Can church be more like camp?
Every winter, I hear a radio advertisement for a back-to-the-woods summer children’s camp in Ontario. The ad closes with the tagline, “You send us your child, and we’ll send you back a new one.” It’s a great slogan. It points out that renewal and transformation occur when people are pulled away from their daily routines…
Evil is right here with me
Something needs to be done about all the hate in the world. This morning I encountered no fewer than three pieces of media expressing incredulity that the internet seems not to have transformed humanity into an oasis of harmony and mutual understanding, but has, instead, degenerated into a cesspool of anger and ignorance. The headlines…
Readers write: February 18, 2019 issue
Colombian reader moved by CM feature article Re: “Holding hands with the FARC,” Jan. 7, page 4. I read this story with tears and with profound sentiments. I’m part of a Colombian generation that has lived a life tormented by a not-recognized civil war. My whole life was often crossed by news or sadness…
Deepening our walk with each other
During this past year, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan has focused on the theme of “Deepening our walk with Christ,” in the hope of increasing our openness to encounters with God’s presence in our lives. This theme grew out of an awareness that, if we desire to live well in this day of great turmoil and uncertainty,…
Chesley Lake accordion
An accordionist serenades a literary society meeting at Chesley Lake Camp in Ontario, in 1949. Chesley Lake was the first Mennonite church camp in Ontario and one of the first in Canada. Literary societies were common in Ontario Mennonite churches at the time, as social outlets and avenues for artistic expression. In today’s fast-paced world,…
‘I think I saw yellow’
I drove to the nursing home to visit a dear old friend. She was sleeping when I entered her room, so I pulled up a chair to wait. Waiting would not be a chore. As I gazed at her visage, relaxed in sleep, I explored memories of our friendship over several years. My friend had some…
Bible commentary geared for younger readers
Reading the Bible can be challenging; it is a complex collection of books written thousands of years ago in different cultures. The Bible Unwrapped has easy-to-read explanations for inexperienced readers to get a handle on how to make sense of it all. The author is a teaching pastor at a Mennonite church in Arizona and…
‘Conversation Circles’ offer encouragement, hope
Last fall, ignited by curiosity about what we would hear if we invited women to share their experiences of life within Mennonite Church Manitoba congregations, Mennonite Women Manitoba decided to host two Conversation Circles, one in Winnipeg and the other in southern Manitoba. Jayme Friesen, abuse response and prevention coordinator with Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba,…
‘This is what God calls us to do’
A group of churches in Markham is ready to break ground on its latest affordable housing project. Markham Inter-Church Committee for Affordable Housing (MICAH) is a group of 13 founding-member churches in the Markham area, including Hagerman Mennonite, Rouge Valley Mennonite and Wideman Mennonite. Since 1988, the committee has provided an estimated 5,000 homes in Markham,…
