Young Mennonites ride for refuge
The grey sky has the look of impending rain, and 50-kilometre-per-hour winds whip around the Markham (Ont.) Mission Church parking lot. Instead of sleeping at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning—or at least playing video games in pyjamas—eight youths mount their bicycles on Oct. 15 and prepare to cycle 25 km in support of refugees…
Students advocate for the sexually marginalized
Life is difficult, especially for those who don’t fit in with the norm or who are considered minorities. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer (LGBTQ) community is struggling with being misunderstood, often times by Christians. Therefore, some students from the Mennonite community have taken it upon themselves to provide support and care for LGBTQ individuals…
Fall 2011 Listing of Books & Resources
Theology, spirituality 1,2,3 John, Believers Church Bible Commentary. J. E. McDermond. Herald Press, 2011, 344 pages. This is the 24th volume of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series. Ecclesial Repentance: The Churches Confront Their Sinful Pasts. Jeremy M. Bergen. T&T Clark International, New York, N.Y., 2011, 338 pages. Bergen explores public apologies made by churches…
The Bible and the billionaire
Billionaire media titan Rupert Murdoch has made headlines over the phone-hacking scandal that forced him to shut down his British tabloid, News of the World. But few people know that News Corp, the company Murdoch heads, also owns Zondervan, the world’s leading Bible publisher. News Corp, which took in $32.7 billion last year, also owns…
Capitalism under an imperialistic logic
Todd Gordon’s Imperialist Canada is not theology, nor is it written for or about the church. And while Mennonites are nowhere mentioned within its pages, the content of this book should be of great interest to Canadian Mennonites. This work is an attempt to demonstrate that Canada operates under an imperialist logic and practice. Popular…
A new publishing day
From today’s news: Book sales in the U.S. are down 9 percent. Amazon reported that sales of e-books exceeded paper copies in the previous 12 months. Apple exceeded all expectations by selling more than nine million tablets. Smart phones will soon outsell PCs. It’s a daunting, challenging and scary time to be in the media…
Speaking to people through music
“I never had a question. There was never an alternative. I kind of envied the people who had to figure out what they had to do in their careers and lives. Me, it was clear as a bolt of lightning. It was the one thing I knew I had to follow and I was passionate…
Can ‘free’ speech be ‘hate’ speech?
Granted permission to present oral arguments by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v. William Whatcott case, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada—whose membership includes Mennonite Church Canada—on Oct. 12 argued “that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to freedom of religion, conscience and expression to all…
EMU honours Nobel laureate
Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, a recent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was honoured for her devotion to peace and relief of suffering on Oct. 16 at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). “From the moment I was announced as one of the core recipients of the Noble Peace Prize, every night and morning I say my…
Letters to my sister
With this issue, we begin a three-part series of back-and-forth letters between two elderly twin sisters, Faith Elaine Linton and Joyce Gladwell, on the topic of homosexuality. Elaine, who is preparing to give a seminar on the subject, begins, to which Joyce responds. Joyce and Elaine were born in 1931 in Jamaica. They were educated…
