‘I am not being persecuted’
Michael Pahl A former church minister in Morden is pushing back on churches arguing for freedom from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. In a series of tweets sent out May 3, Michael Pahl, executive minister of Mennonite Church Manitoba, called on Christians in his southern Manitoba community to continue to follow public-health orders as a way to…
The Gourmet Girls
Imagine if you could eat at a five-star restaurant every Saturday night, even during COVID-19. That’s what has been happening in one neighbourhood in Calgary since May 2020. A recent menu included flavourful prosciutto-wrapped asparagus sprinkled with fresh parmesan and lemon by Charlene Delcourt; juicy garlic-rosemary turkey glazed with Dijon and honey mustards and accompanied…
Camp Valaqua, then and now
In March, my friend and I were fulfilling our duty of cleaning out the Canadian Mennonite University Student Council room when we came across a filing cabinet of school newspapers from the 1960s. Being rather loosely committed to our cleaning assignment, we soon found ourselves leafing through submissions sent in by students during the summer,…
‘Making plans, but holding them lightly’
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 despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. These have included reduced class sizes, mask fatigue, teaching behind plexiglass, and keeping resident and commuter students apart. A high priority…
Helping ‘active faith’ across Canada
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-related organizations. Ten of the recipients are part of Mennonite Church Canada, seven are Mennonite Brethren churches, and there is one each from the Evangelical Mennonite Conference,…
MWC joins ecumenical week of prayer one year into COVID-19 pandemic
A year after the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic, Mennonite World Conference is joining the World Council of Churches and other Christians in a week of prayer March 22-27. The week will invite a time of prayer and reflection on both the lament and the hope expressed and experienced across…
MWC continues pastoral response to COVID-19
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, stories poured in from Mennonite World Conference (MWC) member churches about job losses and hunger in their congregations and communities due to shutdowns. MWC began collecting funds to respond to pandemic-related needs within and through the household of faith. A year into the pandemic, MWC…
Mennonite leaders weigh in on vaccination
Should Mennonite Church Canada leaders promote vaccines during this public health emergency? That question arose in January when Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, met with over 1,300 Canadian faith leaders, including from MC Canada, to encourage them to promote vaccines to their members. Since faith leaders are “trusted voices” in their communities,…
Church members enjoy ‘snail mail’ during pandemic
In this time of isolation, some members of Abbotsford’s Emmanuel Mennonite Church are discovering the delights of a relationship based on the old-fashioned medium of handwritten letters. At the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown last March, Angelika Dawson began thinking of ways she could encourage people. As a writer, she recalled that, even as a…
‘We had a huge spike’
When COVID-19 struck last March, farmers who sell food directly to customers saw a rush on their products. “It seemed like people were just googling farms to go right to the source,” said Sarah Martin-Mills of Growing Hope Farm in Cambridge, Ont. “We had a huge spike,” said Ben Martens Bartel of Grovenland Farm near…
