Ephesians begins by blessing God for revealing the great mystery, namely, to “gather up all things in Christ” (1:10). Ephesians 2:11-22 then celebrates Christ’s making peace... Read More
Features
Within Mennonite denominations, the closure of churches is also a reality that requires acknowledgement and careful planning, so that their legacy might be a blessing. (Photo: © istock.com/hal990)
Every living thing eventually dies, including churches. Just as people who do not plan for death may complicate things for their families, churches that do not plan for eventual... Read More
February 7, 2018 | Feature | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Constructing a house of peace that is inclusive, containing a health and safe environment in which the human soul can thrive requires the involvement of all vocations and disciplines. (Photo © istock.com/danr13)
The political scientist Harold Lasswell once defined politics to be “who gets what, when and how.” If that is politics, peace studies in contrast can be seen as an attempt to... Read More
January 24, 2018 | Feature | Lowell Ewert
Opening of the MCC Ontario building in 1964. Pictured from left to right: MCC executive secretary William Snyder, Fred Nighswander, Henry H. Epp and Abner Cressman. (Kitchener-Waterloo Record file photo / Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
When the indomitable Orie O. Miller retired from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in 1958, there was a lot of speculation about who would fill his big shoes. In Miller’s mind,... Read More
January 10, 2018 | Feature | Edgar Stoesz
Anneken Kendriks is burned in Amsterdam in 1571. (Etching by Jan Luyken, from Martyrs Mirror by Thieleman J. van Braght, Published by Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Va. Used with permission.)
Children are among the most important things given to us in our lives. With this gift comes the responsibility of passing on our faith. This can be a daunting task in a cultural... Read More
December 20, 2017 | Feature | Arlene Friesen
‘The Flight into Egypt,’ an icon from the late 15th century, currently housed in the Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece.
“Are you ready for Christmas?” The question came from Ed, a cheerful clerk at Save-On-Foods, as I was picking up some milk. What kind of response was he seeking? Was he asking if... Read More
December 6, 2017 | Feature | Ryan Dueck
The 1683 Gero cross in the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
Advent, according to one definition, is “the arrival of a notable person, thing or event.” Yet along the way, we’ve come to associate Advent not with arrival, but with waiting. In... Read More
November 15, 2017 | Feature | Donna Schulz
Wherever Jesus goes, we see God’s kingdom descending from heaven to earth. Wherever Jesus appears, God’s loving power takes hold. A hemorrhaging woman is healed of her infirmity;... Read More
November 1, 2017 | Feature | John D. Rempel
Doug Klassen's horse Dolly had a visit from her farrier. (Photo courtesy of Doug Klassen)
He was a welcome sight when his truck and trailer pulled into the yard. Even before the truck stopped moving, he jumped out the passenger side and started walking toward me. “... Read More
October 18, 2017 | Feature | Doug Klassen
Lee Hiebert is the new pastor at Steinbach Mennonite Church. (Photo courtesy of Lee Hiebert)
Seventy-four-year-old George Ediger rushed out of church during the final song and caught up with the newcomer in the parking lot before the big young visitor with the shaved head... Read More
October 4, 2017 | Feature | Will Braun
“The same night [Jacob] got up and took his two wives, his two maids and his 11 children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and... Read More
September 20, 2017 | Feature | Emma Pavey
“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (Revelation 3:22). These words of John from the Island of Patmos are as relevant for us today as... Read More
September 6, 2017 | Feature | David Martin
I was humbled and challenged when I spent the day with some of my Old Order Mennonite relations recently. My cousin Sarah invited me to a quilting at her home near Mount Forest,... Read More
August 23, 2017 | Feature | Barb Draper
‘I thought this type of support was normal’ Jeanette and Todd Hanson By Donna Schulz, Saskatchewan Correspondent, Rosthern, Sask. Although they have had other mission partnerships... Read More
July 18, 2017 | Feature |
To put names and faces to these partnerships, Canadian Mennonite ’s correspondents across the country have profiled Witness workers and the churches that support them. Following... Read More
June 28, 2017 | Feature |
Tony Deik experienced a dramatic return to faith when he was studying at Birzeit University in the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank. Raised Roman Catholic in Bethlehem... Read More
June 14, 2017 | Feature | Byron Rempel-Burkholder
‘In the last couple of years, I’ve been embarrassed to tell people that I went to church or was a Christian.’—Aaron Dawson (Photo courtesy of Angelika Dawson)
A lot has been said and written about millennials: What’s wrong with them? What’s influenced them? What does their future hold? Google “millennials and the church” and dozens of... Read More
May 31, 2017 | Feature | Angelika Dawson
Although I had biked 21 kilometres to work and spent the hot day bent over in a vegetable patch just south of Winnipeg, I was still pushing hard on my ride home. I loved passing... Read More
May 17, 2017 | Feature | Will Braun
In the opening half of Steven Ratzlaff’s play Reservations , first staged in Winnipeg in 2016, an Alberta Mennonite farmer informs his two children that he plans to give a section... Read More
May 3, 2017 | Feature | Roger Epp
When the water goes up behind the $8.7-billion Keeyask Dam in northern Manitoba, one family will lose more than any other. At a church-sponsored event in Winnipeg on March 18,... Read More
May 3, 2017 | Feature |
Several years ago, my Russian Mennonite grandmother told me a story about her childhood that I think about often. When she was just a young girl living somewhere southeast of... Read More
April 19, 2017 | Feature | Robert Zacharias
Religious wars raged in 16th-century Europe between Catholics and Protestants. In northern Holland, Jan Smit was captured by the Catholics and was being pressed into service as an... Read More
April 5, 2017 | Feature | Mary Groh
A Pharisee and a tax collector This parable of Jesus seems self-evident. It compares the attitude of two men’s prayers: a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee’s seems rather... Read More
March 22, 2017 | Feature | Dan Kehler
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. I always love this joyful affirmation of life and hope on Easter morning. When it is still grey and cold outside, when the world news is so... Read More
March 8, 2017 | Feature | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
