Mennonite women

Into the wilderness with hope

As part of the Women of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s Spring Enrichment Day, Gloria Bauman, left, reflected on her journey with cancer, and Rita Bauman spoke of moving from her home in Abbotsford, B.C., to a dairy farm in Ontario. Journey and wilderness were themes for the April 13 event at Floradale (Ont.) Mennonite Church. (Photo by Barb Draper)

There were rich experiences and mixed emotions at the Women of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s Spring Enrichment Day, hosted by Floradale Mennonite Church on April 13. Along with inspiring worship and powerful storytelling, discernment about the future was on the agenda. 

Canadian Women in Mission

Photo: Der Bote Photograph Collection

These Saskatchewan ladies are hovering over baked goods at a sale circa 1964. “Ladies groups” have been significant organizations that have contributed to the social and spiritual well-being of women, their families, communities and beyond. Over time, the organizational structures grew to include local, regional and nationwide organizations.

‘Conversation Circles’ offer encouragement, hope

MW Manitoba committee members Larissa Pahl, left, and Elsie Wiebe were active participants in the Conversation Circles last fall. (Photo courtesy of Kathy Giesbrecht)

Last fall, ignited by curiosity about what we would hear if we invited women to share their experiences of life within Mennonite Church Manitoba congregations, Mennonite Women Manitoba decided to host two Conversation Circles, one in Winnipeg and the other in southern Manitoba.

Women in church vocations

Photo: The Canadian Mennonite / Mennonite Archives of Ontario

To encourage women to enter church-related work, the General Conference Mennonite Church began the “Women in Church Vocations” program in 1957. Pictured, Elmer Ediger discusses the new program with interested young women at Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg.

Imagining a new world at Women Doing Theology 2018

Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros presents her talk “A Theo(poetic) Revolution: The Language of Liberation” at the 2018 Women Doing Theology conference in Elkhart, Indiana (Photo by Kayla Berkey)

The speakers at the 2018 Women Doing Theology Conference (left to right), Rev. Yvette Blair, Dr. Malinda Elizabeth Berry and Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros, explored the theme “Talking’ ’Bout a Revolution: Dialogue, Practice and the Work of Liberation.” (Photo by Kayla Berkey)

In the workshop, “Mennonite and Feminist: The Revolutionary Work of Theologian Lydia Neufeld,” a panel of Canadian women responded to Harder’s most recent book, The Challenge is in the Naming: A Theological Journey. Left to right: Michele Rizoli, Kim Penner, Susanne Guenther Loewen, Lydia Harder Neufeld, and Carol Penner. Other workshops were led by Canadians Sarah Kathleen Johnson (on questions of worship and language), Marilyn Zehr and Svinda Heinrichs (on post-Mennonite lesbian pastors) and Steph Chandler Burns (on queer theology). (Photo by Virginia A. Hostetler)

Joanne Gallardo (left) leads singing during a worship session of the Women Doing Theology conference. (Photo by Kayla Berkey)

“Wipe away all tears for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn.” Over 200 people from across North America filled the Chapel of the Sermon of the Mount with these lyrics, singing and dancing the “Canticle of the Turning” at the third biennial Women Doing Theology (WDT) conference. The conference, which took place Nov.

Where he leads me I will follow

Anna Dyck, front row centre, was ordained on Sept. 6, 1953, at North Star Mennonite Church in Drake, Sask. Seated beside Dyck are her mother, Suzanna Dyck, and J. J. Thiessen. Standing, from left to right: H. S. Bartel; Paul Schroeder, North Star Mennonite pastor at the time; and Hans Dyck. (Photo courtesy of Grace MacDougall)

Anna Dyck helped establish this church in Miyakonojo, Japan. (Photo courtesy of Grace MacDougall)

At a time when a woman’s sphere of influence was limited to hearth and home, Anna Dyck was making a difference.

Dyck spent nearly 40 years of her life as a missionary in Japan. During those years she lived in three communities and worked as a nurse, Bible teacher, pastor and church planter. She helped establish four congregations that are still in existence today.

Canadians join Women’s March on Washington

Canadian Mennonites Marlys Neufeldt, third from right, and her daughters Siena Armstrong, second from right, and Thea Armstrong, right, take part in the Washington Women’s March on Jan. 21, along with Mennonite marchers from the U.S. (Photo by Doreen Martens)

Pictured from left to right wearing their symbolic pink ‘pussyhats’: Siena Armstrong, Thea Armstrong, their mother Marlys Neufeldt, and Doreen Martens pause for a selfie during the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2017. A friend made their hats and gave them extra ones, which they shared with people in Washington. (Photo by Doreen Martens)

Siena Armstrong holds up a sign she and her sister Thea made for the Women’s March on Washington. It quotes the lyrics from a Janelle Monáe song: ‘Electric ladies: Will you sleep or will u preach?’ Monáe performed at the march with shout-outs to black women and the mothers of black women who have been previously shot by police. (Photo by Doreen Martens)

Doreen Martens took part in the Women’s March in Washington, along with other friends from Canada. (Photo courtesy of Doreen Martens)

With the U.S. Capitol building in the background, Washington marchers rest at the end of a full day. Estimations are that more than a half-million people participated in the Women’s March on Washington. D.C., on Jan. 21. (Photo by
Doreen Martens)

Canadian Mennonite women were among millions who peacefully made their voices heard for justice, equality and a host of social causes at the Women’s Marches that took place across Canada and every continent on January 21, 2017, the day following the Donald Trump inauguration.

'Along the Road to Freedom'

Artist Ray Dirks, seated, and Hans (John) Funk looking over his easel. (Photo by Evelyn Petkau)

Seeking to honour the faith of Mennonite mothers who single-handedly brought their families through difficult and challenging experiences to safety, Winnipeg artist Ray Dirks has created “Along the Road to Freedom,” a travelling exhibit currently on display at Conrad Grebel University College’s new gallery in Waterloo, Ont.

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