Readers write: May 25, 2015 issue
History of Niagara Township Credit Union clarified by a founder’s son Re: “‘Mennonite’ name should stay” letter, March 30, page 10. Albert Isaac’s comments about the Niagara Township Credit Union may confuse readers. In 1943, my father A. P. Regier convened a group in Niagara Township to explore the creation of a local credit union…
Mennonite Christians are unique
Just as there are Lutheran, Baptist and Anglican Christians, so there are Mennonite Christians. The name “Mennonite” is most appropriately used as an adjective rather than a noun. We are first of all Christians and secondarily a certain kind of Christian. Mennonite Christians hold many beliefs in common with other believers. For instance we believe…
MWC: a respite in a troubled world
The Anabaptist/Mennonite worldwide communion has come a long way since the first Mennonite World Conference some 90 years ago. Organized by Christian Neff, a German Mennonite pastor, only 100 persons attended that first gathering in 1925 in Basel, Switzerland. Estimates of the worldwide communion numbered 516,300, according to Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Most of…
We’re in this together
When I was called to serve on the Mennonite Church Canada General Board in 2006, church participation and financial giving were in slow decline. The looming threat of cutbacks further drained life from the overall system. In addition, signs of theological challenge were surfacing around matters of sexuality. These and other factors led to the…
Heaven on earth, wonders without end
“There’s a gift for you in my office,” my husband announced cheerily. “What?!?” I exclaimed, puzzled at such a development. He repeated the news and added, “It’s a dress to wear to the wedding.” “What?” I asked again. Now I was even more surprised, though a little, curious pleasure stirred inside me. I had been…
A severe case of ‘generosi-phobia’
On a sunny lunch break while attending high school, I went for my customary walk into town. A classmate drove up in his shiny two-door coupe and offered a ride. Because he had already offered rides to other students, I soon found myself in the back seat beneath a pile of humanity. I panicked. I…
Interdependency at the heart of MWC vision
One minute César García is talking with awe about a postmodern work of art in a thriving Amsterdam Mennonite church, and the next he’s speaking with similar awe about a Mennonite service in rural Malawi where the congregation has little more than a tree to meet under, a make-shift drum and the joy of the…
Moving thinward (Pt. 4)
One of my atheist friends told me about a unique encounter with a “holy” man that ignited her spiritual awakening. She met a Buddhist monk visiting the city she lived in, and her friend offered to tour him around for the day. They were amazed at the monk’s sense of wonder and childlike excitement, he…
Why Mennonites love their gardens
In the village of Neubergthal in southern Manitoba, gnarled cottonwoods with deeply grooved trunks line the village streets and cluster along the edge of farmyards. Cottonwoods here and in nearby towns bear nostalgic meaning for many Mennonites. According to local mythology, the cottonwoods are descended from Russian trees brought to Canada as saplings or seeds…
