Facing the mental health frontier
All the fear, stigma and social prejudice that surrounds mental illness recently surfaced again in the media when a review board granted Vince Li temporary passes to take supervised walks in Selkirk, Man., where he is hospitalized. Li made headlines about four years ago with the horrific psychosis-induced beheading of a fellow bus passenger. Chris…
Native Ministry becomes Indigenous Relations
Mennonite Church Canada’s Native Ministry has changed its name to Indigenous Relations effective immediately.
Indigenous day school survivors initiate class action lawsuit
Official government apologies and the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process do not include all prior students of government-funded, church-run schools for Indigenous Peoples, a handful of which have associations with Mennonite communities. To date, pre-1970s indigenous day school students—whether attending schools on or near a first nation community—remain unacknowledged. They are banding together…
Where are Mennonites at the TRC?
“The stories are horrific. You can’t listen to them without a sick feeling of disbelief rising in your stomach. It’s easy to tell yourself that, because you were not personally involved, you have no blame for what happened. But the feeling of guilt persists.” Willard Metzger, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada, describes his experience…
Walking the talk on reconciliation
How can Canada’s churches move past their residential school history into a positive relationship with Indigenous Peoples? That was one question asked during The Meeting Place conference in Toronto, hosted by the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre with support from the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) earlier this month. The event featured statement…
U.S. pastor elected as next MWC president
It took three impromptu songs to count the ballots and confirm the results, but Anabaptist leaders from around the world elected J. Nelson Kraybill as president-elect of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) at the organization’s General Council meetings from May 20 to 27 in Basel. Kraybill is a pastor at Prairie Street Mennonite Church, Elkhart, Ind.,…
‘The gift we hold together’
In three presentations at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) General Council meetings last month, theologians and historians revisited the Anabaptist vision in a global context and sought input from meeting participants. Growing out of conversations at Assembly 16 in Asunción, Paraguay, in 2009, the series of three papers sought to respond to a call for…
A long way home
Walking along the bank of the Limmat River, Thioro Bananzoro ponders the challenges Anabaptists have turned into opportunities over the last five centuries.
Speaking of inheritance
Wills and estate planning are hot topics of conversation, and while it may seem like we hear about them a lot these days, it is certainly not new news, either in content or importance.
I am a multi-lane bridge
In the fall of 2010, congregations in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick expressed yearning for a stronger multi-lane bridge of connection with the wider church—namely Mennonite Church Canada and MC Eastern Canada. One year later, I am helping to build that bridge. The role of church engagement minister may be new, but bridge-building dates back…
