Mennonite World Conference is seeking gifted vocalists to join the International Vocal Ensemble for the Pennsylvania 2015 Assembly. This ensemble will lead congregational singing... Read More
News & Stories
The MWC music ensemble leads the international assembly in song. (Credit: Merle Good)
December 19, 2014 | Web First |
Joanne Dietzel of Lancaster, Pa., is coordinator of the Mennonite World Conference Prayer Network. (Credit: Liesa Unger)
Mennonite World Conference is establishing a prayer network, recognizing the importance of prayer as preparations are made for PA 2015, the global Assembly being planned for July... Read More
December 19, 2014 | Web First | Phyllis Pellman Good
Jasem Mohammed carries a food package distributed by MCC partner Zakho Small Villages Project at the Garmawa displaced persons camp in Iraqi Kurdistan. Like most people living in the camp, he fled the city of Mosul after its takeover by Islamic State. (MCC Photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler)
It’s not just you. The news was been particularly bad last year. Islamic State is gaining ground, while videos of beheadings and other violence circulate online. In the same... Read More
December 18, 2014 | Web First | Emily Loewen
Band photos courtesy of James Shiels.
Being in a touring rock band means being away from home, which can be difficult for members of the Color. Ultimately, connecting with audiences and sharing their faith with people across Canada makes it worth it.
As a youth group leader at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna, B.C., I know how difficult it can be to capture young people’s imaginations. But when the Color, a Christian rock... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Young Voices | Nicole Block
The trip to England included a walking tour of Tower Hamlets, the original community in which Urban Expression is located.
Early this past October, I sat with a cup of peppermint tea in a church in the small town of Cobridge, England. The church had four walls, long windows and high ceilings. In place... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Young Voices | Ellery Penner
Photos courtesy of Mennonite Church Manitoba.
Gerald Ens
It’s been 25 years since a Mennonite World Conference (MWC) assembly has been held in North America, but next year Mennonites from all over the world will congregate in Harrisburg... Read More
December 10, 2014 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Rosthern Junior College student council representatives Kelsey Dueck, left, Kylee Kosokowsky, Joseph Hachachena, Kelsi Siemens and Brandon Janzen hold up a $5,000 cheque to kick off the school’s five-year ‘Do more. Be more’ fundraising campaign.
“Do more. Be more.” These words sound a little like the mantra of a motivational speaker. They are, in fact, the name given to a new five-year strategic fundraising plan for... Read More
December 10, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and photo by Donna Schulz
An external view of the new Marpeck Commons at Canadian Mennonite University.
For the past year-and-a-half, residents of Winnipeg have watched as Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) built a pedestrian bridge linking its north and south campuses over a busy... Read More
December 10, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and photos by Evelyn Rempel Petkau
To celebrate its 50th anniversary Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba planned an event to be held on Nov. 15, 2014, at the Immanuel Pentecostal Church in Winnipeg, a venue... Read More
December 10, 2014 | God at work in the World |
‘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)
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
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