OMMC grows musical leaders
Ontario Mennonite Music Camp (OMMC) at Conrad Grebel University College is a small camp with a big impact. With a focus on communal music-making, campers receive exceptional instruction in voice or a variety of instruments, learn new musical techniques and explore church music and worship. Campers stretch their comfort zone and learn to be leaders…
Journey to unity
Hidden Acres’ “Narnia Closet” carries the adventurous explorer on an unexpected journey. What begins as an innocent cleaning closet winds through a maze of stored items, a section so low you must crawl and finally a floor covered with basketballs, before exiting into the ping pong room on the other side of Stonehouse. Just as…
In but not of
While I’m new in my role as associate program director for Camps with Meaning, I am not new to this place, or rather, these places. What has always shimmered at camp is the particularly thin space they are between us and God. The two scriptures that ring in my ears when I think about camp…
Breaking bread with broken people
The disciples were shocked when Jesus said, “One of you will betray me.” Judas’s story is told in different ways in the gospels, giving us some insight into how the disciples and gospel writers came to terms with the betrayal of Judas. In John’s gospel, Judas is mentioned five times, and every single time the…
New Bible school opens in Thailand
The Friends of Grace Bible School recently opened in the Issan area of Thailand. This school, supported by Mennonite Church Canada, will hold classes in the Friends of Grace Roi Et church. A Bible school had long been a dream for Friends of Grace, a network of about 100 worshipping groups in Laos and Thailand.…
Students dream of new churches in South Sudan
A recent article in Anabaptist World stated there were no known Anabaptist congregations in South Sudan. Praise God that that is no longer the case. Gatjiak (Simon) Tongyik, one of the new students sponsored by Mennonite Church Alberta to attend the Meserete Kristos Seminary in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, says there is now one small Mennonite church in…
Of rentals and relationships
Big buildings; fewer people. It’s a fact that many Mennonite churches have fewer people involved in church life than they did 20 years ago. Many churches across Canada were constructed or remodeled when attendance was higher; when the church was busy with events and programming every night of the week. In the current reality of…
Poems and paintings mark 499th anniversary
The story of Anabaptist origins came to life on Sunday, January 21, as Gareth Brandt marked the 499th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement with a presentation of art and spoken word. The event was held in a portable gallery set up at Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., where Brandt serves as an interim member of…
