News & Stories

The title of Coming Home is an appropriate metaphor for this fascinating retelling of the last 60 years of Robert Kreider’s 93-year pilgrimage. We read about at least three “homes... Read More
May 22, 2013 | Focus On | Reviewed by Ronald J.R. Mathies

As Frances Ringenberg, left, a member of the pastoral team of Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind., greets Emma Sommers Richards at the celebration of the book about Richards’ ordination, Ringenberg said, ‘You were the first woman pastor I ever saw.’ Richards was pastor of Lombard (Ill.) Mennonite Church, where Ringenberg was a member b

By telling the story of the ordination of Emma Sommers Richards, a new book from the Institute of Mennonite Studies aims to show that “all church members will share in the... Read More
May 22, 2013 | Artbeat | Story and Photo by Mary E. Klassen

Through the safe spaces provided for connection and discussion by the Anabaptist Network in South Africa (ANiSA) Dialogues, Mzwandile Nkutha, left, and Cobus van Wyngaard are building an unlikely friendship across a history of racial divide.

An unlikely but emerging friendship between Mzwandile Nkutha and Cobus van Wyngaard through the Anabaptist Network in South Africa (ANiSA) demonstrates in a small way what it... Read More
May 22, 2013 | God at work in Us | By Andrew Suderman

Madeline Spence of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation at Nelson House, Man., says ‘Our land used to be so good; the shorelines used to be so different.’

The director of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba at the time told me two issues stirred up the most flak from constituents: MCC’s work in Israel-Palestine and its... Read More
May 22, 2013 | God at work in the World | By Will Braun

A group of young teenage musicians are a highlight at the Mather Coffeehouse on April 13. Zach Tiessen, Tyler Rempel, Myles Tiessen, Brianna Hildebrand and Daria Hildebrand are from Trinity and Crystal City Mennonite churches and Cornerstone Ministries Church.

The tiny hamlet of Mather in southwestern Manitoba is home to about 100 people, but for one night of the year the population burgeons. On April 13, the Mather community held its... Read More
May 22, 2013 | God at work in the World | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau

Bedding plants on a garden bench help participants get into the spirit of this year’s Saskatchewan Women in Mission Enrichment Day theme: ‘Like a watered garden.’

The foyer of Eigenheim Mennonite Church, filled with bedding plants on a garden bench and trickling water from several fountains, visually and audibly depicted the theme of this... Read More
May 22, 2013 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Donna Schulz
Twenty-five top Christian leaders gathered in the U.S. city with perhaps the worst reputation for civil discourse Wednesday (May 15) and committed themselves to elevating the... Read More
May 16, 2013 | Web First | Lauren Markoe
A new national study shows that while Canada remains overwhelmingly Christian, Canadians are turning their backs on organized religion in ever greater numbers. Canadian flag image... Read More
May 15, 2013 | Web First | Ron Csillag
It’s not an original idea. Chances are good you’ve either done it yourself or you know someone who has given up Facebook for some length of time. That’s what I did for the month... Read More
May 8, 2013 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
I have no medical training. Moving among nursing staff and doctors with years of clinical training and experience on my first day seeing patients at Cambridge (Ont.) Memorial... Read More
May 8, 2013 | Young Voices | Michael Turman
As leaders of the environmental movement are despairing that there is little hope for the future of our world, A Rocha, a national faith-based creation-care organization, saw a... Read More
May 8, 2013 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen

A scene from Forgiven/Forgotten, the latest play by the Toronto-based Theatre of the Beat troupe, which is on a cross-Canada tour sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee Canada. Pictured: Kim Walker and Johnny Wideman.

A bottle of wine moves through Forgiven/Forgotten, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada-sponsored play about restorative justice that premiered last month at the Conrad... Read More
May 8, 2013 | Artbeat | Reviewed by Dave Rogalsky

Clyde Dougans is pictured in action on the auction floor at last year’s MCC Festival for World Relief, Abbotsford, B.C. The popular auctioneer passed away on March 7.

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) staff and volunteers are mourning the loss of their friend and long-term volunteer, Clyde Dougans. Dougans was a fixture at the annual MCC... Read More
May 8, 2013 | God at work in Us | By Angelika Dawson
Elisabeth Elliot’s 1957 classic, Through Gates of Splendor, was billed by the publisher as “the boldest and most dramatic missionary exploit of modern times . . . a collision of... Read More
May 8, 2013 | God at work in the Church | By Will Braun

César Garcia, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) general secretary, left, visits with Vidya J. Narimalla of Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church at the MWC/Mennonite Central Committee Ontario-sponsored pastors breakfast on April 25.

Ears pricked up when César Garcia suggested that all national churches need to be in communication with other national churches about issues of faith and practice.Read More
May 8, 2013 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photo by Dave Rogalsky

Rochelle Benny Gerard, Marisa Pathmanathan and Kameesna Kamal of the Markham Christian Worship Centre perform a worship dance about not needing to be afraid because ‘God most high’ is in charge.

Twenty-five years ago Mennonite Church Eastern Canada gathered at the United Mennonite Educational Institute in Leamington, Ont., for its inaugural annual conference.Read More
May 8, 2013 | God at work in the Church | Story and Photos by Dave Rogalsky

This cross was carved out of a downed tree after a deadly tornado struck Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011. At a celebration to commemorate two year’s of rebuilding efforts, Kevin King, executive director of Mennonite Disaster Service, said of the carving, ‘It is now weathered and cracked from the drying sun, proclaiming the injury of the past.’

Nearly two years after an EF5 tornado struck Joplin, Mo., Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) closed its project site in Joplin with a celebration.Read More
May 8, 2013 | God at work in the World | Mennonite Disaster Service
In an age when many Mennonite churches worry about losing young people, David Epp has a solution: the church should become their landlord. At Rosthern Mennonite Church’s semi-... Read More
April 24, 2013 | Young Voices | Emily Loewen
The blue hymnal is nestled in the pew rack, its binding loose from having its spine cracked and pages flipped too many times to count. Now, as technology drives the culture, more... Read More
April 24, 2013 | Young Voices | Rebekah Krahn
Casa de la Amistad—House of Friendship—is a welcome change for about 140 Bolivian children aged 4 to 18. They are happy to participate in a program that offers them two meals a... Read More
April 24, 2013 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Theology/Spirituality Citizenship: Paul on Peace and Politics . Gordon Mark Zerbe. Canadian Mennonite University Press, 2012, 276 pages.Read More
April 24, 2013 | Focus On | Compiled by Barb Draper
Development of a new Sunday school curriculum called Shine is underway by publishers MennoMedia and Brethren Press. Writers are beginning this month on the first quarter of Shine... Read More
April 24, 2013 | Focus On |
More information does not mean we will make the right choices, but less information insures an impoverished understanding. As the initial wave of media attention over Idle No More... Read More
April 24, 2013 | Focus On | Reviewed by David Driedger
Amish romance novels are big business, with the top authors selling millions of copies. From the 1990s to 2004, one or two Amish novels were published each year. By 2008, there... Read More
April 24, 2013 | Focus On | Reviewed by Barb Draper

Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association, left, presents Brenda Suderman, Faith Page reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press, with the Ihsan Award for her journalistic bridge-building efforts.

Brenda Suderman, a member of Home Street Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, was one of two Winnipeg Free Press journalists to be honoured by the Islamic Social Services Association with... Read More
April 24, 2013 | God at work in the Church | By Evelyn Rempel Petkau

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