The future of MCC
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has long been part of the DNA of the North American Anabaptist church, linking us to the world and providing a sense of relation to “the least of these.” It has served as an informal seminary, immersing thousands of us in realities that have enriched us and, in turn, enriched our…
Young people—our national treasure
Chris Brnjas, a young pastor from Ontario and a delegate to the Global Youth Summit held prior to Mennonite World Conference assembly last month, came back with a reminder that we are changing from an old, well-worn paradigm that “young adults are the future of the church” to the new and more encompassing “young adults…
Can sex with a pastor be an affair?
(The following article discusses a difficult topic in story form. All characters are fictional, although the events referred to are based on an amalgamation of true experiences.) She went to her pastor for advice, not sex. Another woman accepted her pastor’s invitation to chair a committee he oversaw, not an invitation to be sexually preyed…
Readers write: August 31, 2015 issue
Mennonites should denounce Canadian arms sales Peter McKenna, chair of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island, questions the Canadian arms deal with Saudi Arabia in an article in The Chronicle Herald published June 9. He quotes from Michael Harris’s polemical book, Party of One that Preston Manning said, “Words don’t mean much…
Engaging change, pursuing the Spirit
Life is never static. As I transition from eleven years of leadership with Mennonite Church Canada into a season of semi-retirement and new opportunities, I’m struck by the parallels between the endemic and essential aspects of change in personal life and in church life. In fond farewell, I offer a few reflections on change for…
Tribes
On a recent visit to extended family, I greeted my nephew’s wife Emily and their year-old son Kenneth. She immediately thrust her child out to me, introducing him to his “auntie from away.” Like a thirsty desert traveller, I drank in the sweetness of the youngest family member, who settled without protest into my eager…
Ripples of generosity
Hollywood loves a good surprise ending. My wife and I experienced that first-hand when we recently watched the Nicholas Sparks film, The Longest Ride. It is a romance with parallel storylines involving a modern-day young couple whose lives are interrupted by the discovery of each other, and an old man, who recounts his undying love…
Sunday School in 1980
A group of children from Orchard Park Bible Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., carry signs celebrating the 200th birthday of Sunday school as Kathy and Alfred Guenther present keepsakes to the children. In 1780, Robert Raikes started Sunday school in Gloucester, England, as a way to teach lower-class children morals and religion. Although Sunday school is…
Fast food church isn’t good for our health
There seems to be a growing interest in the “slow church” movement as an alternative to “fast food church.” What is fast food church? Sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society (1993) claims the fast-food industry has become the defining paradigm for more and more sectors of western society and increasingly the…
