The landmark event was intended, in part, to promote reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples. That goal will likely be achieved to a far greater extent than organizers... Read More
News & Stories
‘It seems to me that a generosity of spirit is at the heart of both Christian and Canadian aboriginal beliefs, so there should be a strong mutual interest in demonstrating mutual respect.’--Former prime minister Joe Clark (Photo by Will Braun)
December 10, 2014 | God at work in the World | By Will Braun
Participants pause by the Morden, Man., cenotaph to offer prayers concerning civil justice during their Peace Prayer Walk on Nov. 9. Michael Pahl, who came up with the idea for the walk, is pictured facing the camera with white papers in his hand. (Photo courtesy of Michael Pahl)
“Regardless of our perspectives on ‘just war’ and pacifism, as Christians we are all united in our desire for peace and justice in our community and around the world,” says... Read More
December 10, 2014 | God at work in the World | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau
After travelling through a wormhole, Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) lands on a potentially habitable planet in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. (Paramount Pictures photo)
“We’re not meant to save the world; we’re meant to leave it.” So says the protagonist of Interstellar , a grand science fiction epic from Christopher Nolan. One of Hollywood’s... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Artbeat | Reviewed by Vic Thiessen
Aden Bauman sits at his home work bench after retiring from 46 years of running a watch repair business. His photo and story are part of the ‘Portraits of perseverance’ project by Karl Kessler and Sunshine Chen. (Credit: Karl Kessler)
Karl Kessler and Sunshine Chen openly admit to being inspired by Harvey Wang’s New York, a 1990 book of photographic “portraits of men and women in vanishing jobs and professions... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Artbeat | By Dave Rogalsky
"Whatever you believe, there is something about the way words and music combine that allows us to see beauty, find comfort and connect with history.” This is the essence of the “... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Artbeat | By Janice Schroeder
Combining their gifts for words and pictures, two Mennonite Church Canada pastors who are long-time friends have produced a 2015 inspirational daybook. Lois Siemens, pastor of... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Back Page | By Amy Dueckman
The newest building on the campus of Canadian Mennonite University. “We are honoured to open this spectacular space,” says university president Cheryl Pauls. (CMU photo)
Canadian Mennonite University will celebrate the grand opening of Marpeck Commons, CMU’s new library, learning commons, and bridge, on Sat., Nov. 29, 2014. The public is invited... Read More
November 28, 2014 | Web First |
In response to an extremely large snowfall, volunteers from the Drayton, Ont. area, shovel snow off the roof of a dairy barn near West Seneca, N.Y. (Credit: Paul Hunt)
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers often describe their service as being “the hands and feet of Jesus.” During the weekend of Nov. 21-23, those hands—and backs—were... Read More
November 25, 2014 | Web First | Barbara Weaver
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has invited its member churches and partners to join the World YWCA campaign “NoXcuses for Violence against Women.” “There is no excuse for... Read More
November 25, 2014 | Web First | World Council of Churches
Bobby Switzer, organizer of the hymn marathon, leads a hymn during a Goshen College chapel service. In 2012, he started the Goshen College Hymn Club, which regularly invites the campus community to sing four-part hymns out of the blue Mennonite hymnal. (Photo by Brian Yoder Schlabach)
Bobby Switzer did not grow up going to church or singing, but he has become passionate about hymns and congregational music since coming to Goshen College four years ago. When he... Read More
November 21, 2014 | Web First |
Photo by Gerhard Epp.
Aaron Epp has memorized Scripture on occasion in the past, but it has never been a habit.
Every Sunday after church, a woman in my congregation hands out candy to children in Sunday school who can recite a Bible verse from memory. My guess is that the goal is to... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
Formed in 2009, Pocket Change solidified its current line-up in 2012. Pictured from left to right: Nolan Kehler, Brandon Letkeman, Jonas Cornelsen and Mike Wiebe. (Photo by Matthew Ryan Photography)
Most university students use reading week to study or go on a quick vacation, but not the members of Pocket Change, a Winnipeg rock band. While their peers were hitting the books... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
Ben Borne and Krista Loewen, co-pastor of Wildwood Mennonite Church, Saskatoon, are planning a listening day in January for LGBTQ people and affected people in the community, along with co-pastor Joe Heikman.
