young voices

Drawn to the story

Photo by Aaron Epp.

Once a Christian, Lukas Thiessen now identifies as an atheist. He identifies the Bible as one of the books that has most influenced his life, and still reads stories from the gospels every Easter.

Photo by Gerhard Epp.

For me as a Christian, belief in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, is what makes the story important. I want to believe that the stories in the Bible are somehow more important than any other story.

(Aaron Epp)

Do you know any atheists who celebrate Easter? I do.

As you read this, A Year of Reading Biblically—the challenge I and a number of Canadian Mennonite readers have undertaken to read through the Bible from cover to cover in 2014—is over. But as I write this, it’s mid-December and I still have a few weeks left to finish.

Celebrating generosity

The 2014-15 CMU Student Council on Tuition Freedom Day, an annual celebration recognizing the generosity of donors, churches and the Manitoba government in supporting education at CMU. (Photo courtesy of CMU)

Tuition Freedom Day is celebrated with speeches, balloons, pizza and fellowship. (Photo courtesy of CMU)

A group of students leads singing at the 2014 Tuition Freedom Day on Nov. 24. (Photo courtesy of CMU)

Amber Neufeld enjoys organizing Tuition Freedom Day. (Photo by Aaron Epp)

For the past two years, I have had the pleasure of being activities vice-president on the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) Student Council. Along with all the elections, blood donor clinics and fun social events I’ve planned, I have also organized a very special day that is close to my heart: Tuition Freedom Day.

Intimacy is not an invitation to abuse

Every 17 minutes, a woman in Canada experiences sexual assault. (Photo courtesy of istock.com)

Every 17 minutes, a woman in Canada experiences sexual assault. Many times these women are assaulted by someone they know, sometimes even by someone they’re in a romantic relationship with.

The latter was true for Jessica (a pseudonym), who grew up attending a Mennonite Church Canada congregation and agreed to speak to Canadian Mennonite anonymously to protect her identity.

Making Space for the Stranger

We are accustomed to reading the narrative of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) as something of an ethereal event, a moment of encounter with the divine realm during which Mary’s feet didn’t quite touch the ground. But in our preoccupation with the other-worldly, we can overlook the fact that this is one of the most this-worldly narratives in the entire Bible, since its principal concern is Mary’s sharing of her body and blood with God, making it possible for God to become incarnate.[1]

Rocking in ‘Color’

Band photos courtesy of James Shiels.

Being in a touring rock band means being away from home, which can be difficult for members of the Color. Ultimately, connecting with audiences and sharing their faith with people across Canada makes it worth it.

Made up of four young men from southern Manitoba, the Color recently wrapped up their ‘One Sure Thing’ headlining tour, which takes its name from a single the band released on iTunes this past July.

The Color, a Christian rock band from southern Manitoba, connects with audiences of all ages.

Nicole Block is a youth leader at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna, B.C.

As a youth group leader at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna, B.C., I know how difficult it can be to capture young people’s imaginations. But when the Color, a Christian rock band, played for our youth group during a recent event, the foursome quickly caught everyone’s attention.

Different ways of doing church

The trip to England included a walking tour of Tower Hamlets, the original community in which Urban Expression is located.

Humpty Dumpty Club, a weekly music and playtime for toddlers and their parents, is one of the many avenues Urban Expression uses to connect with the local community.

Photo courtesy of Ellery Penner

Ellery Penner was one of eight young adults from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada that travelled to England this past October to learn about Urban Expression, an Anabaptist ministry focused on bringing creative and relevant expressions of the Christian church in under-churched areas of the inner city.

Early this past October, I sat with a cup of peppermint tea in a church in the small town of Cobridge, England. The church had four walls, long windows and high ceilings. In place of pews, however, I sat on a well-worn second-hand couch. As I looked around, I found toy boxes where the pulpit might be and family photos in place of an altar.

Inviting the whole family to the table

Photos courtesy of Mennonite Church Manitoba.

Gerald Ens

Megan Klassen Wiebe

The three bread cloths that are being sold were designed by Lisa Obirek, Nicole Lea and Kayla Hiebert.

It’s been 25 years since a Mennonite World Conference (MWC) assembly has been held in North America, but next year Mennonites from all over the world will congregate in Harrisburg, Pa.

Some Manitoba Mennonites want to take the opportunity to be good hosts. They wonder, what’s the point of a family gathering if half the family can’t make it?

‘Sweet’ memories

Photo by Gerhard Epp.

Aaron Epp has memorized Scripture on occasion in the past, but it has never been a habit.

Photo by Aaron Epp

When choosing Scripture to memorize, picking a passage that speaks to you is key.

Every Sunday after church, a woman in my congregation hands out candy to children in Sunday school who can recite a Bible verse from memory.

