Tag: division

  • Binding and loosing in an age of division

    Binding and loosing in an age of division

    For the past three years, the United States has been my home, and in the U.S., division is impossible to ignore. Liberals on the left, conservatives on the right. Of course, Canada is not immune to these divisions, and neither is the church.  In this context, what hope does the church have of discerning the…

  • Can’t we all just get along?

    Can’t we all just get along?

    Are you losing hope in the possibility of everyone getting along? Division in the church is nothing new for me. I grew up in a harsh, conservative fundamentalist church that judged everybody. Especially liberal Christians. In my early 20s, I became agnostic and relentlessly judgmental toward conservative Christians. I returned to Christian faith and church…

  • Finding a home in the MB conference

    Finding a home in the MB conference

    Brent Kipfer’s Mennonite Church Canada pedigree is solid: he grew up at Poole Mennonite Church in Poole, Ontario, attended Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, graduated from Canadian Mennonite Bible College and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and became pastor of a Mennonite Church Eastern Canada congregation. Now, he pastors a Mennonite Brethren church and sits on the board…

  • Divided for service

    Divided for service

    There are some verses in the Bible that we studiously avoid thinking about, let alone discuss publicly. They are like repressed memories or family secrets that threaten to cast us back into shame and confusion, to undo the semblance of peace, fellowship and orderliness that we have so diligently cultivated for ourselves. What a surprise…