(Photo courtesy of Brad Langendoen)
The film Custodians: A Story of Ancient Echoes won big at the Saskatchewan International Film Fest (SIFF) in October. The documentary explores the work of local landowners, volunteers and municipal government officials in conserving the many signs of historic Indigenous presence in the Herschel, Saskatchewan, area.
Mackenzie Hildebrand (left) and Kirsten Hamm-Epp led worship at the Fall Leadership Assembly. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan continues to deliberate on the future of its camping ministry. The regional church operates Camp Elim, Youth Farm Bible Camp and Camp Shekinah. On November 25, over 40 people from across the province gathered at the Fall Leadership Assembly to hear an update on the future of the camps.
Palestinians at a makeshift tent camp on the grounds of a UN school in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. October 20, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Zaanoun/Active Stills)
Overwhelmed, distraught, touched and compelled by the stories and images from Gaza, Canadian Mennonite reporter Madalene Arias has interviewed many people—Palestinians and Jews—she found through various connections and means. Below are interviews with two people Arias has spoken with recently. We share this as a cry of the heart and a prayer for mercy. – Eds.
‘This tether to the Anabaptist stream is … really helpful,’ says Darren DeMelo, co-pastor of Estuary Church. (Supplied photo)
One of the latest churches to partner with Mennonite Church Manitoba is outside the province—2,047 kilometers outside of Winnipeg, to be exact.
Estuary Church, an emerging congregation in Delta, B.C., is receiving guidance and support from MC Manitoba as it gets established and finds a denomination.
Uri Weltmann. (Supplied Photo)
Uri Weltmann says support for Israel’s government and support for the people of Israel are two different things.
“This is not one and the same,” he says, speaking by video call from Tel Aviv, where he lives.
Ka Boyet Ongkiko, Joji Pantoja, Roger Tiessen (President, Seacliff Energy), Tala Bautista and Lois Konrad at Seacliff Energy, an organics recycling and bioenergy facility in Leamington, Ontario. (Photo by Rob Konrad)
Growing up as a member of the Sumacher Indigenous peoples group in the Philippines, Tala Bautista listened to American music. She longed to see snow and perhaps roast chestnuts on an open fire. She wanted to see the West Virginia country roads of which John Denver sang.
Susanne Guenther Loewen. (Supplied photo)
Working for a more peaceful world can take place anywhere. For Susanne Guenther Loewen it takes place at the front of the classroom at Saskatchewan’s largest public university. Guenther Loewen is in her third year of teaching Introduction to Peace Studies at Saint Thomas More College on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon.
Lee Ann Michayluk, CEO of More Than a Roof Housing Society, speaks at the Affordable Housing Seminar in Abbotsford, B.C. (Photo by Sharon Mkisi)
A recent seminar in Abbotsford, B.C., considered how churches can help fellow British Columbians find reasonably priced housing. The November 18 event was hosted by Emmanuel Mennonite Church.
Kennert Giesbrecht, pictured circa 2020, was the managing editor at ‘Die Mennonitische Post’ for more than 20 years. (Supplied photo)
How do you adjust after stepping away from the work to which you’ve dedicated two decades of your life?
That’s the question facing Kennert Giesbrecht now that he’s no longer the managing editor of Die Mennonitische Post, the German-language paper that serves conservative Mennonites throughout the Americas.
John Van Deusen’s Christmas album includes 14 holiday hymns. (Photo by Sandra Turner)
John Van Deusen plays in a pop band called Telephone Friends and a punk band called Buffet, but he suspects it’s his Christmas album that you’ll like best.
In the Bleak Midwinter features Van Deusen playing 14 holiday hymns, his acoustic guitar and tenor voice augmented by rich string arrangements. He released it digitally last year and on vinyl in October.
(Unsplash photo by Annie Spratt)
End-of-life care, current legislation and faith were the focus of an online panel discussion about medical assistance in dying (MAID) that Canadian Mennonite hosted last month.
