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‘I’m aware of my sin and my need for a Saviour’
2017 was a big year for Matthew Kopperud. The 25-year-old guitarist toured across North America and Europe with his band Close Talker in support of its most recent album, Lens. One particular show in the Netherlands saw the group, which is rounded out by singer-guitarist Will Quiring and drummer Chris Morien, play in between two…
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Congo crisis grinds on
“As many as 250,000 children could starve in Kasai in the next few months unless enough nutritious food reaches them quickly,” says David Beasley, World Food Programme’s executive director, in an Oct. 30 release. Kasai is a region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffering the aftermath of a gruesome armed conflict that displaced…
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‘Our need for weed’
It’s not often that you see the words Mennonite, church and university in the same sentence as marijuana. Yet, “Our need for weed? Sparking conversations in the church and community” was the title of the Nov. 15 Face2Face event at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU). A panel, which included a police officer, a rehabilitation counsellor, a…
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Two friends, two faiths
At a time when world news seems to set nations against each other, the chatter and laughter of an obviously diverse crowd can be inspiring. On Oct. 28, men and women of a variety of races and ages wore hijabs, clerical collars, T-shirts and suit jackets while mixing together and enthusiastically engaging in the fifth…
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Breaking bread together
Palmer Becker began to attend the Kitchener (Ont.) Masjid when he returned from teaching at Bethlehem Bible College in 2009. While in Bethlehem, he had heard the daily calls to prayer and had gone to pray at the mosque. When questioned why he hadn’t gone to the Church of the Nativity instead, he said, “I…
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Recognizing potential in an uncertain future
Potential. That word kept surfacing at Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s fall leadership assembly, as pastors and congregational leaders met with MC Canada’s executive minister, Willard Metzger, to learn about their regional church’s role in the newly covenanted nationwide body. At the Nov. 25 gathering, held at Osler Mennonite Church, congregational leaders learned that MC Canada’s new…
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Finding shelter from the cold
I remember the day well. It was Nov. 8, 2016. Donald Trump, whose behaviour as a sexual predator has been widely reported, had just been elected as president of the United States. I felt the wind knocked out of me and, honestly, it felt like the world was ending. At work the next day, at…
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The time is now
In the remarkable documentary, A Better Man, released earlier this year, filmmaker Attiya Khan documents her meeting with Steve (no last name), her ex-boyfriend who abused her daily more than 20 years ago. During a discussion over coffee, a counselling session and visits to the apartments they shared during their relationship, the two explore what…
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A leader of leaders
Born into a Western Ontario Mennonite Conference (WOM)—formerly the Amish Mennonite Conference of Ontario—family, Ralph Lebold grew up with strong leaders in a congregational polity. Each congregation had a bishop, minister and deacon working together, although with separate roles. While ordained, these leaders were unpaid and often untrained, although many Amish Mennonites attended the Ontario…
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Where do we go from here?
On Oct. 14, 2017, delegates at a special assembly in Winnipeg approved a restructuring plan to shift the centre of ministries from the nationwide church office to each of the five regional churches. A 94 percent vote gave a clear mandate for change, but how clear is the way forward for a new Mennonite Church…
