-
Tending congregation-pastor relations
For many years, the model of ministry within Mennonite Church Canada congregations featured a solo pastor working full-time for a congregation of 100 to 150 members. MC Canada accordingly designed tools and support systems to facilitate such a relationship between…
-
Readers Write: April 2025
MCC statement rings hollow for long-time MCCer I am one of the 50-plus people who have come forward with an account of serious mistreatment by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). After 17 years with MCC, their handling of a staff conflict…
-
Does the Carver model suit Mennonites?
A retired veteran of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) management put it bluntly (off-record): “MCC is not a priesthood of all believers.” I don’t know if any Mennonite organizations are. Most, like this magazine, are hierarchies, and many use some version…
-
Readers Write: March 2025
Solar story missed the markI was looking forward to reading the story in the December issue about Rockway Mennonite Collegiate’s solar array. But after reading the story, something didn’t feel right.Although the article was entitled “Rockway solar project generates imperfect…
-
A second helping of grace
I recently visited a church on communion Sunday and watched with delight as a child approached the table not once but twice. He was hungry, it seemed, and the table was open for folks to help themselves. Grinning, he returned…
-
From Inertia to Momentum: Restoring Institutional Integrity to MCC
First and foremost, I deeply acknowledge that Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) represents a global heritage for all Anabaptist and Mennonite communities worldwide. Despite our diverse contexts, MCC continues to serve as the humanitarian arm of the Anabaptist tradition. As someone…
-
2024 highlights
Maoz Inon: In February, we held a pair of online events. Jewish Israeli social entrepreneur and peace advocate Maoz Inon shared his audacious and infectious vision for peace. Inon’s parents were killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Wall…
-
Adventures in reading the Bible together
With the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism this year, I am looking forward to receiving my copy of the Anabaptist Community Bible. During the winter of 2022–23, I was part of two Bible study groups which were formed in response to…
-
A word about winter blues
Note: This article discusses suicide and depression Suicide is a delicate and complicated subject. As I’ve walked with people enduring the brutal grief process in the wake of such loss, I’ve had few words to offer. As I’ve reflected on my own relationships with people who’ve taken their lives, I have only questions. The primary one being,…
-
Readers Write: January 2025
Effects of dismissal linger for decades In 1980, I returned to Canada from my mission assignment, happy to be home after four very difficult years. I looked forward to telling the mission staff about my experience, but the very people…
-
Readers Write: December 2024
A sprinkling of change As I read the “Exit Interviews” issue of CM (September 2024), I thought of the words of Jessica Herlein in a Rejoice devotional from October 30, 2021: “All our systems for righting wrongs and making amends…
-
The challenge of Anabaptist leadership
In the faith community of my youth, church leaders were held in extremely high esteem. The expectation of respect for leaders weighed heavily, for better and worse. To respond to a call, to serve and to be an elder or…
-
The colour of prayer
For my birthday last month, I asked for markers. Since then, I’ve spent several hours in my soft front-room chair, copying out verses from the Psalms in a large, empty sketchbook I’ve had for years, illuminating the letters like a…
-
A donkey ride to Texas
“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice …” These words came to me in the quiet, early hours of November 6. The day after. Before I turned to any news. The night before, I waited until…
-
Growing into the future
Over the past year, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada has been leaning into its strategic plan, “Growing into the Future,” a plan that honours the five strategic priorities set in 2022. The plan is anchored in MCEC’s identity statement—transformed, inspired and…
-
After the bubble shatters
I felt delight in growing up in the church. Not only did I attend Sunday school and children’s church, but I went to Christian elementary and secondary school. I felt most safe in the Christian bubble around me. As I…
-
Readers Write: November 2024
Good people hurt by MCC I am writing this letter in support of the individuals who wrote and signed the open letter to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and in support of the former and current MCC service workers and staff…
-
Seeing clearly
I saw a commercial during a hockey game recently that ended with an image of an Uber Eats bag sitting beside a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a Kraft Dinner box. This struck me as odd. I wondered, what’s…
-
Restless hearts in Hollywood
So, a struggling actor and a pastor walk into a bar … What sounds like a setup for a lame joke was my reality one afternoon in the Rockies last year. My wife was attending some meetings, and I came…
-
Resourcing the Anabaptist church
Over 500 years, the Anabaptist community has grown to be a diverse and global expression of faith. The resources of Anabaptism reflect this diversity. Mennonite World Conference (MWC) represents most Christian churches rooted in the Anabaptist movement. In addition to…
Opinion/columns
