A tune finds words
Categories: OpinionWhen we opened the portal for submissions to Voices Together, the new Mennonite hymnal, the committee received over 2,000 submissions from songwriters, text writers, and composers from around the world, many of whom were Mennonite. A few years into our…
My opinion on opinions
Categories: OpinionI recently heard a comedian say, “Everyone has an opinion on everything these days.” He continued, “When I was young, it wasn’t that way. People had maybe six opinions. Sometimes you’d meet a guy with, like, eight opinions, and you’d…
Large bequest ‘threatened to swamp us’
Categories: OpinionShantz Mennonite Church held a dedication service on Sunday, June 5. It was intended to be for our new facilities, but in truth, it was primarily a rededication of ourselves. Like other followers of Christ, we have been aware that…
Readers write: June 13, 2022 issue
Categories: OpinionPoint: When words don’t make sense, conversation is at risk Re: “God didn’t create you wrong” feature, Feb. 21, page 4. The only challenge I have with the gender-identity conversation is the use of pronouns that, for most people, are…
At work with God on climate change
Categories: Opinion“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). It all begins here. We have four grandchildren at various stages of life. The eldest is in university and…
Bergthal church
Categories: OpinionThe Ontario Mennonite businessman Jacob Y. Shantz established rough housing for newcomers and promoted immigration to a place he called Didsbury, N.W.T., in 1893. In the following two years, Mennonites from Ontario and Manitoba arrived to what became known as…
‘The George and Helens’
Categories: OpinionA busy weekend at the end of May resulted in some reflections on family. In this case, the family referenced is “the George and Helens” (the Olferts that include my siblings and me, and all those attached). The weekend began with…
Faithfulness in the face of facts
Categories: OpinionEven if Gandhi is reputed to have said, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” it is clear he did not mean to stop at personal change! Read most histories of this quote, and personal change is…
Solomon’s splendour
Categories: OpinionHistory really is unfair to the common people. In a previous column (“Becoming the enemy you hate,” April 18, page 13), I noted that Solomon essentially enslaved 153,600 men in order to build God’s temple, emulating the oppressor Israel had…
Unsettling stories of darkness, healing and hope
Categories: OpinionI didn’t realize what I was signing up for when I agreed to write about Indigenous-Mennonite Encounters in Time and Place, a conference held at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., from May 12 to 15. It was an…
Readers write: May 30, 2022 issue
Categories: OpinionCreation-care article praised by reader Re: “ ‘All of a sudden there’s buds on the trees,’ ” May 2, page 16. This insightful article reveals a truth that has become increasingly recognized over the past years—that time spent outdoors improves learning by…
When the ‘grey’ is not holy
Categories: OpinionLife is complicated. And this means “issues” are complicated. The Bible doesn’t give us as “black and white” a picture of life and faith as some of us might wish. In fact, that’s one of the beautiful things about the…
Evangelism congress
Categories: OpinionIn 1966, Christianity Today magazine sponsored the World Congress on Evangelism, held in West Berlin from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4. It brought together 12,000 invited delegates from a hundred countries. The events were chaired by Carl F.H. Henry and…
What holds us together?
Categories: OpinionMy father cleaned out his bookshelves recently, and I acquired some more books about Mennonite history. One is a book I read with great interest when it came out in 1988, Why I Am A Mennonite. Almost every chapter is…
Going to the mountain
Categories: OpinionWith the new Mennonite hymnal Voices Together (VT) recently released, many are eager to learn about the context of pieces within the collection. This column will tell the stories behind resources in VT. It will highlight songs and resources that…
‘Godfidence’ and confidence
Categories: Opinion“Godfidence” is trusting God is in control and that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Godfidence is trusting that all things, even difficult and painful things, can work together for good, if we tune into the…
Forum equips pastors to care for LGBTQ+ people
Categories: OpinionQueerness and theology do not always play well together. Ever since the word “homosexual” entered the English-language Bible (1946, RSV,) many of our own local, western Christian groups have been working hard to exclude LGBTQ+ folks from the family of…
Readers write: May 16, 2022 issue
Categories: OpinionWhat to do about Vladimir Putin? Re: “Becoming the enemy you hate” column, April 18, page 13. The topic that Joshua Penfold highlights is at the very heart of the Anabaptist movement, which began in the 1500s. The Anabaptist leaders…
The church and mental illness
Categories: OpinionI have lived with depression for most of my adult life. When I began my role as a minister, I realized that, while I could mostly hold my depression at bay while I carried out my daily responsibilities, it was…
Lonely without insects
Categories: OpinionOnce upon a time I hitchhiked to a park visitors centre nestled beneath Wyoming’s Grand Tetons. Next to other quotes by famous American wilderness gurus were the words of a far-less recognized teacher of ecological wisdom. “Woe be unto you,…
Opinion/columns
