“O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all... Read More
Features
A Mennonite church in Ontario recently finished a six-week adult and youth Sunday school series entitled “The opioid crisis: Understanding addiction as a disease.” The six sessions were packed. (Photo © istock.com/wildpixel)
The language is stark: crisis, epidemic, tragedy. The facts are startling. According to a Government of Canada website, opioid-related overdose has become the No. 1 cause of death... Read More
May 22, 2019 | Feature | Janet Bauman
Photo: © istock.com/seventyfour
“I love my church. It is very important to me, but you won’t be seeing me on Sunday morning as often,” Cara Baergen told her congregation in a sermon preached at Edmonton’s First... Read More
May 8, 2019 | Feature | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Detail from a window in St. Etheldreda’s Church in London, England, showing Jesus’ Ascension. (Lawrence OP photo [Creative Commons licence BY-NC-ND 2.0])
Preached at Waterloo North Mennonite Church, Waterloo, Ont., on Ascension Sunday, 2018. Based on Luke 24:44-53, Acts 1:1-11, and Ephesians 1:15-23 Today’s readings have made me... Read More
April 24, 2019 | Feature | Leonard G. Friesen
One of Holyrood’s music teams. Pictured from left to right: Cajetan Ngede, Gordon Baergen and Dorathy Chokpelleh. (Photo by Helena Ball)
Near the beginning of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Frodo speaks memorable words to his fellow hobbit Sam about the adventure that lies before them: “It’s a... Read More
April 10, 2019 | Feature | Werner De Jong
MCC representative Victor Neumann, second from left, in Songkhla, Thailand, with Vietnamese Boat People. Mothers of the pictured children were abducted by pirates. In response to the refugee crisis following the end of the Vietnam War, in 1979, MCC was the first agency to sign a private sponsorship agreement with the Government of Canada, leading hundreds of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in Canada to sponsor and resettle thousands of refugees across the country. (All photos courtesy of MCC)
More than 12,500 refugees have been resettled in Canada by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) since it negotiated an agreement with the government on March 5, 1979. This historic... Read More
March 27, 2019 | Feature | Jason Dueck
The roundabout on South Clearbrook Road in Abbotsford, B.C., features a giant raspberry sculpture, symbolic of the agricultural heritage of the area. In the background is the Mennonite Heritage Museum. (Photo by Amy Dueckman)
The raspberry capital of Canada, the most charitable city in Canada, the Bible Belt of Canada. These terms have all been used to describe Abbotsford, the site of Mennonite Church... Read More
March 13, 2019 | Feature | Amy Rinner Waddell
(Photo: ‘Summer on Manitoulin 2006 no. 1’ by Ross W. Muir, Mennopix)
God’s creation is now facing unprecedented destruction brought on by human activity. Attentive hunters know this just as well as vegan environmentalists. Caring for the ecosystems... Read More
February 27, 2019 | Feature | Anthony G. Siegrist and Scott Morton Ninomiya
“We are a mystery to ourselves, a bundle of contradictions. We are inherently prone to self-deception, particularly when it comes to justifying our own behaviours and assumptions. We are not nearly as pure or virtuous as we imagine ourselves to be. We are, each one of us, capable of beautiful and terrible things. We are human beings.” (Photo © istock.com/fotogeng)
Something needs to be done about all the hate in the world. This morning I encountered no fewer than three pieces of media expressing incredulity that the internet seems not to... Read More
February 13, 2019 | Feature | Ryan Dueck
photo: © istock.com/Shaiith
There is an old story that when Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Pope Julius would come by to yell up at him in the scaffolding, “When will my ceiling... Read More
January 30, 2019 | Feature | Peter Haresnape
Some members of the seventh Mennonite World Conference Presidium, held in Kitchener, Ont., from Aug. 1 to 7, 1962. Pictured from left to right: Paul Showalter of Germany; Hendrik W. Meihuizen of the Netherlands; Erland Waltner of Elkhart, Ind.; Peter Wiens of Paraguay; Harold S. Bender of Goshen, Ind.; and Jesse B. Martin of Kitchener. (David L. Hunsberger / Mennonite Archives of Ontario photo)
As a minister of the Mennonite church in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland), Hermann Gottlieb Mannhardt knew how to challenge and encourage his congregants in matters of faith and moral... Read More
January 16, 2019 | Feature | Karl Koop
Colombian countryside where FARC guerrillas and the military fought for control before the peace accords were signed. (Photo by Brenda Jewitt)
There we were, standing in a prayer circle holding hands. While not really that unusual, what was extraordinary was that some of the hands we were holding were likely bloody. They... Read More
December 31, 2018 | Feature | Robert J. Suderman
‘Nativity’ (detail), © by Brian T. Kershisnik, 2006. Used by permission.
