Life together online
Since the middle of March, when church buildings closed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, I’ve been visiting many churches. Not in person, of course, but on the internet. Each week I click on the link to a worship service that a Mennonite congregation, or group of congregations, has prepared to share with members of…
The twilight of Mennonite radio
Manitoba’s airwaves are full of Mennonite radio. I began to notice this last year when I started hosting a radio program for Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), where I also work. Except for Manitoba, none of the regional churches within Mennonite Church Canada currently produce radio programming, according to their executive ministers. In fact, as best…
Readers write: June 22, 2020 issue
‘A wise investment’ in the future of church camps Re: “Testing the ties that bind,” April 27, page 2. It hit me when I read in the editorial that the financial fallout from COVID-19 may well mean the possible closure of some of our church camps, since they rely on revenues generated from programs that…
New CommonWord website launched
On June 1, CommonWord launched a new website at commonword.ca that is mobile-friendly, easily searchable and beautifully designed. Our goal is to make Anabaptist and related resources easily found for the pastor and the parishioner, the student and the casual reader, and have them available in multiple forms to buy, borrow or access online. Start…
Len Bechtel
Len Bechtel, front, is pictured with a portable saw he and other conscientious objectors (COs) designed near Vancouver during the Second World War. As oil supplies dwindled due to the war, this group of workers with mechanical aptitude in the Alternative Service program were pulled aside from forestry work to help supply Vancouverites with wood…
Learn, love, advocate
I was in Whistler, B.C., last week with my husband and kids, and we joined a Black Lives Matter protest in the village. My eight-year-old reminded us that we used to do this often when we lived in Manila in the Philippines. He recalled a story of how his brother had held a sign up…
Disillusionment and hope
When I preach I often reference verses in the Bible that talk about God’s intention that all nations, languages and tribes are called to worship God through Jesus. The Book of Acts is the story of the Jewish disciples relying on the power of the Holy Spirit and learning that the new church is relevant…
Rushi’s radiant smile
I was 7 when Rushi (a pseudonym) and his family moved into our neighbourhood. They were the first people of colour to move into the community, and nobody rolled out the welcome mat for them. As children, we picked up on the air of suspicion and hostility towards these “foreigners” and we acted accordingly. One…
Walking together at a distance
Following current physical-distance guidelines, the fifth annual Walk in the Spirit of Reconciliation was held in various parts of British Columbia over the final weekend of May. Although we walked apart, we did so in solidarity with our First Nations brothers and sisters whose families have been affected by the residential school system for many…
