A new call for MC Canada
The Earth is in trouble. As I write, international leaders, scientists and activists are meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, a forum discussing actions the worldwide community must take to address the ongoing effects of climate change, effects that threaten every creature on our planet. Even as world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic,…
Advent and idolatry
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year, so it would be appropriate to greet each other with the recognition that a new year has begun. Advent is the most Jewish of Christian seasons. Yet we are accustomed to approaching Advent in a way that strips it of its Jewish character,…
Readers write: November 8, 2021 issue
Readers respond to ‘living simply’ Re: “What is enough?” Sept. 13, page 11. Randy Haluza-DeLay beautifully draws our attention to a way of life marked by enough—sufficiency. Without discerning what is a need and what is a want, we will never have a sense of sufficiency, and thus no sense of abundance either! Thanks. I…
We are a global family of faith every day
I remember a conversation with my mom when I was a child. “Why is there a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day, but no Children’s Day?” I asked. My mom’s answer was rather predictable, “Every day is Children’s Day!” Across Canada, on Oct. 24, we celebrated Mennonite Church Canada’s International Witness Sunday. This was a…
Gluten free
“Gluten free” proclaims the sign on one of these desserts at a Waterloo North Mennonite Church potluck in 2011. How have the offerings at your congregational potluck changed over the years? What traditions have endured? If you could convey the history of your congregation through a potluck table, what dishes would be on it? For…
But then there’s those snakes
Our lives—Holly’s and mine, that is—changed to a significant degree. Our oldest granddaughter, Maeve, who is 19, has moved into our home. Maeve comes to us from Ontario, where she left her family behind to begin the next portion of her life. And it is good. Maeve is interesting, passionate, stubborn and opinionated. Yes, she…
Reading is (mostly) good
What is the most dangerous place in your community? The speaker at a large gathering of Christian university students queried us. “It is the library!” he answered. Not the power plant or the open construction sites or the places where nasty things happen? Libraries are full of books, the speaker explained. Books are full of…
Remembrance, regret, resolution
I miss my Opa. A few years ago, my daughter Ellie had a school assignment for Remembrance Day to to write about someone she remembered that served in the armed forces. She wrote about her great-grandfather (Opa). Helping her write a few short sentences about his life made me realize just how little I knew…
Two Vancouver churches revitalize through music
A church choir is a rarity these days when worship teams predominate; even more rare is one made up entirely of members under age 30 from two different congregations. But singing in a choir is exactly what young people ranging in age from 14 to their mid-20s, from Vancouver’s Chinatown Peace Church and Point Grey…
