No more of this!
One morning in the second full week of Lent, I woke up to the first sign of Easter. It had been a dreary season of violence. In the beginning of March, a shooter injured six people at a Chicago club. On March 15, in New Zealand, a gunman killed 50 worshippers in planned attacks at…
Consider it (re)settled
More than 12,500 refugees have been resettled in Canada by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) since it negotiated an agreement with the government on March 5, 1979. This historic agreement established the framework for private agencies to sponsor more than 327,000 refugees for resettlement in Canada in the last 40 years. A 1986 Lee family photo.…
Readers write: April 1, 2019 issue
Thoughts for the Easter season The season of Lent and Easter is a time of mystery and power. God is much bigger and more than a warm security blanket wrapping the Earth, and bigger than the whole solar system. In fact, it is not like God lives in some corner of the universe. Rather,…
Interdependence
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12, NIV). Most likely, you have heard these words during a wedding ceremony. Although they are fitting for the marriage context, I would suggest that this verse also speaks to our need for each other. In…
Graduating class
This adorable, and very formal, group is the “graduating class” of the Steinmann Mennonite Church Kindergarten in Baden, Ont., in 1964. The Kindergarten was started in 1962 by the married couples fellowship at Steinmann. Enrolment in the first year was 23; by 1964, it was 58. Groups for young couples, youth and children flourished in…
Can we talk about ageism?
A Winnipeg winter has many pleasures: plentiful sunshine, thick river ice for skating, cozy cafés and a wealth of artistic treasures. A Winnipeg winter is also long and challenging, hard on body and spirit. One of the ways I cope with winter is a trip to the spa, to soak in the hot mineral pool, sweat…
Equally welcome
The other day I hosted a diverse group of women from church: some single, some widowed, some married with kids, some married without kids, some in their 20s and some in their 80s. While sharing our joys and our struggles, we each honoured the unique life stories around the room and created a space for…
Confession as a personal spiritual practice
This Lenten season I find myself reflecting on the spiritual discipline of confession. What does a healthy practice of confession look like both individually and collectively? Confession played a huge part in my childhood faith. I was taught that you couldn’t pray or be right with God if you had unconfessed sin in your life,…
Considering bylaws and budgets
“We looked at the bylaws and asked, ‘Is this what we’re actually doing?’” said Tim Wiens. “Usually the answer was ‘No.’ ” Wiens was reporting to Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions, held March 8 and 9 at Waldheim’s Zoar Mennonite Church. He and Kirsten Hamm-Epp, regional church minister, were appointed to form an ad hoc…
