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Mennonites advocate for Bill C-262
From changing their profile pictures and holding rallies, to baking bread embossed with messages of support, young Mennonites are standing up to call for a private member’s bill to be passed. Bill C-262 was brought forward by Romeo Saganash, the federal MP for the Quebec riding of Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou. It calls for the government to enshrine…
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Canadian Mennonite bids farewell to Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
After more than 18 years of contributing to Canadian Mennonite as the Alberta correspondent, Donita Wiebe-Neufeld, who has developed a fondness for horses over the years—especially CD—has resigned from her reporting position to take on an increased role with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta. When she began as a correspondent on Sept. 1, 2000, replacing…
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Meet the speaker for Gathering 2019
Gathering 2019 guest speaker Elaine Heath says the greatest challenge for the western church today is to “regain a gospel-centric imagination.” “For the church in the post-Christendom West, this means intentionally and persistently moving away from notions and practices of church as a consumer or a colonizing activity,” she says in an email, “in order…
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‘Everything is possible’
For Reem Younes and Brian Darweesh, everything seems possible now that they’re citizens of Canada. Originally from Syria, Younes and Darweesh moved to Winnipeg in 2015 as privately sponsored refugees, welcomed by a Mennonite community there. Douglas Mennonite Church and Jubilee Mennonite Church in Winnipeg came together to sponsor the couple through Mennonite Central Committee…
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Bringing diverse voices together
Mennonites are stereotyped as people who love singing and forming committees. Anneli Loepp Thiessen fulfills both of these stereotypes. The 23-year-old is one of 12 people from Canada and the United States who make up the Voices Together committee charged with making a new Mennonite hymnal planned for release in 2020. Voices Together is a…
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Wacky Cake recipe
This cake is so good and easy; it is my favourite! Because it has no eggs or milk it is suitable for those who are vegetarian or vegan or those with an allergy to eggs. (Read the accompanying Gathering Around the Table article, “Everyone loves Wacky cake.”) 1 ½ cups flour (do not use…
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Everyone loves Wacky cake
I love to bake and cook. Some years ago, while I was studying at Redeemer University College in Hamilton, Ont., money and time were in short supply, but there was a free television channel called WNED Buffalo/Toronto. When WNED announced it was putting together a potluck cookbook as a fundraiser, I submitted my Wacky cake recipe.…
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Searching for a ‘generous space’
A handful of Christians were looking for community and a place to meet with others with similar experiences. They found it at Queerly Christian. The participants identify under the LGBTQ+* umbrella and take the time to sing queer hymns, pray, take communion, reflect on Scripture and take part in a community meal. They gather twice a…
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‘I feel like it is God’s will that I am here’
For a week in early February, North Leamington United Mennonite Church played host to the annual mid-year conference of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP), including an international worship service on Feb. 10. The pews were filled with 50 IVEPers from 29 nations surrounded by their 16 host families from four…
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Swords into ploughshares, guns into art
Irian Fast-Sittler spends her days hammering hot steel and welding metals together at a forge in Floradale, Ont. Recently, the 20-year-old blacksmith created a modern-day take on the analogy from the Book of Isaiah of turning swords into ploughshares. Instead, she turned her grandfather’s shotgun into a work of art. Fast-Sittler with her sculpture, ‘Gun…
