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Parable of the ‘phone’ incident
Categories: OpinionA woman I’ll call Adelle stops by the church from time to time, looking for food or for a ride to another part of the city. My congregation has supplied…
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Help for reading the Old Testament
Categories: OpinionMany conversations about the Old Testament are determined by questions of modernity. What are the facts? What really happened? The facts are then loaded as ammunition in the culture wars…
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‘Camps make church come alive’
Categories: OpinionIt’s 10:30 on a sunny August morning and the lodge at Camp Koinonia, near Boissevain, Man., is bursting with shouts and harmonies. People dance and laugh together. The group radiates…
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Building relationships with residential school survivors
Categories: News“It’s personal, there are names and faces. It’s not just textbook information now.” That’s how Timothy Khoo, 16, describes what it was like to meet residential school survivors while volunteering…
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Picnics galore!
Categories: NewsMany church programs eventually come to an end, but there’s one event that still remains after many decades—and that’s the church picnic! Almost every church in Alberta had a church…
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Staging change behind bars
Categories: PeopleOntario’s Theatre of the Beat has a mandate of staging change and creating conversations around social justice issues, but that’s also happening in communities beyond the Mennonite enclaves the company…
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Mixing friendship with fundraising
Categories: Focus on MoneyThe Waterloo Region chapter of Women Empowering Women (WEW) meets quarterly to nurture connections and friendships, to be inspired and to raise funds that support women in developing economies. As…
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Why your church needs to talk about money
Categories: Focus on MoneyThe local church is an excellent place to discuss saving money: Which type of tractor is cheapest to repair or whether a Costco membership is worth it. Mennonites brag about…
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‘Beyond expectations’ with the help of God
Categories: News“I’m so sad that it’s over!” said one young participant after a week of high-energy Vacation Bible School (VBS) activities at First Mennonite Church in Kitchener last month. That is…
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‘That school kit saved my life’
Categories: PeopleLy Vang was 16 and stuck in a refugee camp in Thailand with a pair of shoes and two sets of clothes. She was lonely and sad. She struggled with…
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Watch: “The Best Joke in the Entire World”
Categories: Web First“Truthfully, comedy is very hard,” comedian Matt Falk asserts in a clip from his new special. “Probably because the best joke in the entire world has already been written, and…
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Citizens for Public Justice hosting cross-Canada tour ahead of federal election
Ahead of the 2019 federal election, Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) is hosting a series of free, non-partisan events across Canada. The tour will provide the electorate with information to…
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Hurricane Dorian: MDS is “ready to respond”
Categories: Web FirstAs Americans follow updates about Hurricane Dorian, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada is keeping an eye on the storm, too. The organization, which rebuilds and repairs homes destroyed or damaged…
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We’re all in debt—and it’s not a bad thing
One of the terms I heard repeatedly at Gathering 2019 from June 29 to July 1 in Abbotsford, B.C. was “institutional church.” As in, “The institutional church would do things…
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A global conversation through books
Categories: Web First“Although each congregation has its own history and social and cultural background, it is common to experience the same sorts of conflicts, troubles and situations,” says Ellul Yongha Bae, a…
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Watch: “The Story of MCC Thrift”
Categories: Web FirstThe story of Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) thrift shops is given a unique retelling in a new video. Filmed in one camera shot, the video starts with the creation of…
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Digital church
Categories: EditorialA while back, a friend pondered whether it is possible to have a meaningful experience of church primarily through digital means. I doubt it. But that got me thinking about…
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Valaqua: A place where people express God’s love
Categories: OpinionI have worked at Camp Valaqua for a total of six summers, and this summer I am back on staff after being away for a few years. Valaqua is a…
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Creating a wardrobe to match your values
Categories: OpinionIf you wear clothes, then you need to care about how they were made and who made them. Even if you aren’t interested in “fashion.” Even if it means giving…
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West Hills congregation tries ‘messy church’
Categories: NewsTwo years ago, West Hills Fellowship, in Baden, Ont., faced up to its small-church realities. It had lost some families for a variety of reasons, and found it challenging to…
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