‘That is a Christian!’
Members of the Rosemary Mennonite Church community and the Siksika Nation gathered together on Jan. 4 to praise God for the life of Alvin Lepp. Pastor Fred Krulicki, who led the service, likened Lepp to Barnabas, who is described in Acts 11:24 as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a…
Conductor. Father. Farmer. Christian.
Abner Martin was born at his parents’ farm in Waterloo Township, Ont., the seventh surviving child of Annanias and Susannah (Steckle) Martin. His family, until the time of Abner’s birth, were members of the Old Order Mennonites that met at Martin’s Meeting House. Later, they attended St. Jacobs Mennonite Church, and Abner had opportunities to…
Reflecting the image of Christ
Oliver Heppner was born on Feb. 11, 1929, to Cornelius and Gertrude Heppner, the fourth of their six children. In a written reflection on his early life, he said, “I search my past to try to find strands of events constituting the fabric of my faith and life journey. If there is a warp and…
Where he leads me I will follow
At a time when a woman’s sphere of influence was limited to hearth and home, Anna Dyck was making a difference. Dyck spent nearly 40 years of her life as a missionary in Japan. During those years she lived in three communities and worked as a nurse, Bible teacher, pastor and church planter. She helped…
Former CBC president dies at 81
Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C., is remembering its former president, Walter (Wally) Unger, who died May 9 at the age of 81 in hospice care in Abbotsford. Unger was born in Saskatchewan as the youngest of seven children. He grew up in St. Catharines, Ont., where he married his wife, Laura Redekopp, and began…
Influential writer also a flawed earthen vessel
For his funeral text, Urie Bender chose the passage from II Corinthians 4:7: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (KJV). In his meditation at the funeral, Scott Brubaker-Zehr, pastor of Rockway Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ont., said that Bender understood himself to be an “earthen vessel,” imperfect and susceptible to cracking. But in spite…
‘The Lord has been my guide through life’
Esther Patkau would likely not have considered herself a remarkable woman, yet she lived a remarkable life. Born on Aug. 23, 1927, near Hanley, Sask., she knew at the tender age of four that she wanted to be a missionary. She never wavered from that goal. After elementary school, she took high school courses by…
Filmmaker dedicated to telling the Mennonite story
Using pre-digital equipment, Otto Klassen works on one of his more than 50 films that document the lives of Mennonites. (Photo courtesy of Ken Reddig) Otto Klassen dedicated many years of his life to making documentaries that tell Mennonite stories. A self-taught filmmaker, he produced a total of 84 films in his lifetime, most of…
A leader of leaders
Born into a Western Ontario Mennonite Conference (WOM)—formerly the Amish Mennonite Conference of Ontario—family, Ralph Lebold grew up with strong leaders in a congregational polity. Each congregation had a bishop, minister and deacon working together, although with separate roles. While ordained, these leaders were unpaid and often untrained, although many Amish Mennonites attended the Ontario…
Dick Benner: A man who loved the church
Richard (Dick) Benner, the recent editor/publisher of Canadian Mennonite, passed away on Nov. 4, 2017, at his home in Ruckersville, Va. Upon his retirement in March 2017, he moved from Ontario to his Virginia home near Charlottesville, where his wife Marlene was in long-term care. Dick began his final journey with cancer not long after…
