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Matt Epp supports Coffee for Peace effort with visit, concert
International recording artist and world traveller Matt Epp is performing at a benefit concert to support a unique peacebuilding venture in the Philippines. In March 2015 Epp visited the Philippines in response to an invitation from Coffee for Peace, a business initiative that builds peace by empowering local farmers to raise, process and sell fair…
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Mennonites in France pray for Muslims
None of Mennonite Mission Network’s five international workers was hurt in the November 13, 2015, bombings in Paris, although each one has been affected by them. The workers located in France working in and near Paris are Janie and Neal Blough, Brad and Brenna Steury Graber, and Linda Oyer. “It took a little while to…
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CFB calls for Canada’s leadership in climate change and farming
As world leaders, including Canada’s new prime minister, meet in Paris November 30 to December 11, 2015, to conclude a major new climate change agreement, their main focus will be on cutting greenhouse gas emissions—a good thing. But the plight of many of the world’s 1.5 billion small-scale farmers should also be addressed there. “Our…
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Mennonite shares insights on climate change with government leaders
Willard Metzger will attend the United Nations Framework Climate Change Conference, Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, 2015, in Paris, France, on behalf of The Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), where he serves as a vice-president. Metzger is Mennonite Church Canada’s executive director. In 2011 Metzger met about a dozen senators on behalf of CCC. At…
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Three church-related views on refugees
Three high profile Mennonite-connected politicians expressed their views this week on how to handle the 25,000 Syrian refugees newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to resettle in Canada by the end of 2015. Newly appointed Health Minister Jane Philpott, who has been handed the file on resettling the refugees, told CBC’s Power and Politics…
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Pax reunion celebrates MCC service experiences
Stories of how their life journeys were shaped by voluntary service filled the room at a reunion of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) service workers who were part of the Pax program. Among them was Abe Suderman of Parkhill, Ont., who began his two-year term with Pax in 1960. Pax, a Latin word for peace, was…
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Peacebuilding thrives amidst Burundi unrest
As political unrest brings increased violence in Burundi, partners of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) continue building on two decades of peacebuilding to encourage peace. The current political unrest began in the spring 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza’s political party nominated him for a third term. Some Burundians believed his nomination was unconstitutional, sparking protests that…
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Being part of the global church
Congregating junior youth in small-town Saskatchewan may seem like a counter-intuitive way for them to discover their part in the global church body, but that’s what the purpose of this year’s Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization (SMYO) junior high retreat was. Besides “Being a part of the global church body,” a second theme for the retreat,…
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Philpott named new Health Minister
Jane Philpott, a member of the Community Mennonite Church in Stouffville, Ont., and the chief of family medicine at Markham-Stouffville Hospital, was named today to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal cabinet as his new health minister. Philpott, 54, has been a medical doctor for the past 31 years. She recently defeated Conservative MP Paul Calandra…
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Selfies: This generation’s cigarette
Cellphones are this generation’s cigarette. That was one analysis provided by Jerry Holsopple and Linford Stutzman to students participating in an October Living and Learning Forum at Eastern Mennonite University. Holsopple, a visual and communication arts professor, and Stutzman, professor in the Bible and religion department, teamed up to talk about “selfie culture” and the…
