A Prayer for Peace — Advent 2023
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord. Save us, God our Savior, gather us and deliver us from the nations. From north to south, nowhere is safe in Gaza. For unto us a child is born and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called the Prince of…
‘They are like angels’
“It was help from heaven. When I talk about it, I want to cry. Nobody has ever helped me like this. They are like angels.” That’s what a homeowner in Grand Forks, B.C., said in 2019 about Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers who had come to the community to repair and rebuild following a devastating…
Biking food to university
The following article is an online supplement to Miles Wiederkehr’s article, “A cycle of practical love” in the Sept. 22, 2023, issue of Canadian Mennonite. In “A cycle of practical love,” my dad mentions the idea of trying to personally take on the energy cost of living. What does it cost to feed a university…
Students in Burkina Faso write African church history
Sibiri Samuel Zongo, a student at LOGOS University in Burkina Faso, lamented that the church in Africa is “like a canoe that passes without leaving a trace.” Anicka Fast, serving with Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mission Network, is committed to changing this reality, through teaching courses that hone skills in writing oral history. A…
Is church online for good?
“We’re all going through the same storm, but we’re not all in the same boat. Context is everything.” These words, spoken by a North American pastor, address the divergent responses to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Many congregations in Canada and the United States continue to experience restrictions on in-person meetings, while others have had the…
Congregations need to talk about generosity
Many congregations struggle with finances, wishing their members would contribute more towards the budget, while assuming that no one wants to talk about money. In her book, Growing a Generous Church, Lori Guenther Reesor says this kind of thinking is backwards. Churches should concentrate on generosity, which is an important part of discipleship, and all…
Making welcoming spaces for all
When I was a pastor, I learned we had a few young people with autism in our youth group. In order to begin creating an environment that felt more comfortable, I provided a big basket of fidgets on the table in the centre of the room. I expected that youth with autism would use them…
The land of my belonging
I sit in my backyard watching my dog as he rolls in the grass, pressing his back as deeply into the ground as he can. He moves freely, alternating his rolling with digging into patches of the earth that intrigue him. My dog’s fascination with the earth calls to mind recent discussions about our relationship…
My CERB story
Does the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) mean the federal government is paying people to not work during the COVID-19 pandemic? Does this prove that a universal basic income would cause a mass exodus from workplaces and weaken our economy? Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister seems to think so. I’m sure many agree with him. Gross…
Report names Jean Vanier as an abuser
On Feb. 22, L’Arche International released a summary report of the abuse investigation of their deceased founder, Jean Vanier. It concluded he had sexually abused six women over a period of 35 years. Vanier was a celebrated Canadian theologian and activist famous for his advocacy for people with developmental disabilities. He founded L’Arche, a community-based…
