My grandmother’s church is, like all Old Order Mennonite churches, plain. The white walls are bare. There are no stained-glass windows, no gilded altars and no images of saints or... Read More
Features
“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the... Read More
April 8, 2015 | Feature | Anita Fast
Matthew 10:37 reads, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” These verses have... Read More
April 8, 2015 | Feature | Anita Fast
For many people, the Christian faith and poverty are deeply interconnected. Acts of charity are widely viewed as a key aspect of the Christian life, and the church has a long... Read More
March 25, 2015 | Feature | Derek Cook
Anneken de Vlaster, an Anabaptist woman, is thrown into the fire in 1571, as pictured in Herald Press’s Martyrs Mirror.
Sometimes, a single act can have enormous consequences. In the religious ferment of 16th century Europe, a small group of Christians in the Swiss canton of Zurich gathered in a... Read More
March 11, 2015 | Feature | Valerie G. Rempel
Indigenous students and their families arrive by plane for a Mennonite-run Bible school at Stormer Lake in northwestern Ontario in 1981. (Photo by Martin Frey)
“History,” wrote American poet Maya Angelou more than 20 years ago, “despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” Canada’s... Read More
February 25, 2015 | Feature | Elaine Enns
The term “settler” for Canadians of European descent was popularized by Roger Epp in his 2008 book, We are all Treaty People. This term acknowledges—rather than ignores—the... Read More
February 25, 2015 | Feature | Elaine Enns
In an appendix to Ambassadors of Reconciliation, Vol. II: Diverse Christian Practices of Restorative Justice and Peacemaking (Orbis Books), which I co-wrote, I explored the... Read More
February 25, 2015 | Feature | Elaine Enns
My wife Rachel and I wanted to start practising radical hospitality, but we live in a cosy basement apartment. It would be so much easier if we had our own house with lots of... Read More
February 11, 2015 | Feature | Chris Brnjas
If you find yourself in Victoria Park in Kitchener, Ont., on a Thursday evening in the summertime, wander down the tree-lined path and over the bridge until you reach the island... Read More
February 11, 2015 | Feature | Jessica Reesor Rempel
Mennonite churches are afraid. In fact, Christian denominations all over Canada are afraid. We have felt this, seen it and experienced it. Sometimes this fear leads denominations... Read More
February 11, 2015 | Feature | Chris Brnjas and Jessica Reesor Rempel
1. What acts of servanthood have you seen carried out by church leaders? Do your church leaders take a turn working in the kitchen? What message do they send when they do menial... Read More
January 28, 2015 | Feature |
What to do?” is our anxious impulse. “In the beginning,” God was revealed in creation before there was anyone to appreciate the self-disclosure this represented. It was long... Read More
January 28, 2015 | Feature | Ike Glick
1. How has our society’s attitude toward same-sex relationships changed in the past 20 or 30 years? Who or what has contributed to this shift? How much has the church changed its... Read More
January 14, 2015 | Feature | By Barb Draper
Theologically conservative Christians are widely perceived as hostile to gays. And it is largely our own fault. Many of us have actually been homophobic. Most of us tolerated gay... Read More
January 14, 2015 | Feature | By Ronald J. Sider
1. What has changed since the 1970s and ’80s that conversations about sexual misconduct and sexual abuse are so much more prevalent these days? Does sexual violence happen more... Read More
December 24, 2014 | Feature | By Barb Draper
Some readers have called for a moratorium on reports about John Howard Yoder’s past misdeeds. We acknowledge that continued attention to this issue has caused pain to Yoder’s... Read More
December 24, 2014 | Feature |
The following is excerpted from a longer article, “ ‘Defanging the beast’: Mennonite responses to John Howard Yoder’s sexual abuse,” in Mennonite Quarterly Review No. 89 (January... Read More
December 24, 2014 | Feature | By Rachel Waltner Goossen
1. What strangers have you encountered this Christmas season? Who are the wise and contemplative thinkers who help us to see where heaven is reaching down to earth? How do we make... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Feature | By Barb Draper
"The Commitment" by Lynda Toews, 2014
It all began in January 2014. My husband Gary and I started to research conventional nativity art and arrived at a new vision. We decided to focus attention on the very humble and... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Feature | Story, art and photos by Lynda Toews
That Jesus is thus a union of divine and mortal signals an ancient truth that underlies all worship: from creation onward, in love’s deep sacrifice, God’s outstretched eternal finger touches the outstretched finger of the mortal Adam. (Credit: Commons.wikimedia.org)
A gathering of strangers The Christmas stories include an odd assortment of strangers. The guest list for the party that would eventually become the familiar nativity scene... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Feature | By Edna Alison Froese
1. Stuart Scadron-Wattles says that waiting in expectation is a difficult balancing act. What experiences have you had of waiting with expectation? What makes it difficult? Do we... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Feature | By Barb Draper
'It is my favourite time of year, this season of Advent.' (Image by Anuja Tilj/Pixabay)
It is my favourite time of year, this season of Advent. The anticipation leading up to Christmas is the richest and most exciting time of year for me. Last year, I had the... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Feature | Rebecca Penfold
Photo credit: Shayantani Sarkar/Commons.Wikipedia.org
“I can’t get into the Christmas spirit,” she said. My daughter Alyson hefted the load in front of her, and the load—my 10-week-old granddaughter—squeaked. “Maybe it’s the new baby... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Feature | By Stuart Scadron-Wattles