Barnyard philosopher on hope for the future
Life at the End of Us Versus Them is an unconventional critique of the postmodern world from the perspective of a youngish father who lives off the land. Part theologian, part philosopher, Marcus Rempel examines contemporary culture from the perspective of someone who takes the message of Jesus seriously. Rempel believes in being honest about…
Spring 2018 List of Books & Resources
Theology, Spirituality I Corinthians: Believers Church Bible Commentary. Dan Nighswander. Herald Press, 2017, 403 pages. Like other commentary writers in this series, Nighswander provides explanatory notes as well as describing the text in the biblical context and in the life of the church. He also points out which parts of I Corinthians do not appear…
Different stages
Most people know Johnny Wideman as a playwright and the artistic director for Theatre of the Beat, the social justice-oriented troupe behind plays like This Will Lead to Dancing and Yellow Bellies. Now Wideman has released To Aid Digestion, a collection of 26 original short stories and poems. Canadian Mennonite called the 30-year-old at his…
Award-winning Herald Press book gets an update
In Donald B. Kraybill’s The Upside-Down Kingdom, Jesus is slightly irreverent. He critiques the rich, scorches nationalism, redefines Old Testament law, and undercuts the authority of religious leaders. Kraybill points out that Jesus is into sharing, not hoarding. Service, not status. Community, not competition. Basins, not swords. Loyalty to God, not nation. Kraybill, a prolific…
New logo for church publisher heralds the new year
Herald Press rolled out a new logo and look in early 2018 to match increased efforts to expand its audience both within and outside the Mennonite church. The grey, yellow and white design includes a stylized horn in the logo with a short banner threading through the letter H enclosed in a circle. The horn…
In the beginning
Last November, the United Mennonite Church of Black Creek launched a new book, In the Beginning—Stories of our Founders, during an evening of speakers, images and history. In the 1930s, several groups of Mennonite settlers emigrated from Russia and Ukraine, and from other communities in Canada and the United States, to Black Creek. Some of…
Illustrator and bakery collaborate
Where Do Sticky Buns Come From? is a picture book illustrated by local artist and designer Jonathan Dyck and written by Jon McPhail, owner of Jonnies Sticky Buns bakery. The book was released on Dec. 16, 2017, to a packed audience in Winnipeg. It tells the story of a father and daughter who creatively imagine…
The quiet labours of a Low German translator
Ed Zacharias started with Exodus, translating word by word into Low German (Plautdietsch). For a decade he worked at it, sometimes with institutional backing, sometimes as a volunteer hunkered in his home office, relying on help from interested Wycliffe personnel and a loose network of Low German promoters. He was motivated by a love of…
Finding shelter from the cold
I remember the day well. It was Nov. 8, 2016. Donald Trump, whose behaviour as a sexual predator has been widely reported, had just been elected as president of the United States. I felt the wind knocked out of me and, honestly, it felt like the world was ending. At work the next day, at…
Spanish translation slated for Menno Simons biography
Despite Menno Simons’ significant influence in northern Europe during Anabaptism’s infancy in the 16th century, and his name living on by having the Mennonite church named after him, relatively little is known about his early life and his conversion from Catholicism to Anabaptism. Now Helmut Isaak, a British Columbia pastor and scholar, is hoping to…
