Sharing stories that spell MCC
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), and one Saskatchewan congregation got off to an early start in celebrating it. Osler Mennonite Church chose Jan. 26 as “MCC Sunday,” inviting MCC Saskatchewan executive director Eileen Klassen Hamm to be its guest speaker. Celebration organizers invited congregants to come to church dressed…
Making food stories meaningful
Mennonite farmers have a lot in common. They see themselves as stewards of the land, they live with uncertainties, and they take pride in what they produce, but they farm in dramatically different ways. At the annual Bechtel Lectures at Conrad Grebel University College, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, Mennonite farmers shared their diverse…
Congregation goes to the movies
Crossroads Community Church sees its presence in Chilliwack, British Columbia, as a ministry to the surrounding community. Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian minister who saw his children’s television program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, as a ministry. So when the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, featuring Tom Hanks as the revered public TV figure, was…
Who do you support when a community is divided?
“The province of British Columbia alongside Coastal GasLink are continuing their plans to build a pipeline through the unceded territories of the Wet’suwet’en. The five hereditary chiefs and land defenders of Wet’suwet’en have denied access to Coastal GasLink, fearing the pipeline will cause irrevocable ecological damage,” states a call to action for faith communities and…
Mennonite Women Canada disburses its final assets
In spite of the sadness involved in bringing the Mennonite Women Canada (MW Canada) organization to a close, Shirley Redekop, the final president, expressed confidence that “God is still at work in our midst—bringing forth new shoots, new growth and renewed purpose among women of faith.” The final meeting of this nationwide ministry was held…
Teaching peace across Asia and around the world
Name any region in Asia and chances are that Wendy Kroeker has done peace work there. Kroeker, an assistant professor of peace and conflict transformation studies at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg and the academic director of the Canadian School of Peacebuilding, has almost 30 years of experience mediating, teaching and peacebuilding in the Philippines,…
MC Canada announces Global Youth Summit 2021 delegates
Five young adults—one from each of Mennonite Church Canada’s regional churches—will represent the nationwide church at Global Youth Summit (GYS) 2021 in Salatiga, Indonesia. The Summit takes place from July 2 to 5, 2021, four days before the 18th Mennonite World Conference assembly. The event is for youth aged 18 to 30 and it provides…
Lighting a fire in children’s faith
Sitting around the campfire after saying goodbye to our final group of campers on the last night of the summer, the staff spent the evening reflecting on the summer and all that happened. We told stories and laughed about all of the hilarity that ensued over the previous 10 weeks. Sometimes we cried as we…
Living sanctuaries
Every night at Ontario Mennonite Music Camp we sing a closing song around the campfire to send campers off to bed. More often than not, it’s our favourite tune, “Sanctuary”: “O Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true / And with thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.”…
A path towards reconciliation
“Now I know what I should have been teaching.” These are the words of a retired history teacher after participating in a Kairos blanket exercise. As a blanket exercise facilitator, I am often struck by the insights of participants, adults and children alike. Three years ago, Willowgrove added the blanket exercise to its program in…
