Celebrating the good
The March 15, 2020, entry in our household calendar reads: “We started COVID-19 social distancing today.” It’s been one year since the worldwide community began confronting the reality of the latest coronavirus. In the past twelve months, this pandemic has brought confusion, fear, anger, illness, death and more. No need for details—you know what I’m…
The power of their faith
When you consider Jesus’ three-year ministry, which specific events come to mind? Which of his actions inspire you the most? When I was in seminary, one assignment was to pick one of the gospels and to identify every encounter Jesus had in that gospel. We were asked: What was the person’s presenting problem? What would…
Readers write: March 1, 2021 issue
A sombre revelation for a former neighbour Re: “ ‘What will happen to us now?’ A son recalls his mother’s experience of the 1918 pandemic,’ ” Jan. 18, 2021, page 24. Living at the parsonage in Osler, Sask., from age 6 to 12, with my own grandparents back in Manitoba, Maria Buhler was our neighbour and she…
Raising reconciliation from the dead
“Reconciliation is dead.” I saw that stark message on a sign at the Landback Camp in Victoria Park in Kitchener, Ont., in June 2020. Local Indigenous people established the camp as part of a larger effort to assert their presence and reclaim their space on the Haldimand Tract in Ontario. As chair of the Truth…
Vaccine inequities
I struggle often with my relative wealth and privilege. Working with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for 20-plus years helped give me something “to do” to address inequities in our world. Working with Mennonite World Conference (MWC) makes me even more aware of the inequities of wealth and privilege, and how we might respond as the…
Speculating about berry-filled trees
A few years ago I was trekking through a desolate, snow-filled forest, enjoying the spacious tranquility of a crisp winter hike, when I came upon a tree buzzing with activity and life. There were well over a hundred little birds gathered in and around a relatively small tree less than 10 metres ahead of me.…
Pain and potential
After a long period of waiting, we learned in December that a COVID-19 vaccine had been approved and distribution was beginning. We were told that, by the beginning of September, we all should have received the vaccine, and life can begin to return to “normal.” “Normal” might be once again gathering as a church community,…
Fellowship is stronger than lockdowns
“Together on [Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday], we feel connected to our brothers and sisters all over the world,” said Jannie Nijwening, pastor at Doopsgezind Gemeente Zaanstreek in the Netherlands. Around the globe on Jan. 24, congregations in the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) family celebrated Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday as “an opportunity to remind our communities…
Join the crowd
Fifteen congregations have launched new websites through the Mennonite Church Canada congregational website hub. “On the one hand, it’s hard work but it’s creative work,” says Rachel Siemens, pastor of Carman (Man.) Mennonite Church, whose website launched in August 2020. “What kind of images do we use, what do we say about us, what are…
