News & Stories

An accomplished singer, guitarist and fiddler, Sadie Gustafson-Zook is currently pursuing a master’s degree in jazz voice. (Photo by Olivia Copsey)

Born in Portland, Ore., and raised in Goshen, Ind., singer-songwriter Sadie Gustafson-Zook is currently pursuing a master’s degree in jazz voice at Longy School of Music in... Read More
March 7, 2018 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp

The new fellowship is named in honour of the late Paul Toews, who was the resident historian of the Mennonite Heritage Cruise that took thousands of Mennonite “pilgrims” on a journey back to Ukraine. (Photo courtesy of University of Winnipeg)

In the 1930s, thousands of Mennonites disappeared in the Soviet Union without a trace. The KGB archives in Ukraine has thousands of files on these missing Mennonites, and a newly... Read More
March 6, 2018 | Web First |

It the city of Kikwit, Congolese survivors of violence talk with MWC Deacon Commission chair Siaka Traoré of Ivory Coast, foreground left, and Daniel Geiser of Switzerland, centre. (Photo by J. Nelson Kraybill)

Loving the generous people of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not difficult, but evil happening in the rural Kasai region of that lush country is hard to comprehend. In... Read More
March 6, 2018 | Web First | J. Nelson Kraybill

Donald B. Kraybill is the author of the award-winning book, The Upside-Down Kingdom.

In Donald B. Kraybill’s The Upside-Down Kingdom , Jesus is slightly irreverent. He critiques the rich, scorches nationalism, redefines Old Testament law, and undercuts the... Read More
March 6, 2018 | Web First |

Young musicians practice during the Ontario Mennonite Music Camp. From left to right are Anna Tyas-Petrik, Hallelujah Tezera, Aidan Morton-Ninomiya, Isabelle Netherton, and Jayden Liu. (Photo courtesy of OMMC)

When the idea of the Ontario Mennonite Music Camp (OMMC) was pitched to me at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, I was immediately excited. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I got... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Web First | Aidan Morton-Ninomiya
Transition plans, storytelling and navigating change were all part of the Jan. 27-28, 2018, weekend when the Mennonite Church Canada Joint Council convened at Peace Mennonite... Read More
February 21, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Amy Rinner Waddell
Authors Joy Kogawa and Rudy Wiebe speak of their ethnic histories at the Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta's Fall 2017 meeting in Lethbridge. (Photo by Dave Toews) What... Read More
February 21, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Marie Moyer
The numerous staff changes at Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in the last year have been coming for a long time. Top (from left to right): David Martin, Henry Paetkau, Al Rempel,... Read More
February 21, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Dave Rogalsky

Participants at Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization's senior high retreat enjoy hot chocolate around the campfire. (Photo by Katie Reimer-Wiebe)

Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization retreats are an annual highlight, and the senior-high retreat held at Shekinah Retreat Centre has been an opportunity for youth to... Read More
February 21, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Katie Reimer-Wiebe

Brandon Leis makes music at an outdoor camp service with his daughter Madeline. (Photo courtesy of Brandon Leis)

Marie Penner from Toronto United Mennonite Church had a dream of a camp that would develop the musical talents of young Mennonites in Ontario. Penner remembers going to the Inter-... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Dave Rogalsky

Anna Kuepfer (aka Teka) is pictured in her role as Hidden Acres' environmental services coordinator. (Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp photo)

Donning my biology lab coat and goggles, I push through the bustling crowd of eager campers who are anxiously waiting to sing for their lunchtime mail delivery, and I raise my... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Anna Kuepfer
When I was 5, my parents dropped me off for a week of camp at Silver Lake, near Sauble Beach, Ont. I was terrified. When they were trying to say their goodbyes, I would not let... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Ruth Charette

Janet Peters, right, the associate program director for MC Manitoba's Camps with Meaning, is pictured with an adult camper. (Camps with Meaning photo)

A young girl pretends she is an expert equestrian. Slightly older, she learns the difference between a J-stroke and a C-stroke. Later, as a counsellor, she races through pouring... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Janet Peters

