Thoughts after Black Tuesday in Jos
Dave and Mary Lou are serving with Mennonite Central Committee, based in the city of Jos, Nigeria. They shared this reflection in their support network, following an incident in which two bombs were set off in that city. We have been quiet for several months partly because we haven't known what to say. Nigeria has received…
Say no to moralistic therapeutic deism
A major sociological study of American youth concluded that their understanding of faith could be called “moralistic therapeutic deism.” On page 16 of the magazine, Ryan Dueck makes a related observation about “therapeutic church” and says it’s a problem. From their study of youth, Christian Smith and Melinda Lindquist identified a constellation of common beliefs:…
Readers write: Nov. 25, 2013 issue
Before progressing, we need to know our starting point Re: "What’s ahead" editorial, Oct. 14, page 2. Dick Benner is right to suggest that our "anchor" is the Corinthian passage on the foundational place of Jesus Christ in our Mennonite journey. His final line, "Canadian Mennonite will continue to push the edges, explore new pathways,…
Readers write: December 1, 2023
Don’t ignore pain and rage I was encouraged to see Canadian Mennonite give space to understanding the conflict in Palestine that is currently so front and centre (“Palestinian voices,” October 20; “Attending to war,” November 3). I was especially pleased to see the focus on the stories of Palestinians themselves. Given that our own government…
MoM 100: A visit to Grosse Isle
When Mennonites came to Canada by ship between 1923 and 1930, their first stop in their new country would have been at Grosse Isle, located in the middle of the St. Lawrence River about an hour east of Quebec City. Mennonite tour participants at Grosse Isle. That’s where all ships coming from Europe anchored so…
MC Canada issues call to prayer for Burkina Faso
Leaders from the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso, Mennonite Church Canada’s sibling church through Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, are calling on MC Canada to pray for security and peace in their country. Violence in Burkina Faso has escalated since 2016, as terrorist attacks wreak havoc in many of the northern and eastern areas. As many…
Ramadan delights
It’s been a couple years now, but the experience stands out in my mind as if it were yesterday. Engin Sezen, executive director of the Waterloo, Ont., Intercultural Dialogue Institute, invited my wife Marlene and me to share a meal with his and his brother’s families after dusk during Ramadan. Even though Engin was a…
Good fellowship in Brazil
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, both in land mass and population. The densely forested Amazon Valley, which includes up to 69 Indian tribes, makes up a large portion of this very interesting country of mixed peoples. According to government reports, 55 percent of the Brazilian people have some African blood. This…
Greetings from Bolivia
Bolivia, named after its first president, Bolivar, is about 4,500 miles south and one time zone east of Kitchener. It is a beautiful country with lots of tropical foliage, including 1,200 species of fern and 1,400 species of birds. This land-locked country is south of the equator, which means that we need to look north…
A time to re-imagine the seminary?
The seminary is important. For years the standard has been, “If ministry is in your future, then so should seminary.” But I’m not sure if I will be going to one because I think the seminary needs to be re-imagined. Things are changing. Church budgets seem to be shrinking to align themselves with declining donations.…
