Robert J. (Jack) Suderman, recently retired general secretary for Mennonite Church Canada, urged world religious leaders to "stop teaching and justifying violence" in our faith communities, as part of a World Religious Summit this past June. His appeal got into the language of the 8 goals.
Political leaders at the summit acknowledged that progress towards achieving the eight MDGs by 2015 is not where it should be
Ron Rempel, who retires next summer as executive director of MPN after seven years, eliminated a legacy debt of almost $5 million; created a major new Sunday school curriculum, called Gather ‘Round; and brought costs under control through consolidation and downsizing.
Dynamic, innovative, fully-integrated and multi-media—that’s the goal of a new organization to be formed out of an integration of Mennonite Publishing Network (MPN), the publishing ministry of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, and Third Way Media, a department of Mennonite Mission Network.
“We pray for Africa, especially for Somalia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo where violence and suffering are a tragic reality,” was the prayer from Nairobi at an International Day of Prayer for Peace event sponsored by the All-Africa Conference of Churches.
The European Parliament has expressed concern at devastation to the Jordan River and has called on Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority to "cooperate and rehabilitate" it.
The river holds special importance for Christians due to the Bible saying Jesus was baptised in it.
Phil Helmuth, executive director of development at EMU, accepts the keys and title to Margaret Martin Gehman's 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. Photo by Jim Bishop
At age 88, Margaret Martin Gehman of Harrisonburg has lost a little of her trademark drive, largely because she has parted company with a faithful friend.
Fire has destroyed one of the main churches at a monastery near where the remains of Russia's Tsar Nicholas II and his family were dumped after they were murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries in 1918.
Leaders of the Protestant Christian Batak Church, a Lutheran church in Indonesia, have condemned the beatings and stabbings of its pastor and church members in Bekasi, outside the capital Jakarta in West Java, on Sept. 12.
Pope Benedict XVI is likely to focus on religious freedom during the first official State visit by a pontiff to Britain, where secularism is growing and Christianity declining.
Chinda Kommala, pastor of the Lao Canadian Evangelical Mennonite, shows members of the Mennonite Men (now Joint Hands) the new worship centre in Toronto toward which the MM donated $40,000. The presentation was made at a “Join Hands” luncheon meeting held at Assembly this summer in Calgary.
When Chinda Kommala opens the doors next Sunday, Sept. 26, to a newly-renovated 2,000-square foot worship centre, known as Unit 23 in the 70-unit commercial/professional mall on the corner of Westin and Finch, it will be a celebration of mammoth proportions, but not without struggle.
-"Hell is a half-filled auditorium," wrote the U.S. poet Robert Frost.
In Canada, it's slightly less full.
According to new poll, a bit more than half of Canadians believe in heaven, but less than a third believe in hell, Religion News Service reports.
A father and his ill son consult with a Church World Service (CWS) health team worker in Pakistan. Donations to MCC will help support CWS’ Pakistan flood response. (Photo courtesy Chris Herlinger/CWS)
Following weeks of disruptions, loss and trauma, people in flood-stricken areas of Pakistan are facing enormous challenges as they struggle to rebuild their lives.
“How does a family regain its footing after it loses everything?” asked Donna Fernades and Chris Herlinger, writers for Church World Service (CWS) in a recent report.
Churches in India are asking for support after Christian institutions became the target of violent protests linked to the reported desecration of a copy of the Quran in the United States.
At least 16 people were killed and more than 60 injured in clashes on September 13 with security personnel in India-ruled Kashmir.
Klaus Rempel represents a seven-member planning committee to develop a 20-bed rehabilitation centre.
As the criminal investigation continues into allegations of gang rape in some Mennonite colonies in Bolivia, many local congregations see a need to reach out to people dealing with addictions, sexual abuse and violence against women.
A Hiroshima-based group is holding peace concerts featuring music with pan flutes made from Palestinian olive trees cut down by Israel to build a separation wall that juts into Palestinian territories.
In response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, many members of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ congregations reached out to Muslims in their communities to support and encourage them. In the face of ever-increasing anti-Islam sentiment, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. urges congregations to redouble those efforts.
Stanley C. Shenk
Goshen College Professor Emeritus of Bible Stanley C. Shenk passed away on Thursday, Sept. 2 at the Greencroft Healthcare Center in Goshen. Shenk, 91, taught Bible at the college from 1965 to 1985.
OTTAWA--Over the summer months, there have been several new developments for war resisters seeking permanent residency in Canada.
Vic Towes, raised Mennonite, says the Tamil ship is run by criminal smugglers.
One of Canada’s leading church groups calls it “puzzling,” “unfortunate” and “disheartening,” that the pubic safety minister is stirring up fears the recent Tamil arrivals to Canadamay be linked to crime and terrorism.
James Reimer, left, visibly weak, is accompanied by Henry Schmidt, Ron Harder and Bob Janzen, as they perform the final concert of Five on The Floor.
A. James (Jim) Reimer died on August 28 just two days after the final concert of his beloved blue grass gospel quartet, Five on the Floor. The concert epitomized Reimer’s love for God, music and the church – it was a fundraiser for the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre which Reimer was instrumental in founding in 1991.
A fresco of Christ on the Kremlin Wall in Moscow rediscovered after being plastered over during the 1917 Bolshevik revolution has been presented in a ceremony attended by Patriarch Kirill I of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.
The joint synod of Italy's Waldensian and Methodist Protestant churches has, as the denominations' highest governing body, agreed to authorise the blessing of same-sex couples in church under certain conditions.
A retired California Presbyterian minister, rebuked on charges that she violated her ordination vows by marrying same-sex couples, plans to appeal against a ruling that she said sent contradictory messages about the church's support of gay rights.
"Who does the Presbyterian Church think we are?" said the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, who is a lesbian. "We are they, they are us."
Kenyan Christian leaders said prayers at a national ceremony for the promulgation of a new constitution, although they strongly opposed the law in the referendum campaign that led to its adoption.
More than 25 000 people gathered at Kolkata's Sealdah railway station for the launch of the "Mother Express" train, a highlight of the centenary celebrations of the birth of Mother Teresa.
