Roadblocks for Christmas
On his way to church last Christmas Eve, Todd Hanson found the police had erected roadblocks to facilitate crowd control. Hanson lives in Chengdu, China, where he and his wife Jeanette are Mennonite Church Canada workers, teaching and providing Anabaptist resources to Chinese students and church leaders. He arrived an hour-and-a-half before the service began…
New source documents in Mennonite history
What happens when an ethno-religious group feels their way of life is threatened? For over a century, before the October 1917 revolution in Russia, Mennonites in Ukraine had considerable independence in managing their own villages, churches, schools, and communities. As this way of life was threatened by a new Soviet regime, they sought a strategy…
Congolese flee as rebel army controls city
Many of the people displaced when rebel group M23 recently took control of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo had already been displaced a number of times earlier this year, says an MCC worker
Housing project visualizes new model of care
Over the last number of years the St. Clair O’Connor Community (SCOC) Board has reviewed and renewed its mission statement and constitution. Through these evaluations many questions were raised about this multi-generational housing project that currently has residents from young children to those over 100 years old. The St. Clair O’Connor Community is a not-for-profit…
The paths and ditches of Biblical interpretation
Path # 8: We are part of a larger story of “God’s love affair with the world.” By Willard Metzger, Being a Faithful Church Task Force member “Scripture calls us to remember that we are a part of a larger story of ‘God’s love affair with the world.’ The Gospel’s command to go and baptize…
Is theology biblical?
In our denomination the academic discipline known as theology is given a lofty position. But when I look at the influences that have formed me as a Christian, theology is just one among many.
A funeral state of mind
At the risk of sounding creepy, I like the way we Mennonites do funerals. Specifically, I like the way people act during the funerals and for a few hours after funerals. If only we could stay forever in a funeral state of mind. We don’t speak ill of the guest of honour, which is an…
A gospel shaped for me?
There’s no end of hand-wringing these days in our churches of how to keep young adults interested. The “next” generation is leaving the church faster than hockey fans from a lockout and we’re all asking why. Don’t get me wrong, it’s crucial to follow this unsurprising trend (#weshouldhaveseenthiscoming), but there is also a subtle danger:…
Readers write
Continue the critique Re: “‘Political reminder’ disturbing,” Editorial (Nov. 12, 2012, page 2).
