P Squared and KG, an RJC Story.

Let me take you back today to the winter/spring of 1949 and to Rosthern Junior College. It’s a kind of “golden age” in the life of the school. Kornelius G. Toews (KG), had been principal for over a decade as had the popular teacher Peter P. Rempel (P-squared). 

      Both KG and P² immigrated to Canada in the 1920s, both were products of the surge in educational excellence in Russian Mennonite Colonies in the 30+ years since most of the Valley Mennonites had settled here. Both were graduates of the German-English Academy that would become Rosthern Junior College (and now, RJC High School) as well as of the University of Saskatchewan where Toews earned a BA, a B.Ed and an MA and Rempel a BA and a B.Ed. 

       Both were loved by students of the time and molded distinguished careers after leaving the GEA.

       (Rounding out the staff were David Paetkau, arguably the father of musical excellence among Valley Mennonites, and J.G. Rempel, Bible teacher who became Elder of the Rosenort Mennonitengemeinde during his tenure at the GEA.)

       But in 1949, the constituency through the RJC Board (of which Eigenheim minister, H.T. Klaassen was chair at the time) was at odds with the style and contents of P.P. Rempel’s teaching. He was apparently acquainting students with the rudiments of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution as well as cosmological conceptions of the origins of the universe. His defense was that he wasn’t indoctrinating students into beliefs at odds with Genesis, but that a rounded education required that they be familiar with what was being posited in the world around them. 

       Turns out, his “liberal arts education” bent was also evident in his teaching of Literature and in his style—he would sit on his desk and chat . . . far too informal an approach when viewed from the outside.

       Despite a petition by students and personal appeals, the board decided that Rempel would have to go. I expect the judgment that the constituency division on the matter could only be quelled with termination of the teacher was key

. . . and that the constituency and board would still be there long after the protesting students had gone.

       But “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away” is a maxim that has raised many a sigh. In a year or two, the entire staff had turned over and although replaced by competent teachers, the fact that the entire staff had been members of the Mennonite Church in the area no longer pertained.        

       Also, in Rempel, Paetkau and Toews, a talent pool of no considerable weight was sacrificed. This, at least, is one way of looking at it.

       In its defense, this turmoil happened at a time when theological upheaval was apparent in every church and church institution. Whereas the definition of “a Christian” had been tied to church membership, baptism and piety, the “born again,” individualistic concept of salvation was strengthening and both leadership and constituents were somewhat “one foot on the dock and the other in the canoe.” 

       I remember that my parents would take us to Brunk Brothers tent revivals, but the nature of the commitment urged there was never spoken of in the car on the way there or the way back; their embarrassment over broaching the “born again” subject with children was probably, in part at least, a lack of the vocabulary that characterized such a theology.

       But going back to the Rempel firing, the crux of the matter persists to the present day. How liberal can a curriculum be before the Bible and tradition lose their authority? And in the splintered Mennonite world, whose tradition and whose Bible interpretation shall prevail? 

       Biblically, we’re told that it’s not what a person hears, sees or reads that defiles, but rather what he/she says, shows, does or writes (Matthew 15:11). Since our actions emanate from “our heart,” how does a Christian school educate “the mind” without spoiling “the heart?” I’m sure the constituency of RJC at the time had this as their major concern; can we tolerate any teaching about evolution and cosmology given the risk that students may embrace a worldview that rejects the Genesis accounts? 

       Extrapolate from this to all those other burning controversies like military service, abortion, sexuality and gender, dying with dignity, drug use, wealth, sex outside of marriage, etc., etc. and it’s pretty clear that a teacher in a parochial school is expected to be much more than a presenter of a prescribed curriculum.

       For me, the answer is simple and clear. Accept that the Genesis accounts are allegories depicting the awakening of human consciousness, and they dovetail quite nicely with Darwinian Evolution. But then, I’d probably be fired for saying so in most Christian parochial schools of today.

        Browse again through the Forties chapter of Roots and Wings: 100 years of Rosthern Junior College and you’ll probably come away with the impression that the students loved P² for reasons other than those at which the constituency took offense. He was amiable, knowledgeable, patient, generous, approachable . . . and fun. I think he was exactly the kind of teacher under which students tend to blossom. 

       You can be good for the heart while being good for the mind.

       Sometimes we zig mightily where history tells us we should have zagged.