-
MCC B.C. ‘refocusses’ Aboriginal Neighbours program, releases staff
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) British Columbia has decided to dismiss long-time Aboriginal Neighbours program coordinator Darryl Klassen. The decision, which was made early this year, will take effect at the end of December. Klassen, 64, has worked with MCC B.C. for 25 years. At the same time, the organization is “reaffirming its commitment” to indigenous…
-
Can we talk?
Tension gripped my gut as I drove to a Mennonite church in Altona, Man., with an indigenous friend. We were doing a joint Sunday morning presentation about hydropower impacts. I wondered if an indigenous person had ever been in that church. I debated making excuses for whatever suspicion, or worse, my people might direct toward…
-
For discussion: Bearing the burden of memory pain
1. Henry Neufeld writes that, “[o]ur memories are prone to distortion.” Do you agree? Have you ever been faced with evidence that you remembered something inaccurately? Do your memories of a situation or an event sometimes differ from the memories of others? 2. What happens when we repeatedly recall unpleasant memories? How can we reduce…
-
Bearing the burden of memory pain
We all have some painful memories of things that happened to us. They are stored, encoded, and sometimes retrieved and reworked. There are strained relationships with our parents and siblings; and the hurt or wrong caused us by a teacher, classmate, colleague, boss, lover, spouse, pastor or fellow church member. Recalling and remembering bring back…
-
For discussion: Are we one?
1. What is the relationship of the various Christian denominations in your community? Are there formal contacts between congregations? In what settings do the denominations work together? 2. What does it mean to be “one in Christ”? Do you agree with Ryan Dueck that this was easier in the past when Mennonites lived in tight,…
-
Are we one?
Jesus’ Farewell Discourse, as recorded in John 14 to 17, is full of images of who Jesus is. These four chapters present Jesus as a shepherd; a gate; and the way, the truth and the life. But this passage is about more than who Jesus is. It is also profoundly about what Jesus wants. We…
-
Differently gifted
"I don't want to remember it,” Hugo Unruh says of the grim spring day in 1972. He and his wife at the time, pulled into the 40-hectare complex an hour west of Winnipeg that then housed 1,000 people with intellectual disabilities with Nick, their 13-year-old son. "I just about died when I saw it," he…
-
Good Work
Beige cement walls intersect with light green shag carpet. The smell of sugar and over-brewed yet weak coffee mingles with bits of conversation and the clink of spoons on ceramic church mugs. It’s the social hour after the Sunday morning service at a mainstream Protestant church in Richmond Hill, Ont. I am here in the…
-
For discussion: From milk and honey to a land of rubble
1. What have been your personal experiences or connections with Israel/Palestine? What are your sources for news or information of what is happening there? Do Canadians tend to see the conflict from the Israeli or Palestinian point of view? Do you think worldwide attitudes toward Israel/Palestine are changing? 2. What were you taught about the…
-
Lord, in your mercy
The following is an excerpt from a recent prayer from the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, calling on the world to pray for the people who live in Palestine and Israel, who face uncertainty, violence and injustice, and who yearn for the end of oppression. Grant Jerusalem your peace, O Lord. The past…
