In “Differently gifted,” Will Braun discusses the high emotional stakes related to the closure of facilities for people with intellectual disabilities. Here are more items he... Read More
News & Stories
It takes a lot of hands to raise a cabin wall! Families work together on the Mennonite Disaster Service cabin-building project at Camp Valaqua.
Camp programs were in full swing alongside Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) hammers at Camp Valaqua this summer. MDS teams are usually found on disaster sites, helping to rebuild... Read More
August 28, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photos by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Ilda Bauman in the early 1940s in front of The House of Friendship for all the Nations on King Street in Kitchener, Ont.
A paper cut-out of Joseph Cramer has stood prominently at the many House of Friendship (HoF) events during the Kitchener-based social agency’s 75th-anniversary year. The... Read More
August 28, 2014 | God at work in the World | By Dave Rogalsky
Sometimes one needs to step over the line in order to score a hit, as this youngster discovers at MC Saskatchewan’s ‘day in the park’ in Saskatoon last month.
The sun shone, the air was warm—but not too warm—and there were no mosquitoes. It was, in fact, a day perfect for a picnic. On Aug. 10, people of all ages gathered at Scott Park,... Read More
August 28, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photos by Donna Schulz
Executive director John Neufeld, left, and board president Trent Bauman stand with the Joseph Cramer cut-out at House of Friendship’s 75th annual meeting on June 17. Behind them is a quilt designed by Judy Martin and sewed by Arlene Martin, to be auctioned off to help fund House of Friendship.
When John Neufeld took the reins as director of Kitchener’s House of Friendship (HoF), he was confused by the 19 separate programs it was running: shelters, a food bank, addiction... Read More
August 28, 2014 | God at work in the World | Story and Photo by Dave Rogalsky
Bill Maust
On a Wednesday evening in early June, Waterloo musician and musicologist Wilbur (Bill) Maust was seated in the chapel of Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont., among... Read More
August 28, 2014 | God at work in Us | By Hildi Froese Tiessen
“The only safe place is inside the story,” reads an epigraph to this first novel by Sarah Klassen of Winnipeg. This story moves through a momentous year in the life of the... Read More
August 28, 2014 | Artbeat | Margaret Loewen Reimer
Artist Ray Dirks, seated, and Hans (John) Funk looking over his easel. (Photo by Evelyn Petkau)
Seeking to honour the faith of Mennonite mothers who single-handedly brought their families through difficult and challenging experiences to safety, Winnipeg artist Ray Dirks has... Read More
August 28, 2014 | Artbeat | Story and photo by Evelyn Petkau
On Friday, May 23, 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people at the University of California Santa Barbara before he turned the gun on himself. In his manifesto, he stated he did so... Read More
August 27, 2014 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Last year I was asked if I was interested in serving on the planning committee for Mennonite Church Canada’s Native Assembly 2014. Taking a directed reading course on aboriginal... Read More
August 27, 2014 | Young Voices | Melanie Kampen
A march against rape culture and inequality (Credit: Chase Carter, CreativeCommons.org, CC by ND 2.0)
On Friday, May 23, 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people at the University of California Santa Barbara before he turned the gun on himself. In his manifesto, he stated he did so... Read More
August 27, 2014 | Young Voices | Various Contributors
Construction managers Herb Schaan left, and Gerry Harms stand in the renovated sanctuary of Douglas Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. (Credit: Deborah Froese)
When Douglas Mennonite Church decided to undertake an extensive renovation of their Winnipeg facility two years ago, they took tithing to a whole new level. They promised to... Read More
August 26, 2014 | Web First | Deborah Froese
Sol Sanderson, former chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, addresses festival-goers at the Spruce River Folk Festival.
It may be a blip on the radar compared to other events of its kind, but what it lacks in size the Spruce River Folk Festival more than makes up for in heart. The fifth annual... Read More
August 22, 2014 | God at work in the World | Story and Photo by Donna Schulz
The pews are pushed together along the walls while in the middle of the sanctuary children play an energetic game of Duck, Duck, Goose. Vacation Bible School (VBS) is in session... Read More
August 22, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photos by Donna Schulz
Fourteen-year-old Yusuf Yahiat carries a food package distributed by MCC partner Zakho Small Villages Project at the Garmawa Camp for displaced people in northern Iraq. Like most people living in the camp, Yusuf and his family fled the city of Mosul after its takeover by the militant group that now calls itself Islamic State. (Photo: MCC / Ryan Rodrick Beiler)
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and partner organizations continue to meet the needs of families displaced by conflict in Iraq with a mid-July distribution of locally purchased... Read More
August 19, 2014 | Web First |
In “Finding ways to share this land of plenty,” Will Braun explains the two Supreme Court of Canada decisions concerning the Tsilhqot’in people (B.C.) and Grassy Narrows (Ont.)... Read More
August 14, 2014 | Web First | Compiled by Will Braun
A Year of Reading Biblically (YORB) continues, and if you are following the reading schedule, you’re somewhere in Jeremiah by now. The year is more than half over, and I thought... Read More
August 13, 2014 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
Alicia and Billy Good with their daughter.
Alicia Good and her family lived below the poverty line for more than three years. That is, until last year. The 32-year-old currently serves as a pastor at North Leamington... Read More
August 13, 2014 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
The land at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in downtown Winnipeg was too important as an inter-tribal meeting and trading place to be held by any one people, says Clarence Nepinak, a learning tour leader at Native Assembly 2014. (Photo by Moses Falco)
An early morning fire and smudging ceremony started each day of Native Assembly 2014 that met from July 28 to 31 at the edge of the Assiniboine Forest on the Canadian Mennonite... Read More
August 13, 2014 | God at work in the World | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Brander—Strongraven/Standing Bear—McDonald shares insights into the indige-nous worldview at Native Assembly 2014.(Photo: Moses Falco)
Brander McDonald is soft-spoken. He moves about the room with quiet dignity, avoiding eye contact while he presents a workshop exploring indigenous worldviews at Native Assembly... Read More
August 13, 2014 | God at work in the World | Deborah Froese
Vince Solomon’s dorm door was marked with an “X” to indicate his race when he was enrolled in religious studies. (Photo: Moses Falco)
There’s an imbalance here. Of the 250-ish gathered for Native Assembly 2014, indigenous participants are overwhelmingly outnumbered by non-native folks. A few months ago, planners... Read More
August 13, 2014 | God at work in the World | Dan Dyck
The judges’ bench in the main courtroom of the Supreme Court of Canada.(Photo by Philippe Landreville / © the Supreme Court of Canada)
Indigenous issues are charged, complex and unappealing to many Canadians. Understandably so. Competing histories and intricate legalities combine with strong sentiments to create... Read More
August 13, 2014 | God at work in the World | Will Braun
A Mennonite Church U.S.A. discernment group addressing sexual abuse by the late theologian John Howard Yoder has reported finding additional evidence of abuse. After a June 3,... Read More
August 13, 2014 | God at work in the Church |
An online digital library containing nearly 250 unpublished, informally published and popular works by theologian John Howard Yoder is now available for scholars and students... Read More
August 13, 2014 | God at work in the Church |
Scott Brubaker-Zehr, left, Clayton Kuepfer, David Armes, Geoff Wichert and Hidden Acres staff person Patrick Singh discover at a June retreat at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp near New Hamburg, Ont., that doing their own dishes is part of male spirituality.
Aged 18 to 71, 20 men gathered at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp from June 20 to 21 to explore what it means to be a Mennonite man in the 21st century. “Under construction: Reframing... Read More
August 13, 2014 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Dave Rogalsky