In the 1980s, Ken Nafziger drew inspiration from publisher and camp association president Levi Miller, and began leading a music retreat at Laurelville. It was initially designed... Read More
News & Stories
Musicians, in foreground from left, Merrill Miller, Alissa Bender, Perry Blosser, Rosene Rohrer and Andrea Weber Steckly accompany a song during the Worship and Music Leaders Retreat on Jan. 10-12 at Laurelville retreat center in Mount Pleasant, Pa. (Photo by Kreg Ulery)
February 6, 2020 | Web First | Steve Carpenter
Tobia Veith, centre in blue top with scarf, teaches a group of Chinese women. (Photo courtesy of Tobia Veith)
Mennonite Church Canada is inviting prayers for its ministry partners during the coronavirus outbreak, and for all of those in China and across the world who have been affected by... Read More
February 3, 2020 | Web First | Mennonite Church Canada
Victoria Callow is currently living and serving in La Mesa, Colombia. (Photo courtesy of YouTube)
Our recent Focus on Education issue featured a reflection by Hannah Larson , a young woman serving in northeastern India with Mennonite Central Committee’s Serving and Learning... Read More
January 31, 2020 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Bruxy Cavey addresses the Council of International Anabaptist Ministries at its annual conference, held from Jan. 14 to 16 at The Meeting House in Oakville, Ont., where he is the senior pastor. Cavey called for Jesus-centred, relational discipleship as the way to engage new missional church leaders. (Photo by Janet Bauman)
Bruxy Cavey’s message to mission and service leaders in Anabaptist organizations was plain. “We have lost a younger generation of leaders because the church has been so divided,”... Read More
January 29, 2020 | News | Janet Bauman
This feeding centre in Trans-Volga, Russia, circa 1922, was one of 140 MCC-supported centres in southern Russia that distributed 38,600 rations daily at the peak of the relief effort in 1922. This kitchen excelled most other kitchens in cleanliness and orderliness. (MCC photo)
One hundred years ago, calls for help came from Mennonites in southern Russia, where war, disease and famine had left them in desperate straits. “Brethren! Help us, we are... Read More
January 29, 2020 | News | Linda Espenshade
Bill Kruger
“We always knew Dad was a special man,” said Chuck Kruger, “but we have come, after his passing, [to learn] more about the influence he had in many ways.” William (Bill) Kruger... Read More
January 29, 2020 | People | Donna Schulz
Nordheim Mennonite Church in the village of Winnipegosis, Man., is a four-hour drive northwest of Winnipeg.
Mennonite Church Canada is characterized by various geographic concentrations of churches, some thicker than others. But a few congregations exist far from any other MC Canada... Read More
January 29, 2020 | News | Will Braun
A 2019 Lenten service at Springridge Mennonite Church in Pincher Creek, Alta. Plants were grown at the front of the sanctuary and then compared to how congregants nurtured God-like growth in their own hearts and lives. Pastoral leader Tany Warkentin is pictured at right. (Photo by Del Willms)
A small rural church had a 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) pastor. Now its pastor has retired and it decides to hire a 0.3 FTE pastor. Is this realistic? How will the new pastor... Read More
January 29, 2020 | News | Joanne De Jong
Linda Tiessen, who recently retired from her administrative duties at the Leamington (Ont.) Mennonite Home, is pictured in front of the facility with her granddaughter Larissa. (Photo by Zach Charbonneau)
Growth, change and progress are three big words that come to mind when looking back over Linda Tiessen’s time as administrator of Leamington Mennonite Home. And after serving... Read More
January 29, 2020 | People | Zach Charbonneau
Frigid, snowy days don’t occur often in B.C.’s Fraser Valley but, when they do, some homeless seniors have at least one warm place to spend the night. MCC B.C.’s Material Aid warehouse provides temporary sleeping space for street people, operated by a local ministry. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
By day, the material aid warehouse at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) B.C.’s headquarters is used to store and process items such as school kits and blankets to be shipped... Read More
January 29, 2020 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
First-year residents Grace Enns, left, Amy Wiens, Melody Turner and Sydney Martens enjoy slices of bread as students gather for Grebel’s weekly Community Supper. (Photo by Jen Konkle)
Every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., students, staff and faculty at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., gather to share a meal called Community Supper. This tradition... Read More
January 29, 2020 | People | Katrina Steckle
(Photo: Conrad Grebel University College)
This recipe is from the kitchen staff at Conrad Grebel University College. (Read about the recipe's significance here .) This recipe makes 22 very large loaves 15 tablespoons... Read More
January 29, 2020 | People |
Notes of peaceful encouragement are written to those caught up in the political protests in Hong Kong. (Photo courtesy of Mennonite World Conference)
A joint delegation from the Peace and Deacons commissions of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) visited three Mennonite churches in Hong Kong, other denominations and some... Read More
January 28, 2020 | Web First | Elina Ciptadi
Katie Sowers, pictured with her mother at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California last month. Sowers is the second woman to hold a coaching position in the NFL. (Photo courtesy of Instagram.com/katesowers5)
Katie Sowers will make history next weekend as the first woman and first openly gay person to coach during the Super Bowl. The 33-year-old is an offensive assistant coach for the... Read More
January 24, 2020 | Web First | Aaron Epp
This store in New Hamburg, Ont. is one of the TTV locations that will close by the end of May.
