Michael wanted to be a teacher when he was in Grade 12. One of the Youth for Christ leaders suggested that Michael become a minister. It was evident that in this church they wanted to incorporate everyone’s gifts for the church. They wanted to recognise the talent that every human being has: to create beauty – that’s what God does. Massive uprisings are not an example of beauty; scripture is the criterion. ‘Deep scenes’ within the human being are not necessarily trustworthy. Desire for justice is in-born – relationships – spiritualistic – all trustworthy – they might be called ‘distant echoes of God’. The church is a response to these echoes. The trouble is, however, that humanity is flawed.
Michael’s Philosophy
To be an authentic being, Michael says, means to be fully human i.e. to live according to God’s image which, for him, is found in the person of Jesus, who is the example of what God is like – doing what a human is supposed to do i.e. always reflect God’s love to others (the ‘horizontal’): reflect God’s love back. As well, the human being is meant to be a good steward of the creation around us.
If Jesus is to be regarded as the example of an authentic human being where does frailty enter into the picture? Was Jesus really human? Did he have sex for example? Michaels’s answer is no, he would not have had sex because he wasn’t married. Jesus was a Jew and as such he would not have engaged in sex outside of marriage, because that was the Jewish custom.
Was Jesus always nice to others? Michael says not necessarily so. For example he referred to some people (tax collectors) as a “brood of vipers.” Was that being nice? Was Jesus being ‘nice’ when he used a whip to disperse people in the temple? Not at all. In this case he appears to have lost his temper.
What does Michael think about divine intervention? Michael leaves room for divine intervention although he finds it difficult to explain the ‘big evil’ e.g. earth quakes, floods, etc. God has a desire not to destroy free will. Divine intervention hinges on this one attribute of God: God is like Jesus. Natural disasters are not sent as a judgement; however when people are involved in disasters they are evil, otherwise not. It comes down to one question: Are you repentant?
Michael believes in a personal God in contrast to a God of history (Gordon Kaufman, Systematic Theology: A Historicist Perspective). God is more personal. Michael leaves some room for miracles. He says we all believe that death is not the end, the final chapter. Somehow there must be hope – found in the story of Jesus – if a senior dies it is not the end. The relationship with the spiritual does not end. It just isn’t supposed to be that way. Scriptures affirm the resurrection of Jesus. It is not possible to visualize an existence where illness does not exist, or suffering, or death. The bible says “All things will be new.”
What is Michael’s idea of “Hell”? Some people cause others to live a life of misery, pain, and suffering. When these evil doers finally come face to face with God they will see how far away they are from God because He is love. They will come to realize how hateful they have been. This is his idea of Hell.
Michael says he would teach or preach what we as Mennonites have agreed on, according to our Confession of Faith. “I believe in that Confession,” he says, “However, God allows room for a variety of points of view.
Religious Training
Michaels finished his seminary studies in 2009 at the Baptist Heritage Seminary, in Cambridge Ontario, which is affiliated with Fellowship Baptist Churches of Canada. He obtained an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies (three years) from Heritage Baptist College, and a Masters Degree in Theology (2 courses) from the Baptist Heritage Seminary (two years). The latter included a systematic study of the doctrines of God (surveys of various beliefs and world views). He also studied Old Testament Theology (about oral tradition and how editors of various texts explained the understanding of God). These studies revealed how a growing awareness of how God steers His people to a better way – compared to that of the neighbours – as well as how belief in God progressed. Michael also studied how the Church is structured, how it functions, and how it is governed.
How Micheal Williamson was hired by The Leamington United Mennonite Church
When Michael heard that the Leamington United Mennonite Church (LUMC) was looking for a pastor to join their pastoral team he met with Muriel Bechtal, representative of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC). It resembled a dating service, he said. He had a lengthy meeting with Muriel to appraise his qualifications for the prospective position at LUMC. Although Michael had an opportunity to work at one of two other churches he chose to pursue his job prospects with LUMC because he was interested in working for a ‘Russian congregation’, having been a member of the Mennonite Brethern Church in Ottawa. It was the oldest such congregation in Ontario. Michael worked for this congregation from 2001 to 2011. He became familiar with the culture of these people, their history, their struggle, and their persecution.
Subsequently Michael met with the Search Committee of LUMC. Following a month of reflection and prayer he and his wife Brandy decided that he would formally apply for the position as offered. He would be one of four pastors on the pastoral team at LUMC working together with the Youth Pastor. A month later he made a successful public presentation to the congregation at LUMC . He and Brandy then moved to Leamington where Brandy teaches piano.
