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The Morden Christian Programs Committee is inviting the whole community to a weekend of worship, teaching, and music at the Corn & Apple Festival, culminating in a Sunday gathering that intentionally welcomes Morden’s many languages and church traditions.
Dwight Martens is chair of the Morden Christian Programs Committee that has been organizing the Christian programming at the Corn Apple Festival since 1990.
Martens, who joined the committee in the fall of 2023, says the team is small but committed. “Right now, there are only five of us, but we would like to see that group double in size... It's valuable and enjoyable work, and we're having a great time.”
Programming begins with a men’s prayer breakfast Friday morning at Rocks Bar & Grill, where the weekend’s speaker, Charles Price, will share a message.
Saturday features “Worship and the Word,” again with Price, and a participatory evening led by Jodi King and Chris Rademacher of Love & The Outcome.
Sunday: coffee, community worship, and a multilingual welcome
“Sunday will be a full day. We're starting at about 9:30 in the morning with preservice music, which is put together by community worship team. There's about 7 or 8 churches involved with that. Service starts at 10. We have special music by Rosemary Siemens.”
A highlight of the service will be scripture read in several languages to reflect and welcome Morden’s diverse churches. “We are trying to bring the Christian community together as much as possible,” Martens explained. “We're doing something a little different this year at the beginning of the service; we're going to be having some scripture reading that will be done in multiple languages." The same scripture passage will be read in English, sign language, Swahili in Tagalog, High German and Brazilian Portuguese.
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Sunday afternoon concerts: A little something for everybody
Following the service, Sunday’s main stage features instrumental music with an Eastern European flair from the Christian of Gospel Faith Church, followed by Bread We Break and a concert set by Love & The Outcome. The afternoon wraps up with the Lumber River Quartet; full details are at christianprograms.ca.
Volunteers welcome—especially for Sunday clean-up
Martens says there are multiple ways to get involved, from joining the committee to helping on festival weekend.
“There are always opportunities to volunteer. Usually, there's lots of energy at the beginning of an event to get things set up... but when it's time to clean up, it seems that there are less people around to do that. So, if you're interested in helping out, probably 5:00 on Sunday afternoon, there will be a lot of opportunity for you to volunteer, just to commit a little bit of your time in helping to make that whole process go quicker and smoother.”
‘A ton of fun’: Memories that keep bringing people back
For Martens, Corn & Apple has always doubled as a community reunion. “If I think about the Corn and Apple Festival as a kid, it was a it was a ton of fun. My dad had a bakery at the time, and so we would be working during the day on Friday and Saturday, and then the wonder shows guys would come in because they used some of the electricity from my dad's business. They would come in with rolls of tickets or free passes," he smiled. "It was always a great time... And we'd be going on all the rides we wanted.”
At a glance: Weekend lineup
Friday (morning)
Men’s Prayer Breakfast at Rocks Bar & Grill (Charles Price speaking)
Saturday (evening)
Worship & the Word (message by Charles Price)
Love & The Outcome: Participatory worship set highlighting an upcoming hymns album
Sunday
9:30 a.m. – Pre-service music by a community worship team (7–8 churches)
10:00 a.m. – Festival service (free coffee and muffins available)
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Speaker: Charles Price
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Special music: Rosemary Siemens
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Multilingual Scripture readings: English, Sign Language, Swahili, Tagalog, High German, Brazilian Portuguese
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Afternoon concerts:
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Christian of Gospel Faith Church (instrumental/Eastern European style)
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Bread We Break (12:30–1:45 p.m.)
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Love & The Outcome (2:00 p.m., concert set)
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Lumber River Quartet (closing set)
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Find more details at christianprograms.ca. If you'd like to become a volunteer, email info@christianprograms.ca.