Not just ‘frosting on the cake’
What does it mean for a faith-based organization to make faith and spirituality an integral part of its board meetings and planning? That’s the subject of Setting the Agenda: Meditations for the Organization’s Soul, a new book from Herald Press by Edgar Stoesz and Rick Stiffney, who reflect on some of their key convictions that…
Bringing Soviet tribulation to life
As Mennonites living in the peace and prosperity of Canada, we sometimes wonder how to keep the stories of our past alive. We wonder whether our children and grandchildren will know about the hardships and suffering of an earlier generation. Favoured Among Women, a biographical novel, is an important tool in sustaining these memories as…
On killing bullies
“So you want to kill some Nazis?” Dr. Erskine asks the short, skinny asthmatic wanna-be war hero in this summer’s big superhero film. “I don’t want to kill anyone,” comes the reply. “I just don’t like bullies.” Somehow this convinces Erskine that the young man, whose name is Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), is a good,…
A celebration of food and faith
Recently I stood in line-ups for two different kinds of “Mennonite” foods. In one line I waited, along with many others, for my order from the annual Laotian Mennonite spring roll sale. A week later I waited for my two dozen Russian Mennonite fleisch perishky (meat-filled buns). Both of these delicacies were received with delight…
Faith was their greatest weapon
Based on John Kiser’s 2003 book The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love and Terror in Algeria, Xavier Beauvois’ 2010 movie, Of Gods and Men, was called “best perhaps the best movie on Christian commitment ever made,” by Richard Lowry in the New York Post. It is 1996 and eight Trappist monks have dedicated their lives…
Encore!
For Lori Wiebe, the May 8 performance of The Rock Slinger and his Greatest Hit, a musical about David and Goliath, was a significant milestone in her life. After 20 years of directing the Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church Children’s Choir, this was her last musical. In 1990, Wiebe, an elementary school music teacher, decided to…
New cookbook sells out before its official release
Three days before the official May 2 release date for Mennonite Girls Can Cook, Herald Press officials were already ordering a reprint. The cookbooks had arrived early from the printer, and workers at the Herald Press warehouses in Waterloo, Ont., and Scottdale, Pa., were filling 600 pre-orders and responding to nearly 3,000 new orders. The…
Cooking for peace
“Will the fellows like my cooking?” wondered Nettie Redekopp in 1954 as she arrived at the Pax post-World War II rebuilding project in Wedel, Germany. That question haunted her for years, but finally in 2010 she dredged up the courage and began to call those whose phone numbers she could find. Her nephew, John Thiessen,…
Mennonite musicians ‘rule’ in Winnipeg
Writers with Mennonite roots, like David Bergen, Miriam Toews and Di Brandt, have long dominated southern Manitoba’s literary scene. Now, the community’s music scene is experiencing a similar sort of influence. One of the most sought-after recording engineers and producers in Winnipeg, John Paul Peters, was brought up Mennonite. Michael Petkau Falk, artistic director of…
Microfinancing plays well in Waterloo
About a year ago some Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) staff saw the play Iron Will in Hamilton, Ont. So inspired were they by its microfinance message that they came back to the Waterloo office wondering if it could be performed there. On March 26 their hope was realized as the Scene Change production played…
