A bullet point editorial
This issue of CM contains much intense material. I want to take this opportunity to not add to that, (though I had started writing about an unanswerable question I inherited when I took this job). Instead, I offer quick thoughts on a bunch of elements in the following pages (with page numbers in parentheses). I…
Dispatches from the front lines
I’m basing the form of this final missive on the last book I read, Dispatches—a harrowing and sometimes hilarious memoir by Michael Herr, who covered the insanity of the Vietnam War for Esquire magazine during two years in the late 1960s. (How insane is it that Esquire thought it needed a war correspondent in the…
Stories told and untold
This past summer I attended an event focused on Mary Magdalene, at which guest speaker Amanda Witmer reviewed what scholars know about this early follower of Jesus—not very much. In addition, over the centuries, the Christian church has perpetuated misinformation about Mary: No, she was not the “sinful woman” in Luke 7. The Gospel of…
Canadian Mennonite bids farewell to Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
After more than 18 years of contributing to Canadian Mennonite as the Alberta correspondent, Donita Wiebe-Neufeld, who has developed a fondness for horses over the years—especially CD—has resigned from her reporting position to take on an increased role with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta. When she began as a correspondent on Sept. 1, 2000, replacing…
Remembering Margaret Loewen Reimer
“A student of literature and a Mennonite journalist with a special passion for the arts,” is how Margaret Loewen Reimer introduced herself during a lecture series entitled “Mennonites and the artistic imagination” at Canadian Mennonite Bible College, in Winnipeg, in 1998. That self-introduction rang true back then, and still does as I reflect on Marg’s…
Canadian Mennonite bids farewell to Dave Rogalsky
Over the past 12 years, Dave Rogalsky has been a prolific writer for Canadian Mennonite. Since the summer of 2006, when he was hired as the Eastern Canada correspondent, replacing Maurice Martin, Rogalsky has written a total of 868 articles. That is an average of 71 articles per year and nearly three articles per issue.…
Glue and rough drafts
“Canadian Mennonite is the glue that holds Mennonite Church Canada together,” Larry Cornies, a journalism professor and former chair of this publication’s board of directors, told our staff and regional correspondents during a two-day workshop held last month at our Waterloo, Ont., office. While this was great affirmation for those of us who labour to…
