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Switchers and exiters
Categories: Feature ArticlesWhy do people switch or exit a church or denomination? And why do some churches leave a denomination altogether? Chances are you could offer possible reasons from your own experiences or…
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Leaving a church that left
Categories: Feature ArticlesHarv Wiebe—not his real name—did not agree with his congregation’s decision to leave the regional church, but still, he hoped things would work out for the congregation he had once…
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A recipe to reverse the economy
Categories: Feature ArticlesThe Mennonite more-with-less ethic is something I have always connected with. Shopping for clothes at the thrift store, commuting by bicycle and eating simple, tasty food are practices that have defined…
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A slow, simple obedience
Categories: Feature ArticlesMy introduction to Anabaptism began with fire. Let me explain. I grew up in a Presbyterian household, but when I went off to the University of Toronto, a roommate introduced…
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Hillsboro Resolution
Categories: Feature ArticlesIn 1974, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) approved a resolution that encouraged each Mennonite household in North America to “examine its lifestyle” and adopt a goal to “reduce consumption and expenditures…
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Actually, love your enemies
Categories: Feature ArticlesA couple of years ago my sister and I had hammock party at the park with our friends. The goal of a hammock party is to set up all your hammocks…
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How to disagree with the beloved of God
Categories: Feature ArticlesIan Funk remembers the last time he arrived on campus at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS)—how he walked into the guest house late at night and was welcomed by a…
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Reflections on Spiritual Transformation
Categories: Feature Articles“I think you are a contemplative.” Spoken by my spiritual director, those words caught me off guard. I’m not . . . am I? But the more I thought about it,…
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Jeep Weekend
Categories: Feature ArticlesIf I’m not careful, I find myself surrounded by similar-minded individuals who are great at reflecting my own perspectives and values back at me. In a society that continues to…
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Faith Before Flags
Categories: Feature ArticlesI spent my mid-twenties holding my disability flag high, confident that I’d found my calling. This was my cause. These were my people. Wholly devoted to the disability community and…
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Involuntary: Terminated MCC workers call for accountability and change
“I still use it,” Anicka Fast says of the brownish knitted potholder she received at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) orientation in Akron, Pennsylvania, in 2009. Fast and her husband John…
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What is the Essence of Anabaptism?
Categories: Feature ArticlesWe asked numerous people to share three to five words that express the essence of Anabaptism for them. We also invited them to elaborate if they wished. Personal faith. Christocentrism. Discipleship. Community…
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A mother’s ‘yes’
Categories: Feature ArticlesPart I: For Junia Grace, 2017 Photo by Taylor Summach I don’t like to write sermons. I am, at best, an unlikely preacher in our small Mennonite church. …
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The Secret Treaty
Categories: Feature ArticlesThe feature for our February 23, 2024 issue is a 12-page comic by noted graphic novelist Jonathan Dyck. For the piece, Dyck collaborated with Dave Scott, an historian and ambassador…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…