‘A family camping trip . . . with a lot more guitars’

Formed in 2009, Pocket Change solidified its current line-up in 2012. Pictured from left to right: Nolan Kehler, Brandon Letkeman, Jonas Cornelsen and Mike Wiebe. (Photo by Matthew Ryan Photography)

Photo courtesy of Pocket Change

Pocket Change—pictured from left to right: Brandon Letkeman, Nolan Kehler, Jonas Cornelsen and Mike Wiebe—has just released its second EP, Party Culture. All four band members are students at Canadian Mennonite University.

Photo courtesy of Pocket Change

Pocket Change’s second EP, Party Culture, includes five songs. The band is firmly rooted in the rock genre, but certain production choices give their music an out-of-this-world sound.

Most university students use reading week to study or go on a quick vacation, but not the members of Pocket Change, a Winnipeg rock band. While their peers were hitting the books or the ski slopes this past February, the band members were busy recording their new EP, Party Culture.

Angry words call for a peaceful response

Ben Borne and Krista Loewen, co-pastor of Wildwood Mennonite Church, Saskatoon, are planning a listening day in January for LGBTQ people and affected people in the community, along with co-pastor Joe Heikman.

Joe Heikman, co-pastor of Wildwood Mennonite Church, Saskatoon, says of an incident involving parishioner Ben Borne, ‘We have to speak out and take action to make it clear that this kind of hate and discrimination has no place in the church.’

Ben Borne, 24, who self-identifies as gay, was talking to Krista Loewen and Joe Heikman, his co-pastors and friends, after attending a Mennonite Church Saskatchewan meeting to discuss its Safe Church Policy when Borne was condemned on the basis of his sexual orientation.

Swords into ploughshares

“So they took up arms, these and a million other Canadians - men and women - who put on the uniform and beat their ploughshares into swords.” – Prime Minister Stephen Harper

“The regenerated do not go to war nor fight. They are children of peace who have beaten their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks and know of no war. They give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. Their sword is the sword of the spirit which they wield with good conscience through the Holy Ghost.” – Menno Simons, 16th century Anabaptist leader

On a radical journey

As a student at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ont., I was taught to care about the well-being of others. When I graduated in 2009, I originally planned to pursue social development studies at the University of Waterloo, Ont., since I figured that working towards societal change would be a good way of doing that.

Thoughts on Ottawa

I’m finding it difficult to respond without cynicism as I think about the violent events which occurred in Ottawa this past week. By now, we’ve heard the sequence of events repeated hundreds of times on the news, and we’ve heard Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s interpretation of events repeated, too. He was quick to label this a “terrorist attack” and to speak of it as an unprovoked attempt to destroy our “freedom” and “democracy” – and, I might add, he was also quick to bring God into it at the end of his speech, which caused me deep discomfort.

Who's in or out, and why?

At the beginning of this month, I had the pleasure of going to “Ex-Mennonite, Near Mennonite: Liturgical, Non-denominational, Secular,” a conference hosted by the Chair in Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg (one of the perks of living in Winnipeg again!). Though it might seem like a strange fit for someone like me who considers myself committed to remaining within and contributing to the Mennonite church, I actually found it very interesting.

Values, views and visions

The morning begins with many hugs, some handshakes and the hearty, infectious laugh of Kathy Giesbrecht, or “Kathy G.” as many refer to Mennonite Church Manitoba’s energetic associate director of leadership ministries. There is a sense of reunification as we tell stories of our summers and new things that are happening in our lives this fall.

Supplementary reading

Did you know that there’s an illustrated Bible that retells the stories in Scripture using Lego? The Brick Testament is a series by a man in California named Brendan Powell Smith, who has spent thousands of dollars using those small, colourful bricks recreating biblical stories and then photographing them.

Peace, Pies, and Prophets

Do you  know a lot about Pies, Peace, and Prophets? Come to a live comedy performance of I’d Like to Buy an Enemy by Ted and Company. Bring a handcrafted pie for auction (along with a short story about your pie- fact or fiction). If you don't want to make a pie, come bid on a handcrafted pie! I'm hungry just thinking about it!

Christian Peacemaker teams will be hositing this fundraiser event at 7:00 pm on November 9, 2014 at Home Street Mennonite Church (318 Home Street, Winnipeg, MB).

This Weekend: Ex-Mennonite/Near Mennonite FREE Conference

Hello fellow Mennonites, near Mennonites, and perhaps even ex-Mennonites. I just want to take a quick to highlight an event going on this weekend in Winnipeg -- it sounds like a really interesting FREE conference. I'm hoping that between school, work, and other commitments, I'll have have a chance to pop by -- let me know if you'll be there, and maybe you can write a blurb for the blog! 

 

Title: Ex-Mennonite/Near Mennonite: Liturgical, Non-denominational, Secular 

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