Walking together
This year, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan has been “deepening our walk with one another” as part of a three-year initiative to call us to deeper life with Christ, ourselves and our neighbours. In a report prepared by the regional church’s reference group, there is a quote by Frederick Buechner: “The place God calls you to is…
Welcome on the other side of the fence
A deep love for aboriginal communities in Manitoba inspired Jake and Margaret Harms to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this past summer by honouring others. In lieu of gifts, they invited friends and family to contribute to Mennonite Church Canada Native Ministry. “Our first love has always been the North and our brothers and sisters…
‘This is a holy and good thing’
What does “turn the other cheek” mean when you’re abused by your pastor? What does “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” mean when you’re dealing with gendered power imbalances within your group of friends? What does “made in the image of God” mean when you’re an LGBTQ member of a church experiencing…
‘Our family is here’
Elaine Hofer and Paul Waldner are members of Green Acres Colony, near Wawanesa, Man. Their Hutterite colony, along with Enes and Fata Muheljic from Wawanesa, worked with Mennonite Central Committee Canada to sponsor a family from Syria. Hofer writes in her journal about the day they met Reyad Alhamoud, Najwa Hussein Al Mohamad and their…
The song of Mary
Mary, whose heart is full of things to ponder, goes to see her older relative Elizabeth in the hill country. Both are pregnant. Both are in on the secret of the Messiah. They are brimming with possibility and responsibility. They have both surrendered in a visceral, physical way to the flow of divine will. Mary…
The Peacebuilder on a Goat Path
Meet Kathy Moorhead Thiessen, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. While she may look like your normal mother and wife, this 52 year old from Hope Mennonite Church spends half of her year in Iraq as a 1/2 time corp member with Christian Peacemaker Teams. The following is some of her story, in her words, from where she…
Grief and a snowman
A few weeks ago, I received a package in the mail from the Boston Athletic Association for finishers of the Boston Marathon. It was exciting to receive the package and yet it was also quite sad. ‘It was exciting to receive the package and yet it was also quite sad.’ This was not how I…
A plea for compassion
We are dying here. So please, everyone who has suddenly got it in for Steinbach: get off your high horse and lead with compassion instead of smugness. Even better, leave the smugness out entirely. Same with the eye-roll emojis. And the tweets about how your hometown is “ridiculous.” Steinbach is the COVID-19 capital of Canada,…
A Thank-You Moment
As I gather my garden harvest, I can only marvel at the bounty of all that grows. My shelves are filled with things canned and delicious. It seems as though every time I visit a neighbour, there is another gift I can give, because my garden has not stopped producing. And so, I stop and…
Living in the moment (during COVID-19)
Even in the midst of a pandemic, six young adults from Germany and France chose to continue with their plans to serve with Mennonite Voluntary Service Adventure in Lethbridge. They arrived last fall, and one more youth was to join them at the end of January after quarantining for two weeks. Maj-Britt Becker of Karlsruhe,…
