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Voices Together committee holds final meeting
A stack of paper containing 780 songs and a binder of 320 worship resources greeted each member of the Voices Together committee when they arrived for their 10th and final committee meeting in early October. In nine previous meetings, the committee had discussed content to include in this new worship and song collection for the…
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Bible study works at decolonizing scripture
A Bible study in Winnipeg is asking the questions, “How is our faith shaped by our history?” and, “Can we decolonize how we read the Bible?” Kelsey Enns leads the group in reading, examining and discussing scripture, with the help of resources like Unsettling the Word: Biblical Experiments in Decolonization, edited by Steve Heinrichs, director…
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A meaningful way to dispose of unwanted Bibles
Tim Martens carefully unwraps a pair of tattered-looking old books. One is an ancient German Bible, its text printed in fine Gothic script, the other an old Gesangbuch or songbook. The Duck Lake, Sask. resident believes these worn and frayed tomes, no longer wanted or needed by anyone, deserve to be treated with respect. To…
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Watch: A haunting at Westgate?
The 2018-19 Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Concert Choir has something to help get you into a playful Halloween spirit. Last June, the choir filmed a video for its rendition of “Hall of Snarky Ghosts,” a song written and arranged by Westgate alumnus Dan Wiebe. The school uploaded the video to YouTube last month. Filmed and edited by…
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Watch: Doug Klassen addresses MC Canada
Mennonite Church Canada isn’t finished, disbanded, archived or dead. That’s the message Doug Klassen, MC Canada’s executive minister, delivers in a video uploaded to YouTube this past Friday. “Mennonite Church Canada is alive and well because the regional churches that comprise Mennonite Church Canada are alive and well,” Klassen says in the four-minute video, which…
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‘Coming out’ as a church
On Sept. 22, Charleswood Mennonite Church in Winnipeg celebrated “coming out” as a church that welcomes and affirms people of every gender and sexual orientation into its community with special worship service celebrating its newly created affirmation statement. Although Charleswood has had a welcoming attitude for years, it was important to make it explicit with a…
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The purpose and joy of congregational singing
“I turned the key and the stillness of the morning was shattered by the uneven rumbling of the engine. Everything was ready for the day’s work. In a few minutes, the pickup would drive onto the farmyard and empty its load of Mexican labourers. But for now I was alone. I eased the clutch out…
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Watch: MCC is 100
Mennonite Central Committee is gearing up to celebrate its centennial next year, and the relief organization has started producing a number of articles and videos to mark the occasion. You can watch one of those videos—a three-minute-long piece that covers MCC’s history from 1920 until the present day—below. Do you have a video we should…
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U.S. Anabaptist groups send joint letter to National Commission on Military, National and Public Service
Thirteen Anabaptist church groups in the United States have sent a joint letter to an independent U.S. federal agency making a strong statement of conscientious objection to war and military service, expressing gratitude for religious freedom guaranteed in the U.S. and urging the freedom not to participate in the military. The church groups include Mennonite…
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MWC Commissions strengthen bonds of communion
Approximately 40 leaders and members of the four Mennonite World Conference (MWC) commissions met together in the Netherlands for three days in late June for a time of face-to-face discussion, reflection, worship and strategic planning to advance the mission of MWC. They met at the Mennonite Conference Centre in Dopersduin, one of three retreat centres…