Mennonite Central Committee Canada has announced the closure of the corporate operations of Ten Thousand Villages Canada, its fair-trade social enterprise. The closure includes... Read More
January 21, 2020 | Web First | Mennonite Central Committee
Mennonite World Conference staff have released a new video in advance of Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday. The video highlights MWC's work around the world in 2019. (Photo courtesy of MWC)
A new video highlights what happened in the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) in 2019. Released in advance of Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday, which takes place this weekend (... Read More
January 17, 2020 | Web First | Aaron Epp
The sign in front of Calvary Church in Ayr, Ont., hints at the significant shift taking place as the church merges with Calvary Pentecostal Assembly of nearby Cambridge. (Photo by Janet Bauman)
In September 2019, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada reported: “We announce with great sadness that River of Life, Calvary Church Ayr (Mennonite), and Milverton Mennonite Fellowship... Read More
January 15, 2020 | News | Janet Bauman
'He recently left a Mennonite Church Canada congregation that professes open-mindedness and inclusivity. I wanted to know why.' (Image by Arek Socha/Pixabay)
A Mennonite elder once told me, “We need to listen to people who leave the church.” John Reimer (a pseudonym) is one such person. A soft-spoken grandpa, he recently left a... Read More
January 15, 2020 | News | Will Braun
Home Street Mennonite Church is located in the heart of Winnipeg’s inner city. (Home Street Mennonite Church website photo)
Every Sunday morning at Home Street Mennonite Church, two ushers hand out bulletins and seat guests for the worship service. But an hour earlier, a group of “Third Ushers” is... Read More
January 15, 2020 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Members of Peace Church on 52nd in Vancouver are challenged to read one chapter of the gospels every day in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Peace Church on 52nd)
Congregations in Mennonite Church British Columbia are greeting the new year with efforts to deepen spirituality and to hear God’s voice more clearly through group study and Bible... Read More
January 15, 2020 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
Imogine (Tina Cressman), Gladys (Lucy Derksen) and Ralph Herdman (Zach Cressman) react with surprise and confusion when they hear the Christmas story for the first time. (Photo by Heather Weber)
Some 80 people from all ages were part of staging The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at St. Jacobs (Ont.) Mennonite Church on Dec. 21 and 22. The 1950s era story tells how the rough... Read More
January 15, 2020 | News | Janet Bauman
Proudfoot family portrait of 2018: (left to right) Annora Proudfoot, Robert Proudfoot, Valerie Proudfoot (nee Braun) and Alicia Proudfoot. (Photo by Alicia Proudfoot)
Many individuals dream of writing a book, but it’s not often that an entire family writes a book together. Three generations of artists from the Proudfoot family compiled a book... Read More
January 15, 2020 | People | Joanne De Jong
RJC students increasingly come from non-Mennonite families. Rather than seeing this as a problem, principal Ryan Wood sees it as an opportunity. (Photo from RJC’s Facebook page)
Rosthern Junior College has been a steadfast presence in Mennonite education for almost 115 years. However, decreasing enrolment has prompted the school’s administration and board... Read More
January 15, 2020 | Focus On Education | Donna Schulz
Katrina Steckle, left, is pictured with her first-year Grebel roommate, Madeleine Graham. (Photo courtesy of Katrina Steckle)
My older sister met her best friend at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., in 2013. They were paired together as roommates for their first year, and lived together... Read More
January 15, 2020 | Focus On Education | Katrina Steckle
Hannah Larson of Vancouver, Wash., serves with SALT in Siliguri, India, with the West Bengal Voluntary Health Association. (Photo courtesy of Hannah Larson)
In the last few months with Mennonite Central Committee’s Serving and Learning Together program, I have thought often about how we all use stories to communicate. And how... Read More
January 15, 2020 | Focus On Education | Hannah Larson