A question of inclusion
With great hesitation, I pulled my car into the church parking lot. The winter morning was clear and brisk. After a short stop at a local coffee shop, Aaron and I had arrived at our destination: a local Mennonite church that was hosting a choir for “all abilities.” I had been warned about this event…
Abbotsford forum explores disagreement in the church
How to disagree well with fellow Christians was the topic of a forum held at Columbia Bible College (CBC) in Abbotsford, B.C., last month. The Sept. 21 event, titled “Polarization and Disagreement in the Church,” was sponsored by the Faith in Today’s Church task group of Mennonite Church B.C. The first presenter was Jesse Nickel,…
MDS to start work in Lytton, B.C.
While Lytton, B.C., struggles to recover from a devastating fire that destroyed most of the small, remote village in June 2021, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) stands ready to help. Lytton has faced an array of challenges to rebuilding its town, including lack of local workers and government red tape. Two years after the disaster, Lytton…
God’s story, our story: Part I
Editor’s note: In this six-part series for Canadian Mennonite, Kara Carter, lead pastor at Wellesley Mennonite Church in southern Ontario, will explore some of the things she learned while earning her PhD in pastoral leadership. Through examinations of the lives of pastors in Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, she identified barriers that risk keeping a missional…
Valaqua cabin dubbed ‘the bat cave’ after furry visitors move in
Things got a little batty at Mennonite Church Alberta’s Camp Valaqua this summer. During spring cleaning at the camp, located an hour northwest of Calgary, staff discovered a maternal colony of little brown bats in one of the cabins. Camp director Jon Olfert and his colleagues first noticed a strange odor and droppings inside cabin…
Anti-poverty advocate calls for guaranteed liveable income
Mark Olfert has always been passionate about helping people. He wishes the systems in Canada would do more to support people, too. Olfert, 60, is an anti-poverty activist and a member of Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, Man. He advocates for a guaranteed liveable income, something he says would have made a big difference numerous…
Three Sisters theme flavours Reconciliation Day potluck
On Sunday, September 24, members and friends of Preston Mennonite Church in Cambridge, Ontario, held a Three Sisters potluck. The date was chosen to commemorate The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, which followed a few days later. Many in attendance wore orange shirts designed by Indspire, a national Indigenous charity that invests in the…
Poet Sarah Ens wins national book award
Manitoba writer Sarah Ens has won the national ReLit Award (poetry category) for her book Flyway. ReLit is hailed by the Globe and Mail as “the country’s pre-eminent literary prize recognizing independent presses.” Flyway (Turnstone Press, 2022) is a single, long poem that follows the connections between the Russian Mennonite diaspora and the disrupted migratory…
Spirit of MDS Fund invites applications for 2023–24
One way that Peace Church on 52nd in Vancouver serves its local community is by hosting community dinners that are free and open to all. Over the time it has been offering the dinners, the church, which is part of Mennonite Church B.C., has seen an increase in the number of people who come for…
Scholar seeks wisdom from Mennonite green projects
Joanne Moyer is looking for stories. Moyer, who is the associate professor and director of Environmental Studies and Geography at The King’s University in Edmonton, is undertaking a large-scale research project on environmental initiatives that involved Mennonites. Through archival work, interviews and focus groups, Moyer is aiming to collect as many stories as possible about…
