Listening to the participants
“I hope this is the beginning of something.”
“I hope this is the beginning of something.”
A lifetime of persistent and meticulous research into the lives and family histories of Amish Mennonites has been donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo. Lorraine Roth first became intrigued with genealogy as a teenager in the 1940s, and spent the ensuing decades reading and corresponding widely.
In 1937, a tired and aging Rev. Benjamin Ewert sat in the old Eaton’s waiting room in downtown Winnipeg. As young people drifted through, he studied their faces to see if he could match any of them to the rural Mennonite people he knew in southern Manitoba.
Although the Saskatoon chapter of MEDA is considered to be a small group, their dreams to help others are big. Each year, this group of business people raises money for one project with an eye to giving $20,000 toward their chosen project. This past year, they agreed to help rice farmers in Ethiopia and at their spring gathering, over three quarters of that amount was raised.
The Chortitza oak, a large tree that has stood in Ukraine for over 700 years, continues living on in a new generation on the campus of Mennonite Educational Institute (M.E.I.) in Abbotsford, thanks to a gift from Art and Marlyce Friesen.
Cheryl Pauls (right), president of Canadian Mennonite University and Terry Schellenberg, vice-president external, were among those who attended the Mennonite Church Canada leadership assembly in Edmonton where winter came early. They also met with pastors, parents and students in Edmonton and Calgary during their trip.
A blast of winter welcomed Mennonite Church Canada leaders to Edmonton’s First Mennonite Church for the annual fall leadership assembly Nov. 7-10. Most travellers managed to be on time, and laughter about inadequate footwear, lack of coats, and snow-covered signs was common fodder at coffee break.
The planning committee for the Mennonite Church B.C. women’s retreat learned the hard way that God is in the details as they struggled to put together a weekend of renewal and refreshment for Oct. 12-14 at Camp Squeah.
Pierre Trudeau was Canadian prime minister for the first time. Jimmy Carter was president of the United States and Leonid Brezhnev of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Gasoline sold for under 50 cents a litre and the Canadian Constitution had not been repatriated when Don and Dorothy Friesen moved to Ottawa so he could begin pastoring the Ottawa Mennonite Church (OMC).
More than 35 people from seven countries gathered at Goshen College on August 5-8 for an international consultation on the theme, “Bearing Witness: A New Martyrs Mirror for the 21st Century?” Hosted by the college’s Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, the international gathering explored the possibility of a major story-gathering initiative, focused especially on the theme of “costly
Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Hanover Mennonite Church has been an inspiring ecumenical endeavor year after year, but the dramas of the MennoMedia curriculum were always a challenge. When it seemed in 2012 as though the VBS dramas were on the brink of collapse, the idea of having the youth film the dramas turned out to have the youth wholeheartedly engaging the Scriptures.
When Andrew, a new Christian in Little Flowers Community Church, tragically took his life, it shook the church to its core.
The way Ken Bechtel, Wanner Mennonite Church historian, puts it, the “175” in this year’s celebration refers only to the construction of the first dedicated church building.
For over 35 years “the little church that could” nurtured faith, built community, and sent many of its members out into the wider world to work in with MCC, Canadian Foodgrains Bank or Mennonite Church Canada programs. It was a place for those Christians who moved into the city of Portage la Prairie to grow in their faith and find fellowship with others who shared these Anabaptist convictions.
“Interesting!” “Informative!” “Inspiring!” were immediate responses to the question, “What did you think of the day?” Well over 100 participants, most of them over 60, participated in the annual Alberta Heritage Retreat held at Camp Valaqua on June 6, an exceptionally strong turnout.
When Borabu’s first Christian crematorium is finished, it will finally bring peace of mind to members of Living Water Church in this region of Thailand who have been concerned about how they will honour their loved ones who pass away.
Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) has made public its plans for a major new capital project that will significantly enhance CMU’s infrastructure for delivering quality post-secondary education. This important new campus asset will also serve as a valuable resource to the broader Manitoba community.