Grateful for community
Mabel and Walter Paetkau of Abbotsford, ages 91 and 89 respectively, met as university students in Edmonton. They were married in 1960 and raised two sons. At different points, Mabel was a registered nurse, homemaker, director of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) B.C. Refugee Program and a Government of Canada Refugee Board member. Walter did…
Big tent, small centre
Here in British Columbia—the West of the West, where West and true East meet in North America—we sometimes tend to look more toward the traditionalist faith of the church in Asia than to the progressive, whiter, older Mennonite lands of eastern Canada. We also continue to be influenced by the neo-reformed fundamentalism of our dear, and…
Spurring action with deep reflection
Two dozen young adults came together at Camp Squeah in Hope, B.C., for a weekend of listening, conversation, reflection and music to envision their future and that of the Anabaptist church. The June 7-9 “Young Adult Anabaptist Conference For An Active Future” involved participants from across Canada and the state of Washington, with most coming…
Cedar Valley a faith-based community centre
Cedar Valley Church in Mission, B.C., often has a full parking lot, and not just on Sunday mornings. Each week, 500 to 1,000 people enter the doors of the church building to meet with various groups using space there. “We’ve opened our campus up as an ‘affordable, flexible, faith-based community centre’ to be a blessing…
‘Stuck together’ at MCBC AGM
With the theme of “Stuck Together,” delegates from all 23 congregations rejoiced together, wrestled with a budget deficit and welcomed a new church plant at the 2024 Mennonite Church B.C. annual meeting. Prayers were offered throughout the day in various languages spoken in MCBC congregations: Spanish, German, Hmong, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese. The…
Gathering matters more than you think
I am a huge advocate for the local church. It is the gathering of people around the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus that frees our imaginations and forms our hearts to be a different kind of nation on the earth. Yet, it seems we often are pulled into the sexy idolatry of the…
False unity vs. true unity
In B.C. we’ve heard stories of churches in at least two denomina- tions choosing to use secondary or tertiary doctrines and opinions as litmus tests for belonging. These groups are doubling down on the wrong ways of trying to maintain unity. The more you focus on secondary sources of unity, the farther away you get…
Pastors gather for retreat
Twenty-seven Mennonite Church B.C. church leaders and their families gathered at Camp Squeah from November 3 to 5 for a weekend of renewal and relationship-building. Four worship and discussion sessions were framed around the centred-set church model, from the work of Mark Baker. Baker was the guest presenter at the 2023 MCBC annual gathering and…
Holy optimism
At the time of assuming his new role as executive minister of Mennonite Church B.C. in August, Shel Boese recalls being asked about his vision for MC B.C. “It doesn’t matter what my vision is,” he replied, “we need to determine that together. It needs to be a shared vision.” That philosophy sums up Boese’s…
‘You and me and our neighbours, together’
Garry Janzen and his wife Diane, who live in a condominium in Ladner, B.C., have found a new way to relate to those around them during the current pandemic: the Nextdoor.ca app. Janzen, executive minister of Mennonite Church British Columbia, heard about the app from Adam Back, pastor of Peace Church on 52nd in Vancouver,…
