Volume 19, Number 3
Repairing the peace
Before things “broke badly” for the actor Bryan Cranston, he was in a great family TV show called Malcolm in the Middle. If you’ve seen it, you will remember the catchy theme song with the refrain, “You’re not the boss of me now . . . and you’re not so big.”
For discussion: Breaking the peace
1. What acts of servanthood have you seen carried out by church leaders? Do your church leaders take a turn working in the kitchen? What message do they send when they do menial jobs? What does it mean to be a servant leader?
Breaking the peace
What to do?” is our anxious impulse.
“In the beginning,” God was revealed in creation before there was anyone to appreciate the self-disclosure this represented. It was long before any documentation by either Scripture or photograph was possible.
Faith vs. belief (Pt. 4)
When I first started hanging out with Mennonites in the 1990s, I noticed a lot of them talked more about the Sermon on the Mount than the cross. They seemed to have a different gospel than the one I was raised with. The gospel of my childhood was simple: Jesus died for my sins, and if I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour I was saved from everlasting hellfire.
On being a ‘holy family’ today
This past December I learned that many Catholic churches designate the Sunday following Christmas as “the feast of the Holy Family.” It’s a relatively new designation, officially adopted less than 100 years ago. The Scriptures that are read on this day remind us of the important role that family played in the life of Jesus.
Why take up a Sunday morning offering?
The practice of regularly passing the collection plate in churches has only been around for about 100 years, and thankfully it replaced church revenue streams such as the annual pew rental auctions.
Readers write: February 2, 2015 issue
More support for Conscience Canada efforts needed
Re: “Fight, fight, fight the madness of war” letter, Dec. 15, 2014, page 13.
From Africa to Saskatchewan
The Asante Children’s Choir sings with feeling “He Knows my Name” during a recent performance at Eigenheim Mennonite Church.
Hellen shares “What Jesus means to me,” as part of the worship service led by the Asante Children’s Choir at Eigenheim Mennonite Church on Jan.18.
The Asante Children’s Choir brings a little bit of Africa with them as they perform during the Sunday morning worship hour at Eigenheim Mennonite Church recently.
With confidence this young member of Asante Children’s Choir drums as his female counterparts perform a traditional African dance.
Enthusiastic singing, energetic danc-ing and electrifying drumming set the tone as the Asante Children’s Choir worshipped African-style with Eigenheim Mennonite Church congregants, near Rosthern, Sask. on Jan. 18. Although not their typical Sunday fare, the congregation responded warmly to the choir’s music.
Countering Islamic State
Peggy Mason of the Rideau Institute, left, talks with Nancy and Ernie Regehr after her presentation, ‘Countering ISIL: Why Canada needs to change course,’ at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont., on Jan. 15.
“There is no military solution [to Islamic State [IS)], only possibly some short-term tactical gains that might give the illusion of success, but which pave the way for longer-term chaos, as we now see in Libya. There is no political solution without addressing the underlying local grievances that IS exploits and that will take time and concerted effort.”
‘Where does that spark come from?’
Consultation participants work in groups to review current realities for the church and the surrounding cultures. Working with factors related to congregations and religious groups are Yoel Masyawong, pastor in Kitchener, Ont., left; Safwat Marzouk, professor at AMBS; Karen Martens Zimmerly, MC Canada denominational minister; Leonard Dow, a pastor in Philadelphia, Pa.; and Anna Geyer, a farming entrepreneur in Oxford, Iowa.
Designs for equipping multi-vocational leaders with entrepreneurial skills and a view toward mission took shape as 23 business, mission, pastoral and educational representatives gathered for a three-day consultation in Chicago last fall at the invitation of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS, Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) and Mennonite Church Canada Witness.
Living faith: MCI 125
From June 5 to 7, MCI (Mennonite Collegiate Institute) will celebrate 125 years in Gretna, Man., by throwing a party. Given who we are, we are likely to sing a few songs. We will pitch a tent, prepare a feast and tell stories. We will remember classes, athletic fields and musical stages, quonsets and halls, roommates and friends, teachers and parents, road trips and school trips.
CMU announces recipient of first Dr. Robert Janzen Memorial Scholarship
Jonah Langelotz
Jonah Langelotz has been awarded the first Dr. Robert Janzen Memorial Scholarship by Canadian Mennonite University (CMU). Janzen was particularly interested in the environmental aspects and impacts of agriculture.
EMU alumni win award for counselling service
Eastern Mennonite University social work alumni Paula Weaver, far right, and Brian Schrock, second from left, pause during a hike in the Wentworth Valley of Nova Scotia with their children, 15-year-old Kellan, 13-year-old Eliana and 11-year-old Ingrid.
Paula Weaver had to take a moment to let a substantial blessing sink in. The 1988 social work graduate of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, Va., had just heard that her agency was the winner of the top award from a local organization called 100 Women Who Care.
Sacred space, holy time
Grade 10 church history students at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ont., had the unique opportunity of experiencing a prayer labyrinth last December.
On Dec. 13, 2014, Grade 10 church history students had the unique opportunity of experiencing a prayer labyrinth.
TWU launches Anabaptist-Mennonite centre
More than 100 guests gathered for the launch of the Anabaptist-Mennonite Centre for Faith and Learning at Trinity Western University (TWU) late last fall.
Faithful speech
A letter writer in this issue questions the practice of yoga and doing labyrinths and other types of what she calls “non-biblical meditation and prayer.”
“Are these practices of the Bible?” Angela Harder asks rhetorically. “Did Jesus teach us to do these things?
The deadly sin of gluttony
A disturbing cartoon from childhood has stayed with me. In the cartoon, a pig—of course!—was over-eating, stuffing himself from a heavily laden table. At the very end, the pig stood up, pushed himself back from the table and, with a filled-to-bursting gut, took a few wobbly steps.
‘Metaphors in cloth and clay’
‘Metaphors in cloth and clay,’ a new exhibit at the Mennonite Heritage Gallery, Winnipeg, combines the individual and collaborative work of Winnipeg artists Ingrid Lincoln and Gaëtanne Sylvester. It challenges perceptions of the organic and metaphorical nature of cloth and clay. These two media mirror the organic nature of human DNA, with its great strength and delicacy.
The priority problem
Fewer Christians are reading their Bibles today. Not exactly a news flash. The real question is, why are so many of us no longer reading our Bibles? I think there are three primary reasons:
From Amish settlement to the Gates Foundation
Keynote speaker Joyce Bontrager Lehman responds to questions during a Nov. 5 breakfast Q&A moderated by Wilmer Martin of TourMagination at the Mennonite Economic Development Associates convention in Lancaster, Pa. (MEDA photo by Steve Sugrim)
More than 500 Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) convention-goers were entranced as Joyce Bontrager Lehman recounted her journey from an idyllic childhood in the Amish settlement of Kalona, Iowa, to international development work in Kabul, Afghanistan, and beyond.
Breaking down the pretty/ugly altars
I think you know a lot about Jesus’ body, so I invite you to close your eyes and picture some things.
