Readers write: April 7, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionAdjusting to ‘no longer being dominant’ In his “Is the ban back?” editorial in the March 13 issue, Will Braun encourages readers to “ask Mennonite professors, pastors, students and magazine editors if progressive backlash keeps them from voicing questions they…
Vineland List
Categories: OpinionHow much can we learn from a list? This image is from a list of Mennonite immigrants from the Soviet Union (Russlaender) living in Vineland, Ont., in 1924. We can see family groupings along with church affiliations. In these early…
Book recommendations from leaders
Categories: OpinionThe regional churches have identified several key ministry areas which receive nationwide coordination and support from Mennonite Church Canada: International Witness, Indigenous Relations and Climate Action. Most regional churches have volunteer working groups in each of these areas. CommonWord,…
The limits of control
Categories: OpinionI am always interested in the impact of culture on faith, and vice versa. Western culture places a high value on personal agency, the ability to make individual decisions that impact one’s future. Other cultures understand that there are many…
Song inspired by peace chief
Categories: OpinionIn Canada, conversations about reconciliation with Indigenous peoples are often at the forefront of community and public life. These discussions extend to our worship practices as we consider how our corporate expressions of praise and community can emulate Jesus by…
Many Christians do not believe the Holy Spirit is real
Categories: OpinionIn my eyes, Pauline (a pseudonym) is a more faithful and mature Christian than I am. She embodies the servant-hearted love of Christ. Her life and faith inspire me. Imagine my surprise when Pauline told me she has never experienced…
Three kinds of grace in the formation of intercultural church
Categories: OpinionIf you are a student learning early Anabaptist spirituality, Leonhard Schiemer’s treatise, Three Kinds of Grace Found in the Scriptures cannot be missed. In his short writing, he displays the profundity of the Anabaptist way of salvation which brings a…
Readers write: March 24, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionAlvin Baroro On page 6 of the Feb. 13 issue is a picture mentioning two people’s names and identifying another as “an Indigenous coffee grower.” Please do better than that and offer all equal dignity by making the effort of…
What is a Mennonite?
Categories: OpinionLast month I was sleeping in my hotel in Vietnam when loud karaoke music started playing outside. The music was so loud that I thought my window was open, so I turned the lights on to check, but no, the…
Gilbert Snider
Categories: OpinionGilbert Snider stokes his wood-fed, maple-syrup evaporator in rural Waterloo County in 1954. The photographer, David L. Hunsberger, took many photos of working life in Ontario’s Waterloo Region. How much do you know about the working lives of your fellow…
Gentleness behind bars
Categories: OpinionOn Thursday mornings, I drive an hour north to the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, a federal institution in Prince Albert. I am escorted through the belly of the beast to the chapel area. Inmates begin to arrive. I am there, at the…
Chickadee as sacrament
Categories: OpinionNormally I hearken closely to the words of Jesus. But although he advises that we consider the sparrows of the field, I’d rather pay attention to chickadees. Being commonplace seems to be no barrier to the joy chickadees bring to…
Within a shadow of doubt
Categories: OpinionI have so inextricably linked Psalm 22 to the words of Jesus on the cross that I don’t think I have ever really read the Psalm in its own light before. Yes, Jesus quoted “My God, my God, why have…
Ten insights from CM’s latest online event
Categories: Opinion“Are we too progressive for our own good?” That was the title of an online panel discussion Canadian Mennonite hosted on March 8. More than 70 people tuned in to hear from the panel, which included Ryan Dueck, pastor of…
Readers write: March 13, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionConvenient pacifism In response to “Conscientious” (Jan. 30): Wherever religious Mennonites locate in the world, security is usually provided mostly by others. Others suffer and die in their place, while Mennonites denounce their work, reap the benefits and are secretly…
Driving Miss Darcie
Categories: OpinionA few weeks ago I sent a text to a friend who I hadn’t seen for quite some time. Although we’d been in touch several times throughout the pandemic, we were long overdue for a face-to-face visit. I had no…
La Crete river landing
Categories: Opinion“How did the North become the North?” asks historian Gerald Friesen. By the Second World War northern Canada was experiencing an influx of “new technology, money and people.” River landings like this one near La Crete, Alta., were vital links…
Belonging comes first
Categories: OpinionI remember a difficult church meeting at my fiancé’s congregation when I was an active participant in the young adult group. I don’t recall the topic, but I do recall that I did not speak up during the meeting, but…
Practising for tragedy
Categories: OpinionIt’s no secret that there are gaps in our congregational song. In particular, gaps in the kinds of words we have available for moments of crisis, despair and loss. Voices Together sought to speak into this opening, and features many…
The pendulum, Hegel and Christ
Categories: OpinionSome have described history as a series of pendulum swings, oscillating from one extreme to the other, between tyranny and freedom, conservatism and liberalism, progress and tradition. It has also been said, the pendulum always swings too far, meaning when…
Opinion/columns
