The animals of MCC
Around the world, MCC supports projects that help families make a better living, helping them pay for food or school for their children. Sometimes those projects involve animals—getting loans to buy them or training and new techniques to raise them. Here’s a glimpse of some of the MCC animals and how they are at work…
Six-year-olds receive Bibles at Hope Mennonite
Seven six-year-olds—Niko Van Geest DeGroot, Calum Goetzke, Matea Thiessen Unger, Frieda Nuss Hildebrand, Vito Stoesz, Nicholas Rempel Nighswander and Isabelle Heinrichs—received Bible story books in a church service focussed on children at Hope Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, on Sept. 13, 2015. “The stories we tell and the stories we claim, shape our identity,” said Lynell Bergen,…
Peace camp has rippling effect
Just as the ripples from a stone thrown into a body of water move outward from the centre, so too the effects of one person acting in and for peace affect many around them, sometimes in surprising and unexpected ways. Conrad Grebel University College’s fifth annual summer camp for youth between ages 11 and 14…
Women’s retreat a time for worship and laughter
About 60 women between the ages of 20 and 80 gathered for a Mennonite Church Alberta women’s retreat at Sylvan Lake on May 22-24, 2015. They joined together to worship, pray, learn, share in meals, and most importantly to laugh together at the Saturday night variety show. Faye Reynolds of Lethbridge, director of women’s ministries…
Preaching must be from—and to—the margins
Gennifer Brooks began her presentations for the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) Theological Lectureship the same way she begins the preaching classes she teachers—with the story in Luke 4 of Jesus reading from Isaiah in the temple. The homiletics professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill., uses that text because it illustrates that a preacher…
Making peace with the snow
In an effort to do something creative with the snow from this past winter, these three snow words were made in front of Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. However, these words were vandalized one night. The heart in “love” and a couple of the letters in “peace” were destroyed. This seemingly small act of destruction…
Make your pauses sacred
Combining their gifts for words and pictures, two Mennonite Church Canada pastors who are long-time friends have produced a 2015 inspirational daybook. Lois Siemens, pastor of Superb Mennonite Church in Kerrobert, Sask., and April Yamasaki, pastor of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., collaborated on the recently published My Sacred Pauses. Siemens enjoys photography as…
Christmas in October
When Mennonite Women in B.C. members arrived at Camp Squeah for their annual fall retreat last month, they might have thought their calendars had skipped two months ahead. The holiday season was in the air with Christmas trees, ornaments and banners decorating the lodge, all in keeping with the theme, “Unwrap your gifts.” To begin…
Bible recycled for art
When it comes to creating beauty out of garbage, Rosthern Junior College (RJC) students needn’t play second fiddle to the Paraguayan Recycled Orchestra. “Rethink/Recycle”, an art show by RJC’s Peace and Justice Studies class, presented works made from recycled materials, including Scripture texts torn from old Bibles. The show was held on May 6 in…
Drop-in hockey scores with community
A simple game like roller hockey has turned into a ministry that has been going on at Eden Mennonite Church in Chilliwack for more than 17 years. Eden offers its church parking lot every Wednesday afternoon from April to October for youths aged 12 and over to play drop-in hockey. Pastor Rob Brown, who began…