Ben Borne, 24, who self-identifies as gay, was talking to Krista Loewen and Joe Heikman, his co-pastors and friends, after attending a Mennonite Church Saskatchewan meeting to... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Peter Rempel, left, chair of the MC Manitoba board, addresses delegates at Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg on Nov. 6. Treasurer Tom Seals looks on.
Despite falling short of a quorum, delegates attending Mennonite Church Manitoba’s fall gathering on Nov. 6 gave the board strong affirmation for its 2015 proposed budget. The... Read More
November 19, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Adrian Jacobs, right, responds to questions and concerns from Rudy Friesen and Gerhard Neufeld.
Instead of the usual small, intimate gathering that has characterized previous fall Partnership Circle meetings, more than 85 northern indigenous people, Mennonite Church Manitoba... Read More
November 19, 2014 | God at work in the World | Story and Photos by Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Daryl Redsky of the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation stands on a temporary bridge over the man-made channel that isolates his community. (Photo by Will Braun)
When Mennonites in Winnipeg baptize a believer, they do so with water from Shoal Lake. The baptismal water comes from a project for which the members of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation... Read More
November 19, 2014 | God at work in the World | By Will Braun
Mennonite Church Canada has responded with letters of support to the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Community and the Middle East Council of Churches. The organizations state... Read More
November 19, 2014 | God at work in the World |
Keynote speaker Jae Young Lee, left, visits with Tina Doell at the MCC Saskatchewan Encounter and annual general meeting held in Saskatoon on Nov. 1.
How does a South Korean soldier become a teacher of peace? Delegates at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Saskatchewan’s Encounter and annual general meeting heard the answer to... Read More
November 19, 2014 | God at work in Us | Story and Photo by Donna Schulz
Many people have grown tired of the pat answers that the church and religion have provided regarding questions of faith and meaning in life. A new book addressing the deepest... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Artbeat |
Day and night, children love to play on the metal playground equipment, placed there haphazardly many decades ago. . . . The rusted slides have gaping and jagged holes, and can’t be used except to scramble up and down; children do this each day, still wearing their blue and grey school uniforms as they pause for some fun. (Photo: Nathan Dirks)
When entering Bontleng in Botswana’s Gaborone Region from the southeasternmost road you find yourself passing tall grass, wrought-iron covers and headstones of a large cemetery... Read More
November 19, 2014 | Focus On | Nathan Dirks
Jewel and Richard Showalter
We are Richard and Jewel (Wenger) Showalter. As church planters, missionaries, educators, mission administrators, parents and now grandparents, we have walked as part of the... Read More
November 15, 2014 | Web First | Richard and Jewel Showalter
Laura Funk and Gilbert Detillieux live on the bridge between the Mennonite and Catholic faith. (Photo courtesy of authors)
The authors participate in the activities of Bridgefolk, “a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other'... Read More
November 14, 2014 | Web First | Laura Funk and Gilbert Detillieux
Goshen College students will sing all 658 songs in the Mennonite hymnal from Nov. 14-16 in order to raise money for Christian Peacemaker Teams, an international peacemaking agency. (Credit: Goshen College)
With the goal of uniting in harmony to bring peace to a troubled world, Goshen College’s Hymn Club will bring together students and community members to sing continuously through... Read More
November 14, 2014 | Web First | Ariel Ropp
Chester and Sara Jane Wenger on their 70th wedding anniversary (Credit: Greta Shenk Bucher)
I am profoundly reluctant to write this letter because I know there are those it will wound deeply. But I have also come to the conviction that I can no longer hide the light the... Read More
November 11, 2014 | Web First | Chester Wenger
Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has proposed a bill that would ban marriage for underage children and make polygamy grounds for deportation. (RNS photo courtesy Michael Swan/Flickr)
Canada is weighing legislation that would ban arranged marriages of minors and make polygamy grounds for deportation. The “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act,”... Read More
November 11, 2014 | Web First | Ron Csillag