Faithful constancy
He might be the youth leader, enthusiastically singing the loudest, or the young mother protectively watching over her children as they run among the pews, or the strong-willed divorcée who is the staunch activist for women’s justice, or the angry old man suffering from cancer while his wife sits quietly beside him. What they share…
A survivor of sexual abuse speaks out
Yet again, I read last month about another pastor, an Anabaptist leader at that, being accused of sexual misconduct. It was Bruxy Cavey, pastor of The Meeting House, a Be in Christ megachurch. I thought to myself: “yet again.” Our denomination, has also had, has, and will have, pastors among our congregations who will be…
Creating a cultural shift
Abuse. It’s one of those topics that can stop a conversation dead in its tracks. Yet those who work in the area of abuse response and prevention say that talking about it—before it happens—is precisely what the church needs to do. When there are no known cases of abuse demanding a church’s attention, it may…
Scholar researches coverage of sexual violence in Mennonite church press
In her recent research Carol Penner surveyed how the church periodicals, Gospel Herald, The Mennonite, and Canadian Mennonite reported on sexual violence from 1970 to the present. What she found became the subject of the annual Benjamin Eby Lecture, which features research of a Conrad Grebel University College faculty member. Penner is an assistant professor…
Report names Jean Vanier as an abuser
On Feb. 22, L’Arche International released a summary report of the abuse investigation of their deceased founder, Jean Vanier. It concluded he had sexually abused six women over a period of 35 years. Vanier was a celebrated Canadian theologian and activist famous for his advocacy for people with developmental disabilities. He founded L’Arche, a community-based…
Reporting on #ChurchToo
Over the years, Canadian Mennonite has reported on sexual misconduct within the Mennonite context. As a member of the church press, we have tried to carry out our ongoing commitment to report on such stories with journalistic integrity, respect and sensitivity. Yet, sometimes the reports have stirred up pain and objections among readers. Occasionally, readers…
#ChurchToo conference addresses sexual misconduct
In the midst of the #MeToo movement, in which those in positions of power are being called to account for sexual abuse, a conference hosted by four Manitoba Mennonite organizations acknowledged that it happens in the church, too. From May 31 to June 1, about 100 church leaders and lay people gathered at Canadian Mennonite…
MC Eastern Canada apologizes for causing pain to abuse survivors
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada recently offered a public apology acknowledging missteps in how it handled a case of reported sexual misconduct that dates back more than 30 years. In the mid-1990s, the regional church began investigating complaints against Dalton Jantzi, an ordained minister, concerning allegations of misconduct dating back to 1981. The complaints were investigated…
Mennonites talking
Mennonites are talking about Women Talking, Miriam Toews’s latest novel. What are your thoughts? Feel free to comment below or send letters to letters@canadianmennonite.org. Though I am still trying to figure out why the book troubled me—despite my admiration of Toews—some of my thoughts on the book are contained in Part 4 of “Modern ghosts…
Modern ghosts of a horse-drawn scandal, Part 4
Eight men went to prison, the media gaze moved on, and colony life resumed. But the saga of mass rape in the Bolivian corner of our family of faith is far from over. It’s hard not to talk about something as sensational and consequential as a mass rape case on an intensely conservative colony in…
