A roomful of zombies set the frightful scene for this year’s senior-high retreat organized by the Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization (SMYO). While they weren’t real zombies... Read More
News & Stories
A reflection on the meaning of life, death and life after death by a Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization member attending this year’s ‘Zombie apocalypse’ winter retreat at the Shekinah Retreat Centre.
February 12, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Donna Schulz
Suzanne Gross, back row left, a member of Edmonton First Mennonite Church, and Sam Semier, Julie Saby and Andre Tinio, students at the University of Alberta, pose with their Sudanese music students as part of an applied ethnomusicology course. Christmas Chany, Naigay Bhan and Changkuoth Tut hold instruments donated to Edmonton South Sudanese Mennonite Church by Mennonite Church Alberta; they began learning guitar last November and were able to help lead singing at their church’s anniversary celebration on Jan. 26.
“When people named Rueben, Peter, James, and John show up at your door, you realize it’s a sign from God. . . . When they say they want your help to start a church, you help in... Read More
February 12, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Will Braun
Without conventional agriculture more people would starve. That is the link commonly drawn between global hunger and the dominant form of North American farming, which depends... Read More
February 12, 2014 | God at work in the World | By Will Braun
Paul and Tabitha Langel are pictured in front of their bakery at the Forks in Winnipeg. ‘We had a vision for a dreamy kind of neighbourhood bakery,’ Tabitha recalls.
Tall Grass Prairie Bread Company is well-known in and around Winnipeg for its gooey cinnamon buns and its organic local baking and preserves, suffusing the marketplace at the... Read More
February 12, 2014 | God at work in Us | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Kenna Forrester relaxes with her grandmother Marlene Froese in the Rosthern Junior College student commons.
It is not uncommon to hear people complain about the younger generation. But are today’s youth really all that different than youth of previous generations? Saskatoon grandmother... Read More
February 12, 2014 | God at work in Us | Story and Photo by Donna Schulz
Zealot is a popular presentation of scholarly research on the historical Jesus, read through the lens of Jewish resistance to Roman imperial domination. The main thesis of the... Read More
February 12, 2014 | Artbeat | Reviewed by Amanda Witmer
“Give love to your friends—and your enemies,” Luis Hurtarte whispered, quietly translating as members of the Toronto Mennonite New Life Church sang in Spanish. “Everybody needs... Read More
February 10, 2014 | Web First | Micah Toub
Photo credit: Universal Pops on Flickr Creative Commons
If your congregation cancels the Sunday worship service because of snow and ice, there is no need to stay in bed all morning. Here are some ideas for redeeming the time: 13. Walk... Read More
February 7, 2014 | Web First | Virginia A. Hostetler
Jeff and Suzanne Becker buried father and husband Gilbert Becker naturally, in a hand-carved log casket after his death in Sept. 2013. (Photo by Sally Morrow, RNS)
Growing up in small-town Georgia, John B. Johnson had family friends who ran the funeral home down the street, so the particulars of a typical American funeral — the embalming,... Read More
February 6, 2014 | Web First | Lauren Markoe
A collaboration between two long-time friends and the woodwork of a man with a long history with Mennonite Church Canada are the basis for two exhibitions now showing at the... Read More
February 5, 2014 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Theda Good
On Sunday (Feb. 2), a Denver congregation of Mennonites licensed the first lesbian in a committed same-sex relationship, the first step toward ordination. Theda Good’s licensure... Read More
February 3, 2014 | Web First | Elizabeth Evans
Winnipeg writer Paul Loewen has self-published four novels that combine fictional stories with theological points in an attempt to create modern-day parables. But his latest book... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
A Korean Mennonite is facing prison time for refusing to participate in South Korea’s mandatory two-year military term due to his religious convictions. Lee Sang Min, a 27-year-... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Reading the Bible is hard. It’s hard to sit still. It’s hard to concentrate. It’s hard to make sense of what I’m reading. And it’s hard to read stories I’ve heard seemingly a... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
I’ve never been successful with New Year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat less or get organized. For some reason, however, a promise to read Scripture every week is one... Read More
January 29, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Nine people from the Edmonton Vietnamese Mennonite Church pose with certificates earned by reading the whole Bible in 2013. Pictured from left to right, front row: Esther Pham, Rebecca Pham and Lily Hue Do; and back row: Pastor Kuen Yee, Vernie Yee, David Yee, Deborah Yee, Ut Van Ngo (chair of the board of elders), and Pastor Thomas Pham.
How would you respond if challenged to read the whole Bible in a year? When Kuen Yee issued the challenge to her congregants at Edmonton Vietnamese Mennonite Church at the end of... Read More
January 29, 2014 | God at work in the Church | By Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
A damage report from Super Typhoon Haiyan compresses a huge disaster into one page of stark statistics. This report is for just one assessment area. (Photo by John Chau / Used by permission)
Like the news, the winds and rain that came with Super Typhoon Haiyan have let up. But the damage from the storm that slammed regions of the Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013, remains... Read More
January 29, 2014 | God at work in the World | By Dan Dyck
Mary Klassen and James Neufeld relax in the café at Sam’s Place, where the sorted and organized donated books are sold as a fundraising project for Mennonite Central Committee.
Mary Klassen and James Neufeld bring a rare commitment to volunteerism. Ever since Sam’s Place opened in 2009, Klassen has spent her retirement from teaching volunteering full-... Read More
January 29, 2014 | God at work in Us | Story and Photo by Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Meghan Harder poses in a human-sized nest she built in Waterloo Park, Waterloo, Ont., as part of her art challenge to our current culture, to think about how dependent Canadians are on technology. She wonders how humans would—or will—live if their possessions and supports are taken away from them. (Photo courtesy of Meghan Harder)
Meghan Harder’s art works at themes of political, social and environmental issues, using mixed media, public installations, interventions and performance. At Box 13—a series of... Read More
January 29, 2014 | God at work in Us | By Dave Rogalsky
For God and Country is a bit of a surprise for a Mennonite publisher. Although non-Mennonite readers may find the questions it raises about the role of Christian soldiers thought-... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Artbeat | Reviewed by Barb Draper
What was it like to be a conscientious objector during the Second World War? Did Mennonites participate in the War of 1812? Did Mennonite women contribute to First World War... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Focus On | By Laureen Harder-Gissing
Ongoing debate in the divided Old German Baptist Brethren Church illustrates difficulties that the conservative Anabaptist group continues to face in its efforts to restrict... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Focus On |
Munching on a fresh zwieback (because sauerkraut and spring rolls would be too messy to eat on the podium), John Thiesen, archivist at Bethel College’s Mennonite Library and... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Focus On | By Melanie Zuercher
Composer Tim Corlis, left, with Gerard Yun, Kenneth Hull and Mark Vuorinen, conductors of Conrad Grebel University College’s three choirs, who came together to perform Corlis’s musical setting of Psalm 150 on Nov. 30, 2013, at one of the college’s 50th-anniversary events. (CGUC photo)
As home to the Music Department at the University of Waterloo, the culture at Conrad Grebel University College is steeped in harmony. The college hosts dozens of concerts each... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Focus On |
Kathleen Doll, Columbia Bible College’s associate dean of students, relaxes in the commuter lounge with a couple of students.
I was 18 when I first walked on to the Columbia Bible College campus for new student orientation. Filled with nervous anticipation, I approached the registration table. A young... Read More
January 29, 2014 | Focus On | Kathleen Doll