Indigenous leader critical of MC Canada decision
One of the co-founders of the grassroots Indigenous-led movement Idle No More says her trust in the Mennonite church has been shaken by Mennonite Church Canada’s recent decision to reduce its Indigenous-Settler Relations (ISR) position from full-time to half-time. Sylvia McAdam (Saysewahum) is a law professor at the University of Windsor who is from the…
Watch: Doug Klassen invites you to Gathering 2022
Doug Klassen, Mennonite Church Canada’s executive minister, personally invites you to Gathering 2022, a nationwide church event happening July 29 to Aug. 1 in Edmonton, Alta. In a video posted on YouTube earlier this month, Klassen outlines the goals for Gathering 2022 and introduces the event’s theme, “We Declare: What we have seen and heard.”…
‘Evening for Ukraine’ raises $220,000
A fundraising dinner to help people affected by the current war in Ukraine began with a man who had vivid memories of leaving Ukraine as a five-year-old in the mid-1940s. The man phoned Gerd Bartel, a well-known member of Peace Mennonite Church in Richmond, with the simple question, “What can we do to help people…
MDS provides meals, camps, blankets and more
Meals and blankets for homeless people, helping low-income kids go to camp, support for refugees—these are some of the ways the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada Spirit of MDS Fund helped Canadian congregations and organizations serve their communities. Altogether, $117,900 has been granted to 26 groups since last September through the fund, which exists to…
UMEI launches renewal campaign
The sanctuary of North Leamington United Mennonite Church was packed on March 9 as supporters of UMEI Christian High School gathered for a special meeting. The UMEI board had been facing difficult numbers for several years, and it was time to face the question: “When is it time to say that it’s no longer sustainable…
Indigenous relations work revamped and reduced
The governing body of Mennonite Church Canada has decided to end the full-time Indigenous-Settler Relations (ISR) position held by Steve Heinrichs and replace it with a new half-time position. Heinrichs’s 10-plus notable years with MC Canada are over. At the same time, MC Canada will add a half-time climate action position and a half-time associate…
Music comes alive through synesthesia, art
Imagine if you could see sound. When Anna Schwartz listens to music, she not only hears the different instruments, keys and dynamics—she sees them. That’s because she has synesthesia, a neurological condition in which information entering a person’s brain stimulates multiple senses at once. Only four percent of people worldwide are synesthetes. For some, biting…
The land speaks
“We hope that people, landowners especially, will talk about what’s on their land, who occupied the land and who occupies it now,” says Harry Lafond, a Muskeg Lake Cree First Nation elder. “The land holds everyone’s history and everyone’s story. We, all of us, need to be responsible custodians of the story. We need to…
MCC partners in India support migrant workers
When thinking about migration, it is easy to focus just on resettling refugees fleeing conflict or disaster. But the work Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) does with migrants isn’t just about resettling those on the move. Hundreds of millions of people are migrant workers, seeking higher-paying jobs far away from their families and homes. MCC partners…
Watch: Witness workers extend greetings from Ethiopia
The latest additions to Mennonite Church Canada’s team of International Witness workers extend greetings from their new home in Ethiopia in a new video. Werner and Joanne De Jong arrived in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, in January. They plan to spend the next three years at Meserete Kristos Seminary, where Werner has joined the teaching staff. Joanne…
