Opinion
Readers write: September 16, 2019 issue
Reader gives biking story a ‘wow’
Re: “Cycling into the future,” July 22, page 30.
I enjoy Canadian Mennonite very much.
A collaborative leadership approach
We have a lot of pastoral transitions happening at the moment in Mennonite Church British Columbia. It is a time that has given me pause to think about how we do church ministry and what our pastoral ministry positions look like.
Peter Regier
Photo: Mennonite Heritage Archives (https://archives.mhsc.ca/peter-and-anna-regier)
In 1894, Anna Enss (1855-1914), left, and Peter Regier (1851-1925) moved their family from Prussia (now Poland) to Tiefengrund, Sask., where Regier was the founding leader of the Rosenorter Gemeinde and the Conference of Mennonites in Canada.
Parable of the ‘phone’ incident
A woman I’ll call Adelle stops by the church from time to time, looking for food or for a ride to another part of the city. My congregation has supplied me with non-perishable food, toiletry items, and, in colder seasons, toques, socks and mitts, for just such occasions.
Help for reading the Old Testament
Many conversations about the Old Testament are determined by questions of modernity. What are the facts? What really happened? The facts are then loaded as ammunition in the culture wars of “liberal” and “conservative.” Other questions bring faith to the shoals of doubt on matters of a potentially violent and misogynistic God.
‘Camps make church come alive’
It’s 10:30 on a sunny August morning and the lodge at Camp Koinonia, near Boissevain, Man., is bursting with shouts and harmonies. People dance and laugh together. The group radiates energy.
If the church is the body, then camp is the heart that pumps life into every corner.
Valaqua: A place where people express God’s love
I have worked at Camp Valaqua for a total of six summers, and this summer I am back on staff after being away for a few years.
Valaqua is a place where I learned many things. It was my first job. I learned how to work with a large group of people cooperatively. Valaqua is a very isolated place, so I got a taste for what it is like to live in close community.
Creating a wardrobe to match your values
If you wear clothes, then you need to care about how they were made and who made them. Even if you aren’t interested in “fashion.” Even if it means giving up your favourite stores and finding new ones. Even if you think it won’t be available in your budget, style, or size (it is).
How do you get over these hurdles? Connect it with something you’re already passionate about.
Readers write: August 19, 2019 issue
The message of Jesus is ‘superior and important’
Re: “Reaching out requires letting in,” June 24, page 13.
The most important word
“With” may be the most important word in the Christian faith. So argues Sam Wells, an Anglican priest-theologian, in Incarnational Ministry, a book about being with the church.
Petitcodiac Mennonite Church
The Petitcodiac (N.B.) Mennonite Church Council is pictured during a meeting in 1996. Whether around a kitchen table or a purposely built boardroom, church councils are the administrative hub of most mainstream Mennonite congregations. But it was not always so.
Hope in the slow spreading of the kingdom
At the Mennonite Church Canada Gathering earlier this summer, my husband Darnell and I led a workshop on the theme of inspiring the imagination of the local church.
The divine flame
Igniting flames of hope in the midst of ending
On June 30, at our annual general meeting in Abbotsford, B.C., Mennonite Women Canada elected to dissolve our nationwide ministry for the purpose of releasing energy and assets to the regional churches so that they can grow stronger in their ministry with and through women within their contexts.
Leon’s ‘fifth step’ to sobriety
Throughout my years of ministry, being involved in the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step program has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. No, I am not an addict. But at times I’m called on to help addicts through their “fifth step.”
Two big surprises, two big questions
Recently, a Kubota utility vehicle pulled into my driveway where my sons and their friends were playing hockey. Out popped Tim Taylor, a former NHL player and two-time Stanley Cup champion, holding the Stanley Cup. He put it in the middle of our driveway where we all took turns touching it, kissing it and drinking from it.
Readers write: July 22, 2019 issue
Headline ‘diminishes and sensationalizes’ church article
Re: “Church ditches ‘overt religiosity’ to become ‘community resource,’ ” May 27, page 18.
Things I noticed at Gathering 2019
I didn’t used to get nervous leading singing. There were times before leading at Mennonite Church Canada’s Gathering 2019 when I was nervous. I was less nervous leading 6,500 youth and sponsors at the St. Louis ’99 Youth Convention than some points before leading a few hundred in Abbotsford, B.C., last month.
Centennial celebration
New Canadian initiatives around multiculturalism in the 1970s—celebrating anniversaries like Canada’s centennial in 1967, Manitoba’s in 1970, and the arrival of Mennonites in Manitoba in 1974—created a new energy and appreciation for history in Canada. During these years, the Mennonite Heritage Centre and the Archives of Ontario hired permanent staff.
Millie, my lions and me
In early June, a sermon was delivered by a mother-daughter team in Tiefengrund Rosenort Mennonite Church in Saskatchewan. The daughter, Abby, is 12.
Walking with youth toward a fearless faith
It is difficult to know what the future holds for youth ministry within Mennonite churches in Canada. Change is happening fast for some churches as they experience more immediate declines in the number of youth and children in their congregations.
7 digital tools for discipleship
From darkness to light
No matter how many times you visit India, the overcrowded cities, hazy air and animal-people-vehicle-jammed streets of this country with more than 1.3 billion people are an assault to your physical senses and inner spirit.
Readers write: June 24, 2019 issue
Where is the ‘just and redemptive path forward’ for Dalton Jantzi?
Re: “MC Eastern Canada apologizes for causing pain to abuse survivors,” May 13, page 16.