Campers pose with assistant wrangler Janelle Martens, holding the horse, at the Youth Farm Bible Camp. (Photo courtesy of Cheralyne Gibson)

Many summer camps offer horseback riding as part of their overall programming. The Youth Farm Bible Camp is developing its summer horse program into a year-round ministry. The... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Donna Schulz

Johnny Wideman of Theatre of the Beat shares his peacebuilding wisdom with campers at Conrad Grebel University College's Peace Camp. Peace Camp is a day camp and peace educational program for youth aged 11 to 14 in Waterloo Region. Campers learn that peace is possible as they share stories and learn from people in the community and meet people from various cultural backgrounds, faiths, and orientations. (Peace Camp photo)

Have you ever been in a place, space or community where you have been encouraged to try something new? Have you been challenged to take risks and leap out of your comfort zone?... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Katie Gingerich

Luke Nickel recently completed a PhD in music composition at Bath Spa University in England. (Photo by Leif Norman)

Since Luke Nickel was young, his parents instilled in him the value of thinking critically. He recalls one conversation—the exact topic escapes him—during which his father said to... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp

James DeGurse, centre, a Roman Catholic, finds value in reading the Bible communally. (Photo by Aaron Epp)

Scripture is a massive, ancient, messy archive of God’s relationship with humanity that many claim to interpret correctly. But with such diverse understandings of the Bible, how... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen

Seth Ratzlaff, left, a student at Conrad Grebel University College, his father Victor, lay minister of Westview Christian Fellowship in St. Catharines, Ont., and Aileen Friesen, the J. Winfield Fretz Visiting Research Scholar in Mennonite Studies, discuss her ‘Muslim-Mennonite Encounters in the Russian Empire’ lecture on Jan. 25, 2018. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Aileen Friesen was the go-to person to help visitors order in Russian cafés at a scholarly gathering in Russia’s Far East, according to Marlene Epp, Conrad Grebel University... Read More
February 19, 2018 | Web First | Dave Rogalsky
Kindred Credit Union has reached a major milestone, marking $1 million in support for churches and charitable organizations since its inception in 1999. A total of 146 groups have... Read More
February 15, 2018 | Web First |

The Ten Thousand Villages Heritage store in Calgary is one of nine Canadian stores that have already closed or will be closing in 2018. (TTV photo)

In early February 2018, Ten Thousand Villages (TTV) began the process of permanently closing nine stores in four provinces. They include: • Calgary (Heritage) • Saskatoon (2nd Ave... Read More
February 9, 2018 | Web First |
Emerging adult: it’s a relatively new category to describe the life stage between adolescence and the adult they will become. They are no longer teens but are not yet fully... Read More
February 7, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Henry Neufeld

Matthew Bailey-Dick, left, the Anabaptist Learning Workshop coordinator, gives instructions to panel members Tanya Dyck Steinmann, Roberson Mbayamvula and Jim Loepp Thiessen. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Listening to God in worship, contemplatively in a labyrinth, or in the Bible. Listening to each other across cultures, when your hearing is impaired or when with the elderly... Read More
February 7, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Dave Rogalsky

Steve Heinrichs, director of Indigenous-settler relations for Mennonite Church Canada, presents a workshop at Rosthern (Sask.) Mennonite Church entitled ‘Unsettling discipleship: The cost of colonialism, the joy of jubilee.’ (Photo by Donna Schulz)

What does the ancient Levitical concept of jubilee have to do with reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and their settler neighbours? Plenty, according to Steve Heinrichs... Read More
February 7, 2018 | God at work in the World | Donna Schulz

Art by Ovide Charlette of the Opaskwayak First Nation. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)

Around 200 people gathered at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery on Jan. 26 to celebrate the opening of Reconciliation Through the Arts, an exhibition of Indigenous and settler... Read More
February 7, 2018 | Artbeat | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
The golden age of Mennonite women’s organizations in Canada and the United States came in the years between 1940 and 1970, writes Anita Hooley Yoder in Circles of Sisterhood . In... Read More
February 7, 2018 | Artbeat | Barb Draper

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