Manitoba MDS workers cook up a storm
“Creative cooks to produce three substantial, from-scratch meals per day for groups of five to 35. Successful candidates must be able to travel and remain away from home for up to two months; work, standing, 12 to 13 hours per day, seven days a week; plan menus and prepare meals to meet nutritional needs of…
MCC story examined from various angles
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) recently conducted a re-visioning process called New Wine/New Wineskins: Reshaping MCC for the 21st Century, to review various aspects of the organization. The essays in this collection continue this conversation of exploration of MCC’s work and purpose, and the relationship with its supporting congregations. In the second chapter, Esther Epp-Tiessen tells…
Ministries set to expand
Mennonite Savings and Credit Union recently gave a half-million dollars towards the new $12 million building project of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario at the latter’s Kent Avenue location. “We are putting our shoulder to the wheel,” said Brent Zorgdrager, the credit union’s chief executive officer, in announcing the gift to the MCC Ontario capital…
Credit union gives $1 million gift to Conrad Grebel
Susan Schultz Huxman, the newly installed president of Conrad Grebel University College, called it a “transformative gift, the largest single gift in Conrad Grebel’s history.” And it was especially fitting on the eve of Remembrance Day. It was with a great deal of excitement that Mennonite Savings and Credit Union of Kitchener, Ont., gave $1…
MC B.C. relinquishes title to Olivet Church
One chapter of the Mennonite Church British Columbia story came to a close on Nov. 5 when delegates voted at a special meeting to return the title for former member Olivet Mennonite Church back to the congregation. Olivet had withdrawn from MC B.C. in 2007 and had requested the transfer of title, held in trust…
Observing Advent
As an archivist, I’m curious about history and trends, and changes in the way Mennonites live and worship. At this time of year, my curiosity turns toward Advent. How has our approach to the season changed over time? In my own lifetime, I have sensed a growing emphasis on the seasons of the Christian calendar,…
The give and take of compromise
It was a difficult family matter and it called for our best conflict-resolution skills. In the end, we reached a compromise, a good solution, and the best we could manage given the circumstances. Here’s what happened. Our sister-in-law died suddenly of a heart attack. She and her family lived several hundred miles away, and we…
‘I’m the Mother Jesus now’
Christmas came early at our house in Winnipeg this year. Most likely because now that we’re retired, my husband and I again have the opportunity of looking at the world through a child’s eyes while babysitting our two-year-old granddaughter, Rielle Goulet, twice weekly. And that includes not limiting birthdays—or other celebrations—to a particular day or…
Enduring words for Advent
“Why do the nations so furiously rage together, and why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed” (Psalms 2:1-2; Acts 4:25-26) This famous biblical text set to music in Handel’s Messiah is my favourite epiphany…
