books

Before I go

Over the past 10 years as youth pastor at Douglas Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, Paul Loewen, front right, has led 500 youth events, 25 retreats and 25 multi-day service trips, including this 2015 retreat for Grade 12 students. (Photo courtesy of Paul Loewen)

Paul Loewen has been the youth pastor at Douglas Mennonite Church in Winnipeg since 2008. (Photo by Aaron Epp)

Paul Loewen is wrapping up his time as youth pastor at Douglas Mennonite Church and he’s given the youth he currently works with a unique gift. He wrote and self-published a book entitled Before I Go: Nine Ideas You Should Know and presented each youth group member with a personal copy last month.

Reading books in prison

Seven years ago, two friends and I from Rockway Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ont., agreed to begin a book club with inmates in the local Grand Valley Institution for Women, a federal prison.

Contemplative journal an expression of creative process

April Yamasaki and Lois Siemens have collaborated across the miles on a second creative project.

2014 Fall list of Books & Resources

Theology, Spirituality

Good News: The Advent of Salvation in the Gospel of Luke. Darrin W. Snyder Belousek. Liturgical Press, 2014, 140 pages.

Pastor’s first novel invites discussion

William Loewen has written a theological book disguised as a novel. This makes it challenging to classify, but it also opens new possibilities for how it can be used. I would recommend this book for a book club or other group discussion, especially for young adults who are exploring their own spirituality.

Helping us not to forget

After getting a coffee I sat down to read The Winter We Danced.

On the table next to me I noticed a book someone left behind. On the cover was a bold notice stating “2.5 million copies sold.” The book was a contemporary work of fiction re-telling the conquest narrative of America expanding into the West doing battle in “Indian country.”

Books show Old Order Mennonite culture from the inside

Called to Be a Soldier, by Darrell Frey.

Amsey Martin, an Old Order Mennonite deacon and long-time parochial school teacher, loves books. While most people in his community are farmers, he says that sitting in his study surrounded by books is “a dream come true.”

Steiner pushed open doors for other women

Sue Clemmer Steiner’s recent publication crosses genres within autobiography. It is personal memoir and spiritual recollection. It is reflections on a life in pastoral ministry. It is a historical snapshot of a 1950s eastern Pennsylvania traditional Mennonite community and a Mennonite girl facing the social upheaval of the 1960s. Steiner offers poetry and evocative images.

Uncle Sam goes to jail

Sam and Beulah Martin on their wedding day.

Of memories I have of family members, the one about my Uncle Sam’s arrest on April 19, 1944, and his imprisonment, which became legendary in our community, left an indelible mark. Uncle Sam was born in the U.S. and was 18 months old when the family moved to Duchess [Alta.]. He had been baptized into the Mennonite Church and attended regularly.

Spring 2012 List of Books & Resources

Theology, spirituality

Atonement, Justice and Peace: The Message of the Cross and the Mission of the Church. Darrin W. Snyder Belousek. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012, 668 pages.

Thirty years of A Christmas Carol

'We began reading it out loud to each other in 1981, and have done so every year since, finding more gems to think about each time.' (Photo by Aaron Epp)

Annemarie Rogalsky prepares to read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol again from the now ragged paperback bought in 1981. (Photo courtesy of Dave Rogalsky)

Thirty years ago this Christmas, my wife Annemarie and I began a Christmas tradition we’ve continued year after year, with variations.

Fall 2011 Listing of Books & Resources

Theology, spirituality
1,2,3 John, Believers Church Bible Commentary. J. E. McDermond. Herald Press, 2011, 344 pages.
This is the 24th volume of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series.

The Bible and the billionaire

Will Braun

Billionaire media titan Rupert Murdoch has made headlines over the phone-hacking scandal that forced him to shut down his British tabloid, News of the World. But few people know that News Corp, the company Murdoch heads, also owns Zondervan, the world’s leading Bible publisher.