Gathering 2019 is for the whole family
I have many fond memories of attending our annual national events over my lifetime, beginning in my youth at Great Treks and then as a young adult at assemblies. I remember creative and inspiring worship; animated, even heated, business meetings; and, most significantly, making personal connections with my faith community from across the country. Now we…
Test your Mennonite IQ
In the coming weeks, we will present simple profiles of Mennonite organizations for those people who want to be connected to the larger Mennonite community but get lost in the acronyms and restructuring. Here is a quiz to pique your interest. Answers below. 1. Who is the current executive minister of Mennonite Church Canada? A:…
Meet the speaker for Gathering 2019
Gathering 2019 guest speaker Elaine Heath says the greatest challenge for the western church today is to “regain a gospel-centric imagination.” “For the church in the post-Christendom West, this means intentionally and persistently moving away from notions and practices of church as a consumer or a colonizing activity,” she says in an email, “in order…
The future is now
I posed one question to the 186 Mennonite Church Canada congregations for which my search engine found email addresses. My question: “What changes has your congregation experienced as a result of the Future Directions decisions of October 2017?” The most succinct reply was one word: “None.” End of email. That was also the best summation of…
Prepare for something new and yet familiar
Over the past three months, in my role as communications officer for Mennonite Church Canada, I have been busy preparing for Gathering 2019, the first event of the “new” nationwide church. This work is challenging because, much like trying to envision summer in the dead of winter (Regina is under an extreme cold warning as…
Come and let your imagination be ignited
“Igniting the imagination of the church.” That’s the theme of Mennonite Church Canada’s Gathering 2019, to be held from June 28 to July 1 in Abbotsford, B.C. Powerful words, those! What might they mean for us as congregations comprising five regional churches and the nationwide church? In the latest edition of Anabaptist Witness, César García,…
A deep love for the church
On Nov. 4, tears and well wishes were intermingled at Foothills Mennonite Church in Calgary when Pastor Doug Klassen told his congregation that he had accepted Mennonite Church Canada’s call to the position of executive minister. “While I grieve the thought of leaving the congregation that I have loved deeply for 20 years, I look…
Mennonite Church Canada thanks Willard Metzger
A farewell celebration was on the agenda for the Mennonite Church Canada Joint Council and Executive Staff Group, that were both meeting over the weekend of Oct 21, 2018. Along with other friends and well-wishers, they gathered at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg to thank Willard Metzger for his years of service as executive minister of…
Calgary pastor appointed as MC Canada’s executive minister
Mennonite Church Canada is pleased to announce that Doug Klassen has accepted the call to the position of executive minister. “It is an exciting time in Mennonite Church Canada. I want to help inspire a vision for what it means to be a nationwide church. I firmly believe that congregations are the foundational unit of…
MC Canada addresses Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
The five regional churches comprising Mennonite Church Canada have issued an invitation to “all congregations to join in a nationwide call to prayer for comfort and strength for our Jewish faith communities, particularly those here in Canada and the USA. In the wake of the Pittsburgh massacre of Jewish worshippers this week, all congregations in…
