Why camp staffers are coming back
The past two summers have been difficult for summer camps. One of the struggles we face this year is the loss of many of our older, experienced staff. The uncertainties and shorter camp season has meant many of them have had to find other ways to fill the summer months and their bank accounts. Applications…
Music camp is back this summer
This summer, Ontario Mennonite Music Camp is once again happening at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, from Aug. 14 to 26. The camp provides an exciting adventure for 12- to 17-year-olds that helps to build friendships, strengthen leadership skills, celebrate their love of music and explore their faith. Natan Hastings-Fuhr and Hanan Kaekiza, first-time…
Embracing the ‘mystery of God’
Mention “church camp” and many people might think of camping or volunteering there a summer or two. But for Rob Tiessen, executive director of Mennonite Church B.C.’s Camp Squeah, camp has meant a decades-long experience. Growing up in Vancouver’s Sherbrooke Mennonite Church, Tiessen faithfully attended summer camp at Squeah throughout his childhood and youth. In…
The power of music
Singing is an integral part of life at Camps with Meaning (CwM), Mennonite Church Manitoba’s camping ministry. This is the case at many summer camps, but unique to CwM is this: their staff have been writing their own music for more than 20 years. “The real goal of this was to connect the songs with…
Learning to listen
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” This proverb, attributed to the first-century Greek philosopher Epictetus, is still good advice. In a time where there is no lack of speaking—whether with actual voices, through written words or even with visual symbols—the art of listening…
‘God didn’t create you wrong’
Although some Mennonite churches in Canada have wrestled with whether to accept LGBTQ+ people in their congregations, the conversation around queer issues is rapidly expanding in the public sphere. Gender identity is one topic that has been gaining popularity in the last several years, yet the experiences of transgender and gender-diverse Mennonites remain relatively unexplored…
Readers write: February 21, 2022 issue
MC Canada executive ministers release statement on ‘freedom rallies’ The day after thousands of truckers and other protesters converged on Parliament Hill in late January to call for an end to COVID-19 mandates and other public health restrictions, Mennonite Church Canada’s executive ministers released a statement decrying the white nationalism being expressed at related protests…
Fatigue, polarization, uncertainty
These three words, at least for me, capture strong feelings I experience as I work with congregations and pastoral leaders at this time. We have entered a time when we are not where we were and not yet where we are going. We may not even know what the postal code is yet of where…
Klippenstein house
This is a photo of the home of Bernhard Klippenstein (1880-1973) and Maria (nee Dyck) Klippenstein (1882-1956) in Waldheim, Northwest Territories. They moved from Altbergthal, near Altona, Man., to Waldheim around 1902. They returned to Altbergthal around 1907. I enjoy this photo with the thatched roof, the pole fence, the horse and buggy with top,…
Unexpected sparkles
A friend called last week. Tony (a pseudonym) had undergone surgery in a Saskatoon hospital, had recuperated for a number of days, and was needing a ride home to Prince Albert, Sask. I’ve known Tony for 25 years. He was one of two core members in what was, I believe, the first Circle of Support…
