Are you prepared to die?
Recently I sat in an audience of several hundred Christian communicators and watched the feature film, Silence, by accomplished American director Martin Scorsese. The movie was released in January, but—movie buffs that we are—my husband and I did not race out to see it in the local theatre. The subject is martyrdom. Based on the…
Going further together
To put names and faces to these partnerships, Canadian Mennonite’s correspondents across the country have profiled Witness workers and the churches that support them. Following are stories from B.C. and Alberta. You can read stories from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Eastern Canada here. By Tim Froese, Mennonite Church Canada Partnerships among congregations have been the basis of…
Readers write: July 3, 2017 issue
Speaker sets the record straight on the Ziffernsystem Re: “Singing by the numbers,” May 22, page 32. It was good to see a report on my participation in the annual meeting of the Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan. However, the report presents a somewhat confusing picture of my message. Perhaps the simplest way to approach…
Paddling rough waters
I’m told that white-water rafting requires four simple considerations. They are simple but they are very important: Rest during the calm spots because there are always more rapids ahead. When a rock looms ahead, lean into it, not away from it. Whatever else you do, keep paddling. If you fall in the water, let everything…
Tradition or traditionalism?
How do we know when tradition is helpful or harmful? How do we know when tradition breathes life and hope into the people of God? Or when it becomes a barrier to the leading of the Holy Spirit for our time? This is a critical matter the church must be constantly discerning. Is tradition serving…
Pies bring a message of encouragement
Tim Sauer is known as the “pie man” because every now and then he shows up at places like the thrift shop or House of Friendship in Kitchener, Ont., with a pie for volunteers or staff. His gifts of pie are meant to bring a message of encouragement, to say, “You’re doing important work.” Sauer…
Tim’s rhubarb pie
Tim Sauer, who is known as the “pie man,” bakes at least 200 pies a year that he gives away to encourage volunteers and those who work in church-related organizations. This is his recipe for rhubarb pie, a favourite of John Neufeld, executive-director of House of Friendship in Kitchener, Ont. (See more of Tim’s story…
Tractor and binder
The Voth family in the Steinbach, Manitoba, area on the farm with tractor and binder in the 1940s. August is a busy harvesting time for farmers and gardeners with eyes on the upcoming fall and winter. Farming has changed dramatically in the past decades but remains the backbone to feeding the country and beyond.…
Letting all our gifts bloom
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.…
