Principal hits mid-life, takes to pulpit
After 23 good years as a teacher and principal, Cheryl Braun asked herself a simple question: “What does the last part of my career look like?” Would she stay the course or risk change? As Braun (no relation to the author) considered this over several months with a small support group, she eventually asked herself,…
Called to be a part of the church
Whenever she tells her faith story, Carrie Lehn always mentions her paternal grandmother, who, she says, is a key example of gentleness and love. She always has other people on her radar, Lehn says, writing them letters or cards, bringing them dessert or giving them thoughtful gifts. “She thinks about those little things that other…
Letting Christ abide, from Saskatchewan to Gambia
Tending to the grapes she grows in the house she lives in provides Terri Lynn Paulson with a very tangible way of considering John 15, a chapter of the Bible she has been reflecting on in recent months. It begins: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every…
Outside his comfort zone
Six months into his first pastoral job, Moses Falco feels very inadequate. “Am I really cut out for this?” and “Do I have the skills to be in this position?” are questions he has discussed with members of the church council and deacons. Although he feels inadequate, Falco—who is the sole pastor at Sterling Mennonite…
Flipping on the pastor switch
Ask Amanda Zehr what her favourite Bible story is, and she points to John 9, where Jesus heals a blind man. “It really questions who the blind one is,” says Zehr, associate pastor at Listowel Mennonite Church in southwestern Ontario. “In the end, it was the spiritual leaders who were blind, not the actual blind…
Remade from the inside out
When Josh Wallace survived a serious car accident at age 10, his father said, “God saved your life in that accident, and he must have done so for a purpose.” Since then, he has tried to figure out what that purpose is. Josh grew up near Bozeman, Mont., in a conservative Christian milieu. As a…
The invisible poor
Alicia Good and her family lived below the poverty line for more than three years. That is, until last year. The 32-year-old currently serves as a pastor at North Leamington United Mennonite Church, in Leamington, Ont., while her husband Billy attends law school. They have a young daughter together. Their struggles began when Billy lost…