The Christ Child has arrived. We’ve waited through four weeks of Advent to light that fifth candle, the Christ candle, symbolizing the presence of Christ in our midst. And we feel... Read More
December 12, 2018 | Feature | Susanne Guenther Loewen
Artwork by Emma Unger, Grade 11, Mennonite Collegiate Institute
God of grace, today we pray for peace for the City of Bethlehem. It has had more than its share of conflict, as it has changed from a sleepy little town to a bustling city that is... Read More
November 21, 2018 | Feature | Carol Penner
Artwork by Merle Yin, grade 11, Mennonite Collegiate Institute
From the moment we learned I was pregnant, the baby we longed for was continually on my mind. What would it look like? What kind of personality would it have? How would this baby... Read More
November 21, 2018 | Feature | Carol Penner
‘Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark’ (detail), by Benjamin West
We are daily awash in choices and opportunities, and many of us are affluent enough to be able to choose among many options. Many of us make many choices even before we get out... Read More
October 31, 2018 | Feature | Dori Zerbe Cornelsen
‘Potiphar’s wife displays Joseph’s garment,’ by Lucas van Leyden (circa 1512). Notice in the window in the top left corner Joseph can be seen being taken to prison. (Google Art Project)
The Bible is full of stories about people, real people with bodies and minds, and with an array of experiences, relationships and emotions. How odd, then, that we so often turn to... Read More
October 17, 2018 | Feature | Gareth Brandt
The first issue of the Canadian Mennonite Reporter, August 3, 1971. (Canadian Mennonite file photo)
This month marks the 65th anniversary of English-language magazine publishing for Mennonites in Canada. The Canadian Mennonite , a precursor to the magazine you are holding in... Read More
October 3, 2018 | Feature | Aaron Epp
Photo courtesy of Henry Neufeld
“Never a teacher,” I declared from the time I was in public school, growing up in the Leamington district of southwestern Ontario. When I finished high school in Ontario, I... Read More
September 19, 2018 | Feature | Henry Neufeld
‘A politics of tending is centred on shared practices, habits and memories that define a place and community in its particularity, and describe how that community will negotiate its future,’ writes Anika Reynar. (Photo © istock.com/baks)
In the midst of significant structural change in Mennonite Church Canada, a group of Canadian Mennonite University students came together in December 2015 around the question, “Do... Read More
September 5, 2018 | Feature | Anika Reynar
‘Grace’ by Eric Enstrom (public domain)
“You . . . were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people” (Ephesians 1:13-14, NRSV). I... Read More
August 22, 2018 | Feature | Dave Rogalsky
Maya Morton Ninomiya was baptized in the Saugeen River at Riverstone Retreat Centre near Durham, Ont., in June 2016, by Wendy Janzen and Kevin Derksen, pastors at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. (Photo by Marcia Shantz)
I was baptized on an Easter Sunday morning, in the midst of a beautiful service celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. By the first rays of morning light, we greeted each other... Read More
July 18, 2018 | Feature | Kevin Derksen
Communion, the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist; whatever the name, it has been an integral part of the Christian faith since its beginnings. (Photo © istock.com/ipggutenbergukltd)
“Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And... Read More
June 27, 2018 | Feature | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
The church is a community of profound meaning for seniors because it has the capacity to speak to their deep spiritual needs, offering belonging, care and inspiration. (Photo by D. Michael Hostetler)
I was raised in a family with Scottish Presbyterian roots, where no one talked about faith for fear of being “too religious.” We trusted that seniors had it all figured out and... Read More
June 13, 2018 | Feature | Jane Kuepfer
After serving as interim pastor at Grace Mennonite Church in St. Catharines, Ont., Waldo Pauls ended up staying on as minister for seven years. He is pictured with his wife Pam at their farewell service following Waldo’s retirement in 2014. (Photo by Ernie Janzen)
“You don’t go quickly from Egypt to the Promised Land,” quips Harold Schlegel. “The wilderness is where God forms us.” The wilderness Schlegel speaks of is the transition in a... Read More
May 30, 2018 | Feature | Donna Schulz