Opinion

The last time my church sang together was March 8, the second Sunday in Lent. Since then, my singing has consisted of one backyard, physically distant, “Happy Birthday” and my... Read More
August 26, 2020 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
My kids are old enough to start playing ball, and weekly practices and physically distanced games are a regular part of the Barkman routine. In high school, I was a catcher, and... Read More
August 26, 2020 | Opinion | Darnell Barkman
Since I was a young boy, I’ve been fascinated by words, stories and ideas. So when I heard that I had an opportunity to be a regional representative for Alberta on the Canadian... Read More
August 26, 2020 | Opinion | Art Koop
Every year around this time, the congregation I belong to makes plans for Gathering Sunday. After a summer of sparser attendance at worship services, our gathering on the first... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Virginia A. Hostetler
Dandelion cover inspires flower arranger Re: Dandelion front cover , June 8. I laughed out loud when I saw the dandelion on the cover. Growing up on the farm in Virgil, Ont., we... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Various Contributors
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: A time to born and a time to die . . . .” (Ecclesiastes 2:1-2). Over the years, I have come to refer... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Anna-Lisa Salo
The Conference of Mennonites in Canada annual session was held in July 1975, in Swift Current, Sask. Hot weather put participants’ “cool” to the test. The assembly was not only... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Conrad Stoesz
I’ve been asked recently why my column is called “Third Way Family.” The question has prompted me to share my reasoning behind choosing this title and what it means to me. I first... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Christina Bartel Barkman
I am listening these days to stories of how people and their churches are responding to the physical and emotional needs around them due to COVID-19. Every congregation is finding... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Arli Klassen
The past few months have awakened us to our fragility as individuals, communities and nation states. We’ve observed the fragility of our health-care system, food-supply chain,... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Troy Watson
When H.S. Bender came out with The Anabaptist Vision in the 1940s, he offered a Mennonite theology that was different from the evangelical fundamentalism widely accepted in the... Read More
August 12, 2020 | Opinion | Reviewed by Barb Draper
Setsuko Nakamura was 13 years old in 1945, the day American forces dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, where she lived. She recalls the horrific aftermath of... Read More
July 29, 2020 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
During a Zoom call a month or so ago, a pastor friend mused, “Is worship all we have left?” Our virtual meet-up—all folks involved in congregational leadership—had been sharing... Read More
July 29, 2020 | Opinion | Josh Wallace
It is now month five for Canadian communities struggling with the COVID-19 crisis. In this time, we’ve heard many pronouncements by health authorities on what members of the... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
Today’s society is a progression of Canada’s colonial past Re: “ ‘Decolonize’ and ‘settler’ meaningless terms” letter, June 8, 2020, page 8. It is a nice idea that “our great-... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Opinion | Various Contributors
I am thinking about sparrows today, about how many of them there are, and yet how little I notice them until they stop for a quick perch on the railing of my deck and I find... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Opinion | Rick Neufeld
Public school teachers Samuel B. Nafziger, Dick Neufeld, Sara (Lehn) Harder, Martin Goerzen, Grace Harder, John C. Harder and C. Boldt, are pictured in the most northerly... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Opinion | Laureen Harder-Gissing
A recent article in Canadian Mennonite included a story of the closing of Superb Mennonite Church . Superb was my home. I was dedicated, married, baptized and raised a family... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Opinion | Ed Olfert
I am an immigrant. After serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Canada, I chose to stay in this amazing country. The Canadian way was closer to the “thousand points of light... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Opinion | Randolph Haluza-DeLay
It’s outlandish really, what God asks Hosea to do. To think that someone known for his holiness and intimate relationship with the divine would take up residence with a woman... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Opinion | Joshua Penfold
When the conversation is lagging in social situations, one of my favourite questions to ask is, “What are you reading?” This inquiry often leads to an interesting interchange of... Read More
June 30, 2020 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
Many years ago now—I’m getting a bit long in the tooth—I took what I thought would be a bird course in my second year at what was then known as Waterloo College. It turned out to... Read More
June 30, 2020 | Opinion | Art Sheil
Since the middle of March, when church buildings closed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, I’ve been visiting many churches. Not in person, of course, but on the internet... Read More
June 17, 2020 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
‘A wise investment’ in the future of church camps Re: “Testing the ties that bind,” April 27, page 2. It hit me when I read in the editorial that the financial fallout from COVID-... Read More
June 17, 2020 | Opinion | Various Contributors
On June 1, CommonWord launched a new website at commonword.ca that is mobile-friendly, easily searchable and beautifully designed. Our goal is to make Anabaptist and related... Read More
June 17, 2020 | Opinion | Arlyn Friesen Epp

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