“ Loose the chains of injustice . . . set the oppressed free and break every yoke .” These words from Isaiah are not confined to dusty village squares thousands of years ago—they... Read More
News & Stories
From left to right: David Driedger, Leah Gazan, John Clarke
April 7, 2021 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Werner De Jong was the plenary speaker at this year’s MC Alberta annual delegate sessions, held on Zoom this year. His messages focused on the theme ‘Love one another,’ as part of the regional church’s launch of its Year 2 vision: ‘Encountering, Embracing, Embodying Christ in Community.’ (Screenshot by Joanne De Jong)
Brenda Tiessen-Wiens, Mennonite Church Alberta’s moderator, said “Wow!” Peter Za Zor Sang, the secretary of the Calgary Chin Christian Church, kept repeatedly asking, “How blessed... Read More
April 7, 2021 | News | Joanne De Jong
The Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in Bogotá, Colombia, provides food, programs and care for children in need, including those displaced by violence elsewhere in the country and Venezuelan migrants. (Photo by Jonathan Stucky)
Mennonites in Colombia and Canada are reinvigorating a 76-year-old relationship. It started last fall when Iglesias Cristianas Menonitas de Colombia (IMCOL)—the Colombian... Read More
April 7, 2021 | News | Will Braun
Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., advertises that worship services are to remain online for the time being, as churches in the province remain closed. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
With some Fraser Valley congregations insisting on their right to meet for public worship during the current pandemic, Mennonite Church B.C. leadership is encouraging its churches... Read More
April 7, 2021 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
Leonard Enns conducts a DaCapo Chamber Choir rehearsal in a Waterloo parkade during COVID-19 restrictions. Enns won a recent composition competition with a piece called “A Little More Time,” which he wrote as part of a personal challenge to write a short choral work each week during the early part of the pandemic. (Chestnut Hall Music screenshot)
When the novel coronavirus pandemic broke out last spring, shutting down so many activities, Leonard Enns gave himself a challenge: to write a short choral work of three to four... Read More
April 7, 2021 | People | Janet Bauman
When Lois Siemens travelled to Ukraine, she took several communion cups with her. Pictured are two communion cups in a former Mennonite church in Petershagen. (Photo by Lois Siemens)
What does one do with a cracker box full of used communion cups? This was the dilemma facing Lois Siemens as she drove from Saskatoon to Winnipeg in July 2016. Siemens had just... Read More
April 7, 2021 | Focus On Books & Resources | Donna Schulz
Finding Refuge in Canada: Narratives of Dislocation by George Melnyk and Christina Parkerv
Canadians who sponsor refugees often discover that the task comes with surprises and challenges. This collection of essays provides insight into Canada’s changing refugee policy... Read More
April 7, 2021 | Focus On Books & Resources | Barb Draper
Once a Wizard was inspired by the author’s first experience with death. (Photo courtesy of Curtis L. Wiebe)
A new book invites readers to explore themes of loss and grief while imagining their own story. Once a Wizard is a wordless children’s book created by Winnipeg author and... Read More
April 7, 2021 | Focus On Books & Resources | Aaron Epp
(Photo composition by Betty Avery)
Theology, Spirituality The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus , Expanded Edition . Bruxy Cavey. Herald Press, 2020, 375 pages. Cavey has updated... Read More
April 7, 2021 | Focus On Books & Resources | Barb Draper
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
To watch “Who cares? The elderly among us... ” (length 1:27:30). In the light of COVID-19, a panel explores how the pandemic has challenged systems that care for elders and offers... Read More
April 7, 2021 | Focus On Books & Resources | Virginia A. Hostetler
MWC stands in solidarity with its member churches in joy and struggle. Pablo Stucky, left, speaks with members of Iglesia Hermanos Menonitas Peruana on a Deacons delegation visit after a severe flooding event. (MWC photo by Henk Stenvers)
“Hello. How can I join you?” This question often comes through the social media accounts of Mennonite World Conference (MWC). But what does it mean to be a member of MWC? MWC... Read More
April 6, 2021 | Web First |
Students at the Bishop Mazzolari Secondary School, near Rumbek, South Sudan, all received dignity kits—Mennonite Central Committee's newest resource kit. (Photo courtesy of Loreto School)
The newest Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) resource kit will support vulnerable women and girls with dignity. The new dignity kit contains hygiene and sanitary items tailored... Read More
April 5, 2021 | Web First | Jason Dueck
‘It does not fall to me to judge the journey of others,’ Jane Philpott says in her TEDx talk.
