Learning unity
As Christians, we are called to be in the world but not of the world. We are urged to be transformed and renewed by the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2). Whatever the dominant culture in the world says to us is not who we are. Instead, we are a community of faith that has Jesus at the centre of our lives. I believe that Jesus Christ came to tear down the walls that divide people, and that the Holy Spirit unites us to be one in Christ. The intercultural church must reframe a new kind…
Running toward Jesus
My faith story is one of conversion. I was not simmered in the faith like many people, nor did I have a lightning bolt experience where I remember the exact day and time I came to faith. My dad was a Catholic conservative from Cape Breton Island and my mom was a Protestant socialist from…
Catholic and Mennonite worlds collide on YouTube
The Hertzogs, who married in 1996 and who attend Forest Hill Mennonite Church—a Mennonite Church USA congregation near Lancaster—started the channel in 2022 to uplift, educate and entertain viewers. In the videos, Kristen draws from her experiences to share the joys and challenges of being part of the Mennonite culture in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. She explores the struggles she’s faced being an outsider and how she’s…
Rehoboth inner Healing Church among five churches joining MCEC
For Paulos Berhe, being Anabaptist means taking what has been received from Jesus Christ and sharing it with others. He serves as pastoral leader at the Rehoboth Inner Healing Church (RIHC) in Toronto, a small congregation that will be among the churches officially joining Mennonite Church Eastern Canada at the annual gathering at the end of April. “It’s good to have an umbrella,” says Berhe about joining MCEC. He and other members of the congregation look forward…
Third way community
If Joe Heikman had to choose a single distinctive Anabaptist value, it would be community. “That’s how I met Jesus,” he says, in community, growing up as part of a Brethren in Christ church in Pennsylvania. He did not arrive where he is at on his own. When I spoke with Heikman, he was preparing a series of sermons on the basics of Anabaptism for Wildwood Mennonite Church, the Saskatoon congregation he serves as pastor. The series will cover some history— Heikman loves history—and then shift to material…
From the ‘centre of the military universe’ to central Alberta
Debbie Bledsoe wants people to know about the beauty she sees in the Mennonite Church. “I think people who grew up in it lose sight of what makes Anabaptism unique,” she says. Today, Bledsoe is the pastor at First Mennonite Church in Edmonton, Alberta. But her teenage years were spent in a Nazarene church in Fayetteville—a city in North Carolina next to Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg), a military base once described…
What is the Essence of Anabaptism?
We asked numerous people to share three to five words that express the essence of Anabaptism for them. We also invited them to elaborate if they wished. Personal faith. Christocentrism. Discipleship. Community and simplicity. – Sylvie Kremer, editor, Christ Seul (French Mennonite magazine) Serving Jesus through serving others. – Catherine Gitzel, pastor, The Gathering Church, Kitchener, Ontario Peace extremists in Jesus’ name. – Joshua Penfold, former Canadian Mennonite columnist Holistic, Jesus-centered discipleship, rooted in community. – Rachel Wallace, pastor, Eigenheim Mennonite Church…
Married In
Mennonites, they love sweet things,” Nicole Weber says with a laugh. “Mennonite stores make the best desserts, and if you go to a [Mennonite] party or event and bring sweets, they will love it.” Nicole is married to my cousin Josh. We attend the same family gatherings, and at those gatherings the dessert table is usually larger than the main dish table. Our family is Swiss Mennonite; Nicole is Chinese. Josh, who taught English in China, introduced her to Mennonite theology and values when they…
Writer reflects on 50 years of ministry in Latin America
Helen Dueck occupied herself during COVID lockdowns by writing. The result is a book that tells the story of her life in ministry. Published at the end of 2023, Going Out and Coming In recounts the nearly 50 years Dueck and her late husband, Henry, spent living and working in Latin America. From Brazil to Bolivia, Uruguay to Colombia and Mexico, the couple were invited to teach, first with immigrant churches and institutions before working with national churches in leadership preparation. “Because we had worked in quite a few places, I was often asked if I would write about our experiences,” Dueck says, sitting in the living room of her Winnipeg apartment. “Then it was…
