How do we practise peace and justice in our daily lives? That was the question acclaimed activist Shane Claiborne explored at Peace It Together (PIT) 2013, a Canadian Mennonite... Read More
News & Stories
It's not very often that I get a chance to come into contact with experts in the field of peace and justice, so when I heard about the Peace and Justice Studies Association... Read More
November 20, 2013 | Young Voices | Emily Mininger
Anna-Marie Epp-Janzen has 13 dresses, eight pairs of pants, 26 pairs of shoes, eight scarves and eight sweaters, but for the past 31 days she's been wearing the same dress. Janzen... Read More
November 20, 2013 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Sharing a meal is an important part of the day program offered by the Mennonite Benevolent Society in Ukraine. Several of the clients are blind, and this is a safe outing for them and one of the only times they get to socialize and talk.
I once read a quote describing the purest form of ministry as "everything believers do to honour and glorify God. " That's a broad definition. It gives us opportunity to do... Read More
November 20, 2013 | Artbeat | By Louis Sawatsky
There are some verses in the Bible that we studiously avoid thinking about, let alone discuss publicly. They are like repressed memories or family secrets that threaten to cast us... Read More
November 20, 2013 | Artbeat | By Markus Poetzsch
Ovide Mercredi, former grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada, was part of an indigenous delegation that travelled to England for the 250th anniversary of Royal Proclamation of 1763, a rather grandiose document whereby King George III of England went about the imperial business of colonizing a big chunk of North America.
Oct. 7 marked the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, a rather grandiose document whereby King George III of England went about the imperial business of... Read More
November 20, 2013 | God at work in the World | By Will Braun
David Martin, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada executive minster, centre, stresses to Arli Klassen, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) development manager, and Willard Metzger, executive director of MC Canada, the importance of the collaborative nature of ministry to MC Eastern Canada at a gifting event on Oct. 30. MWC general secretary César García watches the proceedings from South Korea via Skype.
The new meeting room at 50 Kent Avenue was full of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada staff and representatives from many other Mennonite organizations from the Waterloo area on Oct... Read More
November 20, 2013 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Dave Rogalsky
Gabrielle Wiebe, Gerald Ens and Maria Dueck have worked at Camps with Meaning summer programs since 2006 or 2007. ‘We have to let go and dream differently,’ says Dueck of the proposal to allow MC Manitoba to divest itself of two of its camps.
"The 21st-century church will look very different from the patterns developed by the late 20th century, " Gerald Gerbrandt reported to Mennonite Church Manitoba delegates at their... Read More
November 20, 2013 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Alan Peters of the MC B.C. Finance Committee, left, discusses area church budget concerns with Matt Horst of Bethel Mennonite Church, Langley.
The future direction of Mennonite Church B. C. was the main topic for delegates to the special fall meeting of the area church at Langley Mennonite Fellowship on Nov. 2. Future... Read More
November 20, 2013 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Amy Dueckman
Former Argonaut running back Michael 'Pinball' Clemons autographs Norma Rudy's program at the Fairview and Parkwood Mennonite Homes anniversary gala. Rudy worked at Fairview Mennonite Home for many years and her husband David served as executive director from 1961-88.
Although Michael "Pinball" Clemons is famous for his exploits in the Canadian Football League, he talked about the importance of humility and living for others when he spoke at an... Read More
November 20, 2013 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Barb Draper
Anthony Coralade stands in front of what is left of his concrete house in Carmen, Hernani, in Eastern Samar. His house was completed last month after painstakingly building it for seven years. Before the landfall of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013, he hired men to find the cash he had buried under the floor. (Photo by ACT Alliance/Christian Aid)
As the devastation from Typhoon Haiyan continues to unfold in the Philippines, Mennonite Central Committee ( MCC ) is increasing its response to meet crucial needs for people on... Read More
November 20, 2013 | Web First | Marla Pierson Lester
Little Pine First Nation Chief Wayne Semagani (left) stands with Ovide Mercredi, former grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, outside Buckingham Palace. Mercredi explained: “The trip that we made here was to show Canadians that we still have this connection with Britain and that the treaties were made by our ancestors…” (Photo by Brad Langendoen)
To mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 (Oct. 7), a delegation of indigenous leaders travelled to London, England, in October 2013. The group was organized... Read More
November 19, 2013 | Web First |
“We refuse to accept that running away from storms, evacuating our families, suffering the devastation and misery, counting our dead, becomes a way of life. We simply refuse to.”... Read More
November 16, 2013 | Web First | Carol Thiessen
Typhoon survivors stand in line for potable drinking water on Nov. 11, 2013, in Ormoc, Leyte. (Photo by Maryannm “Mai” Zamora, courtesy World Vision.)
In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, disaster relief efforts are underway to help with cleanup and reconstruction. Mennonite Church Canada (MC Canada) is advising... Read More
November 14, 2013 | Web First |
Among the many memories that Shammah Nakawesi of Uganda brings home from her one-year service assignment in Indonesia is her new understanding of loving God and others. “Even in... Read More
November 13, 2013 | Web First |
Westminster Abbey
At an emotional worship service, considered one of the largest gatherings of Christians and Jews, some 1,600 British men and women filed into Westminster Abbey Sunday (Nov. 10) to... Read More
November 11, 2013 | Web First | By TREVOR GRUNDY
Ben Borne added the Peace Button to his profile photo.
For the last 20 years people have shared the message of peace by pinning red buttons reading, “To remember is to work for peace” to their shirts, coats, backpacks and purses. More... Read More
November 8, 2013 | Web First | Rachel Bergen
Sara Wenger Shenk
In this post I share a “pastoral letter” from Anabaptists in the United Kingdom who are praying for us. Alan Kreider notes this in introductory comments to the letter: The... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Web First | From the blog of Sara Wenger Shenk, president
When I grew up in a conservative, non-denominational church, the issue of homosexuality was never discussed, but it was regarded as “sin.” It was not until a friend came out to me... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Young Voices | Tyler Voth
The choirs, bands and performers at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) produce some of the most beautiful music around, but a few graduates are using music to help people achieve... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
I remember coming home the day my brain started bleeding. I had worked the morning shift that Friday and was pulling into my driveway when the spots in my eyes wouldn’t go away. I... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Young Voices | Brandi Friesen Thorpe
A choir truly is a community-building venture. Something happens to people when they sing together. They bond, becoming part of something bigger than themselves. Menno Singers, a... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Focus On |
Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, as astronauts Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski in Gravity.
“Houston, I have a bad feeling about this mission,” says Matt Kowalski as he dances circles around the space shuttle Explorer, which is in orbit around the Earth. His words come... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Artbeat | Reviewed by Vic Thiessen
Born into a plain-dressing, plain-speaking Mennonite farm family in Lancaster County, Pa., Shirley Hershey Showalter was named after Shirley Temple, a movie star she was forbidden... Read More
November 6, 2013 | Artbeat |
All I knew about pig butchering before I did it myself was the Low German saying that translates as, “good weather for slaughtering pigs,” which somehow surfaces from my... Read More
November 6, 2013 | God at work in the World | Column and Photo by Will Braun