MCC Alberta encourages refugee sponsorship
“I have learned that there is an overwhelming amount of need and suffering in this world.
“I have learned that there is an overwhelming amount of need and suffering in this world.
Rob Tiessen, executive director of Camp Squeah in Hope, B.C., was interviewed on CBC television’s The National broadcast on June 20 in a story about summer-camp staffing shortages across the country.
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada hosted a book launch for the Lao translation of Palmer Becker’s book Anabaptist Essentials on June 18. In partnership with the Lao Mennonite Fellowship of Canada and MC Canada, 300 books were printed for use in MC Eastern Canada congregations and other groups in North America, as well as in Laos and Thailand.
George Kingfisher, Young Chippewayan ancestral chief, and Ray Funk describe each other as ‘like a brother.’ (Photo by Emily Summach)
Students from Rosthern Community School in Rosthern, Sask. hold up a collaborative art “quilt” they made for the event. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Guests examine the chainsaw-carved archway that serves as the entrance to the interpretive path. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Theresa Driedeger examines a storyboard and the views of the land from the top of Stoney Knoll. (Photo by Emily Summach)
An area of disputed land in Saskatchewan has become a seedbed of reconciliation with the launch of an interpretive path to make the story of that journey come alive for visitors.
Jane LaVacca, the executive director of Westview Centre4Women in St. Catharines, credits her listening ear for the latest project being built at the centre.
The congregation of Altona Mennonite Church dedicated its new accessibility ramp during a Sunday morning worship service in June. (Photo courtesy of Loren Braul)
In June, Altona Mennonite Church completed the construction of a new ramp, to help make its worship space more accessible. But, whereas many churches might have built the ramp and just left it at that, the Altona Man., congregation held a dedication for it during a Sunday morning worship service.
It is true that the impacts of climate change on the planet’s future are unfairly shouldered by youth and children. Mennonite Church Saskatchewan made space for youth to explore that burden together. Seventeen young people attended a day-long retreat, “The Climate is Changing: Now What?” held at the Shekinah Retreat Centre near Waldheim, Sask., in early June.
After two years of outdoor ceremonies and air hugs, the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) community gathered at Bethel Mennonite Church on April 30 to observe this year’s graduation in a more familiar way. Finally, CMU was once again able to host an indoor convocation ceremony, also livestreamed online, and reception.
Over the past several years, numerous historians have highlighted how different Mennonite communities in Europe before and during the Second World War were entangled with and even actively participated in National Socialism, with some Mennonites helping to perpetrate the Holocaust. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) intersected with this broader Mennonite history in multiple ways.
As part of a five-week series focused on land, place and community, members of Calgary Inter-Mennonite Church went on a walk through their neighbourhood. The original idea for the series came from Diana Mansell, an active member of the worship committee, while the idea to go on a community walk originated with Walter Hossli, church council chair.
MCC partner Charitable Foundation Uman Help Center sets up a distribution event every week for food, hygiene supplies and other basic essentials for those living in or passing through Uman, Ukraine. (Photo courtesy of UMAN)
More than 100,000 people have fled to the area around the city of Uman in Ukraine as Russian military forces continue to advance. MCC partner Charitable Foundation UMAN Help Center distributes food; MCC hygiene kits, including toothpaste; and comforters to hundreds of people each month. (Photo courtesy of UMAN)
As millions of civilians continue to flee the devastation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, organizations like MCC partner UMAN (Charitable Foundation Uman Help Center) are working to support those who have left everything they know behind.
The small town of Black Creek, British Columbia, showed its generosity with a sale for Ukraine relief, organized by United Mennonite Church, on May 29. The town has a population of just over 9,000 and is located on Vancouver Island, far from all of Mennonite Church B.C.’s other congregations.
The Don Baergen Resource Room at the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers (EMCN) is overflowing with donations. Boxes of baby clothes, pots and pans, and bedding, to name a few, are stacked throughout the space. This is the state of the organization’s current refugee donation centre.
Many Canadians are familiar with the saying, “We are all treaty people.”
It is a slogan created to remind all people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, that treaties offer them rights and call them to responsibilities. A new grassroots organization in Saskatchewan is trying to help landowners live up to their responsibilities.
On May 25, Canadian Mennonite hosted its first-ever discussion event. But the magazine didn’t shy away from immediately diving into a tough topic: the climate crisis and the church.
The Canadian Christian Communications Association awards were handed out online on May 11 to Canadian magazines, newspapers and communications organizations that entered material published or posted online in 2021. Canadian Mennonite won six awards for writing, two for layout and design, and one each for online content and for general excellence for a magazine.
For wisdom and insight to face today’s leadership challenges, César García invited participants at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) commencement service on April 30 to look to the story of Moses and his call to serve in Exodus 4:1-17.
Individuals increased direct giving to their regional church in year two of the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth is contrary to the experience of secular charities. According to the CanadaHelps fifth annual Giving Report, charitable giving fell an estimated 12 percent between 2019 and 2021.
Pastor Yoel Trakoon Masyawong and a group from the Lao Mennonite Fellowship Canada led the gathering in music. (MCEC photo by Luke Fillion)
Friends connect at MC Eastern Canada’s annual gathering. From left to right: Brandon Hewitson, Brittany Anonthysene, Khan Thirakul and Katie Anonthysene. (Photo by Virginia A. Hostetler)
“Yes, we all lost sound at the Great Commission.” That humorous comment by Cathrin van Sintern-Dick appeared in the Zoom chat of the first hybrid annual church gathering of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, held April 29 and 30.
Women of Mennonite Church B.C. once again gathered in person for the spring Women’s Day on May 7, following a two-year pandemic-related hiatus. The event, held at Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford with 32 participants, was limited to the morning hours only this year.