Youth panel explains what keeps them in church
Christian youth and young adults are seeking church spaces that are authentic, safe and open, but also supportive of their role in leadership. At least, that’s what five people who took part in a youth panel had to say at the 2019 Bechtel Lectures at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont., on Feb. 8. The…
Young people invited to be ‘rattled by the radical’
Leadership from two of Mennonite Church Canada’s regional churches are inviting youth from across Canada to a gathering in Saskatchewan next summer. “Shake: Rattled by the radical” is happening from July 28 to Aug. 1, 2019, at Shekinah Retreat Centre, near Waldheim. The event will feature worship, learning and activities for young people in grades…
Looking back and looking ahead
Canadian Mennonite asked eight young adults from across Mennonite Church Canada to look back on the year that was and to look ahead to the year that will be. These are their reflections, which have been edited for length and clarity. What did you learn in 2018? “In 2018, I learned the importance of accepting…
Soaking it in
When Gavyn Stroh decided to spend a year exploring Europe, he wanted to do it in a way that aligned with his values. “I chose a bicycle . . . to minimize the [environmental] impact, the carbon emissions of travelling,” the 26-year-old says. Over the course of a 370-day adventure that ended in September, Stroh…
A most excellent Christmas
I love Christmas. The tree, the lights, the music, the food, gathering with family and friends, special church services. I look forward to all of it. I still go with my siblings to the mall so that we can have our picture taken with Santa, and I’ve even dressed up as the jolly old elf a…
Lost and found
We love boundaries. These boundaries may help us to define who we are, but they also can lead us to assume we know others based on appearances. Most of the time, if people aren’t like us, we consider them lost. Are you conservative or liberal? Are you pro-life or pro-choice? Are you LGBTQ-affirming or traditional?…
Avoiding avoidance
Do you ever find yourself starting something and not completing it? If so, then you’re familiar with avoidance behaviours. Avoidance is the set of things we do to distract ourselves from the current task—the one that really needs doing. Perhaps your form of avoidance is cleaning your room, going out with friends, looking at social…
From Kitchener-Waterloo to Kenya
A young woman is impacting the citizens of a community 13,000 kilometres away from her home in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Amanda Snyder is the co-founder of Camp Marafiki Pamoja, a health-and-education-based summer camp in Riruta Satellite, a high-poverty area of western Nairobi, Kenya. The camp offers children in the area the opportunity to eat together, sing,…
No Village
After releasing two full-length albums and an EP with experimental alt-rockers Oh Village, musician Scott Currie is striking out on his own. The Abbotsford, B.C. native, who performs under the name Kuri, recently signed a record deal with Nevado Music. “Friends! The waiting is over!” Currie announced on Facebook at the end of September. “I’ve…
An exciting opportunity
Annalee Giesbrecht is getting more than she bargained for when she agreed to serve with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. When she arrived in Haiti to work with the relief organization, she planned to be away from Canada for a year. A few months later, however, she was offered…
