Michael Pahl A former church minister in Morden is pushing back on churches arguing for freedom from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. In a series of tweets sent out May 3, Michael... Read More
News & Stories
Jane Nigh, manager of Villages Port Colborne, Ont., wears a jacket and scarf from Ark Imports and earrings from Ten Thousand Villages. (Photo by Travis-James Haycock)
Although most of the Ten Thousand Villages (TTV) stores closed in Canada in the spring of 2020 when the TTV Canada entity ceased to exist, seven stores decided to stay open and... Read More
May 19, 2021 | News | Maria H. Klassen
Many participants at the MC B.C. Women’s Day on May 1 enjoyed a lunch of soup and biscuits, prepared together as guided online by Chef Dez. (Photo by Jane Grunau)
Women of Mennonite Church B.C. couldn’t meet in person for the annual B.C. Women’s Day on May 1, but they could still see each other’s faces, enjoy fellowship and eat the same... Read More
May 19, 2021 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
Pictured clockwise from top left, moderator Kari Miller and panellists Zoe Matties, Josiah Neufeld, Marta Bunnett Wiebe and Bob Haverluck took part in “Ecological grief and exploring hope,” a virtual panel discussion, on April 28. (Screenshot by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
A million plant and animal species are nearing extinction, the global climate is dramatically shifting and sea levels are rising—the earth is in crisis and many people are... Read More
May 19, 2021 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Calvin Peterson as Jay, right, and Lindsey Middleton as Addi, perform a scene from Unmute.
Twenty-six times since November, audiences have had the opportunity to participate in changing the story of gender-based violence. That is how many times Theatre of the Beat, a... Read More
May 19, 2021 | News | Janet Bauman
Josh and Cindy Wallace’s tiny house church, normally consisting of four households, meets via Zoom each Sunday afternoon. Pictured on screen, clockwise from top left, are: Josh and Cindy Wallace, Taylor Summach and Mark Bigland-Pritchard. (Photo by Taylor Summach)
The ideal time for planting a church is likely not the middle of a pandemic, but Josh and Cindy Wallace have discovered that it can be done. “We sort of left everything behind on... Read More
May 19, 2021 | News | Donna Schulz
Gerald Gerbrandt, president emeritus and professor emeritus of Bible at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, was this year’s speaker at MC Alberta’s Faith studies event in April. (Photo by Esther Gerbrandt)
Many churches today are distancing themselves from denominational labels like “Mennonite,” to appear more inclusive. Renaming churches “The River,” “The Mosaic,” or “Hope City” is... Read More
May 19, 2021 | News | Joanne De Jong
Rielly McLaren is a bivocational pastor, serving part-time at Windsor Mennonite Fellowship in southwestern Ontario.
Is it news if a crime doesn’t happen? What about when a guy who did break-and-enters for his whole life stops, or if a sexual offender learns how to express emotion in a healthy... Read More
May 19, 2021 | People | Charleen Jongejan Harder
Lakan Sumulong (Dann Pantoja) and Lakambini Mapayapa (Joji Pantoja) have served as Witness workers in the Philippines since 2006. (Photo courtesy of Lakan Sumulong and Lakambini Mapayapa)
Dann and Joji Pantoja, Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers in the Philippines, are embracing their Indigenous names and identities. In a statement published on their website... Read More
May 18, 2021 | Web First |
YAMEN participant Dr. Ela Castro, left, worked as a doctor at Casa del Migrante in Guatemala City, Guatemala. (Casa del Migrante photo by Samuel Gaitan)
Dr. Ela Castro always knew she wanted to spend her life serving those in need. By all outward appearances, this is what she was doing. She’d studied for years to earn her medical... Read More
May 18, 2021 | Web First | Jason Dueck
Shadi Alkhannous runs the take-out and delivery counter at the Alnoor Halal Food Market in St. Catherines, Ont. (Photo courtesy of Shadi Alkannous)
Refugee resettlement provides a new start for the families and individuals who have had to flee their homes due to conflict or disaster. Each of the 13,000 refugees who have been... Read More
May 17, 2021 | Web First | Jason Dueck
Despite rainy weather, members of Bethel Mennonite Church in Langley, B.C,. enjoyed meeting together outdoors on April 25. (Bethel Mennonite Church photo)
Bethel Mennonite Church in Langley held its first in-person service since last November, on April 25. Members gathered outdoors in the parking lot under umbrellas. “It was a... Read More
May 17, 2021 | Web First | Amy Rinner Waddell
This feeding centre in Trans-Volga, Russia, circa 1922, was one of 140 MCC-supported centres in southern Russia that distributed 25,000 rations daily at the peak of the relief efforts. (Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/MCCpeace)
