Grebel at 60
In the fall of 1963, J. Winfield Fretz began his role as the first president of Conrad Grebel College in Waterloo, Ontario. In addition to hiring the first employees and spearheading a $750,000 building project, he taught courses in the sociology department at the University of Waterloo. The beginnings of this educational initiative by Ontario…
Reconciling with the land
“Reconciliation . . . needs to start with the earth. It’s the foundation of everything.” —Isaac Murdoch, Serpent River First Nation What would it look like to reconcile with the land—to get to know the created world as our relatives? Who is benefiting from this land where Rockway is situated? How can we give back to…
Bringing UMEI into the future
UMEI Christian High School is growing! In March 2022, the Board of Directors announced Project ReNew, an ambitious fundraising project to bring UMEI into the future. This project is currently funding half tuition for two years as well as improvements throughout the school building. The leadership structure was also changed, with the addition of Darcy…
RJC receives generous legacy gift from Elizabeth & John Armbruster
For her Grade 12 year, Elizabeth Armbruster (Zacharias, 1944), known as Beth among her family and friends, decided to leave her family farm near Meadow Lake, Sask., to attend RJC (then known as the German-English Academy). She was determined to prepare herself to attend normal school to become a teacher after graduation. During her time…
Seminary reports highest enrolment in 14 years
Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, is celebrating its fourth consecutive year of growth in student numbers this fall, with a total enrolment of 189 students (157 in 2022) as of Sept. 11, 2023. Of these, 149 are graduate students (141 in 2022) and 40 are participants in the undergraduate-level nondegree Journey Missional…
Connecting MCI’s Past & Future
For 134 years, Mennonite Collegiate Institute has offered young people an Anabaptist-centred education, a community to explore faith in, and a place to excel in music, academics and sport. The rich legacy of developing young peoples’ God-given gifts in an Anabaptist-Christian setting continues to live on in the halls of MCI today. For Roxanne Friesen…
Grebel alumni change the world with tech
Like many Conrad Grebel University College alumni, Dale Brubacher-Cressman considers it important to make an impact on the causes he stands for. “My upbringing in the Mennonite church, extended into university life at Grebel, fostered in me a sense of responsibility and desire to make the world a better place.” Brubacher-Cressman graduated with a degree…
Service through art
Menno Simons Christian School is proud of alumna Eugena Lee (‘20) who won first-place in the National Remembrance Day Poster contest held by the Legion National Foundation. After studying the Korean War in her high school social class, she became inspired to learn more about her grandparents’ experiences during the Korean war. Then artistic inspiration…
MDiv student reflects on AMBS experience
Ian Funk, pastor of Langley (B.C.) Mennonite Fellowship, anticipates graduating in 2023 from the Connect program of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) with a Master of Divinity degree. Students can complete the distance-friendly program online with weeklong visits to the seminary’s Elkhart, Indiana, campus once or twice a year. What influenced you to study at…
Rockway’s umbrellas are given new life
What do you do with 103 broken umbrellas? You make something new, of course! After Rockway Mennonite Collegiate’s crazy “Someone to You” video project, the school found itself with a challenge. The all-school video created during the pandemic was an important project for building community that involved 350 umbrellas. But, as predicted, a number of…