Alberta event explores wild hope for creation
Don’t get “stuck in rage or paralyzed by fear,” said Joanne Moyer. “[Be] defiantly hopeful, despite the odds.” Moyer, associate professor at The King’s University in Edmonton, was presenting at a Mennonite Church Alberta event called “Wild Hope for God’s Garden.” The May 28-29 event was held at First Mennonite Church in Calgary. Approximately 25…
Practicing peace in a polarized world
Polarization was on the agenda as Mennonite Central Committee Alberta hosted its first-ever peace conference earlier this month. Held November 3-4 in Calgary, “In Tune: Finding Harmony in a Polarized World” attracted participants from across denominational and professional lines. “The idea for this conference came out of our world emerging from the pandemic,” said Ryan…
Individual donations trend up within regional churches
Individuals increased direct giving to their regional church in year two of the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth is contrary to the experience of secular charities. According to the CanadaHelps fifth annual Giving Report, charitable giving fell an estimated 12 percent between 2019 and 2021. In contrast, individual donations to Mennonite Church Canada’s regional churches grew…
MC Alberta delegate sessions explore challenges and look ahead
“In spite of a global pandemic, we dared to dream,” said communications coordinator Ruth Bergen Braun in her review of the year at the Mennonite Church Alberta annual delegate sessions held March 19. “We dreamt of a future filled with healthy congregations with strong capable leadership, growing relationships, a renewed camp ministry and new ideas…
Remembering the early days of Camp Valaqua
George Heidebrecht fiddled with the knobs of his slide projector in anticipation of a morning of storytelling. Stories about Camp Valaqua. Stories of adventures he had carried for decades. Stories of boys — now men of retirement age themselves — sleeping in lean-tos, getting rain-soaked, eating over an open fire. Stories of tying their provisions…
MC Alberta ends fiscal year with $95K surplus
Brenda Tiessen-Wiens, Mennonite Church Alberta’s moderator, said “Wow!” Peter Za Zor Sang, the secretary of the Calgary Chin Christian Church, kept repeatedly asking, “How blessed were we?” And Werner De Jong, pastor of Holyrood Mennonite Church in Edmonton, declared, “Grace danced!” when describing what God has done this past year in the regional church. Delegates…
Zoom check-in
A regional church check-in meeting last month gave members a chance to learn how Mennonite Church Alberta is faring. With the arrival of fall, when in-person meetings were prohibited, MC Alberta leaders decided to host a Zoom check-in for all the churches so communities could connect and hear how things are going. Brenda Tiessen-Wiens, the regional…
Bursary connects students to their faith
“Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to attend a Mennonite post-secondary institution,” says Danika Warkentin, one of seven recipients of this year’s Mennonite Church Alberta student bursary. As Mennonite families pray and consider how they can pass on their faith to the next generation, going to Mennonite schools is one…
MC Alberta says farewell to communications coordinator, clown
Mennonite Church Alberta is sad to say goodbye this summer to June Miller. Not only has she served the regional church as its first communications coordinator, she has also used her clowning gifts to bring joy to her congregation, Foothills Mennonite Church, as well as to the MC Alberta community. A graduate of the Ohio…
A column about plague columns
If you’ve travelled in central or eastern Europe, you may have come across a plague column holding a prominent place in a town square. Plague columns were constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries as a display of public faith in the church and in God. At the time, the Catholic church was experiencing pressures…
