When I interviewed her in her studio overlooking Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District, artist Chantel Mierau was hard at work putting together materials for her first-ever solo exhibit. The video installation was opening in two weeks (it opened on March 1), and Mierau still had some minor video editing to do. She was also sewing sheets to project her videos onto.
On my recent two-week visit to Palestine/Israel, I had the pleasure of meeting the renowned author and archbishop, Elias Chacour. Referring to the Israeli occupation of his homeland, Father Chacour said, “People come for a few days and they go home and write a book about it. They come for a few weeks and they go home and write an article.
Doubt is common to everyone, but it seems to be especially so for young adults, since we are the ones who are starting our own independent lives and have uncertainties about our future, ourselves, our faith, and so on.
Last year I had the opportunity to interview numerous people living in intentional communities across Ontario. The following are words of experience and wisdom from people who strive to love their neighbours -- PART TWO! See my earlier post for PART ONE. For those of you who are unsure of how to start serving and getting to know your neighbours, I think you’ll find this helpful. May it encouragement to all of us to love our neighbours too
Well, I’m back after some time away from this blog, and I must admit, I’ve missed writing and posting here! For my first post back, I thought I’d weigh in on the controversy surrounding the Canada Revenue Agency’s “reminder” to the Canadian Mennonite about the supposedly politically “partisan” nature of some of its articles. The magazine had allegedly exceeded the CRA’s limit of 10% when it came to “politically partisan” content.
“I want to talk to God, but I’m afraid ‘cause we ain’t spoke in so long.”
(Kanye West, “Jesus Walks”)
“Please talk to me / Won’t you please talk to me? / We can unlock this misery / Come on, come talk to me.”
(Peter Gabriel, “Come Talk to Me”)
“Even in the smallest places can a garden grow.”
This line from Noah Gunderson’s song, “Garden,” captures the essence of a CD recording tour with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta in Guatemala and El Salvador.
“The states, parties to the present covenant, recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.”
(Article 11, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
Last year I had the opportunity to interview numerous people living in intentional communities across Ontario. The following are words of experience and wisdom from people who strive to love their neighbours. For those of you who are unsure of of how to start serving and getting to know your neighbours, I think you’ll find this helpful. May it encouragement to all of us to love our neighbours too
Getting to Meet/Know/Serve Our Neighbours
In my last post, I wrote about feelings of inadequacy common, in my experience, among university students regarding the world’s “big issues”. I want to focus this post on another commonality I’ve noticed among my classmates and peers: mental illness.
Youth growing up in many Mennonite churches could be forgiven for thinking that homosexual sex is the only kind of intercourse people have, because that’s the only kind many congregations discuss.
At one point Christianity was the centre of life in North America; now it has been pushed to the margins. But that’s an important place to be, according to Cam Roxburgh.
Earlier this month we published 'Advocating for the Orphan' The following is more of the extended interview. Enjoy!
1. Basic Bio information - Names/ages of family, church, occupation, location, etc
Jared: age: 26, occupation: website administrator at SIAST
Chantel: age: 26, occupation: substitute teacher
Raeca:, age: 2
Location: Warman/Saskatoon
Church: Bergthaler Mennonite Church
Chantel Klassen and her husband Jared have declared themselves passionate about advocating for the orphan.
The Idle No More movement is not just an “Indian thing.”
Thousands of people in Canada and around the world—including Mennonites—have rallied to stand in solidarity with this grassroots political movement opposing what supporters are calling imposed legislation without consultation, to the detriment of the Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples.
In an age where young-adult church attendance is often declining, many churches want to build a vibrant group for this demographic. Springfield Heights Mennonite Church seems to have found a way to make that a reality.
Once again I am sitting in The Beanery, a coffee shop about two steps from my apartment, with my roommate and friend Julia, and once again we are discussing what we identify as the 'world's problems'. Using ideas and theories we've learned in sociology, english, art theory and various other classes, we're forming and sharing opinions together in between our homework assignments. Unfortunately, once again, it has begun to feel as though these big issues that mostly deal with systemic inequality and oppression are in fact too big for us.
Meet Kathy Moorhead Thiessen, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. While she may look like your normal mother and wife, this 52 year old from Hope Mennonite Church spends half of her year in Iraq as a 1/2 time corp member with Christian Peacemaker Teams. The following is some of her story, in her words, from where she began with CPT to today.
Are you feeling unsatisfied with the state of democracy in Canada? You may not be the only one.
Why does business matter to God? As a business major at Canadian Mennonite University this is a question that has kept me up at night as I think about what I want to do with my degree once I graduate this spring. I received an answer when I attended the Mennonite Economic Development Associates conference at the beginning of November.
After almost 28 years in her position as area church youth minister of Mennonite Church Saskatchewan, Anna Rehan is retiring.
In her time in this role, she came to understand the unique needs of the youth, young adults, parents, youth leaders and congregations in the area church. And the people she served in her time as a youth minister valued her efforts deeply.
Christmas is by now long over and I am, as always, sad about it. I love the candles, the cookies, the darkness complete and frozen outside the window, and the hymns, stuck in my head all year long, finally sung with family and friends. I love the familiar biblical words breathing new life into my day-to-day and, of course, It’s A Wonderful Life right before bed. These are the memories I love-- the moments I look forward to most and I can’t help but be sad when they come to a close.
This past November, Miriam Toews gave a keynote address at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto. In the address she discussed the idea of national literature, and, more interestingly for me, the idea of a Mennonite literature. She defends her novels from those who claim that she is “besmirching the reputation of Mennonites” by saying:
Come the new year I will be continueing a column called 'Peacebuilder Profiles', where we will hear the stories of Mennonite peacebuilders in our communities.
A number of weeks ago we heard from Dan Loewen, in 'The Peacebuilding Busker', and in January we will hear from Kathy Thiessen, a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq.
At this point in the Mennonite Church, the miracle of God’s son being born into this world. can be considered a common conversation. It is one of the major stories of hope that we celebrate. A much rarer conversation, though, is how Christmas hope translates into how we live out the holiday seasons, and how this hope is meant to affect all of our relationships.
