Young couple to lead church plant in Germany
Jennifer Otto and Gregory Rabus, from Ontario and Connecticut respectively, have accepted an invitation to lead an urban church plant in southern Germany in partnership with the Verband deutscher Mennonitengemeinden (VdM) and the Deutsches Mennonitisches Missionskomitee (DMMK). While Otto and Rabus complete advanced studies in Tübingen, Germany, they have been developing relationships with partner congregations,…
Sharing what they have gained
The way Ken Bechtel, Wanner Mennonite Church historian, puts it, the “175” in this year’s celebration refers only to the construction of the first dedicated church building. The congregation had been meeting since around 1800, as several Bechtel families settled in the area, having left the United States, where they did not trust the revolutionaries’…
God is not in the violence
Is the New Testament inherently violent? What does Jesus’ brutal death on the cross mean to persons holding a more passive view of non-resistance? How does one seriously read the text and make sense of Jesus’ teaching of non-violence and his behaviour with the money-changers in the Temple, for instance? These are the tough questions,…
Recognizing God at work
After 12 years as Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s conference minister, Muriel Bechtel will be moving into retirement this summer. On June 24 she also celebrated 20 years since her ordination, when she was pastor of Warden Woods Mennonite Church, Toronto. As she looks back on her years of ministry in a variety of celebrations in…
MCC material aid reaches Syrian refugees in Jordan
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) continues to address needs of refugees fleeing from increasing violence in Syria. Caritas Jordan, an MCC partner, is distributing comforters, relief kits, school kits and hygiene kits in five governorates, similar to provinces or states. In the Mafraq governorate, milk powder and diapers also are distributed. Those fleeing became refugees because…
Portage Mennonite Church closes
For over 35 years “the little church that could” nurtured faith, built community, and sent many of its members out into the wider world to work in with MCC, Canadian Foodgrains Bank or Mennonite Church Canada programs. It was a place for those Christians who moved into the city of Portage la Prairie to grow…
Bricks and mortar
The new $12-million complex Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCCO) is building in Kitchener will fit the more-with-less ethos, says Rick Cober Bauman, MCCO’s executive director. “But,” he adds, “it is still clearly sending a message that we are a serious player in relief, development and peace; and we’re not hiding.” MCCO will occupy roughly a…
The limitless power of limits
The church in the North American context is facing limits she must accept, for God has placed them in her path for the sake of his glory and the integrity of faithful witness to the Kingdom of the risen Jesus. This is nothing new. Jeremiah is the most tragically limited of prophets. He is caged…
Two everyday heroes of the faith
What’s at the heart of the matter? What is basic and essential to our questions of faith and life? Such questions were asked of Jesus in attempts to trap him. They are also important questions in helping us find our way to a more life-giving centre in a context where our Christian faith is often…
