Singing a new song
What will the Mennonite church in North America look like in the next 30 years? No one has a crystal ball, but one group of forward-thinking people is helping us imagine how we might be doing congregational worship in the next generation. Last weekend, I attended a one-day resourcing event on Voices Together, the new…
The church mirror
Some churches have a mirror in their cloak rooms. You might want to check your reflection before going in to worship. In older, more formal times, you might have combed your hair or adjusted your tie. Sometimes you are satisfied with your reflection, even pleased. Other times, you might be disappointed or avoid looking. Whatever…
The long path
In a recent adult Sunday school class, a member of my church spoke about her quarter-century journey of relating to Indigenous people. Twenty-five years and still learning, she admitted. Given the centuries of injustice and pain our neighbours have experienced, that doesn’t seem like such a long time. Mennonites in Canada have shown an interest…
Broken boundaries
The allegation of sexual abuse at a church camp (on page 13) reminds us of the sad reality that sexual abuse touches the church community in profound ways. The example of Christ and our peace theology compel us to recognize and to address the violence that happens in our midst. In the past, Canadian Mennonite…
Nurturing spirituality
The church’s primary job is growing relationships with God, says Dave Rogalsky in the feature, “Experiencing the good news,” on page 4. He encourages faith communities to be “actively teaching spiritual practices to strengthen the experience of God in people of all ages, in order to underpin our community, worship, evangelism, missions, and peace and…
Thank you for letting us know
“I enjoy the magazine very much. Will you keep printing it? I don’t have a computer,” wrote a reader in British Columbia this June. She was responding to our spring fundraising appeal. A reader in Ontario also said, “We do not have a computer, so we enjoy the printed CM.” Thank you for letting us…
Seeking a safe home
It is June 20, World Refugee Day. Near the Mexico-U.S. border, thousands of people are waiting. Fleeing conflict and violence in their own countries, they are seeking safety. Reports emerge of refugee children being detained and separated from their parents, who are also locked up. These families are torn apart by a policy of “zero…
Green bench wisdom
The concept is simple. In a public place, an older adult sits on a green bench that is marked with the hashtag #ElderWisdom. Community members are invited to sit and engage in conversation about the senior’s life, experience and insights. Afterwards, community members can share about their experience on social media, using the hashtag. The…
Building a new thing
In April 2018, two U.S.-based Mennonite publications—The Mennonite and Mennonite World Review—announced plans to merge by 2019. The merger is the result of talks that started in 2016, and originally included this magazine. All three of us face the same challenges: declining revenue from subscriptions and advertising plus the need to build a digital…
Questions of conscience
Last month, a Canadian Mennonite was arrested—for following his conscience. In the tradition of our 16th-century Anabaptist ancestors, civil disobedience was an expected path. But nowadays, we don’t see things so clearly. A recent discussion concerns the April protests at the Kinder Morgan pipeline in Burnaby, B.C., where Steve Heinrichs took part in an…
