A fundraising dinner to help people affected by the current war in Ukraine began with a man who had vivid memories of leaving Ukraine as a five-year-old in the mid-1940s. The man... Read More
News & Stories
Violinist Lorin Friesen entertains attendees at a fundraising banquet at Peace Mennonite Church in Richmond, B.C., on May 7. (Photo by Jet Takaoka)
May 23, 2022 | Web First |
A leader and camper at the Urban Promise camp in Toronto, made possible with support from the Spirit of MDS Fund. (Photo courtesy of Urban Promise)
Meals and blankets for homeless people, helping low-income kids go to camp, support for refugees—these are some of the ways the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada Spirit of... Read More
May 23, 2022 | Web First | John Longhurst
Pictured with UMEI’s Project Renew sign are, from left to right: principal Sonya Bedal, board chair Steve Enns and board secretary Carolyn Warkentin. (Photo by Megan Snippe)
The sanctuary of North Leamington United Mennonite Church was packed on March 9 as supporters of UMEI Christian High School gathered for a special meeting. The UMEI board had been... Read More
May 23, 2022 | Web First | Charleen Jongejan Harder
Aziza* shops for meat using monthly food vouchers given to her by MCC’s partner, Popular Aid for Relief and Development (PARD). The vouchers supplement her husband’s income, which is primarily spent on treating their six-month-old son’s lung disease. She uses the food to provide good nutrition to her five children under eight years of age. (*Aziza’s full name is not used for her security.) (Photo courtesy of PARD-2022)
Aziza, a 29-year-old mother living in Beirut, Lebanon, spends almost all of her husband’s income on hospital visits, oxygen and medication to treat her six-month-old son’s lung... Read More
May 11, 2022 | News |
In this 2018 photo, Lorne Brandt (right), then chair of Mennonite Church B.C.’s Service, Peace and Justice Committee, presents Steve Heinrichs with a vest and moccasins made by Cree craftspeople. The governing body of Mennonite Church Canada has ended the full-time Indigenous-Settler Relations position that Heinrichs held for the last decade. (Photo by Henry Krause/Canadian Mennonite files)
The governing body of Mennonite Church Canada has decided to end the full-time Indigenous-Settler Relations (ISR) position held by Steve Heinrichs and replace it with a new half-... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Web First | Will Braun
Earlier this year, Steve Heinrichs cohosted a learning series on the climate crisis based on the book A Good War. (Steve Heinrichs’ Instagram photo)
Mennonite Church Canada is transitioning its Indigenous-Settler Relations (ISR) program to the five regional churches that make up its nationwide community of faith. The decision... Read More
May 11, 2022 | News |
YAMENers experience Indonesia. Clockwise from bottom left: Assembly 2022 staffer Lorenzo Fellycyando, Rut Arsari, YAMENer Ananda Mohan Murmu, YAMENer Sunil Kad Kadmaset, YAMENer Natacha Kyendrebeogo, YAMENer Loyce Twongirwe, and Assembly 2022 staffer Lydia Suyanti. (Photo by Lorenzo Fellycyando)
“I can see one family with a lot of members, worshipping the same Father,” says Natacha Kyendrebeogo of Burkina Faso. She is one of four young people serving through the Young... Read More
May 11, 2022 | News | Karla Braun
Louisa Adria, a Foothills Mennonite Church youth worker, carries a log at Camp Valaqua’s annual spring work day on April 30. (Photo by Ruth Bergen Braun)
Camp Valaqua welcomed approximately 30 enthusiastic volunteers at its spring work day on April 30. Volunteers and staff focused on cleaning up brush and splitting wood. “Our... Read More
May 11, 2022 | News | Jessica Evans
‘If someone speaks to us of wishing to die, we need to ask, “Where’s the pain?” ’ (Photo and quote by Ruth Bergen Braun)
“I can talk about mental health and, specifically, suicide risk, because nearly every day I ask someone if they have thoughts of wishing to die.” Ruth Bergen Braun is a recently... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Focus on Mental Health | Jessica Evans
Paint hands. (Photo by Amauri Mejia on Unsplash)
Sometimes people go through experiences that are too difficult to talk about or too confusing to articulate. Art therapy helps many people process and heal when at first the words... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Focus on Mental Health | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Cindy Wallace Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, Cindy Wallace was feeling out of sorts. Each new day seemed to bring more bad news, more uncertainty from leaders around the world... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Focus on Mental Health | Emily Summach
Adrianne Roberts, right, and Patrick Raymond are peer support workers with Communitas. They are excited about the launch of their new peer-support website.
Communitas Supportive Care Society has launched a new peer-support website, a comprehensive site that puts mental-health resources as close as the click of a mouse. The... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Focus on Mental Health | Angelika Dawson
Sarah Gadon and Alison Pill in a scene from All My Puny Sorrows. (Image courtesy of AMPS Productions Inc.)
