Three congregations leave MC Eastern Canada
In September 2019, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada reported: “We announce with great sadness that River of Life, Calvary Church Ayr (Mennonite), and Milverton Mennonite Fellowship [all in Ontario] have left the MC Eastern Canada family. After healthy conversation with leadership from each congregation, we mourn their leaving and we bless and pray God’s best for…
Listening to those who have left
A Mennonite elder once told me, “We need to listen to people who leave the church.” John Reimer (a pseudonym) is one such person. A soft-spoken grandpa, he recently left a Mennonite Church Canada congregation that professes open-mindedness and inclusivity. I wanted to know why. Reimer had been at the church for a couple decades but…
Winnipeg church welcomes its neighbours
Every Sunday morning at Home Street Mennonite Church, two ushers hand out bulletins and seat guests for the worship service. But an hour earlier, a group of “Third Ushers” is already busy, welcoming in the church’s inner-city neighbours. Third Usher, now called Coffee & Conversation (C&C), has been running for 15 years, providing hospitality through…
B.C. congregations seek God’s voice in 2020
Congregations in Mennonite Church British Columbia are greeting the new year with efforts to deepen spirituality and to hear God’s voice more clearly through group study and Bible reading. Learning more about Jesus is the goal at Peace Church on 52nd in Vancouver for the new year. Members of the congregation are challenged to read…
St. Jacobs Mennonite stages ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’
Some 80 people from all ages were part of staging The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at St. Jacobs (Ont.) Mennonite Church on Dec. 21 and 22. The 1950s era story tells how the rough and tumble Herdman kids end up with all the main roles in the annual Christmas pageant, much to the chagrin of…
Family of artists share their work in new book
Many individuals dream of writing a book, but it’s not often that an entire family writes a book together. Three generations of artists from the Proudfoot family compiled a book of short stories, essays, paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints and poetry. It was published in February 2019 by Friesen Press. The idea began with Robert Proudfoot,…
RJC: Becoming a missional school
Rosthern Junior College has been a steadfast presence in Mennonite education for almost 115 years. However, decreasing enrolment has prompted the school’s administration and board to rethink what the school is all about. With a current enrolment of 64 students—compared to 150 or more from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, according to the…
Strangers become friends at college
My older sister met her best friend at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., in 2013. They were paired together as roommates for their first year, and lived together in their second and fourth years as well. I remember my sister coming home from school on the weekends and telling amazing stories about the…
Their stories showed me how to be brave
In the last few months with Mennonite Central Committee’s Serving and Learning Together program, I have thought often about how we all use stories to communicate. And how sometimes I have found myself wishing I could politely use a bookmark to pause someone’s story when I wasn’t that interested in it. I’ve agonized over accidentally…
‘Nobody is perfect and that’s okay’
I often get asked what draws me to work at a small private Christian school in Gretna, a small rural town in Manitoba. The answer is quite simple: because of the people. It’s not always easy, but I can always find ways to point towards God at work. Our hope at Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) is…
