The rally call
Curiosity is a powerful spiritual discipline. Curiosity has blessed me with many opportunities to spend time with kind, intelligent and reasonable people, in many different social, political and theological camps. I’m grateful for the privilege of hearing the typically calm and logical explanations they have for the positions they hold. In these moments, I’ve seen…
Compelled by Christ to serve
“At the railroad stations, the sight was appalling. The moment the train halted it was besieged by living skeletons. From out of the rags were lifted bare arms, the wasted fingers extended toward the car windows in entreaty for food. “‘Bread, in God’s name, bread!’ ” These were the words of A.J. Miller, penned in southern…
A new chapter for the Anabaptist Learning Workshop
The creators of the Anabaptist Learning Workshop (ALW) are starting a new chapter for Anabaptist-Mennonite education in Eastern Canada. As a program offered by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in cooperation with Conrad Grebel University College , the Workshop has organized learning events at the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary life for laypeople, pastors, new…
Lamenting the ‘discovery’ of North America
An American theatre company with Mennonite roots performed its newest production, which explores indigenous-settler relations, to a capacity crowd in Winnipeg earlier this summer. Hundreds gathered at Home Street Mennonite Church on June 28, 2017, as Ted and Company TheaterWorks presented Discovery: A Comic Lament. The play explores the Doctrine of Discovery, the legal framework…
Clothing gifts from one immigrant family to another
Bags of clothing from Vietnamese immigrants in Abbotsford have found their way to help clothe Karen refugees in Surrey, thanks to a cooperative effort between church groups. David and Sharon Luu, who immigrated to Canada from Vietnam in the 1990s, have been active in supporting the young Abbotsford Vietnamese Fellowship congregation. As the parents of…
On the Trinity
I’ve been thinking lately about the Trinity, the central way that Christians throughout history have expressed who God is to us – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. From recent conversations both at church and in academic circles, I’ve come to realize that for many Mennonites, the Trinitarian nature of the divine is crucial. One such…
MoM 100: Ukraine’s past, present come together
For Nataliya Venger, a participant in the “Memories of Migration: Russaender Tour 100,” the hardship and suffering faced by Mennonites a century ago at the hands of the Soviet Union is unfortunately part of her own life today. Venger is a refugee from Ukraine, having fled the fighting in June 2022. Back home in Ukraine,…
Watch: Quarantine viewing ideas
Looking for a movie to watch? Sue Sorensen has some suggestions for you. Sorensen, an English professor at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, is featured in a series of five short videos CMU posted to its YouTube channel earlier this month. Each video features a film that Sorensen recommends watching, particularly in light of the…
Project Ploughshares’ coalition wins 2017 Nobel Peace Prize
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) congratulates Project Ploughshares, a member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), on winning the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. Project Ploughshares, of which MCC is a member, was started 42 years ago by a former MCC service worker, Ernie Regehr. Cesar Jaramillo, the executive director of Project Ploughshares, says…
North American volume now available
The fifth and final volume in the Global Mennonite History Series, the history of North American Mennonites, was released in late September. Seeking Places of Peace by Royden Loewen and Steven M. Nolt, completes the Mennonite World Conference history series, which has been overseen by historians John A. Lapp and C. Arnold Snyder. The 400-page…
