(Photo by Dylan Ferreira/Unsplash)
Whether you call it Sunday school, faith formation or Christian education, one aspect of a congregation’s life together is how we nurture faith in people of all ages. Last spring, with the coming of the COVID-19 restrictions, many churches saw drastic changes in their faith education programs.
I got my first taste of journalism at a Mennonite school. As a second-year English major, I began writing for The Weather Vane, the student newspaper at Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University), in Harrisonburg, Va. The following year I accepted the challenge of becoming co-editor of the features section.
Chilliwack, B.C.—A year ago, the Chilliwack School District asked Crossroads Community Church, a Mennonite Church B.C. congregation, to consider moving its Sunday morning service to a different school. Although it meant considerable adjustments, the church obliged, in order to show a cooperative spirit to the public school community. The move to Vedder Middle School proved to be trying, as the administration seemed to feel uncomfortable with the church using its classrooms and gym.
RJC students writing final exams in the school’s chapel. The pressure of assignments and exams is among the many stresses that can lead to mental health issues for some students. (Photo by Bev Epp)
Are more students struggling with mental health issues these days, or are they just better able to articulate their struggles than students once were? Jim Epp doesn’t know the answer to this question.
Chani Wiens, standing, assists Nello Giesbrecht, Elle Klassen and Robyn Jadischke, Grade 12 Advanced Functions students, as they work collaboratively to solve a difficult word problem at UMEI. (UMEI Photo)
Chani Wiens, UMEI’s academic math teacher since 2009, has introduced a new style of teaching to the school: the flipped classroom.
It was with great excitement that Rockway Mennonite Collegiate in Kitchener, Ont., launched a new business program last fall. Our new courses in business leadership and international business are designed to expose our students to important business ideas and invite them to consider them through a Christian lens.
Mary H. Schertz encouraged Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) graduates, including Canadian Lee Allan Hiebert of Winnipeg, to hold close “the weariness and wonder of the world and the sorrow and joy of human being” in her commencement address on May 20 at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind.
Keith Graber Miller, a professor of religion and sexuality at Goshen (Ind.) College, speaks to the public on ‘Faithful sexuality’ at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ont., on Oct. 1. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
Rockway Mennonite Collegiate decided that not only did it need to focus on sexuality for its students in grades 7 to 12, but it needed to invite the community, including Canadian Mennonite, to hear what was being presented and to have an opportunity to respond.
My impression of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo was a college trying to keep its identity as a Christian college on a growing campus with increasing diversity. They seem to be doing a good job of balancing and finding integrity in the shifting realities, and they're not the only Christian higher education institutes to be dealing with this question of identity.
