Beyond ourselves
As I write, my household is entering into our fourth week of physical distancing. Facing the fast-spreading and potentially deadly coronavirus, my spouse and I sit in a comfortable house, with a dependable supply of food and are thankful for good sanitation. We have books, music and movies. We’re still employed, and we’re connecting digitally…
Well rooted, well winged
For most of us, the biblical canon with its 66 “books” has always been a given, inherited from the past, our parents and churches. We have not concerned ourselves very much with it, even though we may have heard that the Catholic version of the Bible has more “books” in it than the Protestant version. …
Readers write: April 13, 2020 issue
Reader was ‘struck by’ Easter feature’s deficiencies Re: “Out of holy weakness, mysterious power arises,” March 16, page 4. I am thankful for this article and the attempt to imagine how to talk to 12-year-olds about the crucifixion. It struck me, though, that none of the responses mention the fact that the focus was on…
In uncharted waters
As with everybody else, my life and work these past few weeks have been a scramble to adjust and respond to the ever-evolving pandemic that has now hit us here in Canada as well. I am a pastor in a local congregation but I also work part-time for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, offering support and…
Mennonite resistance
Tourists attempt to photograph boys outside of the Elmira Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse, circa 1970. The boys are using a hand mirror to thwart their efforts. The photo appeared in the local newspaper with the caption “Mennonite Resistance.” After the Second World War, urban Canadians embraced rural tourism. What do you think they were looking…
How broad is salvation?
Someone told me recently that they had been asked to share their faith journey in a Sunday morning church service. The invitation, however, came with an addendum: “Don’t talk about universalism.” At the end of that conversation, I reached for my phone dictionary for a definition. “Universalism” is “a theological doctrine that all human beings…
The public good in a time of pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic feels surreal. Streets of our cities are nearly empty, even at rush hour. Kids are home, schools have gone online, and some workers log in from home after many years of regular commutes to an office. And huge numbers of workers have been laid off. This column was written long before you…
Smudged with humanity
It often feels like the God I encounter in Scripture is a completely different God than the one I profess to follow and worship. In Jeremiah 45, God speaks relatively tenderly to the Israelites displaced after the exile, saying: “Do not fear . . . I will surely save you. . . . Jacob will…
Mennonite encounters with contemplative prayer
Doug Klassen, who now serves as Mennonite Church Canada’s executive minister, confessed to a fellow pastor that he couldn’t pray for more than 10 minutes. “I came to a place where I kept running into myself when I was praying,” Klassen recalls of his early days as a youth pastor. “I’d make my request, then…
