It was at the end of February 2020 that Lydia Rekrut shook hands with the owner of a floral shop in Thorold, Ont., and bought the business, which included the stock and equipment... Read More
News & Stories
A floral arrangement designed by Lydia Rekrut. (Photo by Lydia Rekrut)
March 16, 2022 | People | Maria H. Klassen
Director Brandon Leis leads Menno Singers in an outdoor rehearsal at Pioneer Park Christian Fellowship Church, Kitchener, Ont., last fall. (Menno Singers photo)
The Menno Singers choir of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., has been making music since 1955. At that time, Abner Martin, a recent graduate of Kitchener’s Rockway Mennonite School and a... Read More
March 16, 2022 | Focus on The Arts | Melissa Miller
Members of Pax Christi Chorale rehearse a piece by Haydn. (Photo courtesy of Pax Christi Chorale)
“Singing has always been life-giving for me.” Gary Harder moved to Toronto in 1987 as pastor of Toronto United Mennonite Church. His arrival coincided with the founding of Pax... Read More
March 16, 2022 | Focus on The Arts | Pax Christi Chorale
Actor Peter Fernandes is pictured in the recording studio taking notes from director Erin Brandenburg during the recording process for Theatre of the Beat’s digital audio-visual presentation of Forgiven/Forgotten. (Photo by Brendan Kinnon)
Since 2011, Theatre of the Beat has been sharing stories and starting conversations about a wide array of social justice issues, with the goal to make the world a safer, more just... Read More
March 16, 2022 | Focus on The Arts | Brendan Kinnon
Winnipegger Valerie Alipova is worried about her family in Ukraine, where she was born and raised. ‘I have never been this stressed in my life,’ she says. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
It’s 10:30 a.m. in Winnipeg, but for Valerie Alipova, it might as well be after supper. Alipova, associate pastor of Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, has been living eight... Read More
March 9, 2022 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Maxym and Anya Oliferovski, pictured in 2021, are co-founders of New Hope Centre in Zaporizhzhia and lead church planters of the Mennonite Brethren church plant, God's Family Church. (MCC photo courtesy of Maxym Oliferovski)
A Mennonite Central Committee partner in Ukraine requests prayer in a video clip the relief organization posted on YouTube earlier today. In the video, which was filmed on Monday... Read More
March 4, 2022 | Web First | Aaron Epp
A small, clogged and polluted creek in an urban section of the Haldimand Tract in southwestern Ontario. (Mennopix photo by Ross W. Muir)
Leaders of Mennonite Church Canada are calling on the members, congregations and regional churches of the nationwide church to respond to the climate emergency. “We must act, we... Read More
March 2, 2022 | News |
(CSCS photo by Joseph Harder)
Leadership from 18 Anabaptist organizations in the United States and Canada convened at the Anabaptist Collaboration on Climate Change (ACCC) on Jan. 26 and 27 to address what... Read More
March 2, 2022 | News | Sierra Ross Richer
Women carefully close one of the inner layers of a PICS bag, which is designed to protect contents against insect damage. (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture photo / Creative Commons 2.0)
Humanity wastes 931 million tonnes of food each year. This figure—from the 2021 United Nations Environment Programme Food Waste Index Report—is an estimate with an admittedly wide... Read More
March 2, 2022 | News | Will Braun
Eyebrow Mennonite Church members participate in a sunrise Easter morning service. (Photo by Sharon Schultz)
Throughout the pandemic, many Mennonite church congregations have faced the challenges of lower attendance, shrinking budgets and uneasy questions about the future. Denominations... Read More
March 2, 2022 | People | Emily Summach
Stephanie Siemens snaps a selfie while cycling along the South Saskatchewan River. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Siemens)
Winter BYXE Week, an event designed to promote winter cycling in Saskatoon, was held from Feb. 14 to 21. Saskatoon residents were encouraged to try cycling for winter... Read More
March 2, 2022 | People | Emily Summach
Sofia Samatar (left) and Regina Shands-Stoltzfus (right) will give lectures at Conrad Grebel University College in March.
Coming in March, Conrad Grebel University College is hosting two distinct winter lectures, offered by Sofia Samatar and Regina Shands-Stoltzfus. The presentations are focused on... Read More
February 28, 2022 | Web First | Ashitha Mantrawadi
Andrea Shalay and three American staff members of MCC scrambled to leave Ukraine. (Supplied photo)
Russia has begun military operations against Ukraine, but North American Mennonite Central Committee staff who were working in the latter country are safe. That includes... Read More
February 24, 2022 | Web First | John Longhurst
Canada Revenue Agency requires charities to provide a breakdown of the salary categories into which their 10 highest-paid employees fall.
