Volume 19, Number 22
The long view
The year was 1963. D.W. Friesen and Sons of Altona, Man., publishers of 10-year-old The Canadian Mennonite were struggling to keep the first English-language, inter-Mennonite publication financially afloat.
Top five reasons why the customer isn’t always right
It seems like every second time I open my computer these days I come across the latest instance of what is becoming a very familiar—and obnoxious—brand of writing: the “five reasons for . . .” genre.
Readers write: November 9, 2015 issue
MC Eastern Canada ‘did what was proper and called for’
Re: “Seeking redemption and peace” guest editorial by Joyce Gladwell, Sept. 28, page 2.
Jesus poses a problem
How do questions bring you closer to God?
The Bible includes several hundred instances where Jesus poses a question to an individual, a small group of followers or a large crowd. Rarely looking for information, he often asks questions in order to challenge, encourage, invite or inspire.
A most grievous sin
One of the greatest days of Jesus’ ministry was marked by one of his greatest laments.
Ready to listen and learn
My memories of the church I grew up in are good ones. I liked seeing my friends in Sunday school every week and enjoyed singing in the grown-up service. The Halloween game nights, Christmas musicals and Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) were fun. They were also opportunities—at least the musicals and VBS—for people to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts.
Sister Care comes to Canada
During my first year as a member of the Women of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (WMCEC) executive, I was fortunate to be invited to an information session about the possibility of Sister Care (a women’s empowerment program created by Mennonite Women U.S.A.) coming to Canada. Being quite the “newbie” in 2014, I had no idea what to expect.
1960s radio broadcast of a men's quartet
This photo is of a men’s quartet singing for a radio broadcast in a Vancouver Mennonite church basement circa the 1960s. Advances in mass communication such as radio were first met with suspicion and in some cases were banned in Mennonite communities warning about worldly influences entering the home and community. Committees were established to consider the best response to these innovations.
Church geeks serve PiE
Board member Caleb Redekop, centre, cuts the PiE pie with Chris Brnjas and Jessica Reesor Rempel at Pastors in Exile’s kick-off on Sept. 27, 2015, at the Queen St. Commons Café in Kitchener, Ont. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
Both Jessica Reesor Rempel and Chris Brnjas are fond of puns, as perhaps only geeks are.
Self-professed “church geeks,” they kicked off their new ministry, Pastors in Exile (PiE) at the Queen Street Commons café in downtown Kitchener on Sept. 27, 2015, with many pies being consumed by the 85 people who attended.
Blanket exercise teaches about colonialism
An interactive blanket exercise on Missions Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015, shows members of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., a different way of looking at Canadian history. Indigenous representatives had participants—including Pastor April Yamasaki, front left—stand on blankets representing the land of North America in the years before European settlers came.
Celebrating the past, anticipating the future
Bringing a long-standing and dearly loved institution to an end is not an easy thing to do. The members of Saskatchewan Women in Mission (SWM) have at least shown that it can be done with grace, thanksgiving and, yes, even joy.
‘Never mind decolonization; learn to love yourself’
People who want to love their indigenous neighbours must first learn to love themselves, according to Dr. Patricia Vickers, a psychotherapist and Tsimshian theologian. Vickers spoke at an event organized by Mennonite Church Manitoba on how churches can respond to the calls to action made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Walking together . . . rather than around each other
She is a novelist and world traveller, speaks Mandarin and has a brown belt in karate. Shaimaa Kraba also wears a hijab and is a Sunni Muslim. At the third annual Christian-Muslim dialogue in Edmonton on Oct. 17, 2015, emcee Miriam Gross humorously addressed the issue of stereotyping when she quipped, “There is more to her than a ‘scarf-clad’ girl. After all, it’s a hijab, not a halo!”
‘Freud might have had fun’
Leona (Unger) Rogalsky was born into an Evangelical Mennonite Conference (EMC) family in southern Manitoba in the 1930s. During her childhood, her family spent some time in the Gospel Hall, a Pentecostal church in Steinbach, but they were convinced to return to the Mennonite fold by her father’s brothers, a minister and a deacon in the EMC.
New book and film focus on conscientious objection
Conrad Stoesz, Mennonite Heritage Centre (MHC) archivist, is passionate about pursuing peace and the history of conscientious objection to war. His long-held convictions inspired him to contribute a chapter to a new book on the subject and to successfully pursue a grant for the production of a video documentary.
Being Mennonite 101
It could be that thousands of people have learned about Mennonites from Katie Steckly.
Solace in a subculture
It takes Anna Chemar almost two hours to dress in her favourite style. The elaborate makeup alone requires 45 minutes. Carefully slipping into the clothes—bell-shaped skirt, blouse and corset—takes another 20 minutes. The rest of the time is devoted to final touches: wig, headdress and painted lips. When finished, she looks like a Gothic-styled doll.
Shannon Moroney makes art from pain
“You should do something with all this,” was the doctor’s prescription.
