Partnership provides ‘exciting opportunity’ to address affordable housing
The need is great. Six thousand people wait for affordable housing in Waterloo Region. Local government is committed to creating 25,000 new housing units in the next five years, but Karen Redman, the regional chair, acknowledged in a Dec. 24, 2020, Kitchener Today article, “I don’t think we can possibly move fast enough . .…
‘Meet you at the manger’
In the early morning of Dec. 25, 2020, still dark and with snow on the ground, a small group of people gathered in front of Yarrow United Mennonite Church to re-enact the first Christmas. This was the sixth time for “Meet You at the Manger,” an early-morning Christmas service designed and led by Heidi Epp…
‘What will happen to us now?’
COVID-19 has given Jake Buhler pause to reflect on his family history and how it has been shaped by pandemics. In 1918, when both the Spanish flu and tuberculosis were wreaking havoc in South Russia, Buhler’s mother Maria was an 11-year-old girl growing up in the Mennonite village of Grigoriewka. She was the second of…
‘The show must go on’
Christina Carpenter Are traditional school productions a thing of the past? Or can the authentic experience still be delivered virtually? One of the traditions at Menno Simons Christian School has been the Christmas production put on by the Grade 5 class at the school. The torch is passed on yearly to this class, an opportunity…
In moments of connection, the technology disappears
On Wednesdays at Conrad Grebel University College, a group of students, faculty, and staff choose to gather in the chapel for a worship service. In light of the pandemic, services have moved online. “Early in the fall, we offered a hybrid version of chapel, where we could be in person and online at the same…
Grade-based programs place value on interdisciplinary, cross-curricular thinking
RJC High School runs three grade-based programs that focus on interdisciplinary, cross-curricular thinking: The Imagine program is a peacebuilding program that encourages Grade 10 students to reflect on the challenges of the world through hands-on learning experiences. Thrive, a relationship-development program, helps Grade 11 students pursue holistic student health through positive relationships with God, each…
Practising hope
People who arrived on the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) campus last fall were greeted by singing, soaring not through the windows of the music wing, but from outside. In order to create a safe environment during COVID-19 but still continue voice lessons, CMU scheduled them outside. This is just one of the many ways faculty…
Rockway raises $25,000 for food drive
The annual Christmas Food Drive at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate is a big deal. It starts in November with a kick-off chapel and fun incentives. Normally, students collect non-perishable food for the House of Friendship, a local organization that provides Christmas food hampers for people living on low income. This year, the need was greater, but…
Humbled by grace and generosity
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Back in March 2020, when we first shut down for the pandemic, our student body spent some time reflecting on this verse: God as our refuge and strength. It was an opportunity to pause and think beyond what was directly…
