Wandering in the wilderness
This past weekend, I was invited to one of our small rural congregations to help it discern the future. The concern, as expressed by the congregation, is that if the status quo remains, the church will have to close its doors in a couple of years. Some options were presented: cut pastoral time from the…
Trusting the Spirit
At our annual Mennonite Church Manitoba delegates meeting in Winnipeg in March, I concluded my time as a member of the regional church board. I served on this board as a rep from the southern area of Manitoba for six years (two full terms). I joined the board in the middle of a pretty intense…
Ordinary discipleship
How comfortable are you with change? Change seems to be the most consistent “unchanging” reality of our lives. We are always experiencing change. Thankfully many, or even most, of the changes we experience are small or gradual, like the steady change in my hair colour to ever-more grey! However, from time to time life events…
‘Our missionaries’
More than a decade ago, my family and I were privileged to serve as church planters in southern Italy. We were Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers seconded to what is now Virginia Mennonite Mission, and were financially supported by many friends, family members and our home congregation, Community Mennonite Fellowship in Drayton, Ont. One instance…
Our baseline for unity
What is our baseline for unity in the church? The most basic shared reality is that the church is a community of people who follow and walk faithfully with Jesus Christ. In order to follow, this means that we know Jesus. The word “to know” in the Bible has an understanding of an intimate relationship.…
The nature of change
“Changes coming upon us / It keeps moving, moving around us. / Got to keep singing, knowing he loves us; / Got to keep joy in our hearts.” Those words from the song “Changes” by Jim Croegaert seem appropriate as I look forward to retirement in less than two months. But they also reflect this…
Receiving is important
The tale “The Christmas Guest,” as told by Johnny Cash on his album Christmas with Johnny Cash, is a fable about an old man, Conrad, who receives a message from an angel that the Lord will appear to him on Christmas Eve. Conrad readies his place, expectant for Jesus to knock at his door. But…
All gifts are important
Sometimes when I am very tired or discouraged, or both, I have trouble trusting God. I read the lovely promises that Paul writes to the church in Corinth and I wonder. I read Paul’s words, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given…
#MeToo in the pew next to you
The incredible wave of disclosure around sexual abuse has dominated the front pages of our newspapers and our news feeds these past months. Women, in particular, are saying, “It’s about time that the pain and suffering of victims are acknowledged. It’s time to bring into the open what has been covered up and supressed for…
We know who we are
Common knowledge helps to form our identity. It creates the basis from which to describe ourselves and helps us to understand others. Change can create a crisis of identity. When what we thought to be fact changes, it can create a distressing cloud of confusion and uncertainty. We wonder if there is anything we…
