Readers write: October 20, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionPay attention to artists Thanks for your willingness to address tough issues facing the church and other institutions in our society. I appreciate your attempt at enlarging the tent by listening to voices that have been marginalized. It is hard…
Wanner Mennonite Church
Categories: OpinionThis photograph shows Wanner Mennonite Church at worship in July 1950. In the mid-20th century, it was a new pattern for many Ontario Mennonite congregations to have men and women sitting together in a worship service rather than men on…
Whose side are you on?
Categories: OpinionIn Joshua 5, we come across one of those wonderfully strange biblical stories that shakes our preconceptions and leaves us with more questions than answers. Israel is encamped at Gilgal, preparing to besiege Jericho at God’s command—so they firmly believe.…
The guy with the toothpick
Categories: OpinionA good friend, Wes Neepin, died this past week. I’ve written columns about Wes in the past but used a pseudonym, because I never got around to asking permission to tell his stories. Anonymity seems less important now. Wes was…
To remember is to work for peace
Categories: OpinionAt this time of year, I begin to rummage through the various drawers of miscellany in search of those red Mennonite Central Committee buttons that say, “To remember is to work for peace.” Maybe you wear such a button too…
An Open Letter to the Psalmists
Categories: OpinionDear Psalmists, Sometimes I delight in your comforting words of God’s grace and compassion. You paint an alluring and alleviating picture of a loving, caring and ever-present shepherding God who loves us and knows us. Sometimes I am assured by…
Part I: Family ties
Categories: OpinionWhy cut what can be untied? This wise, old saying can apply to family conflicts. Some of our family ties are threadbare and frail; there is strain, and there is underlying conflict that we are aware of but too timid…
Part II: Telling and re-telling who we are
Categories: OpinionHow does your faith community answer these questions: Who are we? Who are we becoming? Who does God say we are? These questions can serve to guide a process to uncover and/or challenge a congregation’s primary identity. This is vital…
Theatre group tackles abuse
Categories: OpinionInteractive theatre requires audience participation, explained Cedric Martin as he introduced “I Love You and It Hurts,” a Theatre of the Beat performance held at the Kitchener Public Library on September 30. “Don’t panic,” he added quickly, promising that no…
Readers write: October 6, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionThank you for this excellent, nuanced article (“The gift of life, the question of death,” September 22). Clearly, patients have always made private, off-the-books decisions with the help and hindrance of doctors and loved ones alike. Those conversations must always…
David Klassen
Categories: OpinionDavid Klassen of Rosenfeld, Manitoba, age 83, poses for an informal portrait at a family reunion. The photo is from a 1955 article in The Canadian Mennonite, which frequently published articles about family reunions and wedding anniversaries as matters of…
A Saskatchewan pilgrimage
Categories: OpinionAs a child, I was vaguely envious of others who had deep connections in Canada. In my family, that was not the case. My parents are from the UK and we spent our vacations going back to visit family. Although…
Polarization and unity
Categories: OpinionMy 88-year-old father often asks why churches push out people who don’t 100 percent agree with their theology. “Why can’t they all just get along?” He is worried about the increasing polarization in Western society and within the church. In…
The narcissism epidemic
Categories: OpinionPopular author, speaker and shame researcher Brené Brown once quipped, “You can’t swing a cat without hitting a narcissist.” She later apologized for the inhumane image conjured by the idiom, but she stood behind the underlying message. Many psychologists and…
Beyond cosmetic diversity
Categories: OpinionIn early 2000, when I first stepped into the sanctuary of Willingdon Church in Burnaby, B.C., I was astounded to see the music team’s diversity. A variety of races and ethnicities was represented, singing a chorus praising God. This Mennonite…
Biking food to university
Categories: Web First – OpinionThe following article is an online supplement to Miles Wiederkehr’s article, “A cycle of practical love” in the Sept. 22, 2023, issue of Canadian Mennonite. In “A cycle of practical love,” my dad mentions the idea of trying to personally…
Readers write: September 22, 2023 issue
Categories: OpinionWrestling I read your piece (“The duty of tension,” June 16) and I’ve been wrestling with the content. It was a great editorial, and I commend your willingness to stomach the rhetoric for the sake of journalism (and in promotion…
Hear the climate call
Categories: OpinionIt’s worth celebrating that the regions of MC Canada have identified the climate crisis as a priority ministry area in recent years. Like all priorities, where the rubber really hits the road is not in reports and lists and minutes…
The founding of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada
Categories: OpinionThis photo depicts the founding of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada in 1902 at Tiefengrund, Sask. The men in this photo include (back row, l to r): David Epp, Laird, Sask.; Johann Dueck, Eigenheim, Sask; Heinrich Warkentin, Laird, Sask.;…
Choosing death
Categories: OpinionMy sister Helen is a retired nurse who spent much of her career working with palliative patients. In the last few years of her working life, she encountered medical assistance in dying (MAID). Though it was a steep learning curve…
Opinion/columns
