In preparation for next September’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Christians in B.C. gathered to learn about the First Nations worldview. Brander McDonald, Mennonite Church B.C.’s Indigenous Relations Coordinator, led an all-day seminar on Nov.
When I think of Mary, the chosen mother of Christ, I think of one iconic image. I think of the Catholic version of the eternal virgin on a pedestal. This doesn’t seem right, and I am forced to try and redefine a narrative that has been typecast for centuries.
Praying 25 times over the course of five days will change the way you look at God, yourself and others. Just ask Maddy Loewen.
After a Winnipeg shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence lost out on $450,000 from the city, local recording artist and record label manager Michael Petkau Falk decided to help.
In an attempt to help their church become more environmentally friendly, Emmanuel Mennonite Church has done some environmental audits and proposals. The ideas proposed have became a basis for a Mennonite Church B.C. environmental stewardship initiative.
I remember standing at the entrance to the cathedral in the German city of Muenster, gazing upwards at the metal cages suspended from the bell tower.
I listened as my Mennonite high school teachers explained that these cages were the place where early Anabaptist leaders were hung to die by the Catholic Church five centuries ago.
When I was asked to write an article for Canadian Mennonite, I did not know where to start. I have so many stories to tell, but these stories are complicated, given the history my homeland, Palestine. It has both a difficult present and uncertain future. I wondered, should I write about the geographical spaces, the land, the conflict or the people.
worship is about honest expression
Part of having a dynamic faith involves a cultivating a habit of looking for God in every place. It means looking for God in how we worship in our churches, how we worship God in our prayers, and how we worship God in our hearts when no one else can hear us.
Let me introduce you to today’s spotlight peacebuilder . Every night he heads out to the streets of Osborne Village in Winnipeg, Manitoba, takes out his guitar, lights a candle, and sets up for a night of busking.
What offends you?
When should Christians be offended by what they see in the world around them, and how should they respond? Those questions were recently addressed in a Huffington Post Religion blog post by Joanna Harader, pastor at Peace Mennonite Church in Lawrence, Kansas. She examined the questions and looked at biblical examples to illustrate her point.
Canadian Mennonite University took 12 students on a study tour to the United Kingdom this summer led by Professor Irma Fast Dueck. The students explored the theme of Christianity on the Margins at the Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival, which brought out over 20, 000 participants.
Sheep, shepherds and wolves—that’s the metaphor Virgil O. Wiebe uses to describe how Mennonites have traditionally related to human rights.
There are moments in my study of theology, especially at the current stage, when I lapse into silence, feeling that the complexity and mystery of God render our attempts to describe God – or even God’s will for our lives – ever-partial, tainted, and inadequate. At times I must recognize that God is simply beyond anything human words can express. But luckily for me (and for the future of my studies!), I’m not the first to come to this realization. In fact, there’s an entire strand of theology devoted to the profundity of God’s mystery. It’s called apophatic or negative theology.
In a time when some development agencies report a chilling relationship with the Canadian International Development Agency, and others have seen their funding reduced, three organizations found a new way to work with CIDA.
I bought 1kg of sugar for $7. It is Camino golden cane sugar. As it says on the back of the packaging, it is grown at “the first farmer co-operative in Paraguay to produce and export organic sugar.” I feel pleased with myself for supporting such a project.
A blog reader recently sent me an email asking if I would write about my experiences with arts in the church (Thanks Michael Turman). Being an artist in many ways, I thought it would be easy for me to indulge in this topic.
That was until I stumbled upon the realization that I hadn't experienced the arts in a church setting for almost the first two decades of life. The experiences I had in church had minimal diversity on Sunday mornings, and to this day I cannot remember one Sunday that stood out as an artistic worship experience.
Young adults have a lot to say about the future of the church—and the wider church is listening. Mennonite Church Canada and the five area churches invited eight young adults from across Canada to Winnipeg for a Sept. 27 and 28 consultation about the future of the church. Betty Pries of Mennonite Church Canada’s Faith and Life Committee facilitated discussions.
Growing up playing sports, Brad Thiessen occasionally heard the stereotype that Christians are too meek to care about competing at a high level and winning games.
For 11 years Rachel Potter de Reyes, a missionary from Scotland, has worked in Guatemala with Mike Black Ministries. Initiated in January 1990 by Pastor Mike Black and his wife, Pat, it consists of two children’s programs: one, in the village of Santiago and the other, in El Rejon, a mountain village on the way to La Antigua.
“Swing your partner ‘round and ‘round” used to be a predictable slogan, conjuring up images of people square dancing in a barn to jigs and reels, but this is no longer true.
Gone are the days of strictly human square dancing. The industrial (or agricultural) revolution has finally conditioned our culture to the extent that even our folk dance now includes machines.
The International Plowing Match and Rural Expo has reached its 99th year, and one of its most attractive events, as you may already guessed, is Team Farmall’s square dancing tractors.
Well, it’s fall, or as it’s known in my psyche: school season. By now, school, university, and Sunday School are well underway in all their educational glory (as in this photo, found here), and I’ve not only been doing some learning and teaching, but also thinking about the significance of these ubiquitous activities. As the child of two teachers and someone who wants to be a professor myself one day, it’s something I’ve thought about quite a bit.
As I gather my garden harvest, I can only marvel at the bounty of all that grows. My shelves are filled with things canned and delicious. It seems as though every time I visit a neighbour, there is another gift I can give, because my garden has not stopped producing.
And so, I stop and take a brief moment, just to be thankful.
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Thank you God for your extravagant adundance.
Thank you for the beauty you create in this world.
Thank you for neighbours so share our excess with.
I’ve been told that I have a problem. Well, not me in particular, but all of us as Christians. Many people still blame Christianity, or a Christian worldview, for our current environmental crisis—a world view that places the focus on another world, or God’s statement that we “have dominion” over the world.
The Canadian government has called on its diplomats in Iran to leave the embassy, abruptly and unilaterally cutting off all diplomatic ties there. The evacuation of the five diplomats from the capital, Tehran, as well as Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s expulsion of all Iranian diplomats in Canada has undoubtedly made poor relations with the country worse.
