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…
Church seeks to help Yoder sex abuse survivors
Mennonite Church Canada is discerning how best to respond to Canadian survivors of sexual abuse by theologian John Howard Yoder. Survivors of Yoder’s sexual abuse in the United States, which came to light in the 1970s and ’80s, have renewed their call for Mennonite Church U.S.A. leaders and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) to “revisit…
Telling stories of sexual violence
In Canada 1,397 sexual assaults occur every day, according to the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. In the United States nearly one in five women reported experiencing rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Mennonite Church cannot assume its members…