In a talk posted on YouTube earlier this month, university dean and former member of parliament Jane Philpott reflects on two detours that changed her path. During the 18-minute... Read More
March 31, 2021 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Jo Snyder is the author of ‘The Vegan Mennonite Kitchen,’ a new cookbook published by Pandora Press. (Photo courtesy of Jo Snyder)
Jo Snyder has moved around Canada pursuing a career in communications and toured across Europe playing punk music, but a new project has brought her back to her Mennonite roots in... Read More
March 24, 2021 | Web First | Aaron Epp
During a memorial service held as part of MC Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions, Kirsten Hamm-Epp lights a candle for three congregations that, in 2020, made the difficult decision to close. Superb Mennonite closed in May 2020. Hanley Mennonite and Zoar Mennonite in Waldheim will close in 2021. (Screenshot by Donna Schulz)
“We hear God’s voice from a place of knowing who we are,” said Kirsten Hamm-Epp. In her meditation that opened Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions, the... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Donna Schulz
(Screenshot by Mennonite World Conference)
Following the decision to offer the 2022 Mennonite World Conference (MWC) assembly in Indonesia as a hybrid event, the Program Committee members and assembly staff are now re-... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News |
Rick Neufeld, MC Manitoba’s director of leadership ministry, gave his report from the ice. A lively hockey team debate ensued in the Zoom chat room! (Screenshot by Darryl Neustaedter Barg)
Mennonite Church Manitoba’s 74th annual gathering was confined to screens this year due to the ongoing pandemic, but reports of the regional church’s work came from all over the... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
A church-planting map of the Nazret Regional Church in Ethiopia. (Photo by Norm Dyck)
Over Zoom, Norm Dyck shares a photo of a church-planting map from the Nazareth-Adama region of Ethiopia. At the top is the mother church established in 1948 with the help of... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Katie Doke Sawatzky
Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, executive minister of MC Alberta, preaches via Zoom at the 10th anniversary and grand opening of Calgary Chin Christian Church on March 14. (Calgary Chin Christian Church photo)
“God is so good to us,” said Pastor Leng Nawn Thang excitedly as he spoke about all the ways God has taken care of Calgary Chin Christian Church, a member of Mennonite Church... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Joanne De Jong
MC Canada’s Sustainability Leadership Group, pictured clockwise from top left are: Joanne Moyer, Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, Henry Krause, Jess Klassen and Allan Hiebert. (MC Canada collage)
Mennonite Church Canada is committing to improve the sustainability of its programs and ministries. “Leadership and commitment are some of the most critical pieces in helping an... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Katie Doke Sawatzky
Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whitely perform ‘This Little Light of Mine’ as part of the Bechtel Lecture on blackness and whiteness in Anabaptist print and mission. (Screenshot by Janet Bauman)
This year’s virtual Bechtel Lecture, “Blackness, whiteness and the Anabaptist ‘imagined community’ in print and mission,” featured two speakers: Diana Braithwaite, an accomplished... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Janet Bauman
The pulp from these coffee cherries can be ‘upcycled’ into cascara tea. (Coffee for Peace photo)
When the COVID-19 pandemic began a year ago, global food security networks were put to the test. In the Philippines, where Dann and Joji Pantoja serve as Mennonite Church Canada... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Charleen Jongejan Harder
Masks and distanced desks are two of the changes students at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C., have had to adjust to this past year. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
As the academic year draws to a close, students and staff at Columbia Bible College are reflecting on how the college has successfully navigated offering in-person learning... Read More
March 24, 2021 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
John H. Neufeld
John H. Neufeld died on Jan. 11, 2021, after a life of serving the church in numerous places and in various roles. Born in Winnipeg, he lived and served in British Columbia, where... Read More
March 24, 2021 | People | Gerald Gerbrandt
Pastor Gerald Neufeld (back row in the green long-sleeved shirt) and some of the members of the Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship in Surrey, B.C. (Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship website photo)
One month after its launch on Feb. 1, the 2021 Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada Spirit of MDS Fund approved $54,900 in grants for 24 Canadian congregations and church-... Read More
March 23, 2021 | Web First | John Longhurst