Local worship
For most of my life, I’ve driven to church. Growing up in Regina, the Alliance church I attended was a 15-minute drive away. In Winnipeg, while living at Canadian Mennonite University, I drove with friends to Charleswood Mennonite Church, which is a five-minute trip. I kept attending there after my partner and I moved to…
Why we need to follow the leader
Do you remember playing Follow the Leader? Do you recall the squabbles over who got to lead? Most everyone wanted to set the pace and be the example at some point. I’m intrigued by how that changes over time. Have you ever considered how the growth and maturity of the church depends on us continuing…
The only ways forward
I had the privilege of spending the first week of October on a learning tour in the United Kingdom with eight young adult leaders from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. The learning tour’s purpose was to provide an opportunity for these young adults to become better acquainted with the ministry of Urban Expression U.K., a group…
Readers write: October 27, 2014 issue
Communitas follows in the footsteps of L’Arche founder Re: “Good work” and “Differently gifted,” Sept. 1, pages 4 and 8. I am writing to thank you for your recent articles by Jason Reimer Greig and Will Braun. Jean Vanier has been an inspiration and mentor to many, including the staff and board at Communitas Supportive…
Faith vs. belief (Pt. 1)
A curious lyric caught my attention as I was listening to “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” a song by The National, a melancholic indie rock band: “I have faith but don’t believe it.” What a strange concept: faith without beliefs. It sounds like nonsense on the surface, but could there be such a thing as faith…
The deadly sin of pride
Pride goeth before a fall, I ruefully thought last month, as I limped away from the place where I had taken a nasty tumble. I fell in the Detroit airport just before stepping onto the huge, four-storey escalator. Just after glancing at a slow-moving couple a decade or two older than me, who appeared to…
That’s a lot of money!
I remember a special gift from my Grandpa: a $20 bill in a Christmas card. It came with one instruction: Grandpa had to see my purchase. It was a lot of money for a 10-year old! It was the first time I’d had that much money, and I was a little concerned about using it…
Connecting passions
Part of my role in overseeing Mennonite Church Canada’s assemblies includes reading every word on assembly feedback forms. As I reviewed the 128 forms we received this year—a record number—I was struck by how often people stressed the importance of being together as members of our national faith community. Despite the fact that most attendees…
Readers write: October 13, 2014 issue
Love our enemies because we worship the same God Re: “‘Global caliphate’ a Muslim goal, not a myth'” letter, Sept. 1, page 15. It is my prayer that someday we will all come to realize that the God of Israel and Allah are the same. So long as we choose to separate and divide, we…
Improving church communications
When it comes to graphic design and communications, everyone has an opinion. It’s nearly impossible to please everyone, but we live in a day and age when we must engage in design on some level or another; whether it’s weekly church bulletins, yearly directories or websites, churches have information to communicate. To the younger generation,…
