Tell us what you think
Have you completed our opinion survey? If not, here is your invitation to do so. We need your help to re-think how Canadian Mennonite (CM) can best serve the church. Please use the link below. CM is actively researching new ways to gather and deliver news. We are looking at various options to engage our…
Readers write: August 25, 2023 issue
Humans, humus and healing The portrait of a family living a subsistence-level lifestyle (“Humans and Humus,” July 28) might well serve to trigger a resolve to be more self-sustaining and less wasteful in many. Seems to me, though, that eschewing the mechanization and the advances of the Green Revolution will never be an answer to…
Creating a community of calling
The first time I remember hearing of a shortage of pastors was over 35 years ago. I was in the process of completing my Bible College degree, and a conference leader was encouraging me to consider a career in pastoral ministry. While uncertainty about leadership for the church is not new, the task of calling…
A blended family
In December 1924, this family was starting a new life in more ways than one. Katharina (Enns Rempel) and Jacob P. Braun, both widowed, separately emigrated from the Soviet Union to Ontario. A few weeks after their arrival, they were married in the Waterloo region. Here the newly blended family prepares to move from the…
Deconstructing or reconstructing?
I heard some strong language this summer about church from various extended family members. I’m sure this is not just in my family! Conversation at family gatherings is not usually conducive for more thoughtful or caring conversations, but these phrases caught my ear and attention. “I’m done with church.” “I’m done with denominations.” “I’m deconstructing…
Organic architecture
This is the first summer I haven’t gone camping for at least 25 years, maybe my entire life. Since Tammy and I got married 23 years ago, our family holidays have focused on hiking, kayaking and sleeping in tents. Often in the rain. My family suggested we try something different this year, and I found…
Art gallery nurtures connections with the past
An art gallery lines the hallway between the sanctuary and the auditorium of the Niagara United Mennonite Church near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The art hanging there reminds viewers of God’s guidance through difficult times, including separation, loss and escape. When the Russlaender centenary train trip stopped in Ontario in early July, about half of the participants…
Singing to Ukraine
February 23, 2022, was a relatively ordinary day on our planet. Until 10:30 p.m. Ontario time—early morning of February 24 where Nataliia Kurhan lives—when I heard a reporter announce breathlessly, “Missiles are being fired; the invasion has begun.” I saw streaks descending behind the reporter on the screen and heard the sound of rockets. In…
Historical society apologizes to Semá:th First Nation
“The draining of [Sumas Lake] and our settlement on your ancestral lands was devastating and demoralizing and disrespectful.” That was part of an apology offered to Semá:th First Nation Chief Dalton Silver and his people by Richard Thiessen, president of the Mennonite Historical Society of B.C. The statement was part of a July 24 event…
