Mennonite Church Eastern Canada should have taken action against Wilmer Martin at least two years ago, says one of the people responsible for bringing complaints against him to... Read More
News & Stories
Doug Johnson Hatlem, former co-pastor at Erb Street Mennonite Church, Waterloo, Ont., believes Mennonite Church Eastern Canada ‘persistently mishandled’ its investigation into Wilmer Martin. (Photo courtesy of Doug Johnson Hatlem)
July 29, 2020 | News | Aaron Epp
Pastor Caleb Kowalko of Calgary First Mennonite Church is one of the organizers of the MC Alberta Zoom prayer meetings. (Photo courtesy of Caleb Kowalko)
At 7:30 on Monday mornings, members of Mennonite Church Alberta wake up to pray together on Zoom. Each participant is invited to light a candle, open a print copy of the... Read More
July 29, 2020 | News | Joanne De Jong
Sara Wenger Shenk, president emerita of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, is one of four plenary speakers at Mennonite Church Canada’s virtual study conference, ‘Table talk: Does the church have legs?’ on Oct. 24. She will speak on the nature and identity of the church. (Photo by Gerald Shenk)
How has COVID-19 affected you and your community? SWS: The pandemic upended our world here, as it has for so many people. People no longer go to church and need to reinvent their... Read More
July 29, 2020 | News | Katie Doke Sawatzky
(Photo courtesy of MEIschools.com)
Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford, B.C. plans a Stage 1 reopening of school in September for the 2020-21 academic year. The Province of B.C. defines Stage 1 as a... Read More
July 29, 2020 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
Carol Penner
“Worship is the beating heart of the Christian church,” says Carol Penner, who teaches practical theology at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo... Read More
July 29, 2020 | News | Elizabeth Robertson
Jonathan and Jennifer Dick, along with their children Amelia and Gavin, and their dog Remy, are among families across North America who will be getting outdoors to raise money and awareness for MEDA in August. (Mackenzie Derksen Photography photo)
Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) supporters, whose efforts to create business solutions to poverty, enjoy getting together. In normal years, groups across North... Read More
July 29, 2020 | News |
More than 20,000 Mennonites flocked to Winnipeg Stadium for the closing service of the 1990 Mennonite World Conference Assembly. (All photos courtesy of Mennonite Church USA Archives)
On this day 30 years ago, Manitoba Mennonites were playing host to a global assembly of Anabaptists. The 12th Mennonite World Conference Assembly took place in Winnipeg, Man. from... Read More
July 24, 2020 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Hotel staff wear protective equipment to distribute lunches to hospital workers in quarantine. (Photo by Tris Suyitno)
As the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mennonite community in Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia, joins hands and works with the local government to mitigate the risk and... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News |
A 3D rendering of the new Calgary Chin Christian Church that the congregation hopes will be renovated in early 2021 for worship services.
Church discernment and decision-making can be challenging at the best of times. Making critical decisions about the purchase of property in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News |
Twenty Mennonite Church Canada congregations are among the first 40 churches that have received grants from the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada Spirit of MDS Fund. The... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News |
Boys in a store on the Pinondi Colony in Bolivia in 2018. The first reported COVID-19 death on a Mennonite colony in Bolivia happened at Pinondi, when Isaak Wiebe, aged 45, died on June 5. (Die Mennonitische Post photo)
Although precise data does not exist, Die Mennonitische Post reports numerous presumed COVID-19-related deaths on several Mennonite colonies in Bolivia. Kennert Giesbrecht, the... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News | Will Braun
Cedric Martin, artistic producer and actor for Theatre of the Beat, records his part in Yellow Bellies the Audio Drama in his closet. (Photo courtesy of Theatre of the Beat)
Cedric Martin, artistic producer of Theatre of the Beat, knows that live theatre “will be one of the last gatherings to be allowed again” as businesses reopen in the shadow of... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News | Janet Bauman
Dayna Goerzen of Bergthal Mennonite Church, Didsbury, Alta. (Photo courtesy of Dayna Goerzen)
A group of Mennonite young adults from Alberta has been gathering on Zoom for six Sundays in a row to learn about engaging with “the other.” Topics included “Engaging the... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News | Joanne De Jong
Members of Sherbrooke Mennonite in Vancouver met for an outdoor worship service on July 5. They followed provincial protocols by encouraging masks and discouraging strong singing, and with worship leaders behind plexiglass. The parking lot location allowed sensitive members to stay in cars. (Photo by Garry Janzen)
