Edmonton

A small regional church with big impact

As Mennonite Church Alberta prepares to host the MC Canada national gathering from July 29 to Aug. 1, it is fascinating to consider how a small regional church body affects the flow of city life in Edmonton, its development and the surprises and challenges that emerge. (Photo by Len Franz)

The face of Mennonite Church Alberta in Edmonton is like the river that flows through it, dynamic and always changing. Congregations have come and gone, such as Faith Mennonite (1980-1996) and the Vietnamese Mennonite Church (1995-2017). In the last 10 years, three of the five churches in the city have become predominantly African. (Photo by Len Franz)

South Sudanese Mennonite Church women lead worship in the Gambela region in Ethiopia in January. (File photo by William Tut)

Bethel International Church Edmonton Oromo Congregation families are pictured at the front of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Edmonton, where they meet for services. (CM file photo by Joanne De Jong)

You are easily forgiven for not knowing that Edmonton is a beach city. In spite of its northern location and prairie landscape, sandcastles and sunbathers began appearing along a bank of the North Saskatchewan river in 2017.

Masks express God's love

The Edmonton Christian Life Community Church is a small congregation with around 25 members. Chinese Mennonite pastor, Ken Tse, recently shared with the pastors that his members were struggling to find masks for sale. Jean Lefever, a member of Holyrood Mennonite Church heard about the need and promptly offered to make two masks for every member. On June 2nd, Lefever met Pastor Tse at her home to give the 50 home-made masks.

Chinese Mennonites persist in Edmonton for 30 years

Edmonton Christian Life Community Church, which has membership in three Mennonite denominations, rents space from St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in downtown Edmonton. (Photos by Ken Tse)

Each week, a little band of disciples known as Edmonton Christian Life Community Church meets at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in downtown Edmonton, where many homeless people congregate. The congregation of about 20 is made up of Chinese boat people who came to Canada in the 1980s, many of whom got jobs as cleaners upon their arrival.

Sharing about our holy books

'Scriptural Reasoning invites us into each others’ faith tradition by choosing scriptural passages from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur’an.' (Image by congerdesign/Pixabay)

As part of an effort among Alberta Mennonites to bridge understanding between Christians and Muslims, Christian-Muslim dialogues have been organized annually since 2013, under the banner of “A Common Word Alberta.” These have been taking place in Edmonton, but will soon be organized in Calgary as well.

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