Donna Dinsmore never felt she fit into church life. “I wanted to serve in the church and I loved God, but I didn’t feel called to work with small children and I didn’t make... Read More
News & Stories
Donna Dinsmore, interim pastor of Foothills Mennonite Church in Calgary, is pictured with her beloved seven-year-old Tucker. ‘Tucker makes every community more human,' she says. (Photo courtesy of Donna Dinsmore)
August 14, 2019 | People | Joanne De Jong
Shake participants gather for a photo on the Shekinah Retreat Centre deck. (Photo by Darryl Neustaedter Barg)
“We want to be shaken not by what the world throws at us, but by what Jesus throws at us.” With these words, Kirsten Hamm-Epp welcomed participants to Shake: Rattled by the... Read More
August 14, 2019 | News | Donna Schulz
Christoph Neuhaus, left, Bern canton’s state councillor and director of church affairs, and Lukas Amstutz, the Swiss Mennonite Conference co-president, plant a linden tree as a symbol of reconciliation on April 20 at Église évangélique mennonite Tavannes. (Photo by Raphaël Burkhalter)
It took about 490 years for government officials in Bern, Switzerland, to ask for forgiveness for persecution of Anabaptists in the region. It took less than two to get a response... Read More
August 12, 2019 | Web First | Tim Huber
'Being in a new place helps me discover... my own self,' Anna Wiebe says. (Photo by Carly Hunt)
Anna Wiebe is on the move again. The singer-songwriter from New Hamburg, Ont., released her second album, All I Do is Move , on July 12, bringing her listeners a more complex... Read More
August 9, 2019 | Web First | Rachel Bergen
Youth from across Canada gathered at Shekinah Retreat Centre last week. (Photo courtesy of Vimeo)
"Shake: Rattled by the Radical," a gathering for youth from across Mennonite Church Canada, wrapped up this past Thursday. Watch a five-and-a-half-minute video recapping the event... Read More
August 6, 2019 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Kyle Penner explores his church's approach to membership requirements for volunteer involvement during a presentation at Canadian Mennonite University this past May. (Photo courtesy of YouTube)
What do you do when (1) your church has a rule that people need to be members in order to volunteer in leadership positions, (2) you have an increasing number of people attending... Read More
August 2, 2019 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Katie Geddert, right, MCC country co-representative in Ukraine, speaks at the joint meeting of the U.S. and Canadian MCC boards on June 19 . At left are MCC Canada board chair Paul Gilbert and MCC U.S. board chair Gwen White. (Photo by Paul Schrag)
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has a loyal constituency, but its leaders don’t take the support for granted. “We can no longer assume Mennonite churches are familiar with MCC... Read More
July 31, 2019 | News | Paul Schrag
Bill Tiessen, right, has played Jesus for 12 years in Manitoba’s Passion Play. (Photo courtesy of the Manitoba Passion Play)
Every summer, more than a hundred volunteers from across Manitoba gather in the rolling hills of the Pembina Valley to bring to life the most important event of the Christian... Read More
July 31, 2019 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Enjoying VBS craft time at Foothills Mennonite Church in Calgary are, from left to right: Arianna Toews, Kaylynn Toews and Zoe Willms. (Photo by Ainsley Dunn)
Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers asked the question, “Won’t you be my neighbour?” every day for almost 40 years on Mr. Roger’s Neighbourhood . In the 2018 documentary of his life... Read More
July 31, 2019 | News | Joanne De Jong
Sales of custom-made crokinole boards from Yarrow (B.C.) United Mennonite Church are helping support Mennonite Partners in China. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
Wooden game boards made in Yarrow, B.C., and a crokinole tournament at this summer’s Mennonite Church Canada Gathering 2019 have made a connection with modern-day Chinese... Read More
July 31, 2019 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
Theatre of the Beat actor Lindsey Middleton performs at the Global Mennonite Peacebuilding Conference in the Netherlands. (Photo courtesy of Theatre of the Beat)
The second annual Global Mennonite Peacebuilding Conference and Festival took place in Elspeet, the Netherlands, between June 27 and 30. It brought people together with the aim of... Read More
July 31, 2019 | News | Rachel Bergen
The pastor-canoeists take a break on a rocky outcropping in Massasauga Provincial Park. Pictured from left to right: Mark Diller Harder, Yoel Masyawong, Yared Demissie Seretse, Chung Vang, René Baergen and Joseph Raltong. (Photo courtesy of Yoel Masyawong.)
