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Canada not accountable for mining injustices

At the site of the Philippines' contested TVI Pacific mine, owned by a Canadian company. (Photo: KAIROS)

KAIROS is deeply disappointed by the defeat of Bill C-300 at its third reading in the House of Commons, according its recent newsletterThe private member’s bill, which would have created new mechanisms to hold Canadian mining, oil and gas companies accountable when they are found to be complicit in human rights and environmental violations abroad, was narrowly defeated by a vote of 140 to 134.

Showalter resigns as missions president

Richard Showalter

Richard Showalter has resigned as president of Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM), effective in the fall of 2011. EMM Board Chair Joe Sherer says “Richard has been a strong and visionary leader with a passion to see the gospel go to areas without a Christian witness.”

International greeting of peace at Remembrance Day service

Ying Ying Wang from China and Santiago Gomez of Colombia at the Remembrance Day service. (Photo courtesy Terry Pugh, Clark's Crossing Gazette)

Two participants in MCC’s International Volunteer Exchange Program stood before a crowd of 600 people

New teaching resources for Old Colony teachers in Bolivia

Jacob Friesen is one of the first teachers to use a new teaching resource published by MCC Bolivia.

Students attending one-room village schools in this Mennonite colony 60 kilometres south of Santa Cruz use slates instead of notebooks.

A European Islam needed for dialogue

A European form of Islam needs to develop before a meaningful interfaith dialogue can take place on the continent, the new leader of Germany's 24 million Protestants has said.

Literary legend raises funds with book launch

Rudy Wiebe signs copies of Collected Stories/1955-2010 at a Nov. 10 book launch.

Canadian literary legend, Rudy Wiebe and his wife Tena, have supported the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers since it began in the 1980s. “Refugees have always been of particular concern to me, because in 1930, before I was born, Canada accepted my parents and their five children as refugees from the Soviet Union.” Wiebe said.

Canadian Court Rules Dissident Churches Must Abandon Property

St. Matthias and St. Luke Church in Vancouver, one of the breakaway Anglican churches. --Photo by Ian Lindsay/Postmedia

An Canadian appeals court has ruled in favor of an Anglican diocese in a property dispute with congregations opposed to same-gender blessings.

In a unanimous decision released on Monday (Nov. 15), British Columbia Court of Appeal Justice Mary Newbury, writing for a three-judge panel, dismissed an appeal by four breakaway parishes against a 2009 lower court ruling.

Africans accepting of other faiths

Dr. Luis Lugo

A vast majority of Africans are very accepting of people from other faiths, Dr. Luis Lugo of the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, told the first forum sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace at Conrad Grebel University College.

Consultation Affirms Role of Sunday School

MPN’S Sunday school curriculum, currently includes tips for teachers and a downloadable Power Point presentation about how to use the curriculum.

What will Sunday school look like in the future for Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada congregations? That was the question addressed at a consultation organized by Mennonite Publishing Network (MPN) earlier this month.

The consultation, held Nov. 1-3 at Amigo Centre, Sturgis, MI, brought together Christian education leaders and thinkers throughout MC USA and MC Canada.

Longhurst leaves MPN for Canadian Foodgrains Bank

John Longhurst

John Longhurst, of Winnipeg, has been appointed director of resources and public engagement with

'Holy mischief in an age of fast faith'

Geez! Has it been five years already?

It was 2005 when Aiden Enns launched Geez, a self-described “cheeky” magazine for the “over-churched, out-churched, un-churched and maybe even the un-churchable.”

Help for Indonesia volcano/flood victims

Pak Samuel lost his wife, who was seven months pregnant, his small son and daughter in the flash flooding that crashed through the village of Rado in Papua, Indonesia. He is sitting on the rocks where his home used to stand. (MCC photo by Paulus Hortono)

In Java, Indonesia, palm trees fold like umbrellas under the weight of volcanic ash spewing from Mount Merapi. On the outskirts of this black and white world, more than 380,000 people are waiting to see if anything is left of their homes and their livelihoods when the volcano finally stops erupting.

