The gifts of all
On March 8, 2021, International Women’s Day, I attended the celebration of life for Doris Gascho, who had died a week before, after many years of serving the church. Doris was a pastor in the mid-80s and early 90s and was the first woman to serve as conference minister of the Mennonite Conference of Eastern…
‘I have seen the Lord!’
Easter is a time to speak a message of lavish grace, of love personified and of unending hope. This is a day to leave guilt, shame and fear tangled up with the linen strips inside that empty tomb. Our Lord has risen! Hallelujah! Today we ask the questions: Who is this Jesus who loved humanity…
Readers write: March 15, 2021 issue
History and generosity ‘should count for something’ Re: “MCC centralizing relief warehouse in New Hamburg,” Feb. 1, page 14. It was reported—as a “no-big-deal” item—that the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) warehouse in Plum Coulee, Man., will move to New Hamburg, Ont. I live in Plum Coulee, a town of about 1,000 people, and it is…
Beginning the journey in prayer
As the people of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, we’re going on a journey of courageous imagination. Over the course of the next year we will dream, imagine and listen to each other’s stories of faith as we seek to hear God’s voice and discern together where God is calling us in the years ahead. The…
Modern life
“The car [is] the child and charm of modernity,” writes sociologist Donald Kraybill. A century ago, this new technology became another dividing line between Mennonites who contested or accepted—even embraced—modern life. This photo of horse sheds outside Elmira Mennonite Church, Ont., in 1955, captures a moment of embrace. How will coming changes in transportation technology…
We are now family
Some years ago, the person who shares my life experienced a blip in her physical well-being. This resulted in Holly spending several days in hospital. One result of that experience was encountering a couple whom we will call “Bill” and “Anne.” They are, I suppose, about our age, which slots them into their seventh decade.…
Don’t be like Jonah
Jonah suddenly became a favourite book of mine after I went to Iraq. Forget the fish! The book is a comedic satire against ethnocentrism, nationalism and a narrow-minded exclusivity regarding God. In the story, the whiny fellow is sent 900 kilometres to Nineveh, now the site of Mosul, the second-largest city of Iraq. Nineveh was…
Like an adult on a spinning teacup
I love watching my kids twirl endlessly around at the park on those self-propelling spinners. It reminds me of my childhood spinning on tire swings until we were nearly sick, and then quickly jumping off and attempting to walk, looking like underaged drunken sailors. When I was a kid, I couldn’t understand why my dad…
Spontaneous joy in this time of pandemic
Louisa Adria, Foothills Mennonite Church’s congregational support worker, and Ruth Bergen Braun, communications coordinator of Mennonite Church Alberta, sparked joy when they spontaneously decided to do a photo shoot on Feb. 26, next to a brightly painted shipping container near downtown Calgary. Inspired by a random bunch of balloons left in the back of Adria’s…
