Can we talk about suicide?
Categories: OpinionA few months ago, a preacher at our church included suicide in his sermon. Philippians 1 was the text, where the Apostle Paul sets out his dilemma between preferring life or death. “My desire is to depart and be with Christ,…
The beautiful chaos of kids at church
Categories: OpinionAs a mother of four little ones, I find church can be pretty chaotic. For six years while living in Manila, our Filipino church gathered in our home while my kids played around the family room. I usually cooked dinner…
Worship as an act of loving God
Categories: OpinionI’ve run into a number of people who are “spiritual but not religious,” who have recently started attending church. They told me they skip the opening worship and just show up to hear the message. When I asked why, one…
Readers write: February 18, 2019 issue
Categories: OpinionColombian reader moved by CM feature article Re: “Holding hands with the FARC,” Jan. 7, page 4. I read this story with tears and with profound sentiments. I’m part of a Colombian generation that has lived a life tormented…
Deepening our walk with each other
Categories: OpinionDuring this past year, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan has focused on the theme of “Deepening our walk with Christ,” in the hope of increasing our openness to encounters with God’s presence in our lives. This theme grew out of an awareness…
Chesley Lake accordion
Categories: OpinionAn accordionist serenades a literary society meeting at Chesley Lake Camp in Ontario, in 1949. Chesley Lake was the first Mennonite church camp in Ontario and one of the first in Canada. Literary societies were common in Ontario Mennonite churches…
‘I think I saw yellow’
Categories: OpinionI drove to the nursing home to visit a dear old friend. She was sleeping when I entered her room, so I pulled up a chair to wait. Waiting would not be a chore. As I gazed at her visage, relaxed…
Bible commentary geared for younger readers
Categories: OpinionReading the Bible can be challenging; it is a complex collection of books written thousands of years ago in different cultures. The Bible Unwrapped has easy-to-read explanations for inexperienced readers to get a handle on how to make sense of…
‘Conversation Circles’ offer encouragement, hope
Categories: OpinionLast fall, ignited by curiosity about what we would hear if we invited women to share their experiences of life within Mennonite Church Manitoba congregations, Mennonite Women Manitoba decided to host two Conversation Circles, one in Winnipeg and the other…
Once Round the Barn: Twang Edition
Categories: Web First – OpinionGrab your cowboy hat and don’t mind the barn smell! Join Will Braun, Canadian Mennonite’s resident ranter, once around the barn on his southern Manitoba farmyard. This time he challenges you to cue up the country music twang. (See the video…
Readers write: February 4, 2019 issue
Categories: OpinionCM, Miriam Toews criticized for exploiting Bolivian rape case Re: “Moderns ghosts of a horse-drawn scandal,” Oct. 8, Oct. 22, Nov. 5, Nov. 26, 2018, issues. I feel that Miriam Toews’s book Women Talking exploits the sad situation in the…
Relational engagements outside the church
Categories: OpinionThis past week I attended a cluster meeting with a small group of pastors from southern Manitoba to talk about mission and church engagement in their communities. The pastors talked about the work that their congregations are doing locally and…
The love it held
Categories: OpinionWhen we pulled up the steep driveway of my grandparents’ old house, I was overcome with tears of nostalgia and tears of loss for the love that this space once held. My beloved Oma and Opa had spent 35 years…
Can we talk about MAID?
Categories: OpinionIn June 2016, the government of Canada enacted legislation that enabled eligible adults to seek medical assistance in dying (MAID). At the time, I followed some of the debate with many questions and a mixture of hope and dread. My…
Sharing life with your tribe
Categories: OpinionIn 2013, I embarked on an ancestral pilgrimage to Scotland. The first site I visited was Lochmaben Castle, where, according to my Aunt Faye’s genealogical research, one of our ancestors was born. Lochmaben Castle was a major defensive stronghold for…
Readers write: January 21, 2019 issue
Categories: OpinionEditorializing, apology weaken abuse survivor’s statement Re: “Decades-old sexual abuse comes to light,” Sept. 10, 2018, page 13. It seems to me that Canadian Mennonite and Dave Rogalsky (former Eastern Canada correspondent) owe Ruth-Ann Klassen Shantz an apology for the…
‘To be more like them’
Categories: OpinionI often have the same thought when visiting a first-generation Canadian congregation: I wish my home congregation of Rockway Mennonite could see this! Invariably, when I visit a congregation that worships in a language other than English, I anticipate a…
Odessa state archives
Categories: OpinionAs the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, staff at the state archives in Odessa, Ukraine, worked diligently to microfilm Russian Mennonite documents in its possession. Collected by Peter J. Braun during the turbulent years of the Russian Revolution and Civil…
‘What’s he doing out there?’
Categories: OpinionI have friends who live in Fond du Lac, a small, isolated community in northern Saskatchewan on the shore of Lake Athabasca, near the border with the Northwest Territories. A years-ago visit found me there in late November. One day, I…
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