New moderator brings ‘non-anxious presence’
As a busy professional engineer and a young father, Calvin Quan’s days are full, yet he is ready and willing to serve as Mennonite Church Canada’s new moderator. Where does he find the time and energy for national church leadership during a season of uncertainty and change? “God provides in unexpected ways,” says Quan. “I’ve…
Taking a chance on Menno-poly
With special “Menno-poly” Chance cards, five different Monopoly boards scattered throughout Saskatoon and fun team challenges, the Mega Menno Monopoly Rally kick-off got groups excited for another year of youth events in Saskatchewan. The event took place on Sept. 9, 2016, at Mount Royal Mennonite Church, with about 40 youth and sponsors from eight different…
Regehr named Future Directions transition director
Keith Regehr, a managing partner working in the field of conflict resolution and restorative justice for the L3 Group in Kitchener, Ont., formerly known as Associates Resourcing Churches, has been named the new transition director for Mennonite Church Canada, according to a new website of the national church’s Future Directions Task Force. A teacher in…
Yee resigns pastoral role
Kuen Yee, pastor of English ministries at Edmonton Vietnamese Mennonite Church, has resigned her three-quarter-time position effective Oct. 31, 2016. Yee is Chinese and has an Alliance Church background. In September 2012, she began serving as the pastor of English ministries with Vietnamese Mennonites. She formerly served as a lay pastor at Edmonton Chinese Alliance…
Camp Koinonia 50th anniversary snapshots
Molly Schaeffer, standing rear, one of this summer’s resident managers, acts as emcee for Camp Koinonia’s 50th-anniversary celebration on Oct. 2, 2016. Close to 150 people gathered for the event, which included camp activities like wall climbing, ziplining, canoeing and pontoon boat rides that were supplemented by tours and cinnamon buns in the afternoon. (Mennonite…
‘Our family is here’
Elaine Hofer and Paul Waldner are members of Green Acres Colony, near Wawanesa, Man. Their Hutterite colony, along with Enes and Fata Muheljic from Wawanesa, worked with Mennonite Central Committee Canada to sponsor a family from Syria. Hofer writes in her journal about the day they met Reyad Alhamoud, Najwa Hussein Al Mohamad and their…
A friend to the larger church
As a young girl in Pennsylvania, where she was born, Janet Ranck’s interest in missions and supportive missions was nurtured by her family. Her father gave a house to the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions to house missionaries on furlough in the United States. These missionaries shared many stories of their work in East Africa,…
Pastoral transition in Ontario – David Lewis
David Lewis began as the intentional interim minister of Niagara United Mennonite Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Sept. 4, 2016. Lewis has a bachelor of theology degree from Canadian Bible College (now Ambrose University) and has also completed several courses at Canadian Theological Seminary and Tyndale Seminary. He is certified in leadership coaching and is trained…
An insider’s story of the Amish beard cutters
The strange case of the Amish beard cutters five years ago thrust a normally quiet American community into the national spotlight. The bizarre attacks seemed so out of character for a Christian community whose traditions emphasize nonviolence and forgiveness. Now, five years after those attacks, a new Herald Press book—Breakaway Amish: Growing Up with the…
Learning from the ‘teachers of trust’
If a person has a body that is physically and intellectually disabled, is it ethically right to use technology to keep that body small and childlike so that it is easier to care for? As Jason Reimer Greig addresses this question, he explores the meaning of life. He argues that, while modern society has come…
