MCC may allow exceptions to ‘lifestyle expectations’
The boards of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada and U.S. have approved the possibility of exceptions to the “lifestyle expectations” for some MCC personnel, although those parameters have not been completely defined. The updates came as the boards reviewed MCC’s human resources framework at their annual joint meeting on March 16 and 17, 2018, in…
Scholars uncover hidden stories of the Holocaust
In 2004, Joachim Wieler of Weimar, Germany, opened a small wooden box he inherited after his mother’s death. To his surprise and horror, it contained letters his late father wrote while serving as an officer in the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany. “I almost fell off the chair,” Wieler said, speaking to more…
Canadian Mennonites and Anglicans meet for first dialogue
As the Anglican Church of Canada has increasingly found itself on the margins of power in Canadian society, it decided to reach out to a group of fellow Christians that has long been in the position. At the invitation of the Anglicans, a group of Mennonite Church Canada leaders and lay people met with their…
AMBS conference models practices for sustaining faith and hope
With contentiousness and fracturing in the body of believers, and hostility and injustice all around, these are difficult days for church leaders, who are supposed to provide guidance for people struggling with the trials of the times while at the same time often wrestling with their own challenges. “How do we deal with our anxieties…
UWinnipeg Fellowship to crack open KGB archives
In the 1930s, thousands of Mennonites disappeared in the Soviet Union without a trace. The KGB archives in Ukraine has thousands of files on these missing Mennonites, and a newly announced University of Winnipeg Fellowship wants to crack into these archives to uncover the stories of lost relatives, ancestors and much more. Through the Centre…
Generous love amid war in DRC
Loving the generous people of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not difficult, but evil happening in the rural Kasai region of that lush country is hard to comprehend. In December 2017, survivors of civil war there told a delegation from the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Deacons Commission of surprise attacks on their villages from…
Award-winning Herald Press book gets an update
In Donald B. Kraybill’s The Upside-Down Kingdom, Jesus is slightly irreverent. He critiques the rich, scorches nationalism, redefines Old Testament law, and undercuts the authority of religious leaders. Kraybill points out that Jesus is into sharing, not hoarding. Service, not status. Community, not competition. Basins, not swords. Loyalty to God, not nation. Kraybill, a prolific…
OMMC offers music, fun, connections
When the idea of the Ontario Mennonite Music Camp (OMMC) was pitched to me at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, I was immediately excited. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I got there, I knew it would be awesome. In the hallway, there was the plan for the two weeks of camp, describing what we’d…
Mennonite diaspora encounters Muslims in the Russian Empire
Aileen Friesen was the go-to person to help visitors order in Russian cafés at a scholarly gathering in Russia’s Far East, according to Marlene Epp, Conrad Grebel University College’s dean. Epp introduced Friesen as the inaugural J. Winfield Fretz Visiting Research Scholar in Mennonite Studies before Friesen’s lecture on ‘Muslim-Mennonite Encounters in the Russian Empire’…
Kindred Charitable Fund surpasses $1-million mark
Kindred Credit Union has reached a major milestone, marking $1 million in support for churches and charitable organizations since its inception in 1999. A total of 146 groups have benefited from these grants, which have impacted people across southwestern Ontario. Putting total distribution over the $1-million mark in 2018, the Kindred Charitable Fund will be…
