What makes us Mennonite?
“Talking about ‘a’ Mennonite identity seems passé,” wrote Marlene Epp in 2018. Still, Epp, a member of a pre-eminent family of Mennonite historians, is more than willing to talk about Mennonite identity. Discussion of what holds us as Mennonites together does indeed seem clichéd. And impossible. We range from buggy drivers to prominent politicians. Our…
In a time of uncertainty
With the spread of the COVID-19 virus prompting provincial health authorities to recommend social distancing, including public gatherings not to exceed 250 people, Fraser Valley Mennonite churches scrambled to react appropriately for the third Sunday of Lent on March 15. Mennonite Church British Columbia’s chair, Gerry Grunau, sent a letter on March 13 to all…
Heading home early
When Pastor Siaka Traoré packed his bags for his trip to Canada and the United States in early March, it never crossed his mind that almost every event and visit he had planned would be cancelled. He had prepared to go Winnipeg; Edmonton; Seattle, Wash.; and Abbotsford, B.C., but only made it as far west…
‘I have hope now’
Twelve people from East Zorra Mennonite Church, near Tavistock, Ont., knew they would be impacted by their 10-day learning tour to the Philippines in early January. What they didn’t expect was how much their visit would impact the Indigenous people they met. “I have hope now,” one of the local coffee farmers told the group…
Looking forward during a time of transition
“Where are we headed? What are the challenges we are facing?” At the 2020 Mennonite Church Manitoba annual gathering, the regional church focused on these big questions it is addressing in the coming year. More than 170 attendees, including the highest delegate count in seven years, took part in the gathering at Altona Bergthaler Mennonite…
A time to reminisce
The Pacific Centre for Discipleship, which owns the Menno Simons Centre in Vancouver, has decided to sell the student building and prepare to build a larger student residence on the edge of the University of B.C. campus. At a “Farewell to Menno” on March 14 for alumni and supporters, Kevin Hiebert, the Centre’s board chair,…
‘Nunsense’ cooks up laughs for Grebel audiences
Conrad Grebel University College presented Nunsense, an off-Broadway hit musical comedy, over four days in late February. This comical tale was mounted as a fundraiser for Grebel’s Fill the Table campaign for the college’s kitchen and dining room expansion. Lisa Hagen, director and musical director of the show, took music courses at Grebel and returned…
A big heart filled with butter tarts
Barry Reesor is widely known for the generosity with which he shares his famous homemade butter tarts. He calls it his “butter-tart ministry.” Although he is a computer guy who works in network infrastructure, he also enjoys baking, and the coworkers at his office frequently benefit from his big heart. They recognize the white container…
A lifetime of taking pictures
Henry Harms once owned a thousand cameras. He still has a closet full of them. They bear witness to a life-long love of photography. Harms was 9 when he bought his first camera—a Baby Brownie Special. As a boy growing up on a farm near Hague, Sask., he would go to Saskatoon to watch ball…
Barry’s butter tart recipe
Read the story behind this recipe here. Pastry: 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ tsp. salt ¾ cup shortening ½ to ¾ cup ice-cold water Stir together the flour and salt and cut in shortening with a pastry blender until it is crumbly. Add the ice-cold water a little at a time, using just…
