Peter & Ruth Wiebe, Windsor Vineyard, ON

Tina-Marie Axenty, Jun 10, 2021, 4:11 AM
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Peter Wiebe grew up in Winnipeg, the third of three boys. His parents taught music at a Mennonite Bible college and their home was always full of music. In this vibrant environment he learned to play the cello, piano, choral music and was part of a family string quartet. He also taught himself to play guitar and dreamed of one day playing Beethoven's 5th in a professional orchestra.

Peter also had a passion to follow Jesus. Around age 6, he heard good news at a neighbour's Bible club: Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart and he said yes! Encouraged by his parents and brothers, he developed a love for reading the scriptures, especially the book of Acts.

Later on Peter attended a Mennonite high school for two years, and found himself partnering with other students passionate for renewal. During these years he had a couple of powerful Holy Spirit encounters: one which set him free from nagging doubts about his salvation, and another in which Jesus baptized him in the Spirit.

While pursuing a music degree at Brandon University, he met fellow musician, Ruth Craig. They were part of the leadership team of the IVCF on campus. Ruth and Peter were both introduced to the teaching of John Wimber: Ruth by her pastor, and Peter by his parents.

The mid-80s were full of wonderful changes: a move to London, Ontario for more music studies, getting married (1986), baby # 1, and another move to Windsor in 1987 to assume a position with the Windsor Symphony. Some months before the job was advertised, Peter was visiting Windsor and had a distinct intuition from the Lord that Windsor was part of his future. It took the Wiebes several months to find a church home. They noticed a Vineyard "divorce recovery" group advertised but didn't think it was meant for them, but eventually this group started meeting as a Sunday church. They started attending and soon realized this was "home," and the fledgling church was just at that time praying for a new worship leader.

As well as serving in worship, Peter and Ruth increasingly moved into leadership functions alongside the church founders, Ed and Marnie Kolar. Ruth continues to serve faithfully in giving leadership to their kids' programs. Ruth (with a little help from Peter) homeschooled six children: John, Sarah, Evan, Kathryn, Grace and Andrew. She also found time to develop a large private violin teaching studio. Meanwhile, Peter served the Windsor Symphony in different capacities, including a stint as their Assistant Conductor from 2005-2018.

In 2018 Peter became the lead pastor of the Windsor Vineyard, and was installed as senior pastor in spring of 2021 upon Ed's retirement. Peter and Ruth are very thankful to pastor such a loving bunch of people!

One of Peter's favourite parts of pastoring is sharing a shawarma lunch with a willing buddy. He enjoys servant evangelism, whether raking leaves, giving away ice cream sandwiches, or distributing free groceries. He has strong geek tendencies, expressed not only in music, but in his passion for Hebrew and Greek. He has a particular passion for Trinitarian and Incarnational theology, especially as articulated by T. F. Torrance. With this in mind, his favourite Scripture (along with 20 others!) is Galatians 4:4-6. We are wrapped up in Father-Son-Spirit love!