Plaque commemorates conscientious objectors
Descendants of conscientious objectors (COs) gathered around a new plaque to permanently mark the location of the Montreal River Alternative Service Camp. More than 50 people made the two-day bus trip to Montreal River, 120 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on the shore of Lake Superior, to participate in this event Sept. 28,…
David K. Jantzi
David K. Jantzi came from an Old Order Amish family. He felt obligated to become a conscientious objector during the Second World War because “the church required it.” In his second year of alternative service, his personal attitude changed, as he realized that “non-resistance is much deeper than not going to war.” A cabinet maker…
Race explored in 2021 Bechtel Lecture
This year’s virtual Bechtel Lecture, “Blackness, whiteness and the Anabaptist ‘imagined community’ in print and mission,” featured two speakers: Diana Braithwaite, an accomplished blues, gospel and jazz performer, and founder and director of the Rella Braithwaite Black History Foundation, where she researches, preserves and shares the story of Blacks in Canada. Timothy D. Epp, an…
‘Be It Resolved’ released
A new anthology published by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada and Mennonite Church Canada hit the press this fall. Be it Resolved: Anabaptists & Partner Coalitions Advocate for Indigenous Justice, 1966-2020 is a collection of more than 90 documents detailing commitments Anabaptists have made to Indigenous justice and decolonization since the 1960s. “I was aware of…
175 years by faith
In 1844, just under a half-hectare of land near the east bank of the Conestoga River was purchased from John Brubacher for the sum of five shillings. A log schoolhouse was constructed there, on what was then part of the Haldimand Tract and the traditional lands of the Neutral, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The log…
Peter Regier
In 1894, Anna Enss (1855-1914), left, and Peter Regier (1851-1925) moved their family from Prussia (now Poland) to Tiefengrund, Sask., where Regier was the founding leader of the Rosenorter Gemeinde and the Conference of Mennonites in Canada. His sermon collection includes “odd” names for sermons such as “Sexagesima.” Upon further research, we learn that this…
GAMEO to maintain its emphasis on the global church
GOSHEN, IND.—Reaffirming a clear commitment to a focus on groups outside of Europe and North America, the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) management board concluded its annual meeting on May 7. “We are pleased that GAMEO now includes more than 16,500 articles and receives 1,300 visitors each day,” said John D. Roth, GAMEO’s general…
Didsbury drawing
In 1893, Kitchener, Ont., businessman Jacob Y. Shantz secured land from the government and railway, and he promoted the Didsbury, Alta., settlement to eastern Mennonites. The West was a great unknown to many, who felt they would never see their westbound relatives again once they departed for the land of “buffaloes and Indians.” In 2016,…
From power to pathos
Peter M. and Susanna Friesen. “The story of Mennonites in Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and the Soviet successor states is relatively short, beginning only in 1789. Despite this brief history, our memories of Mennonite life in this region are etched with deeply contradictory images. “On the one hand, we remember a resplendent culture marked…
Why I advocate for human rights
In contemplating where our passions come from and why we do what we do, we often look to our childhoods. In my childhood, I was faced with several tensions, which formed me and led me to study history. Leona Lortie is the public engagement and advocacy coordinator for MCC’s Ottawa office. (MCC photo by Meghan…
