Fanning Anabaptist fame
A photograph I took dominated the cover of the first issue of Canadian Mennonite 25 years ago. I took it on a Sunday morning, with the camera propped on the ledge of an empty balcony, overlooking the backs of people standing in prayer in a small church in a farming community half an hour outside…
Readers write: October 3, 2022 issue
Indigenous gifts to the world Re: “Get over being called a ‘settler’ ” letter, June 27, page 7. This letter writer suggests those of us who are descendants of settlers should ask ourselves how we have “benefited from colonialism.” We do indeed need to ask ourselves this question. But the letter writer has inspired me to…
A new chapter?
My family and I entered a new chapter this past week. Shortly after our fourth child was born, I stepped away from my career as a nurse to focus on our family and our family farm. It has been more than 20 years since I have been employed outside of the home, and our family…
Amish bicentennial
You are looking at one of the oldest original photographs in the Mennonite Archives of Ontario, likely taken in 1867. The father and daughter are John (or Jean) and Anna (“Annie”) Kennel. John was an Amish immigrant from France, like many of the first Amish settlers in Canada, who began arriving here 200 years ago.…
50 years of change
I was in Ottawa recently for the anniversary of the church that my parents started 50 years ago. In 1972, we were five families eager to start a new—and different—church in the east end of Ottawa. I was the oldest child among the five families, sometimes the babysitter for the others, and sometimes with the…
Water music for the soul
“Come to the water, living water. Come to the water, come all, singing.” These are the words of Voices Together No. 35, “Come to the Water.” For its composer, Carol Ann Weaver, the experience of finding living water has not only been metaphorical but also profoundly tangible. She explains: “In 2018, Lyle Friesen and I…
The Paradox of Enoughness
In an episode of the television show The Simpsons, Homer complimented his boss, Mr. Burns, on being the richest person he knew. Mr Burns replied, “Ah yes, but I’d trade it all away. . . for a little more.” This desire for more, no matter how much we have, is part of the human condition.…
Adding friends and funds
Shekinah Retreat Centre, located in the North Saskatchewan River Valley, hosted its annual Move-A-Thon fundraiser on Sept. 17, with 120 people participating in the volunteer-led event. Participants were invited to walk, bike, hike, paddle and even compete in a Spartan-style obstacle course event. More than $500 was raised for Shekinah. The eight-member planning committee has…
A walk through Mennonite history
A new trail, spanning almost 55 kilometres across southeastern Manitoba, has been created by a group of Mennonites. The Peace Trail was dreamed up and implemented by the EastMenn Historical Committee, a group under the umbrella of the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, along with community members volunteering on the Peace Trail working group. “It was…
Praising God in our neighbourhood
Three Mennonite Church B.C. congregations joined together for the annual Neighbourhood Fall Festival on Sept. 11. First United Spanish Mennonite, Vancouver Vietnamese Mennonite and Sherbrooke (English & Korean) churches invited the Punjabi and Tamil churches that rent Sherbrooke, and together they had one big block party celebrating Jesus. All five churches provided 25 minutes of…
