When Andrew, a new Christian in Little Flowers Community Church, tragically took his life, it shook the church to its core. Pastor Jamie Arpin-Ricci said it was the death of... Read More
News & Stories
Norm Voth, director of Evangelism and Service for Mennonite Church Manitoba, and Jamie Arpin-Ricci, pastor of Little Flowers Community Church, stand outside Chiara House.
August 29, 2012 | God at work in the Church | Story and photos by Evelyn Rempel Petkau
The streets are packed. Hordes of people move at once, criss-crossing over the smooth stone streets and deftly navigating down many stairs. Vendors shouting in Arabic call from... Read More
August 29, 2012 | Young Voices | Vanessa Snyder-Penner
“To live in the Holy Land, you must be crazy, or you must believe in miracles,” farmer Daoud Nassar tells our group assembled in a cave just outside of Bethlehem. He is sharing... Read More
August 29, 2012 | Young Voices | Vanessa Snyder-Penner
A bail hearing is set for today, Aug. 28, in Islamabad in the case of a girl charged with blasphemy for allegedly burning pages of the Quran, Islam's holy scriptures. Several... Read More
August 28, 2012 | Web First | By Anto Akkara
Law officers testified Wednesday (Sept. 5, 2012) about the chaotic and bizarre scene they discovered the night of Oct. 4, 2011, when they arrived at the Holmes County, Ohio, home... Read More
August 28, 2012 | Web First | James F. McCarty for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
The leader of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church has urged citizens to observe peace, love and tolerance as the country mourns the death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi . The Rev... Read More
August 23, 2012 | Web First | By Fredrick Nzwili
Southeast Christian Church, a Louisville, Ky., megachurch, holds services like this one during Christmas time. Credit: Religion News Service photo courtesy of Southeast Christian Church
Maybe religion really is the opiate of the masses – just not the way Karl Marx imagined. A University of Washington study posits that worship services at megachurches can trigger... Read More
August 21, 2012 | Web First |
US Representative Kevin Yoder (R-Kansas) --Photo Courtesy
OK, so like I'm on vacation in Maine and you're pondering the fate of Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), but what would we do without those crack investigative reporters at Politico, Jake... Read More
August 21, 2012 | Web First | Mark Silk
The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant denomination, has approved a recommendation to boycott products produced in Israeli settlements in occupied... Read More
August 20, 2012 | Web First | By Kristine Greenaway
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has said talks with the White House over a proposed contraception mandate are "going nowhere." --RNS photo by Gregory A. Shemitz
New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan defended his invitation of President Obama to the annual Al Smith Dinner in October, saying he is trying to encourage civility and dialogue amid a... Read More
August 20, 2012 | Web First | Chris Lisee
Paul Ryan--Romney's veep choice.
For the first time in U.S . history, both sides of the ballot include Roman Catholics: Democrats' Vice President Joe Biden, and Republicans' newly named vice presidential... Read More
August 20, 2012 | Web First | Daniel Burke
A Vermont jury found an Amish-Mennonite pastor guilty Tuesday (Aug. 14) of abetting an international kidnapping to keep a young girl from her lesbian parent. Virginia pastor... Read More
August 17, 2012 | Web First | Lauren Markoe
A Moscow court found three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" today (Aug. 17) for a guerrilla performance in Moscow... Read More
August 17, 2012 | Web First | By Sophia Kishkovsky
Sto:lo Drummers and Activists Rally in Front of the Chilliwack Court House on July 26. On July 25, the prior day, Kwitsel Tatel and her son, Kwiis Hamilton, were both jailed and penalized for her decision to drum and sing her evidence into Court dressed in Aboriginal regalia.
In another of many court trials for Kwitsel Tatel , the aboriginal mother of two charged with illegal possession of fish, was jailed here July 25, along with her son, before the... Read More
August 17, 2012 | Web First | Dick Benner, editor and publisher
From Vacation Bible School to Bible camp, many children participate in a variety of different activities during the summer. This year, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba... Read More
August 15, 2012 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
It’s fairly common for young Canadian Mennonites to attend one of the Mennonite institutions for their undergraduate studies, but many young Mennonites are heading back to school... Read More
August 15, 2012 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Rachel Halder started Our Stories Untold to explore the topic of sexual violence in the Mennonite church (Photo courtesy of Rachel Halder)
In Canada 1,397 sexual assaults occur every day, according to the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. In the United States nearly one in five women reported... Read More
August 15, 2012 | Young Voices | Emily Loewen
Rabus and Otto
Jennifer Otto and Gregory Rabus, from Ontario and Connecticut respectively, have accepted an invitation to lead an urban church plant in southern Germany in partnership with the... Read More
August 15, 2012 | God at work in the World | By Deborah Froese
Pastoral intern Christina Edmiston engages ministry team leader Mike Thiessen in conversation at the potluck following Wanner Mennonite’s 175th-anniversary celebration service on June 24 in Cambridge, Ont.
The way Ken Bechtel, Wanner Mennonite Church historian, puts it, the “175” in this year’s celebration refers only to the construction of the first dedicated church building. The... Read More
August 15, 2012 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Dave Rogalsky
Is the New Testament inherently violent? What does Jesus’ brutal death on the cross mean to persons holding a more passive view of non-resistance? How does one seriously read the... Read More
August 15, 2012 | Artbeat | Reviewed by Dick Benner
Muriel Bechtel, retiring this summer after 12 years as Mennonite Church Eastern Canada conference minister, is pictured in her office, familiar to many pastors through the years.
After 12 years as Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s conference minister, Muriel Bechtel will be moving into retirement this summer. On June 24 she also celebrated 20 years since... Read More
August 15, 2012 | God at work in Us | Story and Photo by Dave Rogalsky
Basil Kaboushi, left, and Wajdi Haddad, volunteers with Caritas Jordan, an MCC partner, help to distribute MCC relief kits and comforters to Syrian refugees at the Latin Patriarchate School in Mafraq, Jordan, in June.
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) continues to address needs of refugees fleeing from increasing violence in Syria. Caritas Jordan, an MCC partner, is distributing comforters,... Read More
August 15, 2012 | God at work in the World | By Ed Nyce
Derek (7) and Michael (10) Thiessen, comprising the entire Sunday School, began a goat project in June, just weeks before the last worship service of Portage Mennonite Church. They are not sure where will they will go to church now that it is closing.
For over 35 years “the little church that could” nurtured faith, built community, and sent many of its members out into the wider world to work in with MCC, Canadian Foodgrains... Read More
August 15, 2012 | God at work in the Church | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Africa has topped the list of most devout regions of the world, with 89 percent calling themselves religious, according to a worldwide poll called "The Global Index of Religiosity... Read More
August 14, 2012 | Web First | By Munyaradzi Makoni