We all inhabit a genuinely complicated world—a world of generosity and incomprehensible inequality. I have compiled various numbers and statistics that relate to the wealthy and... Read More
February 16, 2022 | News | Will Braun
Hyejung Jessie Yum, left, and Junggyu Anthony Yang work with Korean and other Canadians through Sowing for Peace in Toronto. They are members of Danforth Mennonite Church in Toronto and licenced pastors through Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. (Photo courtesy of Hyejung Jessie Yum and Junggyu Anthony Yang)
“The Mennonite tradition has a very precious heritage as a peace church,” says Junggyu Anthony Yang. “If we focus more and more on peace in our daily lives, then we truly become... Read More
February 16, 2022 | News | Lisa Williams
Church members look at the property where the new church building was later constructed. (Grace Mennonite Church photo)
After 80 years, Grace Mennonite Church held its closing service on Jan. 31. The service marked a months-long discernment process and a bittersweet celebration of all that God has... Read More
February 16, 2022 | News | Emily Summach
The newly opened Eden East Mental Wellness Centre in Steinbach, Man., brings together a wide variety of expanded services to better serve Steinbach and surrounding communities. (Photo courtesy of Eden Health Care Services)
Brad Unger The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted many people’s mental health and increased the demand for mental-health care. Helping to guide southern Manitoba through... Read More
February 16, 2022 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Tobia and George Veith, who recently completed a term of service in China, enjoy the ice festival in Harbin, China, the largest snow and ice sculpture festival in the world. (Photo courtesy of Tobia Veith)
Reflecting on three decades of service in Asia, Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers Tobia and George Veith say that, while their time of service has at times been hard, it has... Read More
February 16, 2022 | People | Amy Rinner Waddell
Fifth-year staff members Elora Neufeld, left, Saskia Snyder-Penner, Kathyana Carvajal, Katie Goerzen Sheard and Benjamin Schwartzentruber lead their closing campfire at Silver Lake in expectation for a bright 2022 camp experience. (Silver Lake Mennonite Camp photo)
As with so many organizations, the pandemic was a challenge for Silver Lake Mennonite Camp in 2021. However, we were blessed last summer to have the ability to run camp programs... Read More
February 16, 2022 | Focus on Camps |
Camp Elim campers take a leisurely paddle around Lac Pelletier. (Camp Elim photo)
Everyone making behind-the-scenes plans for Camp Elim has all their fingers crossed that this year we will get back to running the summer camp programs that we love. After two... Read More
February 16, 2022 | Focus on Camps |
Canoers Patrick Quail and Rhona Gearty take part in a wilderness out-tripping event at Youth Farm Bible Camp on the Paull River in Saskatchewan. (AHA! Adventures photo)
The last two years have been an adventure at the Youth Farm Bible Camp. The summer camp program was on hold for 2020 and at low numbers last year. However, we were able to see... Read More
February 16, 2022 | Focus on Camps |
The sun sets in Hope, B.C., facing west towards the Fraser Valley that was deluged with rain last November. Camp Squeah provided hope and care for more than 150 stranded motorists who were trapped in the area by the flooding. (Camp Squeah photo)
Hope. It’s a command, a gift, a noun, a verb. Of all that matters in life, the Apostle Paul states that hope is one of a trinity of essentials alongside faith and love. When we... Read More
February 16, 2022 | Focus on Camps |
Camps with Meaning staff and campers work together to keep the fire going in Manitoba. (Photo byDarryl Neustaedter Barg)
The past two summers have been difficult for summer camps. One of the struggles we face this year is the loss of many of our older, experienced staff. The uncertainties and... Read More
February 16, 2022 | Focus on Camps | Janet Peters
As a response to the pandemic, 2021 Ontario Mennonite Music Campers created videos of new and favourite hymns for churches to use in virtual worship services. (Ontario Mennonite Music Camp photo)
This summer, Ontario Mennonite Music Camp is once again happening at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, from Aug. 14 to 26. The camp provides an exciting adventure for... Read More
February 16, 2022 | Focus on Camps | Ashitha Mantrawadi
The Tiessen family is at home at Camp Squeah. Pictured from left to right are Josiah, Rob, Eli, Nyah and Kim. (Photo courtesy of Rob Tiessen)
Mention “church camp” and many people might think of camping or volunteering there a summer or two. But for Rob Tiessen, executive director of Mennonite Church B.C.’s Camp Squeah... Read More
February 16, 2022 | Focus on Camps | Amy Rinner Waddell