The colour of prayer
For my birthday last month, I asked for markers. Since then, I’ve spent several hours in my soft front-room chair, copying out verses from the Psalms in a large, empty sketchbook I’ve had for years, illuminating the letters like a not-very-talented medieval scribe. I meditate on the words as the texture of the paper, the…
In prayer with old monks
I’m taking a group from our church on a spiritual retreat this weekend. I’ve gone on many personal retreats to the Abbey of the Genesee, a Trappist monastery in New York, but this is my first time leading a group retreat there. I decided to do this for several reasons. First, the monastery likely won’t…
Over 1,000 Mennonites killed in Ethiopia
Let us pray Violence has devastated Meserete Kristos Church (MKC), the Mennonite body in Ethiopia. As of February 12, armed groups had burned 49 MKC churches to the ground, looted and damaged another 81 churches, and killed 1,231 MKC members, including 31 church leaders. Inter-tribal violence in western Oromiya regional state, home to nearly one…
A prayerful reflection on the protests of February 2022
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. When tensions grow, positions harden, and hearts grow cold, we call for Canadians to pause, step back and reflect. We see that (on Feb. 3) Ontario declared a state of emergency because of protests in cities, towns and border crossings. Across the country, leaders at all levels of…
Prayer for the war in Ukraine
God of hope, we pray to you when hope is scarce as our world convulses with the horror of war. You alone know the extent of the crimes committed in Ukraine: the people murdered, the homes and infrastructure destroyed, the way violence comes as a calamity, cutting a swath through the world. Why is power…
MWC joins ecumenical week of prayer one year into COVID-19 pandemic
A year after the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic, Mennonite World Conference is joining the World Council of Churches and other Christians in a week of prayer March 22-27. The week will invite a time of prayer and reflection on both the lament and the hope expressed and experienced across…
Strengthening faith for the coming year
When a new year begins, many people resolve to lose weight or begin exercising. But the dawning of a new year is also a good time to consider improving one’s spiritual fitness. Josh Wallace, who is Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s church engagement minister, says spiritual practice is essential to a healthy faith. “Our lives depend on…
Practising prayer with the Psalms
My kids are old enough to start playing ball, and weekly practices and physically distanced games are a regular part of the Barkman routine. In high school, I was a catcher, and Christina played third base, so we want our kids to grow into confident athletes. That means they are learning to practice. Continuous repetitions…
MC Alberta calls congregants to prayer with Zoom
At 7:30 on Monday mornings, members of Mennonite Church Alberta wake up to pray together on Zoom. Each participant is invited to light a candle, open a print copy of the Anabaptist prayer book, Take our Moments and our Days, or the accompanying digital app, and pull out their Mennonite hymnal for a time of…
MWC holds online prayer hour on Pentecost
“There is lockdown and physical distancing, but even so, we can meet in prayer,” said Hanna Soren, a member of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Deacons Commission, who offered a prayer at the close of the organization’s first online prayer meeting on May 31. “From different countries, we can come together and pray together in…
