Walking in Faith, Speaking with Grace, Embracing the Journey
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her”~ Luke 1:45
Reverend Marilyn June Meinzinger is an extraordinary individual who has triumphed over numerous challenges and obstacles. Her resilience and determination have not only allowed her to seek out adventure and travel but also to cultivate a life filled with purpose and enrichment.
Meinzinger was brought up on a fruit farm between Cedar Springs and Blenheim, where her father was a labourer. Her grandparents owned a farm near Merlin which provided ample beef, chicken, eggs so there was always an abundance of food and essentials, but she lacked the certainty of a loving home.
She and her sister walked the two miles to a rural school. Meinzinger excelled scholastically and read every book in her school library. A callous remark referring to her humble background from a school official, only served to fuel her determination to succeed. She won the Grade eight writing contest, an award she was forced to share with another student, when the teacher doubted that her exceptional work, was hers alone. Even now, she cringes at this reminder of always “knowing your place”.
Despite the derision, school soon became her safe place from home, where she frequently endured physical and verbal abuse. She developed a rich imagination out of necessity. “I would walk in fields, woods and orchards and paint”, she says. “Stories, poetry, even then, it was flowing out of me”.
Her gift of perception enabled her to read people very quickly, and very well. Her high school years were scarred with the tragic loss of her close friend Deborah and Deborah’s two sisters. Her death, and the heaviness of her home life, led to a period of depression, and subsequent counselling.
“You don’t have to have it all together. God uses the broken pieces to create something beautiful” ~ author unknown
Meinzinger graduated from the University of Windsor, where she had studied Honours English and Psychology and made the Dean’s list, her confidence growing as she began to “see that my value was in my grades”.
By the end of third year, at the age of 21, she impulsivley married a young man with whom she had been pen pals. They were married in the Blenheim United Church despite the Pastor advising her against the union, since they had little in common.
During summer school she obtained her credentials to teach high school. She would go on to head several art departments in high schools across southwestern Ontario.
The marriage lasted seven years but was marked with violence and ended in divorce.
By now, she was dating a fellow teacher who had decided to move back to his family home and had proposed marriage, hoping she would follow. She relocated to a townhouse in Oakville, securing a teaching position as head of the art department at a local high school.
Having obtained her Master of Education and Administration, and with her extensive experience Meinzinger was one of only ten women among a faculty of one hundred men, invited to attend the principal’s summer course. She did not continue with the program, when it became necessary to choose between progressing to the next step and maintaining professional boundaries.
Despite this disappointment, this was a magical time for Meinzinger living close to Bronte harbour, teaching at a local high school, and making new friends. She built a sailboat, often sailing on Lake Ontario, completed continuing education courses in gourmet cooking, belly dancing, woodworking and horseback riding.
At the suggestion of one of her sailing buddies she started to attend St. Hilda’s Anglican Church. Notwithstanding her religious upbringing and having repented of her interest in the occult, she very quickly embarked on a course called the “Life of the Spirit”.
This was a fortuitous step, she said “there was a calling on my life to ministry from a very early age”.
Her future would be guided by God’s love and direction.
She had a powerful encounter with Jesus one night while praying. She explained, “Jesus appeared at the foot of my bed, not in physical form, but he was there, and I felt a love…that I had desired all my life and never found or known”.
Transformed with the gift of His presence, she was now absorbed with a hunger to read scripture, pray and listen for His voice guiding her decisions going forward.
Her spiritual journey through bible school, Wycliffe seminary at the University of Toronto, and early ministry came with many struggles, detours and times of financial scarcity. With His guidance, she sold her house, her sailboat, and divested herself of many of her possessions.
Upon graduation she formed her registered charity “Much Joy Ministries” and ran a retreat centre north of Toronto. it was during this time that she met and married for a second time, a marriage that would last for seven years.
Meinzinger has served in parishes, taught, preached and travelled across Europe to minister. There were many moments of uncertainty, when she did not know where she would live, or how she would pay for her accommodations. Yet God always provided, sometimes through unexpected sources and often through unforeseen circumstances.
She explained that “I have the kind of faith, that if I go out on a diving board and God says jump, I jump, I do not look to see if there is water”.
Meinzinger’s life has been punctuated with the seemingly impossible suddenly becoming possible, often embarking on adventures with no clear avenue in sight, and yet always having a path forward suddenly appearing.
One of my favourite of her recollections, took place while she was attending seminary at the University of Toronto. She had the $2 transit fare to get to school, but not enough to make the return trip home to Mississauga. Leaving the college, at the end of the day a $2 bill appeared on the pavement in front of her. “It was a busy intersection, and it was a windy day” she recalls, “an angel must have had her foot on the bill”.
Meinzinger returned to Chatham nine years ago, seeking solace in the vision given to her by God many years ago, for writing a book. An inveterate learner she has completed several courses, in spiritual counselling and she is preparing to edit her book for publishing.
Home is a cosy apartment with a floor to ceiling bookshelf crammed with her beloved books, two volumes deep. Her walls are festooned with her art and collectibles, reminders of a life of travel and service. Her companion is a beautiful wide-eyed cat aptly named Molly the Magnificat!
She continues to help those in need, ever the initiator and facilitator, often shopping, cooking or running errands for one of the ladies in her building.
From time to time, she will be the guest speaker at Christ Church Chatham, where she and I first met. Her homilies are spellbinding. Meinzinger is a gifted writer and orator.
God’s voice is leading her into a new season of her life. Much Joy Ministries was born out of this faith-filled life. She has lived on the trust of God, giving away cars, money and her time. She knows He will always provide.
When asked what her greatest passion is her voice softens to a whisper “my love for Jesus” “I live for him, and I wouldn’t want a day to go by without talking to him. I want other people to know him, like I know him.”
Meinzinger is a woman of faith, a risk-taker, a spiritual guide who sees possibility in others, and guides them along the path to be successful in their own life.
She has been that person for me.
Her story is one of God’s unrelenting love, provision and purpose.
She believes, and so do I, that the best is yet to come.
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny” ~ Eleonor Roosevelt
Footnote:
An important footnote to Meinzinger’s story. She does offer one-hour counselling sessions for women in person and via Zoom. She also provides half-hour Zoom sessions for healing prayer with communion. You can reach her by email mjmeinzinger@yahoo.ca.
