Exploring the Anabaptist family online
As a self-described church nerd, I love to learn about my larger church family, and I’ve found much to explore online related to the Anabaptist-Mennonite world. I’m curious about my faith family’s projects past and present; I appreciate hearing stories of faithfulness and failure; I gain insight into the values and vision that have guided…
Diversity in our unity: Belonging to each other in the body of Christ
When I was a young adult volunteer in Jamaica, part of Mennonite Central Committee’s Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program, I brought a pie to a Mennonite church-sponsored baking competition and was disqualified because my mango pie did not fit the unstated criteria of being a sweet potato pudding. I realized that day my definition…
Finding redemptive peace in Revelation
The idea that Christ will return someday “riding on a horse, galloping through town and lopping off heads, is a blatant misreading of what is going on here,” writes Jeremy Duncan about the book of Revelation. He argues that this final book of the New Testament must be read through the lens of Jesus as…
Myanmar church growing, though half its members displaced
Roughly half the members of the Bible Missionary Church (BMC), a Mennonite denomination in Myanmar, are now displaced. An estimated 415 families, or 2,000 people, have fled to the jungle or elsewhere in the vicinity of the border with India to escape escalating civil unrest. Amos Thang Chin, president of BMC, said via video…
Mennonite Brethren leaders remove section of book
Controversy over a new book commissioned by the Mennonite Brethren (MB) Historical Commission has resulted in attention drawn to the very thing church leaders were probably hoping to keep out of sight. When On Holy Ground: Stories By and About Women in Ministry Leadership in the Mennonite Brethren Church was launched in June, it…
Looking back, looking forward
Danforth Mennonite Church is a small, urban congregation on the Danforth in Toronto. In late June, we met in person and virtually to celebrate 115 years as a congregation. It was also a special time to recognize our congregational transition following the retirement of our long-time pastor, Tim Reimer. Our interim pastor, Stephen Reist, led…
Connections, cleanup and construction in Japan
Gerald and Rie Neufeld, who left Canada for Japan last year, are taking an active part in the life of Japanese churches while still relating to their Surrey, B.C., congregation, where Gerald previously pastored. In a recent report, he writes: “As of the beginning of April, we have finally officially begun working with…
MCC Alberta encourages refugee sponsorship
“I have learned that there is an overwhelming amount of need and suffering in this world. It is not up to us to solve every problem out there, but we can start by helping one person,” says Jackie Karau, the migration and settlement program associate for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta. She has experience in…
Music builds bridges to Africa
A chance connection on social media led Heidi Epp, a music teacher from B.C., to travel to Africa this summer to teach music and peace and conflict transformation. Kendri Mastaki Mushagalusa, founder and director of Peace Foundation DRC and the Peace Music Academy in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), had invited Epp,…
