Following the decision to offer the 2022 Mennonite World Conference (MWC) assembly in Indonesia as a hybrid event, the Program Committee members and assembly staff are now re-... Read More
News & Stories
Rick Neufeld, MC Manitoba’s director of leadership ministry, gave his report from the ice. A lively hockey team debate ensued in the Zoom chat room! (Screenshot by Darryl Neustaedter Barg)
Mennonite Church Manitoba’s 74th annual gathering was confined to screens this year due to the ongoing pandemic, but reports of the regional church’s work came from all over the... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
A church-planting map of the Nazret Regional Church in Ethiopia. (Photo by Norm Dyck)
Over Zoom, Norm Dyck shares a photo of a church-planting map from the Nazareth-Adama region of Ethiopia. At the top is the mother church established in 1948 with the help of... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Katie Doke Sawatzky
Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, executive minister of MC Alberta, preaches via Zoom at the 10th anniversary and grand opening of Calgary Chin Christian Church on March 14. (Calgary Chin Christian Church photo)
“God is so good to us,” said Pastor Leng Nawn Thang excitedly as he spoke about all the ways God has taken care of Calgary Chin Christian Church, a member of Mennonite Church... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Joanne De Jong
MC Canada’s Sustainability Leadership Group, pictured clockwise from top left are: Joanne Moyer, Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, Henry Krause, Jess Klassen and Allan Hiebert. (MC Canada collage)
Mennonite Church Canada is committing to improve the sustainability of its programs and ministries. “Leadership and commitment are some of the most critical pieces in helping an... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Katie Doke Sawatzky
Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whitely perform ‘This Little Light of Mine’ as part of the Bechtel Lecture on blackness and whiteness in Anabaptist print and mission. (Screenshot by Janet Bauman)
This year’s virtual Bechtel Lecture, “Blackness, whiteness and the Anabaptist ‘imagined community’ in print and mission,” featured two speakers: Diana Braithwaite, an accomplished... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Janet Bauman
The pulp from these coffee cherries can be ‘upcycled’ into cascara tea. (Coffee for Peace photo)
When the COVID-19 pandemic began a year ago, global food security networks were put to the test. In the Philippines, where Dann and Joji Pantoja serve as Mennonite Church Canada... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Charleen Jongejan Harder
Masks and distanced desks are two of the changes students at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C., have had to adjust to this past year. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
As the academic year draws to a close, students and staff at Columbia Bible College are reflecting on how the college has successfully navigated offering in-person learning... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
John H. Neufeld
John H. Neufeld died on Jan. 11, 2021, after a life of serving the church in numerous places and in various roles. Born in Winnipeg, he lived and served in British Columbia, where... Read More
March 24, 2021 | People | Gerald Gerbrandt
Pastor Gerald Neufeld (back row in the green long-sleeved shirt) and some of the members of the Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship in Surrey, B.C. (Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship website photo)
One month after its launch on Feb. 1, the 2021 Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada Spirit of MDS Fund approved $54,900 in grants for 24 Canadian congregations and church-... Read More
March 23, 2021 | Web First | John Longhurst
Deborah Tewelde received an award late last year given by the Province of Ontario to youth who have shown strong leadership in eliminating racial discrimination.
Deborah Tewelde, a member of Meheret Evangelical Church in Kitchener, Ont., a Mennonite Church Eastern Canada congregation, received the 2019 Lincoln M. Alexander award given by... Read More
March 22, 2021 | Web First |
‘It is a text that, if made flesh in Canada, would revolutionize the church’s relationship to Indigenous peoples, spiritualities and lands,’ Steve Heinrichs says of ‘Beloved Amazonia.’ (Photo by Steve Heinrichs)
Mennonite Church Canada’s Indigenous-Settler Relations program is running a five-week online book club beginning this April. The chosen text is Beloved Amazonia , a courageous... Read More
March 20, 2021 | Web First |
‘We’re all crazy Mennonites,’ musician “Weird Al” Yankovic sang in 1996.
