For discussion: A biblical and better way
Categories: Feature Articles1. How has our society’s attitude toward same-sex relationships changed in the past 20 or 30 years? Who or what has contributed to this shift? How much has the church…
A biblical and better way
Categories: Feature ArticlesTheologically conservative Christians are widely perceived as hostile to gays. And it is largely our own fault. Many of us have actually been homophobic. Most of us tolerated gay bashers.…
For discussion: An ‘experiment’ in sexuality gone wrong
Categories: Feature Articles1. What has changed since the 1970s and ’80s that conversations about sexual misconduct and sexual abuse are so much more prevalent these days? Does sexual violence happen more now,…
With aching hearts
Categories: Feature ArticlesSome readers have called for a moratorium on reports about John Howard Yoder’s past misdeeds. We acknowledge that continued attention to this issue has caused pain to Yoder’s family, friends…
An ‘experiment’ in sexuality gone wrong
Categories: Feature ArticlesThe following is excerpted from a longer article, “ ‘Defanging the beast’: Mennonite responses to John Howard Yoder’s sexual abuse,” in Mennonite Quarterly Review No. 89 (January 2015), based on…
For discussion:Three meditations on Christmas mysteries
Categories: Feature Articles1. What strangers have you encountered this Christmas season? Who are the wise and contemplative thinkers who help us to see where heaven is reaching down to earth? How do…
How ‘The Commitment’ came to be
Categories: Feature ArticlesIt all began in January 2014. My husband Gary and I started to research conventional nativity art and arrived at a new vision. We decided to focus attention on the…
Three meditations on Christmas mysteries
Categories: Feature ArticlesA gathering of strangers The Christmas stories include an odd assortment of strangers. The guest list for the party that would eventually become the familiar nativity scene omitted all of…
For discussion: “The desert of Advent: our passage to Christmas” and “A mother’s perspective on Advent”
Categories: Feature Articles1. Stuart Scadron-Wattles says that waiting in expectation is a difficult balancing act. What experiences have you had of waiting with expectation? What makes it difficult? Do we recognize and…
A mother’s perspective on Advent
Categories: Feature ArticlesIt is my favourite time of year, this season of Advent. The anticipation leading up to Christmas is the richest and most exciting time of year for me. Last year,…
The desert of Advent: our passage to Christmas
Categories: Feature Articles“I can’t get into the Christmas spirit,” she said. My daughter Alyson hefted the load in front of her, and the load—my 10-week-old granddaughter—squeaked. “Maybe it’s the new baby. Everything…
For discussion: ‘Seeking the welfare of the city’
Categories: Feature Articles1. How long ago did Mennonites in your community begin holding public office? Was there a time when local/municipal offices were deemed appropriate for Mennonites, but not provincial or federal…
‘Seeking the welfare of the city’
Categories: Feature Articles“In the New Testament,” said Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, who ran unsuccessfully for the office of mayor of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ont., on Oct. 27, “the state is understood as part…
For discussion: “What is truth?”
Categories: Feature Articles1. Where would you place yourself and your congregation: believing in absolute truths, wondering if there really is any truth, or somewhere in between? Do you agree that many Christians…
“What is truth?”
Categories: Feature Articles“Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world,…
For discussion: Can we talk?
Categories: Feature Articles1. What have been your experiences in cross-cultural bridge-building with Canada’s indigenous people? What involvement does the church and organizations like Mennonite Central Committee have with indigenous people in your…
MCC B.C. ‘refocusses’ Aboriginal Neighbours program, releases staff
Categories: Feature ArticlesMennonite Central Committee (MCC) British Columbia has decided to dismiss long-time Aboriginal Neighbours program coordinator Darryl Klassen. The decision, which was made early this year, will take effect at the…
Can we talk?
Categories: Feature ArticlesTension gripped my gut as I drove to a Mennonite church in Altona, Man., with an indigenous friend. We were doing a joint Sunday morning presentation about hydropower impacts. I…
For discussion: Bearing the burden of memory pain
Categories: Feature Articles1. Henry Neufeld writes that, “[o]ur memories are prone to distortion.” Do you agree? Have you ever been faced with evidence that you remembered something inaccurately? Do your memories of…
Bearing the burden of memory pain
Categories: Feature ArticlesWe all have some painful memories of things that happened to us. They are stored, encoded, and sometimes retrieved and reworked. There are strained relationships with our parents and siblings;…
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