Picture perfect
Jay Siemens was set to begin photography school in Winnipeg when, three days before classes started, his friend called him with a compelling proposition. “He said, ‘You’ve got to drop out of school and film a fishing show with me,’ ” Siemens recalls. So he did. That was in 2010. Siemens and his friend Aaron…
Taking charge
Two young women from Mennonite Church Canada congregations are the creators of a new podcast about entrepreneurship. Katie Steckly from Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ont., and Katie Bentz from Hillcrest Mennonite Church in nearby New Hamburg host Bossy Women (bossywomen.ca), a podcast that spotlights female business owners in Kitchener-Waterloo. “As we’ve become more…
Forming intentional community with young adults
When Thomas and Terri Lynn Friesen met, Terri Lynn was a guest at the Burrow, an intentional community Thomas was living in with eight other young adults. This coming September, a few weeks before the couple’s second wedding anniversary, they will embark on a new adventure together: opening their Saskatoon home to form an intentional…
Worth the wait
If good things come to those who wait, exciting times are ahead for Kenzie Jane. The Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter recently released her debut EP, Love Me From Scratch, more than three years after she first started recording it. Jane says she was encouraged to take her time by her mentors in the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Stingray…
From church to yoga studio
For many years the church provided me with a place where I felt like I belonged. I was 14 years old when I “decided” to get baptized. Coming from a Mennonite/Anabaptist background, I always respected the time in people’s lives when they would announce their dedication to the Christian faith and get aligned into a…
Celebrating differences, learning to work together
When someone suggested to Jacquelyn Janzen that she get involved with the new Joint Council of Mennonite Church Canada, she knew it was something she wanted to do. “Being involved in the larger church is something that’s interested me for a while,” says Janzen, 28, who lives in Prince Albert, Sask. “My congregation’s small, so…
Wrestling with challenging texts
Most upper-level university classes end with a final essay, not a photography project, prayerful meditations or a “yarn-bombed” tree. Sheila Klassen-Wiebe, however, took the road less travelled for Feminist Perspectives on Bible and Theology. Last fall, Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) offered this feminist theology class, which was taught by Klassen-Wiebe, an associate professor in biblical…
Working together for the common good
This past March, I participated in an interfaith dialogue for young people in Vancouver, hosted by the Armenian Diocese of Canada. The week-long event, entitled Celebrating Our Diversity Now, was a time of sharing between different religious and cultural groups. Every day, a small gathering of young adults and clergy sat around a table engaging…
Studying the Bible through a feminist lens
Around 10 women and female-identifying people sit in a circle at Erb Street Mennonite Church in Waterloo, every week, drinking tea and discussing biblical texts through a feminist lens. Jessica Reesor Rempel, 29, a member of Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener, started Feminist Bible Study to create a space for women to discuss issues…
‘Just doing my best’
Grace Kang can’t remember a time when she wasn’t making art. As a child, “I was always drawing, I was always writing stories,” the 22-year-old says. When she learned that art is not something everyone does or is interested in, “I realized it was a unique way I could contribute to the world.” One of…
