Breaking bread with broken people
Categories: Feature ArticlesThe disciples were shocked when Jesus said, “One of you will betray me.” Judas’s story is told in different ways in the gospels, giving us some insight into how the…
A prayer for impossible peace
Categories: Feature ArticlesThe gulf appears impossible to bridge. As bombs continue to fall onto Gaza and rockets somehow continue to fly out of Gaza, a conflict nearly as old as time and…
Jewish perspectives
Categories: Feature ArticlesAn interview with Gustavo Zentner By Will Braun Gustavo Zentner will never forget visiting areas attacked by Hamas. “We walked into the homes where you can still smell the smell…
Understanding absolutist views
Categories: Feature ArticlesOn October 1, we launched our book, The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians Don’t Want to Know about Each Other, at the Charles Pachter Museum in Toronto. Guests included Jews,…
Mideast dialogue programs fall short
Categories: Feature Articles“Deeply rooted in our Mennonite psyche is this idea that peacemaking is as simple as sitting across the table from someone and hearing their story,” says Joanna Hiebert Bergen, chair…
Lord, hear our prayer
Categories: Feature ArticlesWe asked people who wrote for Canadian Mennonite in 2023 to share their wish and prayer for the church in 2024. I’m easily afraid. So is the church. I pray…
To thine own self be true?
Categories: Feature ArticlesBaptism rates among teenagers and young adults who grew up going to church have plummeted. Why? In response to this drop-off in baptisms, I could talk about what faith formation…
Scar of Bethlehem
Categories: Feature ArticlesWhat will Christmas be like in Bethlehem this year? What can we learn about the birth of Christ from those who live where he was born and where he lived?…
Called to the work of the church
Categories: Feature ArticlesIt might seem unlikely that young women would be drawn to church leadership and feel compelled to enter pastoral ministry. As young people, they are part of an underrepresented demographic…
Holy moments in the midst of grief
Categories: Feature ArticlesThere’s one church service that Fran Giesbrecht makes a special point not to miss: Eternity Sunday. Observed at his Winnipeg church on the last Sunday before Advent, Eternity Sunday provides…
Memory carrier
Categories: Feature Articles“Sir,” said the man, “you and your family can be very proud of your son.” I could tell the man at the door was important by the way his brass…
The Beatitudes: Testing a biblical antidote to division
Categories: Feature ArticlesWhen conservative Christians in the southern U.S. were agitating to erect monuments with the 10 commandments on them in front of courthouses, I heard someone suggest that they put up…
Stepping overboard
Categories: Feature ArticlesFlorence Driedger turns to look out the window before she replies to my question. “Well, we never know from one year to the next who and how many . .…
Humans and Humus
Categories: Feature ArticlesOn a hundred hilly acres near Mildmay, Ontario, the Wiederkehr family is quietly pushing the limits of human energy, spiritual integrity and disconnection from the consumerist web. The following is…
Rest and Restlessness
Categories: Feature ArticlesWe asked the Canadian Mennonite community to reflect on rest and restlessness. Where do you find rest for your soul? What do you need rest from? How does Jesus’ promise…
Broken to serve
Categories: Feature ArticlesIn my mid-30s, two decades after the last time my father beat me, and two years after he died, I broke glass twice in one week. Once, for the first…
In the current of wavering defiance
Categories: Feature ArticlesI want to know how to pray. It’s December 2021. Advent. A season of waiting. Everything is waiting. Waiting for the pandemic to be over. Waiting for our leaders to…
In the current of wavering defiance
Categories: Feature ArticlesI want to know how to pray. It’s December 2021. Advent. A season of waiting. Everything is waiting. Waiting for the pandemic to be over. Waiting for our leaders to…