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Judgment versus discernment
Categories: OpinionWhat does Jesus mean when he says “Do not judge”? How do we respond to injustice, oppression, racism, sexism and prejudice without judgment? I’ve contemplated this for years, and here…
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Covenants signed linking congregations to overseas workers
Categories: NewsCongregations across Mennonite Church Canada celebrated International Witness Sunday in October. The nationwide church declared Oct. 18 to be the official day, but welcomed congregations to celebrate on whatever…
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MC Eastern Canada changes pastoral misconduct procedures
Categories: NewsMennonite Church Eastern Canada staff “will now consider any ministerial sexual misconduct complaints, including anonymous and second-hand concerns, to be sufficient to open an investigation.” The decision was made after…
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Searching for home
Categories: NewsHome is where one is from, where one lives, where one belongs. But for those displaced from their homes, the concept of home may be more of an illusive dream…
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Choir perseveres through pandemic
Categories: NewsHedie Epp has been singing with First Mennonite Church choirs on and off for 40 years. When COVID-19 hit and the Winnipeg church had to halt all its choral activities,…
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‘We are going to need more of each other’
Categories: PeopleLeah Reesor-Keller anticipated that her work as the new executive minister of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada would involve “a lot of talking to people at potlucks.” She was especially looking…
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‘Do you know any Mennonites?’
Categories: PeopleIn 2005, a Congolese Mennonite couple with a 15-month-old baby made a desperate plan to flee through Europe and fly to Calgary to safety. Even though the second Congo war…
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Good conversations
Categories: EditorialA flurry of online comments on a recent sexual misconduct story, an email from a reader despairing of having meaningful dialogue through letters to the magazine, and my congregation’s first online…
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New hymnal will be ‘part of the fabric of our lives’
Categories: Feature ArticlesIt’s the result of an idea proposed over a decade ago and the culmination of more than four years of intense work. It includes close to a thousand hymns and…
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Readers write: November 9, 2020 issue
Categories: OpinionColumnist has ‘a gift’ Re: “Two stories clamour to be shared” column by Ed Olfert, Oct. 12, page 10. Ed is the current pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Prince…
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Expert, doubt thyself
Categories: OpinionEver since the arrival of the coronavirus, there have been segments of the church that have been criticized for not taking the pandemic seriously. Christian sceptics and those who criticize…
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Festival of Peace
Categories: OpinionParticipants in a Festival of Peace at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ont., embrace during a small group session. On Peace Sunday 1993, the congregation abandoned its typical Sunday…
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Two ‘rough’ men and a gravel hauler
Categories: OpinionIt can probably be said, with a reasonable helping of truthfulness, that the family that I was born into didn’t put big energy into teaching social niceties. Certainly we were…
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See all of me
Categories: OpinionWe don’t talk about mental health much in the church. When we do, we tend to see it as deviation from a presumably healthy “normal.” This is deficit thinking. Maybe…
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God as our inheritance
Categories: OpinionIn late August, my wife and I became first-time homeowners. There had been many times we wondered if we would ever be able to afford a house, ever save up…
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Does the church have varicose veins?
Categories: OpinionThe Oct. 24 Mennonite Church Canada study conference asked the question: “Does the church have legs?” The consensus of conference presenters, based on mini-interviews posted prior to the event, was…
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Feast of metaphors served at ‘Table talk’ conference
Categories: NewsA feast of metaphors was on the menu for Mennonite Church Canada’s inaugural study conference on the character and mission of the church and the role of worship. “Table talk: Does…
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Friendships that go ‘a little deeper’
Categories: NewsBaby Boomers Plus, as its name implies, is a small group for people of a certain age. But it’s a small group with a difference. Three years ago, Claire Ewert…
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‘How can I keep from singing?’
Categories: NewsEric Dettweiler’s Grade 10 music class at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate in Kitchener began the school year drumming every day for the first few weeks, often outdoors. Now the 11 students…
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Social media is distracting and can be harmful
Categories: Books & ResourcesIndiscriminate use of social media is bad for us, warns Ed Cyzewski. While technology is convenient and promises to make us more efficient and keep us in touch with more…