With most churches remaining closed four months into the pandemic, some in Mennonite Church British Columbia are finding innovative ways to worship together—with limitations. On... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell
Nour Ali
Nour Ali’s name is known in households across Manitoba because of his passion for helping people and for making the world a better place. On June 13, Ali died in a boating... Read More
July 15, 2020 | People | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Survivors of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford, Ont., have returned to scratch messages into the bricks. There are hundreds at the back of the building where former students have left their marks, like this one from Franke, who served time at the school—‘11 years too many.’ (Photo by John Longhurst)
In the inaugural awards ceremony of the new Canadian Christian Communicators Association (CCCA), Canadian Mennonite received 12 awards for writing, photography, design and... Read More
July 15, 2020 | News |
A presenter with Peace Organization, a Syrian non-profit organization, stands during a peace dialogue in Damascus, Syria. (Their name is withheld for security reasons.) At these sessions, held last fall, youth discussed the definition of peace, the role of young people in building peace, and how to start a peace initiative. (Photo courtesy of Peace Organization)
With a 994,000-euro grant (C$1.5 million) from the European Union, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is empowering organizations to implement peacebuilding projects across four... Read More
July 15, 2020 | Web First | Emily Jones
A screen grab of the Mennonite World Conference’s online prayer hour Pentecost service.
“There is lockdown and physical distancing, but even so, we can meet in prayer,” said Hanna Soren, a member of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Deacons Commission, who offered... Read More
July 14, 2020 | Web First |
Lowell Ewert, left, has been honoured with one of the four UWaterloo 2020 Distinguished Teacher Awards. (Conrad Grebel University College photo)
Lowell Ewert, associate professor of peace and conflict studies (PACS) at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo, has been honoured with one of the four... Read More
July 14, 2020 | Web First |
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada has terminated Waterloo resident Wilmer Martin’s ministerial credentials, citing ministerial misconduct and ministerial sexual misconduct. (Facebook photo)
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada has terminated a retired pastor’s ministerial credential after investigating him for ministerial misconduct and ministerial sexual misconduct. The... Read More
July 3, 2020 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Ken Warkentin finished his work as Mennonite Church Manitoba’s executive minister on June 30. (Photo by Darryl Neustaedter Barg)
After nine-and-a-half years of service, Ken Warkentin concluded his time as executive minister of Mennonite Church Manitoba on June 30. But his ministry goes back much farther... Read More
June 30, 2020 | People | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Friends Bob Bartsch, left, and Dick Hildebrandt, members of Black Creek (B.C.) United Mennonite Church, both trace their ties to the original two Prussian Mennonite delegates selected to survey land that eventually led to the Mennonite migration to what became Ukraine. (Photo courtesy of Bob Bartsch)
Two members of Black Creek United Mennonite Church in British Columbia have found a common heritage that goes back 234 years to the Russian Empire. In the late 18th century,... Read More
June 30, 2020 | People | Amy Rinner Waddell
Jehu Lian Ching of Myanmar Missions International, left, and David Martin, right, are pictured with a musician from the convention they attended in Myanmar in 2015. (Photo courtesy of MC Eastern Canada)
“The people,” he said. “There is something beautiful . . . about all those people . . . being the presence of Christ in their communities.” This was David Martin’s first response... Read More
June 30, 2020 | People | Janet Bauman
From their home, David and Doris Martin watch the virtual celebrations in honour of David’s retirement as executive minister from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, after 15 years of service to the regional church and 25 years as a pastor in the regional church. (Photo courtesy of MC Eastern Canada)
David Martin is passionate about curling. He is competitive and once won Steinmann Mennonite Church’s version of The Amazing Race . He is a bit nerdy and techy, and he loves a... Read More
June 30, 2020 | People | Janet Bauman
Joyce Ngumbao and her husband Pius Kisumo stand in a corn and bean field on their farm in Kwa Kavisi, Kenya, that is not planted using conservation agriculture techniques, but was prepared using conventional methods of plowing and scattering seed. These crops are stunted and not growing well. When they can afford to hire help, they want to plant this field with conservation agriculture methods too. (Photo by Matthew Lester)
The mandate of a new Mennonite World Conference (MWC) creation care task force states that, “MWC is a global communion of Anabaptist churches that are together facing the climate... Read More
June 30, 2020 | News | Will Braun