Speakers announced for Amplify! youth gathering
Christine Kampen Robinson and Christy Anderson, both on the staff of Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, have been named as the keynote speakers for Amplify!, the nationwide youth gathering happening next summer at Camp Valaqua, near Water Valley, Alta., from July 31 to Aug. 4, 2022. Kampen Robinson is director of practicum and of the…
December patchwork
As the year 2021 winds down, this slightly distracted editor is trying to wrangle disparate ideas into a cohesive whole. What I offer here instead is a sort of patchwork quilt of thoughts, resembling the traditional coverlets created from fabric of varied colours, sizes and textures. Claiming the story Of all the symbols of Christmas,…
What if we stayed together?
What do we do when we disagree with people in our church? There are lots of reasons to disagree. We can disagree about how we talk about salvation, about who we should include or not include, about political views, or even about vaccination. Across North America, we see issues dividing congregations and conferences. When people…
Readers write: December 6, 2021 issue
A very big community of not-very-close friends Re: “Weak ties matter,” Sept. 27, page 11. It’s been a long time since I have been impacted by a column like Arli Klassen’s. I don’t think I have ever heard someone draw out the value of the church being a very big community of not-very-close friends. To…
Inspired by ‘this ground’
In 2015, some of the summer staff at Mennonite Church Manitoba’s Camps with Meaning wrote a song called “This Ground.” The song makes the simple observation that nature inspires us to pray. It encourages us to notice the beauty of creation all around us, hinting that there’s much to learn about God in the natural…
Alternative service camps
Alternative service camps during the Second World War brought young men from various traditions and regions together. Pictured, Reverend David P. Reimer of Manitoba, centre, is posing with conscientious objectors in Seebe, Alta. Reimer was secretary of the elders committee that advocated for exemption from military service but, after alternative service was mandated, the committee…
‘Bring what you have’
I was driving the night shift that week, hauling wood chips to the pulp mill in The Pas, Man. I pulled into the Esso C-Store in Nipawin, Sask., a little after 11 p.m., closing time. As I filled my mug, I apologized for keeping the clerk around so late. “Oh, no,” he assured me. “The…
It’s about flourishing
A reader who comes from outside the religious community asked what I meant by the term “flourishing” when I used it last month. I had written that God desires the flourishing of all peoples, especially the marginalized of our global world. In my view, flourishing means to be able to live the divinely desired fullness…
The waiting place . . .
In Dr. Seuss’s book Oh the Places You’ll Go there is a section about “the waiting place.” It is depicted as an undesirable and useless place to be. I wonder if our Advent waiting sometimes feels like that kind of waiting. I wrote a little poem in the style of Dr. Seuss about Advent waiting:…