For three days and two nights in June, six Mennonite Church Eastern Canada pastors journeyed by canoe and camped in the wilderness of Massasauga Provincial Park, near Parry Sound... Read More
July 31, 2019 | People | Janet Bauman
A gift to Chris and Campbell Nisbet to remember their years at Hidden Acres was a blanket made out of Campbell’s many camp T-shirts. (Photo by Roy Draper)
The idea that Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp is a sacred space where God is at work came up over and over again at the farewell event for Campbell and Chris Nisbet, held on July 13... Read More
July 31, 2019 | People | Barb Draper
Eleanor Funk uses a large red umbrella to illustrate how Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross covers the sins of those who put their trust in him. (Photo by Donna Schulz)
Eleanor Funk has been teaching people about the tabernacle for almost 40 years. “The passion has never left,” she says. Eleanor, who lives in Saskatoon with her husband Don, grew... Read More
July 31, 2019 | People | Donna Schulz
Frogmore stew (Photo by Barb Draper)
This recipe, that probably originates in the southern U.S., came to Ontario via the MCC meat canner and an Amish community in Ohio. Read the accompanying Gathering Around the... Read More
July 31, 2019 | People | Veg Weber
Veg Weber, in the background, serves Frogmore stew to young adults from her congregation, Floradale (Ont.) Mennonite Church. She surprises her guests by serving the food with no plates or utensils. (Photo courtesy of Veg Weber)
Veg Weber knows how to do old-fashioned hospitality and she enjoys having people sit around her table. A few years ago, this hostess from Hawkesville, Ont., came across a recipe... Read More
July 31, 2019 | People | Barb Draper
A much simplified Mennonite Church Canada organization turned an expected $239,000 deficit into a surplus of $42,000 for the fiscal year ended (FYE) Jan. 31, 2019. The modest... Read More
July 17, 2019 | Gathering 2019 | Tobi Thiessen
At Gathering 2019's Leadership Day, Elaine Heath encourages Mennonite Church Canada leaders to be good neighbours in a traumatized world. (Photo by Jane Grunau)
The way of the missional God is that the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood, Elaine Heath told church leaders on June 28 at Gathering 2019’s Leadership... Read More
July 17, 2019 | Gathering 2019 | Amy Rinner Waddell
Colin McCartney
“My job is to love the people in my neighbourhood, accept them for who they are and create a safe place where they are welcome,” said Lyne Renaud, pastor of Hochma in Montreal, as... Read More
July 17, 2019 | Gathering 2019 | Lisa Williams
Mennonite Women Canada executive members met for one last time at Gathering 2019 in Abbotsford, B.C. Pictured from left: Shirley Redekop, president; Elsie Rempel, secretary; and Liz Koop, past president. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
With tears, hugs and 67 years of memories, participants at the Mennonite Women Canada annual luncheon meeting, held on June 30, said goodbye to each other and to their national... Read More
July 17, 2019 | Gathering 2019 | Amy Rinner Waddell
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
For the first time since Mennonite Church Canada restructured, delegates from the five regional churches met in Abbotsford, B.C., to discuss the future of the nationwide church... Read More
July 17, 2019 | Gathering 2019 | Rachel Bergen
Children at Gathering 2019, enjoys fresh bubblegum ice cream from Birchwood Dairy in Abbotsford. (Photo by Hilda Bergen)
“Our God is a God who makes friends,” sang children from three provinces while playing a clapping game with a partner, laughing as the refrain and the clapping got faster. The... Read More
July 17, 2019 | Gathering 2019 | Barb Nickel
Daniel Dixon, left, and Adrian Jacobs take part in a Talking Circle following a plenary speaker at a recent NAIITS symposium held in Toronto in early June. (Photo by Zach Charbonneau)
Under the bright blue sky, on the grassy hill of Tyndale University in Toronto, situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat peoples, Casey... Read More
July 17, 2019 | News | Zach Charbonneau
Don Neufeld shares his reflections on the themes of masculinity and Anabaptism at Grace Mennonite Church in St. Catharines, Ont., on May 3. (Photo by Jonathan Seiling)
Don Neufeld shared his reflections on the themes of masculinity and Anabaptism at a “Probing the potential for peace” discussion series held at Grace Mennonite Church in St... Read More
July 17, 2019 | News | Maria H. Klassen
Tim Wiebe-Neufeld (MC Alberta executive minister), left, Donita Wiebe-Neufeld (MCC Alberta development coordinator), Sonia Halliday and Dena Harris (MMI insurance advisors) now share a common space in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Joanne De Jong)
After years of dreaming of a Mennonite hub in Edmonton, it finally came to pass. Mennonite organizations that were formerly in basements, spare rooms and kitchens have come... Read More
July 17, 2019 | News | Joanne De Jong