A new chapter for the Anabaptist Learning Workshop
The creators of the Anabaptist Learning Workshop (ALW) are starting a new chapter for Anabaptist-Mennonite education in Eastern Canada. As a program offered by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in cooperation with Conrad Grebel University College , the Workshop has organized learning events at the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary life for laypeople, pastors, new…
Watch: MC USA leader sings Nirvana
Imagine Doug Klassen, executive minister of Mennonite Church Canada, singing a song by an acclaimed ‘90s grunge band at MC Canada’s next nationwide gathering. It may sound far-fetched, but our counterparts in the United States have a sense of what that would be like. At the beginning of his address during the final worship service…
Nisbet reflects on 33 years of camping ministry
After 33 years as the executive director of Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp, Campbell Nisbet is grateful for all the growth he has witnessed. Whether it is the trees he planted on the camp property or the spiritual maturing of young adult leaders he mentored, Nisbet sees it all as signs of God’s blessing. And he…
Watch: Inside the Vine and Table
The coordinators of the Vine and Table, an intentional Christian community house in Saskatoon, are inviting you inside. In a video they posted on YouTube last week, Thomas and Terri Lynn Friesen introduce what the Vine and Table is all about. Later, some of their current and former housemates share about their experiences living in…
Swiss forgive, don’t forget
It took about 490 years for government officials in Bern, Switzerland, to ask for forgiveness for persecution of Anabaptists in the region. It took less than two to get a response from Swiss Mennonites. Delegates from every congregation in the Swiss Mennonite Conference (SMC) gathered to offer forgiveness to the government of the canton of…
Anna Wiebe challenges herself on sophomore album
Anna Wiebe is on the move again. The singer-songwriter from New Hamburg, Ont., released her second album, All I Do is Move, on July 12, bringing her listeners a more complex album complete with a band backing her strong vocals. Anna Wiebe describes “All I Do Is Move” as “a step up from my last…
Watch: Youth ‘rattled by the radical’
“Shake: Rattled by the Radical,” a gathering for youth from across Mennonite Church Canada, wrapped up this past Thursday. Watch a five-and-a-half-minute video recapping the event below. Held at Shekinah Retreat Centre, north of Waldheim, Sask., Shake took place from July 28 to Aug. 1. More than 85 youth from Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchwean and Alberta attended…
Watch: Mailboxes and church membership
What do you do when (1) your church has a rule that people need to be members in order to volunteer in leadership positions, (2) you have an increasing number of people attending your church, (3) these new people aren’t interested in becoming members, but (4) they are still committed to the church and want…
Mennonite and Reformed representatives seek a common witness
“Reformed and Anabaptist are branches from the same tree,” said Hanspeter Jecker, a Mennonite theologian from Switzerland. “Anabaptist convictions that once were controversial—such as the voluntary nature of church membership and rejection of capital punishment—are now accepted by many Christian groups. Centuries of opposition have turned to reconciliation.” Five centuries after Swiss reformer Ulrich…
Symposium explores how to preserve Anabaptist history
More than 30 people from 12 countries gathered at Goshen College on June 17-19 to talk about gathering and preserving the sources that are crucial to the history of the global Anabaptist-Mennonite church. The group, composed of historians, pastors, archivists and others, shared a keen interest in keeping the history of the global church alive…
