Amelia and Sarah 2016-2017
Artist in Residence
Amelia Warkentin and Sarah Ens jointly were Bethel’s first Artists-in-Residence for 2016-2017. Amelia and Sarah’s inaugural project combined writing, editing, and performing to encourage a culture of shared perspective within the Mennonite faith through metaphor and narrative. Sarah and Amelia led two writing workshops for Bethelites, during which they guided congregants’ drafting, development, and revision of stories. They also took part in worship services, performing poetry set to “liturgical movement” (dance). Their residency concluded with the creation of an anthology of stories by Bethelites entitled Journeying with God: A Bethel Book of Stories. A copy of this book is available in the Bethel church library.
Sarah is a writer and editor based in Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg, MB). She grew up in Bethel and learned a lot about poetry from singing hymns with the congregation. At the time of her term, she had completed her BFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Since then, she has earned an MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan and published her debut book of poetry, The World Is Mostly Sky, with Turnstone Press.
Amelia is a proficient mistake-maker and perpetual dreamer raised near and at Bethel. During her term she was working on a Bachelor’s degree at CMU and is now in her final year in Education at the University of Manitoba. She hopes to one day inspire children to creatively engage in celebrating their maker through music and movement. In the meantime, she finds contentment in baking sourdough, deep conversations with roommates and running against time.