A video published on YouTube last month chronicles Mennonite Central Committee’s 100-year history in Europe. The 11-minute video, which you can watch below, tells the MCC story,... Read More
May 7, 2021 | Web First | Aaron Epp
(Photo supplied by Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Colombia [IMCOL])
Late yesterday afternoon, Mennonite Church Canada released the following call to prayer, written by Jeanette Hanson, director of international witness: This week our siblings in... Read More
May 6, 2021 | Web First |
Jehu Lian, a Mennonite pastor, and his wife, Ma Bawi, show solidarity with the people suffering repression in Myanmar. The three-finger salute—adapted from the Hunger Games film—has become a common symbol of freedom, defiance and solidarity in Myanmar and among pro-democracy movements elsewhere in Southeast Asia. (Photo courtesy of Jehu Lian and Ma Bawi)
Amid mass protests, lethal military response and UN warnings of Myanmar becoming a “new Syria,” one Mennonite source in the country said, “We are in darkness, full of fear and... Read More
May 5, 2021 | News | Will Braun
Jaxon Gin, a children’s ministry member of Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church, is pictured with a stained-glass cross he made. (Photo by Grace Ho)
“Let us consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the... Read More
May 5, 2021 | News | Christen Kong
Craig Frere takes in MC Eastern Canada’s spring gathering from his backyard. This was the second year the annual event was held online due to pandemic restrictions. (Photo courtesy of Craig Frere)
How is the church like kimchi? At Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s spring gathering, held virtually on April 23 and 24, many of the more than 250 in attendance tried making the... Read More
May 5, 2021 | News | Janet Bauman
Liz Baerwald estimates that Zoar Mennonite women and men donated more than 5,900 comforters to Mennonite Central Committee since 1962. In the foreground, Liz and husband Greg knot a quilt together, while, in the background, Erna Funk, left, and Pastor Andrea Enns-Gooding work on another. (Photo by Anna Penz)
“It was not a sudden oh-my-goodness-what-are-we-going-to-do conversation,” says Liz Baerwald of her church’s decision to close. As she sees it, the conversation began more than a... Read More
May 5, 2021 | News | Donna Schulz
Don Engbrecht has built around 200 works, including this Easter sculpture. (Photo courtesy of Don Engbrecht)
Old agricultural equipment left to languish in junkyards or alongside highways gets a second life in Don Engbrecht’s workshop. He has created approximately 200 works over the 20... Read More
May 5, 2021 | People | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Walking alongside people with mental illness includes offering a listening ear and a non-judgmental attitude, say family members. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
With one in five Canadians experiencing mental illness in any year, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association, it is likely that most people might be called upon to... Read More
May 5, 2021 | Focus on Mental Health | Amy Rinner Waddell
Pastor Caleb Kowalko relaxes at the MC Alberta pastors and leaders retreat, held last November at the King’s Fold Retreat and Renewal Centre, west of Cochrane. (Photo courtesy of Caleb Kowalko)
Over the past year, everyone—pastors included—found themselves in situations requiring problem solving and emotional fortitude. Pastor Ken Tse, from Edmonton Christian Life... Read More
May 5, 2021 | Focus on Mental Health | Joanne De Jong
Lori Guenther Reesor is a speaker, writer and consultant on stewardship practices for churches and charities.
Lori Guenther Reesor, a speaker, writer and consultant on stewardship practices for churches and charities, released her first book this spring. Growing a Generous Church: A Year... Read More
May 4, 2021 | Web First | Katie Doke Sawatzky
MDS volunteers work on renovations at the Mennonite Central Committee Indigenous Neighbours office in Timmins, Ont.
Doing Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteer work in Canada during a pandemic isn’t easy—as members of the MDS Ontario Unit know only too well. Volunteers in that province... Read More
May 4, 2021 | Web First | John Longhurst
Sisters Marlene Froese, left, and Hedie Harder, right, with a few of the 401 paska buns they baked to share with Nutana Park Mennonite Church. (Photo by Denelda Fast)
Nutana Park Mennonite Church in Saskatoon came up with a creative way to celebrate Easter and care for their congregation at the same time. They called the event a paska faspa ,... Read More
May 3, 2021 | Web First | Donna Schulz
Peace Africa’s hearse project will enable Muslim and Christians in Burkina Faso to share a vehicle similar to the one pictured. (Photo by Siaka Traoré)
“Peace Africa explores how the global Mennonite community can support peacebuilding initiatives between Christians and Muslims in African countries,” says Tany Warkentin,... Read More
May 3, 2021 | Web First | Katie Doke Sawatzky