Evangelism that cares
The 1973 motto for the annual Conference of the United Mennonite Churches of B.C. was “Evangelism that cares.” Sessions were hosted by two churches in Vancouver: First United Mennonite and Mountainview Mennonite. The opening speaker asked, “Are we evangelists who care about people in the city? Often we see the city as a place to…
Riverton Fellowship Circle’s legacy lives on
When the soft cloud of an expired dandelion explodes, the flower is gone, but the seeds that have spread far and wide soon erupt into new life. So it is with the recently closed Riverton Fellowship Circle. After 35 years of worshipping together, the church decided to close its doors. But its legacy will live…
‘A matter of principle’
Mennonite Church Canada is backing up the establishment of a new Sustainability Leadership Group (SLG) with a $220,000 upgrade to its head office in Winnipeg. The goals of the new group were approved by MC Canada’s Joint Council in January 2020. Based on a report to Joint Council in October, the volunteer group will make…
Scholar researches coverage of sexual violence in Mennonite church press
In her recent research Carol Penner surveyed how the church periodicals, Gospel Herald, The Mennonite, and Canadian Mennonite reported on sexual violence from 1970 to the present. What she found became the subject of the annual Benjamin Eby Lecture, which features research of a Conrad Grebel University College faculty member. Penner is an assistant professor…
Building relationships through online campus ministry
Stress, anxiety and loneliness are among the many challenges that university students face during this era of remote learning and physical distancing. In past years, Inter-Mennonite Chaplaincy Association (IMCA) operated a welcoming space known as the Menno Office on the University of Manitoba campus. It was a place where students from various backgrounds and academic…
Strengthening faith for the coming year
When a new year begins, many people resolve to lose weight or begin exercising. But the dawning of a new year is also a good time to consider improving one’s spiritual fitness. Josh Wallace, who is Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s church engagement minister, says spiritual practice is essential to a healthy faith. “Our lives depend on…
When change is your only option
When the pandemic hit in March, Chris and Laura Mullet Koop, who own and operate Elmwood Farms Inc., were profoundly impacted. Their farm, located in Jordan, Ont., in the designated green belt area on the Niagara escarpment, is an egg production and grape-growing enterprise, started by Chris’s family in 1932. The farm has seen many…
Pastor addresses radio audience about church gatherings
With a message of “Love your neighbour as yourself,” a Mennonite Church B.C. pastor reached a wide audience on the radio with a message about in-person church gatherings. On a recent call-in talk show on radio station CKNW, broadcast from Vancouver across the Fraser Valley, senior pastor Frank Berto, of Living Hope Christian Fellowship in…
