This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), and one Saskatchewan congregation got off to an early start in celebrating it. Osler Mennonite Church... Read More
News & Stories
Kathy Braun, left, tells the children at Osler Mennonite Church that it takes a lot of people to do the work of Mennonite Central Committee. (Photo by Adeline Cox)
February 12, 2020 | News | Donna Schulz
Paul Plett, right, whose documentary Seven Points on Earth was featured at this year’s Bechtel Lectures at Conrad Grebel College, chats with Lester Bechtel, who funds the annual lecture series as a way to make the academic world accessible to a broader audience. (Photo by Jennifer Konkle)
Mennonite farmers have a lot in common. They see themselves as stewards of the land, they live with uncertainties, and they take pride in what they produce, but they farm in... Read More
February 12, 2020 | News | Janet Bauman
As an outreach event in January, members of Crossroads Community Church of Chilliwack, B.C., hosted friends to view the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers. (abeautifulday.movie photo)
Crossroads Community Church sees its presence in Chilliwack, British Columbia, as a ministry to the surrounding community. Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian minister who saw his... Read More
February 12, 2020 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
‘As people who believe in nonviolence, we cannot stand silent as the RCMP uses force and threat of force against people,’ says Rachelle Friesen, CPT's Canada coordinator. (Photo courtesy of CPT)
“The province of British Columbia alongside Coastal GasLink are continuing their plans to build a pipeline through the unceded territories of the Wet’suwet’en. The five hereditary... Read More
February 12, 2020 | News | Ross W. Muir
Mennonite Women Canada executive members met for a final time at Gathering 2019 in Abbotsford, B.C. Pictured from left to right: Shirley Redekop, president; Elsie Rempel, secretary/treasurer; and Liz Koop, communications coordinator. (CM file photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
In spite of the sadness involved in bringing the Mennonite Women Canada (MW Canada) organization to a close, Shirley Redekop, the final president, expressed confidence that “God... Read More
February 12, 2020 | News | Barb Draper
Wendy Kroeker, third from left, is pictured with the Mennonite World Conference Peace Commission The others, from left to right, are: Mennonite Church Canada Witness worker Joji Pantoja, Neal Blough, Andrew Suderman, Garcia Domingo, Adriana Belinda Rodriguez, Kenneth Hoke and Jeremiah Choi. Kroeker and Pantoja were part of the delegation to Hong Kong. (Photo by Marijne Stenvers)
Name any region in Asia and chances are that Wendy Kroeker has done peace work there. Kroeker, an assistant professor of peace and conflict transformation studies at Canadian... Read More
February 12, 2020 | People | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Top row from left to right: Christen Kong, Andrew Klassen Brown, Madison Harms. Bottom row from left to right: Rebecca Janzen, Ashley Rempel. (Photo compilation by Betty Avery)
Five young adults—one from each of Mennonite Church Canada’s regional churches—will represent the nationwide church at Global Youth Summit (GYS) 2021 in Salatiga, Indonesia. The... Read More
February 12, 2020 | People | Katie Doke Sawatzky
Huxley Phillips, left, Mason Avery and De’Sean Burnette enjoy a campfire at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp, New Hamburg, Ont. (Photo: Aaron Lantz / Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp)
Sitting around the campfire after saying goodbye to our final group of campers on the last night of the summer, the staff spent the evening reflecting on the summer and all that... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Focus on Camps | Chris Pot
Leaders-in-Training Isabelle Netherton and Micah Peters-Unrau, standing left and right, are pictured with LiT leader Joanna Loepp Thiessen. (Ontario Mennonite Music Camp photo)
Every night at Ontario Mennonite Music Camp we sing a closing song around the campfire to send campers off to bed. More often than not, it’s our favourite tune, “Sanctuary”: “O... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Focus on Camps | Joanna Loepp Thiessen
Willowgrove added the blanket exercise to its program in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, more specifically the call to educate Canadians. (Willowgrove photo)
“Now I know what I should have been teaching.” These are the words of a retired history teacher after participating in a Kairos blanket exercise. As a blanket exercise facilitator... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Focus on Camps | Geralde Reesor-Grooters
Jeremy Wiens.
There are extreme weather warnings throughout the province as the wind chill dips to -40C. Yes, it’s cold, but nothing is going to stop Jeremy Wiens from going to Mennonite Church... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Focus on Camps | Joanne De Jong
This is Fraser Lake Camp’s 65th year in operation. It serves 300 campers each summer on 110 hectares in the Canadian Shield. (Photo by Janien Reesor)
Stepping off that bus for the first time can be scary; it can be a big deal. The minds of many are on the edge of uncertainty and fear. If those steps take you into the embrace of... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Focus on Camps | Jason McDowell
Aerial view of Camp Assiniboia. (Photo by Darryl Neustaedter Barg)
Over the past few years, the structure of Mennonite Church Manitoba’s Camps with Meaning has undergone some major shifts. It has gone from a three-camp system to a two-camp model... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Focus on Camps | Janet Peters
Laura Moolenbeek rehearses a rap written by the boys cabin at Silver Lake Mennonite Camp. By the end of the week, campers were ready to perform the rap they prepared at the banquet before the whole camp. It was amazing to see kids coming out of their shells, and finding common ground in music. (Photo by Karen Cornies)
According to camp counsellor Laura Moolenbeek, Silver Lake Mennonite Camp’s first Rhythm and Song Camp was an incredible week for campers and staff. Seven- to 16-year-olds came... Read More
February 12, 2020 | Focus on Camps | Laura Moolenbeek
Regional representatives Jeremiah Choi (from left) Jumanne Magiri Mafwiri and Freddy Iban Barrón Tapia.
A composer, health manager and auto mechanic—all church leaders—have joined the Mennonite World Conference team. These newly appointed volunteer regional representatives complete... Read More
February 10, 2020 | Web First | Mennonite World Conference
Nadine Ens and her daughter Jenice Ens tie knots in a comforter at The Great Winter Warm-up in Saskatoon, Sask. (MCC photo by Myriam Ullah)
On Jan. 18, the forecast in more than 100 locations across three continents was identical: flurries of comforters. Despite heavy snowstorms in some areas, thousands of people... Read More
February 7, 2020 | Web First | Renata Buhler
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)
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
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