Toward the end of All My Puny Sorrows , Lottie (Mare Winningham) sits in her Toronto apartment comforting her sobbing daughter, Yoli (Alison Pill), noting, “The pain of letting go... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Focus on Mental Health | Mandy Elliott
“You can’t pour from an empty cup.” The words came from a place of kindness and empathy, from someone who knew the feeling. It hit me to my core, because I was empty. It was 2015... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Focus on Mental Health | Rebekah Sears
The family buried Richard’s ashes on Easter weekend. Richard had purchased his headstone years earlier, his quirky sense of humour coming through with ‘Hello world’ preceding his birthdate inscription and ‘Goodbye world’ ready for the addition of his date of death. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
Note: This reflection deals with the subject of suicide. On Nov. 27, a Saturday, I received a long text message from my cousin Richard (I’m using only his middle name here, for... Read More
May 11, 2022 | Focus on Mental Health | Amy Rinner Waddell
CMU student Anna Schwartz, left, stands with visual artist and piano instructor Shirley Elias in front of one of the artworks that make up ‘Spectrum – The Colour of Music; Precision and Impression.’ (CMU photo)
Imagine if you could see sound. When Anna Schwartz listens to music, she not only hears the different instruments, keys and dynamics—she sees them. That’s because she has... Read More
May 10, 2022 | Web First |
The site of a camp that housed an estimated 64,000 Ethiopians displaced by violence in Afar state last year. As the violence shifted, these people returned home. (Photo by Rebecca Mosely)
Pastor Desalegn Abebe’s message to North American Mennonites is simple. Abebe is the head of Meserete Kristos Church (MKC), the Anabaptist denomination in Ethiopia, where 17... Read More
April 27, 2022 | News | Will Braun
Earthkeepers Kids Club, a collaboration of Jubilee Mennonite Church and A Rocha Manitoba, aims to connect children with creation. (Photos courtesy of A Rocha Manitoba)
Many children today live in a nature deficit. As screens constantly command their attention, parents tighten their protective grip as dangers outside seem to increase, and a multi... Read More
April 27, 2022 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
At one station at the Good Friday walk, participants were invited to take a living branch and weave it through a rope trellis, thinking about contributions they could make to God’s kingdom. (Photo courtesy of Amy Klassen)
Walking, biking or driving through twelve Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, April 15, residents of Yarrow, B.C., experienced the story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection... Read More
April 27, 2022 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
Of the remaining 11 Erb cousins, seven were still able to attend the final reunion 90 years after it started. (Photo by Melody Steinman)
John L. Erb and Barbara Oesch were Amish Mennonites who farmed in Wellesley Township in southwestern Ontario in the late 1800s. They attended Maple View Mennonite Church. Together... Read More
April 27, 2022 | News | Reta Bender and Melody Steinman
For Ben Borne, his work is not only professional, it’s also deeply personal, as he is both Saulteaux from Yellow Quill First Nation and Mennonite. (Photo courtesy of Ben Borne)
It’s hard to imagine when Ben Borne finds time to sleep. “I have four jobs,” he says with an easy laugh. “It’s busy, but I love what I do.” Borne works for Mennonite Central... Read More
April 27, 2022 | People | Emily Summach
Members of the ‘40 Minutes’ group include Pastor Anna-Lisa Salo, top left, Danika Peters, Cassidy Brown, Taylor Derksen and Dayna Goerzen. (Screenshot by Anna-Lisa Salo)
Anna-Lisa Salo, pastor of Bergthal Mennonite Church in Didsbury, has taken advantage of Zoom’s free 40 minute limit. Two years ago, she reached out to four young women from her... Read More
April 27, 2022 | People | Jessica Evans
(Photos by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
During Holy Week, bright pops of colour appeared in a downtown alley amid the brown slush and litter of a Winnipeg spring. A group of artists from the congregation of Home Street... Read More
April 27, 2022 | People | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Cliff Gusztak with his mom Ashley hand over baked goods at his bake sale at Foothills Mennonite Church on March 27. (Photo by Jessica Evans)
Cliff Gusztak is a little boy with a big heart. An idea for a small cupcake stand evolved into a fundraising campaign that raised a total of $7,150 for Mennonite Central Committee... Read More
April 13, 2022 | News | Jessica Evans
Anne Shirley, centre, played by Kira Andres, pleads with Marilla Cuthbert, left, played by Rebecca Janzen-Martin, to be allowed to stay at Green Gables, as Matthew Cuthbert, played by Marcus Dion looks on. (Photos by Tracey Matthews)
After a two-year hiatus, students at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, in Kitchener, were thrilled to perform Anne of Green Gables . The two-hour play was mounted by a cast and crew... Read More
April 13, 2022 | News | Kara Cornies