Remembering John H. Neufeld
John H. Neufeld died on Jan. 11, 2021, after a life of serving the church in numerous places and in various roles. Born in Winnipeg, he lived and served in British Columbia, where he directed a camp and taught school at various grade levels over the years. He also taught at the Seminário Bíblico Mennonita…
Spontaneous joy in this time of pandemic
Louisa Adria, Foothills Mennonite Church’s congregational support worker, and Ruth Bergen Braun, communications coordinator of Mennonite Church Alberta, sparked joy when they spontaneously decided to do a photo shoot on Feb. 26, next to a brightly painted shipping container near downtown Calgary. Inspired by a random bunch of balloons left in the back of Adria’s…
Communicating at the table
A formative experience for me was a youth work camp I participated in during my teenage years. The event was organized in connection with the ninth assembly of Mennonite World Conference, held in Curitiba, Brazil, in July 1972. The week before the large multinational assembly, Mennonite youth from different parts of the world gathered in three…
Brazilian beans
I grew up in Brazil, a child of missionary parents. One regular item on our family menu was the traditional Brazilian rice and beans meal. These are the daily staples of cuisine throughout Brazil, a wholesome and inexpensive combination eaten by people of all economic classes. To read a story about eating rice and beans,…
Lecture-recital highlights women composers
Celebrating the contribution of women composers in Voices Together means reclaiming the voices of historical women whose work has been overlooked and also to “elevate the voices of women who are living,” said Anneli Loepp Thiessen. She led a recent lecture-recital as part of the virtual Noon Hour@Home Concert Series at Conrad Grebel University College. …
Church members enjoy ‘snail mail’ during pandemic
In this time of isolation, some members of Abbotsford’s Emmanuel Mennonite Church are discovering the delights of a relationship based on the old-fashioned medium of handwritten letters. At the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown last March, Angelika Dawson began thinking of ways she could encourage people. As a writer, she recalled that, even as a…
A new approach to nature
Everyone knows how a good walk in nature makes them feel: relaxed and refreshed. Due to pandemic guidelines, though, many activities have been restricted, but walking is not one of them. Niagara Nature and Forest Therapy is taking walking in nature to a new level. Melissa Bollinger Seiling, a certified forest therapy guide, takes people…
‘God is at work among us’
Michael Pahl Michael Pahl’s first month as Mennonite Church Manitoba’s new executive minister was a traffic jam of Zoom meetings and a steep drive around the learning curve. Pahl, 50, officially began his role on Jan. 1 and spent several weeks in a rush of year-end reviews, budgeting and planning for MC Manitoba’s upcoming annual…
Picturing her calling
What she really wanted was a party, but pandemic realities prompted Lois Siemens to find another creative way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her ordination. Superb Mennonite Church, near Kerrobert, Sask., called Siemens to ministry, and she was ordained there on Jan. 9, 2011. Today she lives in Saskatoon, where she serves as spiritual-care…
A tribute to Menno Wiebe (1932-2021)
Upon entering the home of Menno and Lydia Wiebe at 10 Concord Avenue in Winnipeg, where they lived for 48 years, one would likely be met not with conventional niceties but with a bright-eyed, depth-probing question, possibly relating to birds and theology, or gardens and ecclesiology, or something else that would never otherwise cross your…
