I’m in a beautiful and sorrowful place. My travels have brought me to a stunning seaside within a country that significantly restricts the proclamation of Jesus as Messiah and Lord. Here, unless you were born Christian, you can’t abandon the national religion to follow Jesus. Those who change their mind in that way are not treated well. They are considered traitors, sometimes even martyred.
I am, and always have been, a “doer,” and my late husband was the same. If people needed help, we found a way to help them. If something was broken, we found a way to fix it. I guess God decided we should meet a large team of fixers and helpers known as the Mennonites.
History of Niagara Township Credit Union clarified by a founder’s son
Re: “‘Mennonite’ name should stay” letter, March 30, page 10.
Albert Isaac’s comments about the Niagara Township Credit Union may confuse readers.
When I was called to serve on the Mennonite Church Canada General Board in 2006, church participation and financial giving were in slow decline. The looming threat of cutbacks further drained life from the overall system. In addition, signs of theological challenge were surfacing around matters of sexuality.
“There’s a gift for you in my office,” my husband announced cheerily. “What?!?” I exclaimed, puzzled at such a development. He repeated the news and added, “It’s a dress to wear to the wedding.” “What?” I asked again. Now I was even more surprised, though a little, curious pleasure stirred inside me.
On a sunny lunch break while attending high school, I went for my customary walk into town. A classmate drove up in his shiny two-door coupe and offered a ride. Because he had already offered rides to other students, I soon found myself in the back seat beneath a pile of humanity. I panicked. I was overcome with a massive case of claustrophobia.
Mennonite World Conference brings together Mennonites from all over the world. (Photo by Merle Good)
One minute César García is talking with awe about a postmodern work of art in a thriving Amsterdam Mennonite church, and the next he’s speaking with similar awe about a Mennonite service in rural Malawi where the congregation has little more than a tree to meet under, a make-shift drum and the joy of the Lord.
One of my atheist friends told me about a unique encounter with a “holy” man that ignited her spiritual awakening. She met a Buddhist monk visiting the city she lived in, and her friend offered to tour him around for the day. They were amazed at the monk’s sense of wonder and childlike excitement, he never seemed to stop smiling.
Polarizing sexual debate distresses reader
I am distressed by the polarizing debate on sexuality in Mennonite Church Canada congregations. I wonder if adequate consideration is given to two questions that are central to a more productive dialogue:
I have been caught by the need for justice in our world of late. I am on the e-mail list of Rabbis for Human Rights who are actively standing up for justice for all people who are getting a bad deal in Israel and Palestine.
My beautiful wife and I had the pleasure recently of leading a couple’s retreat on an island just off British Columbia’s mainland. It was a glorious weekend—sans kids for us—with glorious blue skies and majestic panoramic views of the coastal mountains. Precious memories.
My family and I often walk through the old-growth forests that surround the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus and then down to the waters of English Bay. There is lots to look for along the way: pileated woodpeckers and black-capped chickadees in the trees, slugs on the trails, and, when we get to the water, crabs under the rocks at low tide.
Karen children—refugees from Myanmar—sing at a Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan event last fall. (MCC Saskatchewan photo)
Bethany College students in the back row provide literacy help for Karen refugee children from Myanmar who have been resettled in Rosthern, Sask. (MCC Saskatchewan photo)
It was a “burning bush moment” that got Marian Hooge Jones of Rosthern (Sask.) Mennonite Church started on her lengthy involvement with the sponsorship of refugee families from Myanmar (formerly Burma) living in refugee camps in Thailand. While glancing through a church bulletin one Sunday, she read that refugee sponsors were urgently needed by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Bible’s answers were ‘cut and dried’?
While I haven’t got any answers, I have been reading with interest the articles and letters about sexuality issues in Canadian Mennonite. All seem to be written with a biblical base by Spirit-led Christians but with widely differing and sometimes polar oppo-site points of view.
“Yep, I have to get an annual membership.” That customer comment reflects growing excitement over CommonWord, the new resource venture of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), launched in January.
On a lovely summer day while walking down the street, a young woman approached me and politely asked if she could show me a magic trick. Given a host of cues, I assumed she would lead into a conversation on Christian faith.
An early sign of spring in southern Ontario is seeing sports teams move their practices outside. The sight of children and youth in colourful uniforms on the soccer pitch is a sure sign that May is here. I am actively involved in our local soccer club and both my children have played for years. I have enjoyed watching youngsters develop their skills over time.
One of the many fascinating events to occur in the Book of Exodus is God “leaving” the mountain of God (Mount Sinai) to travel with the Hebrews to the Promised Land in a portable sanctuary called the tabernacle.
Bible contains the word of God but isn’t the Word of God
Re: “Bible written without an understanding of genetics” letter, March 2, page 14.
I was on my Monday morning transit commute sitting near a group of people who loudly reminisced about their weekend exploits. Without embarrassment they relived what could be remembered of a wild party’s excitement, exploits and emissions—despite the presence of strangers and a few grandmas. The visualizations were a challenge to forget.
My wife and I arrived in Vancouver in 1994 with our two sons, aged 9 and 12. I had been an air traffic controller, then law enforcement officer in Hong Kong. As a landed immigrant in Canada, I found some odd jobs before going back to school at the B.C. Institute of Technology and beginning a career with a mechanical engineer consulting firm.
A little girl stands on the snowy steps of Alberta’s Legislature in Edmonton, holding a sign that declares, ‘ISIS is not Islam,’ during a rally by members of the local Muslim community on March 22, 2015, to exclaim that they do not support Islamic State. (Photo by Valerie Proudfoot)
A little girl stood on the snowy steps of Alberta’s Legislature in Edmonton, holding a sign that declares, “ISIS is not Islam,” during a rally by members of the local Muslim community on March 22, to exclaim that they do not support Islamic State (IS).
‘Well-worn clichés’ can hide the truth
Re: “A father’s struggle with his gay son,” March 2, page 29.
These Easter morning words from Mary (John 20:13b) are prophetic for the church today, a time when we may have lost our bearings in our discipleship-oriented denomination.
My ears perked up at a recent seminar when a leader began to speak about crucial conversations. He defined such conversations as ones whose stakes are high, opinions vary and emotions run strong. I was even more eager to hear how he successfully led his extended family in a process related to his aging father.
