“Talking about ‘a’ Mennonite identity seems passé,” wrote Marlene Epp in 2018. Still, Epp, a member of a pre-eminent family of Mennonite historians, is more than willing to talk... Read More
Opinion
March 25, 2020 | Opinion | Will Braun
In early March, the church my husband and I belong to held its annual general meeting. This year there wasn’t a lot of discussion, but Paul, the representative of the finance and... Read More
March 11, 2020 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
Comments on Wet’suwet’en article divided Re: “ Who do you support when a community is divided? ” Feb. 17, page 20. I believe Ross W. Muir covered the recent blockade in British... Read More
March 11, 2020 | Opinion | Various Contributors
Once upon a time, around 35 years ago, God brought into the world some new people. These people have grown up to love Jesus and follow him with all of their lives. They have also... Read More
March 11, 2020 | Opinion | Garry Janzen
The work of community remembering is important work. Archives, historical societies, libraries and museums all have a role in a community to remind us who we are and help point us... Read More
March 11, 2020 | Opinion | Conrad Stoesz
I recently sat with a friend for lunch and conversation. I had not seen her for almost three years. At one point she reached across the table, grasped both of my hands in hers,... Read More
March 11, 2020 | Opinion | Ed Olfert
I remember the feeling with such clarity: that furious, terrified, sick-to-your-stomach despair one feels when you are numerous pages into writing an academic paper and the... Read More
March 11, 2020 | Opinion | Joshua Penfold
When Luke Gascho and Jennifer Schrock of Goshen College’s Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center invited me to help lead efforts to engage Mennonite churches on climate change,... Read More
March 11, 2020 | Opinion | Douglas Kaufman
On Feb. 22, L’Arche International released a summary report of the abuse investigation of their deceased founder, Jean Vanier. It concluded he had sexually abused six women over a... Read More
March 4, 2020 | Web First - Opinion | Carol Penner
In 2012, I spent two memorable hours in Smithers, B.C., with Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks (John Ridsdale), one of the chiefs at the centre of the Coastal GasLink crisis... Read More
March 3, 2020 | Web First - Opinion | Will Braun
After Gathering 2019 last summer, Doug Klassen, then newly hired as executive minister of Mennonite Church Canada, sat down with me for a chat in the Abbotsford, B.C., airport... Read More
February 26, 2020 | Opinion | Virginia A. Hostetler
Reader pans new Trumpian Middle East peace plan, favours ‘one state’ solution Having worked in the private agriculture sector with various Middle East countries, including Israel... Read More
February 26, 2020 | Opinion | Various Contributors
There are many changes in Canadian society today that compel us to be trained in “diversity and inclusion.” As Christians, what direction do we find in our own biblical texts?... Read More
February 26, 2020 | Opinion | Donna Entz
In this scene from Twilight Auction by John L. Ruth, young Harvard-educated Sam confronts his traditional Mennonite family’s willingness to sell treasured family heirlooms. Doug... Read More
February 26, 2020 | Opinion | Laureen Harder-Gissing
I read the note from my son’s teacher and my heart sank. As the kids unpacked their backpacks and had a snack, I stood still in the kitchen feeling disappointed, sad and perplexed... Read More
February 26, 2020 | Opinion | Christina Bartel Barkman
Strange, I know, but I like to read financial statements. I remember, in my early 20s, listening to the treasurer in our Toronto congregation explain how to understand financial... Read More
February 26, 2020 | Opinion | Arli Klassen
The snowball effect refers to a situation in which something starts off small or insignificant and increases in size or importance at an accelerating rate. Like when you roll a... Read More
February 26, 2020 | Opinion | Troy Watson
“The congregation is the foundational unit and expression of God’s work in the world.” That was a key affirmation in the Future Directions process that led to the 2017 re-... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
Church press seeks to report ‘in an honest, balanced fashion’ Re: “ Freedom of speech for Christian media? ” Dec. 9, 2019, page 9. Putting aside for the moment a rather odd... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Opinion | Various Contributors
In 2018, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan began a three-year journey called “Deepening our walk.” In year one, we opened ourselves to encounters with God’s presence by “Deepening our... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Opinion | Ryan Siemens
You can find all kinds of things in the archives, including humour. In a report dated Jan. 25, 1963, Rev. David P. Neufeld wrote, “During the course of the last year I have come... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Opinion | Conrad Stoesz
On Feb. 2, I attended a worship service that mattered. It was an ecumenical service, held as part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Here in Laird, Sask., population... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Opinion | Ed Olfert
One of the most profound experiences of my life was when I bought a bicycle at the police auction at the precise midpoint of my two-year term of service with Mennonite Central... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Opinion | Randy Haluza-DeLay
My best friend, Mike, is a potter. Our friendship has afforded me the occasional opportunity to sit at his wheel and try my hand at pottery. I’ve learned that it isn’t easy. Mike... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Opinion | Joshua Penfold
Because we live in a time of change and upheaval in our culture, Anthony G. Siegrist argues that the church needs to improve its biblical and theological literacy, writing, “It’s... Read More
February 11, 2020 | Web First - Opinion | Barb Draper