MWC stands in solidarity with its member churches in joy and struggle. Pablo Stucky, left, speaks with members of Iglesia Hermanos Menonitas Peruana on a Deacons delegation visit after a severe flooding event. (MWC photo by Henk Stenvers)
“Hello. How can I join you?”
This question often comes through the social media accounts of Mennonite World Conference (MWC).
But what does it mean to be a member of MWC?
Students at the Bishop Mazzolari Secondary School, near Rumbek, South Sudan, all received dignity kits—Mennonite Central Committee's newest resource kit. (Photo courtesy of Loreto School)
The newest Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) resource kit will support vulnerable women and girls with dignity. The new dignity kit contains hygiene and sanitary items tailored for women and girls who don’t have ready access to the items they need, including eco-friendly, washable menstrual pads and liners.
‘It does not fall to me to judge the journey of others,’ Jane Philpott says in her TEDx talk.
In a talk posted on YouTube earlier this month, university dean and former member of parliament Jane Philpott reflects on two detours that changed her path.
During the 18-minute presentation, which you can watch below, Philpott recounts two life experiences—a personal tragedy and a professional crisis—and what she learned from them.
Jo Snyder is the author of ‘The Vegan Mennonite Kitchen,’ a new cookbook published by Pandora Press. (Photo courtesy of Jo Snyder)
Jo Snyder has moved around Canada pursuing a career in communications and toured across Europe playing punk music, but a new project has brought her back to her Mennonite roots in the Waterloo Region.
Pastor Gerald Neufeld (back row in the green long-sleeved shirt) and some of the members of the Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship in Surrey, B.C. (Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship website photo)
One month after its launch on Feb. 1, the 2021 Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada Spirit of MDS Fund approved $54,900 in grants for 24 Canadian congregations and church-related organizations.
Deborah Tewelde received an award late last year given by the Province of Ontario to youth who have shown strong leadership in eliminating racial discrimination.
Deborah Tewelde, a member of Meheret Evangelical Church in Kitchener, Ont., a Mennonite Church Eastern Canada congregation, received the 2019 Lincoln M. Alexander award given by the Province of Ontario to youth who have shown strong leadership in eliminating racial discrimination.
‘It is a text that, if made flesh in Canada, would revolutionize the church’s relationship to Indigenous peoples, spiritualities and lands,’ Steve Heinrichs says of ‘Beloved Amazonia.’ (Photo by Steve Heinrichs)
Mennonite Church Canada’s Indigenous-Settler Relations program is running a five-week online book club beginning this April.
The chosen text is Beloved Amazonia, a courageous collection of documents from the Pan-Amazon Synod, including an “apostolic exhortation” to the church from Pope Francis.
‘We’re all crazy Mennonites,’ musician “Weird Al” Yankovic sang in 1996.
It’s been 25 years since legendary music parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic lampooned the Amish, mentioning Mennonites along the way.
Bad Hair Day, Yankovic’s ninth album, was released on this day in 1996. It has sold more than 2 million copies in the United States alone.
A Mennonite World Conference food relief kit. (MWC photo)
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, stories poured in from Mennonite World Conference (MWC) member churches about job losses and hunger in their congregations and communities due to shutdowns. MWC began collecting funds to respond to pandemic-related needs within and through the household of faith.
Phil Campbell-Enns has two compositions in the new hymnal: “Mountain of God” and “Fill Us with Your Feast.” He wrote the latter as part of Leader magazine’s 2007 Lent material. (Screenshot)
Winnipeg pastor and songwriter Phil Campbell-Enns is the latest person featured in a new video series from MennoMedia showcasing Anabaptist contributions to the new Voices Together hymnal.
In the four-and-a-half-minute video, which ends with a performance of the song, Campbell-Enns recalls writing “Fill Us with Your Feast,” which is #309 in Voices Together.
The ‘Lamenting Racism’ team, from left to right: Dave Johnson, Rob Muthiah, John Ragsdale, Tamela Kelly, Jessica Wai-Fong Wong, Abigail Gaines, Anthony Powell and Brian Lugioyo. (Photo courtesy of MennoMedia)
Racial injustice is a blight on our society, yet many Christians have been hesitant to speak up about racism.
Members of several Anabaptist groups in Thailand met together for the first time on Nov. 25, 2020. (Photo courtesy of Pat and Rad Houmphan)
Living Water Church in Borabu, Thailand, was honoured to host the first Anabaptist gathering in that country from Nov. 25 to 27, 2020.
Five Anabaptist missions organizations were represented: Eastern Mennonite Mission, Mennonite Brethren, Brethren in Christ, Rosedale Mennonite Mission, and ourselves: Dayspring Christian Ministries International / The Great Commission Foundation.
