The kingdom of heaven now
At the end of the infamous year 2020, I retired from pastoral ministry. Again. We’ll see if it “takes” this time. Looking back, I am reminded that, at different times in my ministry, I have been impassioned by different scriptural concepts. The passion that drew me into ministry was shaped by Isaiah 58:1-9, about a…
The ‘simple’ life in raising an Amish family
Marianne Jantzi is the author of Simple Pleasures: Stories from My Life as an Amish Mother, which has just been released by Herald Press as part of its Plainspoken series by Amish, Hutterite and plain Mennonite writers. In the book the author shares from the heart as she welcomes readers into her family’s daily life…
Five pastoral callings
A quiet, years-long journey. A voice speaking in a mosh pit full of teenagers. A love for the church. An unexpected second career. These are just some of the ways that Mennonite Church Canada pastors from across the country entered into pastoral ministry. Pastors shared with Canadian Mennonite their stories of pastoral calling and what…
The gospel according to Google
Just over 50 percent of Mennonite Church Canada congregations have their own websites. Next year that number will be higher. Guaranteed. And the year after it will be higher again. As will be the number of congregations that use so-called social media avenues like YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and Facebook. Just a handful use these now.…
A great year for spiritual films
My four favourite films of 2011 all had Christian themes, something that has certainly never happened before. Two of them—Of Gods and Men and The Way—were reviewed in Canadian Mennonite last year. The other two, which are the subject of this review, will not appeal to audiences expecting a plot-driven narrative, action or even dialogue,…
Reflections on Spiritual Transformation
“I think you are a contemplative.” Spoken by my spiritual director, those words caught me off guard. I’m not . . . am I? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. At least in terms of orientation. A crisis in ministry had caused pain and anger for myself and my family. I felt betrayed and…
‘Spiritual disciplines are not magic’
“It only takes a scrap of time to turn to God.” April Yamasaki shared this anonymous piece of 14th-century wisdom in her “Cultivating spiritual disciplines” workshop at Assembly 14. Sometimes it feels like a scrap of time is all people have, but that can be turned into a sacred pause, she told a roomful of…
Who was I that I could hinder God?
Update: In October 2020, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada announced the termination of the ministerial credentials of John D. Rempel, on the basis of ministerial sexual misconduct. To learn more, see ‘Credentials terminated for theologian-academic-pastor.’ The Book of Acts is the record of what happened to Jesus’ followers when their universe exploded, when the Holy Spirit, the…
South Korea recognizes rights of COs
The Constitutional Court of Korea brought an end to 70 years of imprisoning conscientious objectors when it ruled June 28 that it is unconstitutional for South Korea not to offer alternative service options for COs. It is estimated that about 20,000 males have been punished for refusing military service since the first draft laws were…
