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Bill to limit MAID criteria fails
Parliament narrowly defeated a bill that would have prevented the expansion of eligibility for medical assistance in dying (MAID). On October 18, 167 MPs voted against Bill C-314 while 150 voted for it. The private members bill was sponsored by Ed Fast, Conservative MP for Abbotsford. That means that on March 17, 2024, people who…
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Palestinian voices
Yousef Alkhouri Yousef Alkhouri is a Palestinian Christian from Gaza. He is a lecturer at Bethlehem Bible College, though is currently studying in Europe. He visited Canada last year, along with Jack Sara, at the invitation of Mennonite Church Canada. The following is part of a note he sent to Canadian Mennonite on October 14.…
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Crafting, chaos and community
On September 29, 18 participants gathered in Saskatoon to kickoff the Mennonite Church Saskatchewan youth programming year. The youth got to know one another in a variety of ways as the event went on, first learning what everyone had for breakfast, then playing ‘Never Have I Ever . . .’ and using their crafting (and paper…
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Mennonites in Ecuador reach out as their country struggles
In August, Iglesia Cristiana Anabautista Menonita de Ecuador (ICAME) published a statement calling for prayers amid escalating violence in the country. Alexandra Meneses, who coordinates the Women’s Group and the Discipleship and Liturgy Group at ICAME, explained that the call for prayers and peace followed the assassination of Ecuador’s former leading presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio,…
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Rod Suderman, Emmanuel pastor, dies at 63
Rod Suderman, lead pastor of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., died on Sept. 2 following a cancer diagnosis earlier this year. He had also served as a pastor in Saskatchewan and worked in China, both with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Suderman was born Sept. 29, 1959, in Winkler,…
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Making peace with policing
Mennonite teachings tend to promote complete nonviolence, stating or implying that all else is wrong. Officially, we live by nonviolence alone, but in reality, we live about the same as others. The more dangerous or violent circumstances become, the more pragmatic we become. Most of us think practical steps should be taken to protect people…
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White Christian nationalism
During three decades of travel to the U.S. for work, I’ve enjoyed many conversations about faith and politics. These discussions have become more polarized in recent years, with my conversation partners often repeating odd, sometimes contradictory views. In 2015, I was seated at the bar at an upscale restaurant in West Bend, Wisconsin, chatting with…
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Green growth repeats a bad story
Green growth, or green capitalism, is hailed as a novel, inventive solution to the climate crisis. But green growth assumes business as usual—a continuation of our current system based on continuous economic growth—except replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. We fear that green growth will also mean business as usual and continued enclosure, exploitation, imperialism…
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Children find belonging, friendship in Winnipeg choir
It’s a Wednesday evening and the two dozen children gathered in a room at the back of Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church in Winnipeg are singing about candy-coated chocolate. “Mommy made me mash my M&M’s” isn’t a sentence one expects to hear in church, but the members of the Sargent Junior Choir are singing the phrase…
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Statement by Jack Sara, president of Bethlehem Bible College
Dear praying friends of Bethlehem Bible College from around the world, In the midst of these challenging times, I want to reach out to you with a heartfelt request. Our country is currently witnessing a significant and distressing conflict. Our faith in Jesus, who taught us, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute…