John Cornies with his grandson Henry at the Out-Spok’n Bike-A-Thon, MennoHomes Ride for Refuge in support of affordable housing. (Photo courtesy of the Cornies family)
“Leadership can be rewarding as well as lonely,” wrote the late John Cornies in his memoir. “I have, however, felt God's leading and calling in these endeavours. While I felt that God called and equipped me when placed in positions of leadership, my human failings got me into difficulties at times. And yet, I have felt blessed by a very generous God throughout these experiences."
Mennonite Disaster Service personnel present a homeowner with keys after rebuilding her home. (Photo courtesy of YouTube)
Mennonite Disaster Service didn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic stop it from having a banner year.
In a seven-minute video released on YouTube last Saturday, the binational organization—which cleans up, repairs and rebuilds homes that have experienced a disaster—outlines the unexpected opportunities and unexpected blessings that 2020 brought.
Francine Mukoko, standing at right, a public health graduate and the first university graduate from the Communauté Mennonite au Congo community in Bateke, presents public-health advice in Teke, the local language. (Photo courtesy of Seraphin Kutumbana)
Congregations across Mennonite Church Canada have matched a $50,000 donation made by the nationwide church to a COVID-19 relief fund operated by Mennonite World Conference (MWC).
The fund, which is part of MWC’s Global Church Sharing Fund, helps MWC-member churches struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bob Ratelle does cleanup in the kitchen at Scott St. Church in St. Catharines, Ont., after making meals made possible by support from the MDS Canada Spirit of MDS Fund. (MDS photo)
After a successful first year, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada has announced a new round of funding from its Spirit of MDS Fund.
The 2021 round of funding started Jan. 31 and runs to April 30. It will provide grants up to $2,500 to Canadian Anabaptist/Mennonite congregations.
Hayat Mohammad, 10, and Ali al Sheikh, 11, participate in psychosocial activities sponsored by the Popular Aid for Relief and Development to help children deal with the trauma of the massive explosion in Beirut last summer. (Photo courtesy of PARD)
Eight of Alice Joubanian’s grandchildren—all under eight years old—lived with her and her daughter in a Beirut camp for Armenian refugees when a massive explosion of ammonium nitrate rocked the city on Aug. 4, 2020.
Christians pray in Myanmar’s Chin State. (MC Eastern Canada file photo by Brian Bauman)
Mennonite Church Canada calls on the nationwide community of faith to pray for the people of Myanmar. Pray also for our Myanmar siblings here in Canada. They are deeply concerned for their loved ones and the effect that recent actions will have on peace within Myanmar.
‘There are a boatload of songs in the works,’ says singer-songwriter Paul Bergman. (Photo by Ken Bergman)
It’s been more than five years since Paul Bergman’s last album, but the wait for new music is over.
“I Just Want to Walk in the Dark with You,” a three-minute single from the southern Manitoba singer-songwriter, is out today.
Colin Friesen, far left, participates in a panel discussion at Conrad Grebel University College in early 2019. (Conrad Grebel University College photo)
Christian theology, ministry and the Bible are complex topics that can be studied using various approaches at Conrad Grebel University College (Waterloo, Ont.), whose master of theological studies (MTS) program offers students three distinct paths to complete their degree: course work, applied studies and thesis.
Nindyo Sasongko, pictured in 2019, is one of the founders of a theology discussion channel on YouTube called “@Theovlogy.” (Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/nindyo.sasongko)
Nindyo Sasongko believes theology should be publicly available to a wider audience. His experiment in online discussions began in late 2018. When the pandemic hit last year, “@Theovlogy” increased in frequency to meet the demand for online means of connecting.
Waterloo Region music teacher Melinda Metzger with her copy of Voices Together.
It may be aimed at children, but everyone will learn something from a video exploring the new Voices Together hymnal.
The video walks viewers through everything that is on a hymnal page, as well as many of the hymnal’s indices. Melinda Metzger, a Waterloo Region music educator, created the video for the Sunday morning children’s time at St. Jacobs (Ont.) Mennonite Church.
High-profile Nazi officials toured the Mennonite colonies in occupied Ukraine. During his 1942 visit to Molotschna, Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and an architect of the Holocaust, exchanged greetings with Mennonite surgeon Johann Klassen. (Mennonite Heritage Centre photo [Alber Photo Collection])
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has initiated research into how national socialism (Nazism) shaped the contexts in Europe and Paraguay where MCC operated in the 1930s and ’40s, and how, at the time, MCC engaged with the German National Socialist government and worked to resettle Mennonite refugees from the Soviet Union.
‘I Am Not Your Enemy’ is the Common Read book for winter 2021. (Photo courtesy of MichaelMcRay.com)
Mennonite Church Canada, Mennonite Church USA and Herald Press began partnering in September to encourage Mennonites to engage in a “common read,” a shared reading experience focused on specific books written to nurture Christian faith in this cultural moment.
The United States Capitol, pictured prior to Wednesday’s attack. (Photo by Joshua Sukoff/Unsplash)
Mennonite Church Canada has released a statement and prayer in response to Wednesday’s violence on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.:
