Let’s talk about our generosity
Lori Guenther Reesor, a speaker, writer and consultant on stewardship practices for churches and charities, released her first book this spring. Growing a Generous Church: A Year in the Life of Peach Blossom Church is a story of a fictional church that learns the spiritual discipline of giving. It is based on real-life interviews and…
Instilling faith at home
At times we have been both inspired and overwhelmed by the parenting books that crowd bookstore and library shelves. We have also found useful advice, and a dauntingly high bar, in countless parenting blogs and social media posts. This abundance of resources is one indication that we live in a society that takes child-rearing very…
Deepening community
“I really do not want more community than we already have at this church,” shared a congregant during a Sunday morning adult Sunday school discussion. “What I like about this church is that no one judges you for not being more involved or attending regularly. If we had more community, people would expect too much…
Mennonites talking
Mennonites are talking about Women Talking, Miriam Toews’s latest novel. What are your thoughts? Feel free to comment below or send letters to letters@canadianmennonite.org. Though I am still trying to figure out why the book troubled me—despite my admiration of Toews—some of my thoughts on the book are contained in Part 4 of “Modern ghosts…
Four models of multiracial church
In his 2003 book, One Body, One Spirit: Principles of Successful Multiracial Churches, George Yancey shares the results of a major study funded by the Lily Endowment and conducted by Michael Emerson, Karen Chai and Yancey. The researchers discuss four distinctive types of multiracial churches. Below, I analyze these types from a Mennonite perspective. 1)“Leadership…
Even after Presbyterian Church win, gay clergy likely to remain limited
Gay and lesbian advocates celebrated a landmark victory on May 10 when the Presbyterian Church (USA) entered the expanding ranks of Christian denominations that allow openly gay, partnered clergy. The winds of change, they said, are at their backs. "Presbyterians join a growing Protestant movement of Lutherans, Episcopalians and United Church of Christ members who…
Breaking the peace
What to do?” is our anxious impulse. “In the beginning,” God was revealed in creation before there was anyone to appreciate the self-disclosure this represented. It was long before any documentation by either Scripture or photograph was possible. But at mid-20th century, by the flick of a camera something of the character and intention of…
Book Review – Anarchy and Apocalypse: Essays on Faith, Violence, and Theodicy
Ronald E. Osborn. Anarchy and Apocalypse: Essays on Faith Violence, and Theodicy (Cascade Books, 2010). Osborn’s short collection of essays is one of the more eclectic publications I have read in some time. Faith and violence are indeed the mingled themes that bind this work together; having said that, however, the collection is somewhat nomadic…
What more could I want?
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Despite regular self-reminders of my abundance, I want. Despite the ongoing conversations with my children about our relative wealth, they want. Despite overflowing shelves of books and games, and complaining about lack of storage space, and instruments that barely see the light of day,…
‘Sounding the Scriptures’
Managing editor Ross W. Muir was introduced to biblical storytelling when John Epp, a member of the Network of Biblical Storytellers Canada and Toronto United Mennonite Church, visited First Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ont., last spring. Following that encounter, the two chatted in person and online over the summer and into the fall. Ross W. Muir:…