It’s been 25 years since legendary music parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic lampooned the Amish, mentioning Mennonites along the way. Bad Hair Day , Yankovic’s ninth album, was released... Read More
March 12, 2021 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Take two exuberant Mennonite Church workers, give one a bunch of balloons and the other a camera, and what do you have? Spontaneous joy on the streets of Calgary. (Photo by Ruth Bergen Braun)
Louisa Adria, Foothills Mennonite Church’s congregational support worker, and Ruth Bergen Braun, communications coordinator of Mennonite Church Alberta, sparked joy when they... Read More
March 10, 2021 | People | Joanne De Jong
International friendships develop. (Photo by Virginia A. Hostetler)
A formative experience for me was a youth work camp I participated in during my teenage years. The event was organized in connection with the ninth assembly of Mennonite World... Read More
March 10, 2021 | People | Virginia A. Hostetler
John Braun is pictured in 2010 by the ancient steps that lead from the upper city of Old Jerusalem down to the Kidron Valley and the Mount of Olives. (Photo courtesy of John Braun)
Deuteronomy urges people to “fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds,” and Ken Quiring has dedicated himself to this call. Telling Scripture by heart is an integral part... Read More
March 10, 2021 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
A meal of rice and beans makes a frequent appearance on every Brazilian table. (Photo by D. Michael Hostetler)
I grew up in Brazil, a child of missionary parents. One regular item on our family menu was the traditional Brazilian rice and beans meal. These are the daily staples of cuisine... Read More
March 10, 2021 | People | Virginia A. Hostetler
Members of the Edmonton Menno-Catholic dialogue pose for a picture in the remains of the city of Ephesus during a two-week study tour in Turkey, sponsored by Edmonton’s Intercultural Dialogue Institute. Pictured from left to right: Roger Thiessen, Eleanore Woollard, Marvin Bloos, Ibrahim Cin, Bob Thiessen, Doreen Bloos, Julien Hammond and John Woollard. (Photo courtesy of Marvin Bloos)
The Roman Catholic Church has a global baptized membership of 1.3 billion parishioners. Mennonite World Conference (MWC), on the other hand, has just over 0.16 of one percent of... Read More
March 10, 2021 | News | Joanne De Jong
A sample of cookies baked as evidence in ‘the cookie war’ were preserved at the Amish Historical Library and donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario. In Laureen Harder-Gissing’s virtual archive tour, they helped to document one of the food stories from Mennonite history. (Photo courtesy of the Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
Big city lawyers paid Old Order Mennonite women $20 an hour to bake cookies, all in an effort to gather evidence in “the cookie war.” This “sweet and true tale” was shared... Read More
March 10, 2021 | News | Janet Bauman
Despite the reality of COVID-19 this year, the 2021 annual general meeting of Mennonite Church B.C. took place virtually on Feb. 27 with participation exceeding that of previous years. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
Although faces on screens had to replace in-person contact, participants at the 2021 Mennonite Church B.C. annual general meeting, held on Zoom on Feb. 27, managed to create a... Read More
March 10, 2021 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
A Mennonite World Conference food relief kit. (MWC photo)
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, stories poured in from Mennonite World Conference (MWC) member churches about job losses and hunger in their congregations... Read More
March 10, 2021 | Web First |
Phil Campbell-Enns has two compositions in the new hymnal: “Mountain of God” and “Fill Us with Your Feast.” He wrote the latter as part of Leader magazine’s 2007 Lent material. (Screenshot)
Winnipeg pastor and songwriter Phil Campbell-Enns is the latest person featured in a new video series from MennoMedia showcasing Anabaptist contributions to the new Voices... Read More
February 26, 2021 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Celebration of Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday at Bethel Mennonite Church, Balodgahan, India. (Photo courtesy of Ashish Milap)
“Together on [Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday], we feel connected to our brothers and sisters all over the world,” said Jannie Nijwening, pastor at Doopsgezind Gemeente... Read More
February 24, 2021 | News |
Rachel Siemens, pastor of Carman (Man.) Mennonite Church, created her congregation’s website. It launched in August 2020 as part of Mennonite Church Canada’s website hub. (Photo by Mary Anne Falk)
Fifteen congregations have launched new websites through the Mennonite Church Canada congregational website hub. “On the one hand, it’s hard work but it’s creative work,” says... Read More
February 24, 2021 | News | Katie Doke Sawatzky
Jared Regier displays some of the fruits of his labour: winter squash and garlic, ready for storage. (Photo courtesy of Jared Regier)
The seed that eventually grew into the Vegetable Academy was planted when Jared Regier was a boy working, somewhat reluctantly, in his parents’ garden. “Good food was always part... Read More
February 24, 2021 | News | Donna Schulz