Within a shadow of doubt
I have so inextricably linked Psalm 22 to the words of Jesus on the cross that I don’t think I have ever really read the Psalm in its own light before. Yes, Jesus quoted “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Psalm 22:1) on the cross, and there are quite incredible messianic parallels…
Ten insights from CM’s latest online event
“Are we too progressive for our own good?” That was the title of an online panel discussion Canadian Mennonite hosted on March 8. More than 70 people tuned in to hear from the panel, which included Ryan Dueck, pastor of Lethbridge (Alta.) Mennonite Church; Cynthia Wallace, an English professor and member of the Backyard Church…
Transitions abound at MC Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions
David Boshart, president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., encouraged Mennonite Church Saskatchewan participants at this year’s annual delegate sessions (ADS) to hold on to a hopeful perspective, even as the challenges of church life after the pandemic grew. “This all begins with Christians who see the world in a different way,” he…
Vietnam church strong, dynamic
With 100,000 members, the Mennonite church in Vietnam is going strong, reports Nhien Pham. The retired pastor, who came to Canada from Vietnam in 1976, returned to his home country for a month with a group from Mennonite Church Canada earlier this year. Pham is president of the North American Evangelical Vietnamese Fellowship and advisor…
MC Manitoba re-imagines church together at annual gathering
The buzz of conversation and singing was a welcome sound as people filled Douglas Mennonite Church in Winnipeg for Mennonite Church Manitoba’s first in-person gathering in three years. This year’s event hosted more than 150 people, including 111 delegates, on March 3 and 4. The theme was “Re-imagining church together.” “It’s a focus befitting the…
Journey from pastor to politician
Caleb Ratzlaff has always had an interest in theology and politics. After spending time in seminary, he ultimately decided to complete a master’s degree in political philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Last November, he was elected to the St. Catherines city council, at which time he left his position as pastor…
On a journey with Jesus
When Colin McCartney of Connect City, a church-planting ministry in Toronto, came to Leamington last month, members of five local congregations in Essex County were taken on a journey from Christendom—where the church used to thrive—to post-Christendom—where it is now struggling. More importantly, he led the group in thinking about how the church might move…
CMU student finds her place as composer
With choral singing back in full swing, its community-building capacity is even more obvious to composer and Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) student Anna Schwartz. After writing the song “Answers” at the height of the pandemic, she is set to direct the CMU Chamber Choir’s spring performance of the song on April 28. The piece is…
