Volume 27, Number 19
The institution of messiness
In the past few weeks, I’ve spoken with five people who have been deeply wounded by church institutions. I’ve met countless more in previous years.
I regularly receive notes from estranged church folk who want a place to belong and have vital contributions to make, but have been pushed aside.
Readers write: September 22, 2023 issue
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Wrestling
I read your piece (“The duty of tension,” June 16) and I’ve been wrestling with the content. It was a great editorial, and I commend your willingness to stomach the rhetoric for the sake of journalism (and in promotion of open-mindedness).
Hear the climate call
Listen to the children. Listen without being defensive. (Wikipedia Commons photo by Dcpeopleandeventsof2017)
It’s worth celebrating that the regions of MC Canada have identified the climate crisis as a priority ministry area in recent years. Like all priorities, where the rubber really hits the road is not in reports and lists and minutes from meetings, but where two or three (or 200 or 300) are gathered—the congregation.
The founding of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada
(Photo: Peter Regier fonds / Mennonite Heritage Archives)
This photo depicts the founding of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada in 1902 at Tiefengrund, Sask.
Choosing death
Contrary reactions to the concept of assisted dying are respected. (Photo by Jon Tyson from Unsplash)
My sister Helen is a retired nurse who spent much of her career working with palliative patients. In the last few years of her working life, she encountered medical assistance in dying (MAID).
From Zacchaeus to climate justice
(Photo by Enrique from Pixabay)
An encounter with Jesus is a call for transformation. Such is the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus noticed him watching from a tree and invited himself for dinner. Zacchaeus must have known Jesus often preached against those with wealth who took advantage of others—as was the reputation of tax collectors such as Zacchaeus—but accepted the hosting request.
The gift of life, the question of death
(Photo by Alexander Alexandrov from Pixabay)
Robert Bruinsma remembers the day his friend, Sam, told him he was going to die.
It was a few days before Christmas 2017, and Bruinsma was visiting Sam (not his real name) in the hospital. Sam told Bruinsma that his request for medical assistance in dying (MAID) had been approved and would be carried out on New Year’s Day.
To be no longer known
(Canadian Mennonite photo)
Psalm 103 contains familiar and beautiful lines that speak of the Lord as being gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. They’re lovely, but that’s not what struck me in my most recent read-through. Instead, I was surprised by:
Singing and praying with Indigenous Christians
(Photo by Aaron Epp)
In order to fully embrace the diversity of the church and to live into God’s reign of justice and peace, it is necessary to sing and pray with Indigenous Christians.
Poetic justice
(Photo by Mortimer Mackenzie)
For Di Brandt, being a poet is a natural extension of her upbringing in the Manitoba Mennonite village of Reinland. She says the hymns of her youth were poetic, and poetry was part of sermons and family life.
A cycle of practical love
Supper at the Wiederkehrs. All ingredients are home grown, except the salt. (Photo by Andre Wiederkehr)
Several varieties of dry beans ready for threshing on the Wiederkehr farm. (Photo courtesy of the Wiederkehr family)
Cascade Ruby-Gold Flint corn with corn sheller. (Photo courtesy of the Wiederkehr family)
Andre Wiederkehr adding a pail of “humanure” to the compost pile. (Photo by Theo Wiederkehr)
My memories of high school are largely a featureless blur—I did graduate 40 years ago—but one incident that stands out in detail is a lecture in my vocational agriculture class. Mr. Upp drew an illustration of nutrient cycling on the chalkboard, complete with stick-figure cows.
Single Moms’ Camp brings golden healing
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
“It’s so hard to explain something that feels so sacred to you,” Amanda Pot said when asked to describe Single Moms’ Camp at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp in New Hamburg, Ontario. Pot has been running the camp for over a decade. “[It’s] absolutely exhausting,” she said, “but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Six stories of women’s ordination in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s
Proclaiming the Good News: Mennonite Women’s Voices, 1972–2006 (book cover)
Esther Patkau
Bledsoe joins Edmonton First Mennonite
Debbie Bledsoe (Supplied photo)
Debbie Bledsoe began her role as a co-pastor at First Mennonite Church in Edmonton on August 23. Bledsoe, who is a recent graduate of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, describes her journey to pastoral calling as wrestling with God.
RJC stakes its claim on Anabaptist identity
Ryan Wood (left), president and CEO of RJC High School, and David Epp, principal. (Photos supplied by RJC High School)
Students participate in RJC High School’s choir program. (Photo courtesy of RJC High School)
Four years ago, things were looking dire for RJC High School in Rosthern, Saskatchewan. Enrollment was the lowest ever, at 65 students. It had been slowly declining for 20 years, according to Ryan Wood. Wood, who served as principal previously, is now president and CEO of RJC.