The two-day conference attracted participants from across denominational and professional lines. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Tareq Hadhad, CEO of Peace by Chocolate, shares his story about fleeing Syria and coming to Canada. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Conference participants share a laugh. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Polarization was on the agenda as Mennonite Central Committee Alberta hosted its first-ever peace conference earlier this month.
Held November 3-4 in Calgary, “In Tune: Finding Harmony in a Polarized World” attracted participants from across denominational and professional lines.
The Visitation by Mariotto Albertinelli
Visitation, from Altarpiece of the Virgin (St Vaast Altarpiece). (Wikimedia Commons photo)
Mary, whose heart is full of things to ponder, goes to see her older relative Elizabeth in the hill country. Both are pregnant. Both are in on the secret of the Messiah. They are brimming with possibility and responsibility. They have both surrendered in a visceral, physical way to the flow of divine will.
Cristo attorniato da angeli e santi. (Wikimedia Commons photo)
I love mosaics. Mosaics are artworks that show an image—a message—made up of many small pieces.
A workbook used with rural women facing violence in Colombia.
The stories of women in the Old Testament serve as an advocacy tool for Colombian women who face paramilitary and gang-related violence in rural communities.
Pastors and their families gathered at Camp Squeah in November. (Photo by Keith St. Jean)
Twenty-seven Mennonite Church B.C. church leaders and their families gathered at Camp Squeah from November 3 to 5 for a weekend of renewal and relationship-building.
Four worship and discussion sessions were framed around the centred-set church model, from the work of Mark Baker. Baker was the guest presenter at the 2023 MCBC annual gathering and LEAD conference.
In 2017, Mennonite Church Canada put new structures into place based on the work of the Future Directions Task Force (FDTF). Over the last six years, we have been living into the newly imagined structures, with varying degrees of success.
Issa Ebombolo facilitates restorative justice training with officers from Malawi Prison Services. (MCC Photo by Amanda Talstra)
A restorative justice curriculum has been introduced at 100 correctional facilities in Zambia and Malawi.
Judith McCartney (front right) with youth leaders she works with. (Supplied photo)
Judith McCartney (l-r), Shellwyne Rodney, Andre Lewis and Seun Olowo-Ake at a
leadership training event in Toronto. (Facebook photo by Connect City)
During her community outreach work, Judith McCartney will typically ask people: “Did you know Christ walked 22,000 miles in his lifetime of ministry?”
McCartney believes in venturing outside the church doors and putting on some miles.
Palestinians inspect the ruins of Aklouk Tower, destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City. (Wikimedia Commons photo by apaimages)
Israeli settler homes near Eid Sulieman’s home. (Photo by Eid Sulieman)
César García. (CM file photo)
“We, nosotros, we saved Colombia from being handed over to communists!” Those were the words of a celebrity pastor from a Colombian mega-church, spoken to a cheering crowd in California. That pastor referred to the recent success of a “No” campaign in the popular referendum that voted against implementing a peace agreement in my country.
Shel Boese is the new executive minister of Mennonite Church B.C. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
At the time of assuming his new role as executive minister of Mennonite Church B.C. in August, Shel Boese recalls being asked about his vision for MC B.C. “It doesn’t matter what my vision is,” he replied, “we need to determine that together. It needs to be a shared vision.”
Helmut Lemke
Getting old was not something I looked forward to. The shift from being someone who gives to someone who receives requires adjustment, but with God’s help we can prepare for getting old gracefully.
‘Strong lay leaders are not optional,’ says theologian Carol Penner. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Leading worship was the focus of a two-day workshop organized by Mennonite Church Saskatchewan last month.
Curtis Wiens (left) stands at the front of Aberdeen Mennonite Church as Gary Peters speaks at his ordination. (Supplied photo)
October was a big month for pastoral leadership in Mennonite Church Saskatchewan as two young pastors, Rodney Hennessey and Curtis Wiens, were ordained by their congregations.
