West Hills congregation tries ‘messy church’
Two years ago, West Hills Fellowship, in Baden, Ont., faced up to its small-church realities. It had lost some families for a variety of reasons, and found it challenging to run programs and Sunday morning worship services. That’s when the congregation tried a “messy church” model. During a sabbatical visit to a church plant on…
A new chapter for the Anabaptist Learning Workshop
The creators of the Anabaptist Learning Workshop (ALW) are starting a new chapter for Anabaptist-Mennonite education in Eastern Canada. As a program offered by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in cooperation with Conrad Grebel University College , the Workshop has organized learning events at the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary life for laypeople, pastors, new…
A small congregation with a big heart
Lucy Roca bundled herself up warmly and made her way through the blustery streets of Sherbrooke, Que., on the way to Refuge de Paix early one Sunday morning. It was the kind of grey, stormy day when Sunday worship services are cancelled because it is too wintry to be outside. It was also a morning…
‘It’s all worship’
Representatives of 107 congregations from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick gathered at Steinmann Mennonite Church for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s annual church gathering on April 26 and 27, framed around the theme of “Deepening our relationship with God.” There were opportunities to sing and pray, eat and socialize, listen and share, reflect, discern and make…
Ending with hope
May 3, 2018, was Henry Paetkau’s last day in the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada office, but he wasn’t quite done yet. On June 5, he delivered the final address of the Ralph and Eileen Lebold Endowment for Leadership Training fundraising dinner at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo. (See more about the Lebold fundraising dinner at…
A picture of gradual decline
Often our society relies too much on numbers. In gravitating to quantification we tend to short-circuit the truth, which is nuanced and multilayered. But when it comes to our denomination, I would like to see more numbers. Specifically, how has overall giving to area/regional churches and Mennonite Church Canada changed over time? The charts here…
‘Connected: Striving side by side with one mind’
The theme of this year’s Mennonite Church Eastern Canada annual church gathering—stated in the headline—had many facets, both inspiring and challenging, for those gathered at Redeemer College in Ancaster on April 27 and 28, 2018. Impassioned plea to stay connected Executive minister David Martin urged four congregations considering leaving the regional church—Milverton; Maple View, Wellesley;…
MC Eastern Canada welcomes two new congregations
Two new congregations were welcomed into emerging membership during Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s annual church gathering at Redeemer College on April 27 and 28, 2018. • The Assemblée de la Grâce is a Créole-speaking congregation made up of Haitian refugees, located in Montreal. Pastor Westerne Joseph hopes to invite many more Haitian diaspora congregations into…
Purposeful and meaningful
The numerous staff changes at Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in the last year have been coming for a long time. Top (from left to right): David Martin, Henry Paetkau, Al Rempel, Robertson Mbayamvula and Catherin van Sintern Dick Bottom (from left to right): Kevin Derksen, Norm Dyck, Brian Bauman, Marilyn Rudy-Froese and Mollee Moua David…
Mennonites in Montreal aid refugees
Not feeling safe in the United States, a young woman climbed on a plane and flew to Montreal with her children. But the U.S. is considered a safe country for refugees, so she was forced to return. Still afraid, she crossed the border into Quebec and ended up at Coalition d’aide aux réfugiés à Montréal…
