News

B.C. Mennonites enjoyed a global experience on March 25 while gathering for Renewal 2023, a Mennonite World Conference (MWC) event with the theme of “Jesus Christ, our hope.”

The event, held at South Abbotsford Church, was part of Renewal 2028, a decade-long series of local events organized by MWC to commemorate the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement.

Like a garden maze with various starting points, the story of how I became connected to the Mennonite community is the sum of several individual stories that all led to the same place. My family’s journey to the Mennonites began with a Mennonite woman extending her compassion to us, and this has become a recurring theme.

With 100,000 members, the Mennonite church in Vietnam is going strong, reports Nhien Pham. The retired pastor, who came to Canada from Vietnam in 1976, returned to his home country for a month with a group from Mennonite Church Canada earlier this year. Pham is president of the North American Evangelical Vietnamese Fellowship and advisor for Evangelical Church Vietnam.

Caleb Ratzlaff has always had an interest in theology and politics. After spending time in seminary, he ultimately decided to complete a master’s degree in political philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Last November, he was elected to the St. Catherines city council, at which time he left his position as pastor of Westview Christian Fellowship.

With choral singing back in full swing, its community-building capacity is even more obvious to composer and Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) student Anna Schwartz. After writing the song “Answers” at the height of the pandemic, she is set to direct the CMU Chamber Choir’s spring performance of the song on April 28.

In an effort to strengthen communication and relationships between the nationwide and regional churches, Doug Klassen, Mennonite Church Canada’s executive minister, paid a visit to Saskatchewan last month.

While parenting can be a struggle, parenting through foster care or adoption has extra challenges, says Jenn Hook in Thriving Families. Her experience as a counsellor with a foster-care agency, and as the founder of a non-profit organization that supports foster and adoptive families gives her a solid understanding of these challenges.

Two Ohio families with 300 years of history in the U.S. began to consider leaving America when the two brothers and their wives faced workplace transitions in 2021.

The story of a young Filipina woman who marries into a Mennonite family and moves in with her in-laws will soon be broadcast on screens across Canada. Maria and the Mennos is a Manitoba-made television show that depicts the interaction of these different cultures and the hilarity, frustration and joy that ensues.

“We’re looking for someone who can balance spiritual leadership with executive leadership . . . someone who can hybrid those two areas.” That’s how Arli Klassen, Moderator for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC) describes the role of Regional Church Executive Minister, the senior staff position within each Regional Church.

House of Friendship held an official grand opening celebration of its new ShelterCare facility in Waterloo, Ont., on Jan. 19. This renovated former hotel will provide shelter and other supports for 100 men experiencing chronic homelessness, including onsite health care and staffing 24/7.

When the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada wrapped up its meetings at Shekinah Retreat Centre near Waldheim, Sask., on Jan. 22, the freezing rain had started. Dick Braun loaded up the 15-passenger van with people going directly to the airport, but it was too late. The laneway at Shekinah was too slippery and he could not get up the long hill. Still, no one missed their flight back home.