Christus Victor/Ransom When humanity sinned in Genesis 3, they fell under the control of Satan. Due to personal sin, no human being was able to pay the ransom to free humanity, so... Read More
Features
A statue of the Good Shepherd at the St. Callisto Catacombs, Rome. In the early centuries, Jesus was much more likely to be portrayed as the Good Shepherd than as a crucified Messiah.
In the 1990s, when the Mennonite church in Ontario was deciding whether to add Hymnal: A Worship Book to its pews, a dear (now departed) saint approached me, saying, “I hear that... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Feature | By Dave Rogalsky
1. During the Second World War, what happened when young men in your family or community were called up for military service? What are the stories of your congregation dealing... Read More
October 23, 2013 | Feature | By Barb Draper
Of memories I have of family members, the one about my Uncle Sam’s arrest on April 19, 1944, and his imprisonment, which became legendary in our community, left an indelible mark... Read More
October 23, 2013 | Feature | By Joseph Martin
An Altona, Man., war memorial bears the names of local Mennonites who served and died during the Second World War.
Of late, many peace-minded Canadians have been decrying the country’s increasing militarization, calling to mind this country’s proud peacekeeping tradition as if it was a... Read More
October 23, 2013 | Feature | By Ross W. Muir
1. What would happen if someone in your congregation joined the military? Would your church have a prayer of blessing to send him on his way? What does peace mean to you? Can... Read More
October 9, 2013 | Feature | By Barb Draper
The General Council Peace Commission of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) requested a response from Mennonite Church Canada to the question, “How is your church doing in its desire... Read More
October 9, 2013 | Feature | Gordon Allaby
Arlyn Friesen Epp, director of Mennonite Church Canada’s Resource Centre in Winnipeg, recalls peace lamps being introduced at the 2002 MC Canada assembly in Saskatoon. Congregations were invited to purchase the lamps and pray for peace. Some churches continue to light the peace lamps today.
“In the last 15 or 20 years, I have heard only one sermon on peace,” says Bernie Loeppky, a member of Grace Mennonite Church in Winkler, Man., and a member of the Evangelical... Read More
October 9, 2013 | Feature | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau
1. Have you ever had an experience where you felt unjustly treated and there didn’t seem to be a way to make it right? How did you respond to those feelings of injustice? What... Read More
September 25, 2013 | Feature | By Barb Draper
What do you see as the greatest divide between indigenous and settler cultures in Canada?Read More
September 25, 2013 | Feature | By Deborah Froese
This ‘freedom’ graffiti carries significance and irony for South Africans. It is emblazoned on a bridge connecting Soweto to the informal settlement of Kliptown, an area of extreme poverty.
Elmer Courchene introduced himself as an Anishinabe elder whose home is Turtle Island. He carried himself with dignity, but his carefully chosen words reflected the uncertainty... Read More
September 25, 2013 | Feature | By Deborah Froese
1. What have been your experiences with the Roman Catholic Church? Do Mennonites today still have the same suspicions about Catholic theology that Will Braun says he grew up with... Read More
September 11, 2013 | Feature | By Barb Draper
The San Francesco Basilica in Assisi, Italy, attracts both the faithful and interested tourists to its doors.
Despite gaping holes in the biblical basis for its elaborate hierarchy, and despite relatively widespread pedophilia among its priests, the Roman Catholic Church holds on to... Read More
September 11, 2013 | Feature | By Will Braun
1. What is a story from your life or from the history of your congregation that has had an impact on you? What stories from the past are important to pass on to future generations... Read More
August 27, 2013 | Feature | By Barb Draper
The Mennonite church is at a unique time in history. Currently, women lead three of the four major institutions of higher learning serving the church in Canada. In October 2010,... Read More
August 27, 2013 | Feature | Virginia A. Hostetler
The ability to see clearly is an important sense to us as Christians and as Mennonites: our theology, The Anabaptist Vision; our music, “Be Thou My Vision”; our scripture, “... Read More
August 27, 2013 | Feature | By Susan Schultz Huxman
1. What motivates you to give? Where did you learn to be generous? When you give to the church or to other charities, how much of it is carefully planned and how much of it is... Read More
August 14, 2013 | Feature | By Barb Draper
Giving is about much more than money. What we do with our time, talent and treasure all matter to God. As Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (... Read More
August 14, 2013 | Feature | By Lori Guenther Reesor
1. Mennonite schools had been designed to keep students separate from the “modernizing secular world” while Conrad Grebel College was deliberately set within a large public... Read More
July 24, 2013 | Feature | by Barb Draper
In 1963, Milton Good, the first board chair of Conrad Grebel College, looked out across Laurel Creek at the College building site.
An innovative experiment in higher education By Susan Schultz Huxman President, Conrad Grebel University CollegeRead More
July 24, 2013 | Feature |
In 2009, when Dave and Margaret Penner first went to work among Low German-speaking Mennonites in Mexico, they encountered a “vacuum.”Read More
July 3, 2013 | Feature | Will Braun
1. How has your church changed since the 1960s and ’70s? Have there been major changes in the church structures and programs? Do congregational leaders feel hopeful or anxious... Read More
June 18, 2013 | Feature | By Barb Draper
There is a changing reality in many Mennonite churches today. Like other denominations, Mennonite congregations have long lost the gravitational pull they had in the early and mid... Read More
June 18, 2013 | Feature | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Shoemaker Jacinto Perez works on a pair of shoes in his Guatemalan shop. (Photo by Tobias Roberts)
The other morning, after dreaming to the tune of the constant patter of rain on the tin roof of my house, I woke early to enjoy a morning stroll through the mountains of northern... Read More
June 5, 2013 | Feature | Tobias Roberts