Housing seminar reimagines living space
A recent seminar in Abbotsford, B.C., considered how churches can help fellow British Columbians find reasonably priced housing. The November 18 event was hosted by Emmanuel Mennonite Church. The Affordable Housing Task Group of Mennonite Church B.C., formed after the 2023 MCBC AGM, recognized that some church communities are ideally positioned to apply faith-based resources…
Open communion and intercultural church
One of the contradictions I have observed in intercultural churches in North America is that, while they intentionally strive to welcome all people, almost all of them stubbornly adhere to the “closed” communion tradition, which allows only baptized participants to partake. For these churches, the meaning of welcoming is limited and conditional when it comes…
Affable colony ‘rock star’ steps down
How do you adjust after stepping away from the work to which you’ve dedicated two decades of your life? That’s the question facing Kennert Giesbrecht now that he’s no longer the managing editor of Die Mennonitische Post, the German-language paper that serves conservative Mennonites throughout the Americas. Giesbrecht’s tenure at the paper was bookended by…
Part V: Risking relationship
This six-part series draws on Kara Carter’s PhD studies, for which she conducted five focus groups with Mennonite Church Eastern Canada pastors. “Relationships involve risk,” a pastor from MC Eastern Canada told me. “It’s not a risk to hang out with people that I know, that I love, that are like me. . . .…
Calm and quiet carols
John Van Deusen plays in a pop band called Telephone Friends and a punk band called Buffet, but he suspects it’s his Christmas album that you’ll like best. In the Bleak Midwinter features Van Deusen playing 14 holiday hymns, his acoustic guitar and tenor voice augmented by rich string arrangements. He released it digitally last…
Scar of Bethlehem
What will Christmas be like in Bethlehem this year? What can we learn about the birth of Christ from those who live where he was born and where he lived? Below, we share reflections on Christmas by Palestinian Christians. We asked them about Christmas in general and the words of Mary and Zechariah, from Luke…
The shoofly pie question
In her new book, Eating Like a Mennonite, Marlene Epp addresses the question of whether there is such a thing as “Mennonite food.” She assumes there is, and declares it should be celebrated, disagreeing with those who say “Mennonite” is a religious label that should not be used as an adjective for food. Food and…
