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Expect to have your worldview challenged
Are you over 18 years old with a love for your regional, nationwide and global Mennonite church? Mennonite Church Canada is seeking representatives from each of the five regional churches to represent their respective communities at the next Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Global Youth Summit (GYS) in Salatiga, Indonesia, in 2021. Past delegates for MC…
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Learning from the wisdom of children
“I’ve had many teachers, most of them children,” says Patricia Erb. “The best ones.” It could be seen as a surprising assertion from Erb, who, at 63, has been involved in human-rights work since her early teens. She has three decades under her belt at Save the Children Canada—the Canadian arm of the development organization…
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Queer hymns now online
Growing up, Cedar Klassen loved singing hymns. Klassen’s family would gather around the dinner table singing verses from Hymnal: A Worship Book, and later Sing the Journey and Sing the Story, in four-part harmony. After taking a course in hymnology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., Klassen chose to write a thesis on…
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A journey from fundamentalism to freedom
Donna Dinsmore never felt she fit into church life. “I wanted to serve in the church and I loved God, but I didn’t feel called to work with small children and I didn’t make casseroles,” she says. “Becoming an adult single woman in the church was difficult. I was a third-class citizen. Women were treated…
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Canoe trip deepens pastoral connections
For three days and two nights in June, six Mennonite Church Eastern Canada pastors journeyed by canoe and camped in the wilderness of Massasauga Provincial Park, near Parry Sound, Ont. Two of them were experienced in the backcountry. But the other four—pastors belonging to the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Ministerial, a group of pastors in Kitchener,…
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A blessing from God
The idea that Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp is a sacred space where God is at work came up over and over again at the farewell event for Campbell and Chris Nisbet, held on July 13 at the camp near Shakespeare, Ont. Surrounding all the stories and memories expressed, there was deep respect and appreciation…
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Teaching the tabernacle
Eleanor Funk has been teaching people about the tabernacle for almost 40 years. “The passion has never left,” she says. Eleanor, who lives in Saskatoon with her husband Don, grew up in Aberdeen, Sask. After high school, she attended Swift Current Bible Institute and later worked as an interior decorator. In the 1980s,…
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Frogmore stew – Amish-Mennonite version
This recipe, that probably originates in the southern U.S., came to Ontario via the MCC meat canner and an Amish community in Ohio. Read the accompanying Gathering Around the Table story at canadianmennonite.org/stories/hostess-enjoys-surprising-her-guests. Serves 10-14 people The yucky stuff (broth): 1 cup ketchup 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup vinegar 1 pkg.…
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Hostess enjoys surprising her guests
Veg Weber knows how to do old-fashioned hospitality and she enjoys having people sit around her table. A few years ago, this hostess from Hawkesville, Ont., came across a recipe that gives her guests a surprise dining adventure as well as nourishing food. When Veg serves Frogmore stew, she invites her guests to sit…
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‘The hands and feet of Jesus’
This year, Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS) is celebrating 75 years of placing young adults in service positions across Canada and the U.S. About 20 years ago, when the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church merged and became Mennonite Church Canada and MC U.S.A., they planned to have separate service programs owned by each…