EMS offers new online communication course

The newest distance learning course offered at Eastern Mennonite Seminary will help students integrate faith perspectives into communication theory while sharpening their skills in this arena.

“We are most like God because of our ability to communicate,”

Zimbabwe church groups warn over new elections

Church and rights groups in Zimbabwe have warned against new elections saying the situation in the country is "highly volatile, uncertain and tense" after a bloody presidential run-off election two years ago.

Taiwan leaders do 'wishing tree' for mission renewal

Elder Xiao Hui-Ying of the Zhong-He Mennonite Church in Taipei, sticks a fruit on the wishing tree.

At their annual assembly held in Taipei Oct. 31-Nov. 3, pastors and delegates from Taiwan’s 21 Mennonite churches

Shortage of volunteers ends MCC relief sale in Winnipeg after 16 years

Faced with a shortage of volunteers willing to fill leadership positions, the committee that organizes the popular and successful Winnipeg MCC Festival and Relief Sale has dissolved.

Each year in June, the sale brought together about 3,000 people and contributed close to $100,000 for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) programs.

Warkentin named executive director of MC Manitoba

Ken Warkentin

Ken Warkentin, pastor of the Niverville Community Fellowship, has been named the new executive director

Anabaptists inspired by Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization

Yemiru Tilahun (far right), of Ethiopia’s Meserete Kristos Church, with two leaders of Ethiopian evangelicals, the Emmanuel United Church of Ethiopia, Samson Mariam (left), Emmanuel vice-president and Bezalem Fisseha (centre), president, who were mentored by Meserete Kristos leaders.

At least 30 mission and church leaders represented Anabaptist-related communities at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization here, October 17 to 24. The gathering, which attracted 4,000 mission leaders, pastors, and academics from 198 countries, grew out of the “Lausanne Movement” that followed the first congress in Switzerland, in1974.

MSCU top 50 'best employers'

Mennonite Savings and Credit Union (MSCU) has been named among the Top 50 Best Small and Medium Employers in Canada for the second consecutive year, moving to 19th from our debut at 47th last year. The 2011 list will be published in the Nov. 8, 2010 issue of Maclean’s magazine, available on newsstands Oct. 28th.

Tutu calls for opera boycott of Israel

A Jewish group in South Africa has criticised a call by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu for the Cape Town Opera to cancel a performance in Israel in November.

Conrad Grebel University College Establishes Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace

Nathan Funk, associate professor in Peace and Conflict Studies, is the centre's lead researcher.

Conrad Grebel University College has just established The Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace (CSRP) to "advance knowledge and awareness of religious contributions to peace, and to enhance the capacity of religious communities to engage contemporary conflict issues and practice the peaceful values they profess.”

Autumn church cleanup turns tragic

Leonard Gerbrandt

Assisting with autumn cleanup and yard maintenance at one's church is a common activity for many MAX members. On Oct. 16, this annual activity turned tragic for Leonard Gerbrandt, 69, a long term, faithful member of the Ottawa Mennonite Church, Ottawa, Ontario.

Central American women theologians consider role of women

Followup included preparation of a study book, the initiation of a world day of prayer for Latin American Anabaptist women, and the declaration of a decade to work to change situations of family violence and the devaluing of leadership of women in the churches.

A sense of solidarity and fellowship took a leap forward September 6 to 8, at the third

Sara Wenger Shenk inaugurated as seminary president

Wenger-Shenk invites the congregation to declare with her, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.” --Photo by J. Tyler Klassen

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb,”

Peace is more than protest, says Buhler

Jake Buhler shares a message of peace on a highway billboard near Osler, Saskatchewan. Photo by Rod Andrews, Saskatchewan Valley News

Jake Buhler is a man with a different pair of glasses. They reflect a steely determination to pursue peace and help others do the same.

“Peace is the lens through which we see everything,” he says.

With that lens, he notices things that others may not. It colors his whole worldview. And it helps him see the world with different eyes.

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