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Quilting across continents

L to R: Gayle Zacharias, Kathryn Derksen, Michelle Hildebrand, Susanna Derksen, Judy Hildebrand and Jake Plett. (Photo courtesy of Judy Hildebrand)

Addlight Mudombo of Joseph Village, Zimbabwe with comforters she sewed by hand from used clothing. (MCC photo by Meghan Mast)

Great winter warm-up

By Nikki Hamm Gwala
Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba

For Judy Hildebrand of Crystal City, Man., brightly coloured comforters add cheer to long prairie winters.

Meet MC Canada’s new Indigenous relations coordinator

Melanie and Jonathan Neufeld. (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Neufeld)

If there are places where the church is centring the voices of people on the margins, Jonathan Neufeld wants to be there.

“Theologically, that’s my home,” says Neufeld, Mennonite Church Canada’s Indigenous relations coordinator.

Neufeld began his work at MC Canada, based in Winnipeg, in November. He also works half-time as pastor at Charleswood Mennonite in Winnipeg.

Mennonites respond to recent military spending

F-35A Lighting II:
Length: 51.4 ft/15.7 m,
Wingspan: 35 ft/10.7 m,
Internal Fuel Capacity: 18,250 lbs/8,278 kg,
Weapons Payload: 18,000 lbs/8,160 kg,
Speed (Full Internal Weapons Load): Mach 1.6 (~1,200 mph),
Range: 2,200km
(Source: F35.com) (Photo released by Lockheed Martin)

From Dirk Willems loving his enemy in 1569 to Colombian Mennonites building peace today, Anabaptists have offered a bold peace witness. But being a peace church is complicated.

Steinbach writer explores ‘Mennotoba’

Erin Koop Unger, pictured last year at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach. (Photo by Andrew Unger)

Erin Koop Unger has travelled the world, but these days it’s Manitoba and the Mennonites who live there that have captured her imagination.

Koop Unger is the creator of Mennotoba.com, a website where she writes about Mennonite history and culture in the keystone province.

What is Mennonite identity and why does it matter?

Clockwise from bottom left: panellists Justin Sun, Kim Penner, Moses Falco, and host Aaron Epp.

“Why are you a Mennonite?”

That’s the question panellists were asked at the third instalment of Canadian Mennonite’s online discussion series. People on 47 different screens tuned into the Nov. 16 conversation, engaging in a lively back-and-forth with the speakers.

Youth converge in Essex County

Young people from three Leamington Mennonite churches participate in the Junior Youth Converge event on Nov. 25. (Photo by Barry Bergen)

Like many of their peers in Mennonite Church Canada congregations, the youth pastors in Leamington were wondering how to react to declining Sunday school participation and overall shrinking numbers of youth in their churches.

MC Canada churches receive grants from MDS fund

MDS funds churches in Canada to be the hands and feet of Jesus. (MDS photo)

A Mennonite Church Eastern Canada congregation is among five Canadian churches that received grants this fall from the 2022-23 Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada Spirit of MDS Fund. The purpose of the fund is to assist churches in Canada as they serve and support people in their communities.

A welcoming space for U of M students

Mark von Kampen, the Menno Office chaplain, and U of M student Andrew Enns at IMCA’s annual meeting. (Photo by Gladys Terichow)

After two years of online learning during the pandemic, Andrew Enns is finally experiencing in-person learning on the University of Manitoba campus.

Enns, a third-year student in the agriculture program, is now making new friends and reconnecting with former friends and acquaintances at the Menno Office.

Joy and love: Christmas Eve vigil in Kenya

Ethiopians gather to share meals and storytelling at Christmas. (Mennonite World Conference photo)

One of the most outstanding Christmas traditions among communities in Kenya is having vigils popularly know as “Kesha” on Christmas Eve. Most worshippers come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ by singing hymns and carols, and even at times recreate the holy event by nativity plays.

Call-in style discussion series spotlights nonviolence in a time of war

CMU faculty David Balzer, a key figure in launching the radio-style show, has more than a decade of experience working in broadcast radio in Winnipeg. (Screenshot by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)

CMU faculty and staff: Karen Ridd, top left; Valerie Smith, top right; and Wendy Kroeker, bottom, are the hosts of ‘We Need to Talk: Voices of Nonviolent Resistance.’ (Screenshot by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Karen Ridd was struck by how many people around her immediately called for military troops to be sent.

Mennonites address domestic violence

This image­—entitled “Before Grace”—and the one opposite—entitled “Endless Cycle”—tell of artist Lynda Toews’ experience growing up in a violent home. They were part of the exhibit, ‘Breaking the Silence on Domestic Abuse,’ at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery a year ago. (Photo courtesy of Lynda Toews)

(Photo courtesy of Lynda Toews)

Research shows that rates of domestic abuse are just as prevalent in religious communities, and even higher in more conservative forms of religion, says Val Peters Hiebert, assistant coordinator of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba’s Abuse Response and Prevention Program, which helps congregations navigate disclosures of abuse and cases of sexual misconduct by clergy.

Eyes to see

Jared Siebert, right, founder of the New Leaf Network, shares his story of encountering God in the failures of church planting, as Cindy Wallace of the Backyard Church in Saskatoon looks on.

In the current cultural climate, many churches, Mennonite ones included, are wrestling with the question of how to help members talk about faith and God’s work in their own lives. At a time when “evangelism” can seem almost like a four-letter word, how can people of faith bear witness to God’s movement in honest and authentic ways?

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