Broadening our prayers
As I began writing this, my Twitter and Facebook feeds reported news about a gun attack on an Egyptian bus carrying Coptic Christians. The world gasped and wept—once again. The people of Israel, Lebanon and Jordan struggle with the enormous challenge of caring for thousands of people fleeing violence in their neighbouring homeland. From the…
The view through a prison keyhole
Tony Deik experienced a dramatic return to faith when he was studying at Birzeit University in the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank. Raised Roman Catholic in Bethlehem, he had mostly abandoned that faith as he experimented with secular and New Age ideas instead. Still restless though, he decided to read the Gospel of John.…
Muddying the waters on Israeli divestment
Only one person voted against the Mennonite Church Canada Resolution on Palestine and Israel, but we all know the matter is more complex than that. Some Mennonites and others argue that the resolution is predictably polarizing and strategically bereft. In a spirit of diversity and understanding, I suspended my own bias and sought their views.…
What would you risk for peace?
In April 2017, more than 1,600 Palestinian political prisoners went on a hunger strike. As I write this article, strikers have refused food and have been drinking only salt water for the last 31 days. They are protesting being held without charge or trial, medical negligence, poor treatment and the lack of family visits. The…
Readers Write: June 19, 2017 issue
Random thoughts from a reader As I was reading “Be a CO at tax time,” April 10, page 4, I was a little confused. Is Mary Groh encouraging breaking the law in not paying taxes? I know what it means to have a balance with the Canada Revenue Agency. Once it starts calculating daily interest…
Don’t interrupt me
In many busy Canadian families, parents and siblings interrupt each other in mid-conversation. We want to get our point across quickly and efficiently. We want to get stuff done. Mennonite Church Canada is a busy family of congregations. We have ministry in our neighbourhoods, ill and dying people to attend to, and plans and hopes…
Holy sexuality
The irony wasn’t lost on me, or on others. At last summer’s Mennonite Church Canada assembly, people discussed, debated and discerned holy sexuality. Specifically, they considered, “Is there space in Mennonite churches for people who are in same-sex relationships?” The decision by that delegate body—after a six-year, highly participatory process—was yes. Let us provide church…
It’s better to give
My father is a very innovative man. Thirty-three years ago, he started a silo repair business. One of the reasons he is a successful entrepreneur is that he finds solutions to his clients’ problems, even if the requests are out of the ordinary. A couple of years ago, he had the opportunity to be innovative…
Rabbit Lake church
The Hoffnungsfelder Mennonite Church in Rabbit Lake, Sask., 1938. In 1941, 87 percent of Mennonites were rural dwellers. By 1971, the number crashed to 53 percent and has continued to decline. There has been a massive shift in Mennonite communities toward urbanization, bringing with it new challenges and opportunities. New ways are needed to bridge…
