Holding his 19-month-old grandson, Ray Martin told the audience gathered at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) on Aug. 11 why he had made a generous donation to study and combat the issues of climate change.
“There is no path, Pilgrim. The path is made by walking.”
This lovely phrase by the poet Antonio Machado epitomizes my life journey, particularly the two years I sojourned in Colombia.
Erb Street Mennonite Church not only welcomes all people who enter its doors, as its vision statement indicates, but it also extends that same welcome to “future guide dogs.” These animals are being fostered and given basic training during puppyhood by two church families, before entering intensive training with the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides program.
When South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, hopes were high and the future looked bright. But conflict broke out in 2013, and violence has ebbed and flowed ever since then.
A dedicated fundraising website for the new song collection for Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA has been launched at hymnalproject606.com. MennoMedia is taking leadership of the new hymnal development. A digital version of much of the music is also anticipated.
Cloudy skies and a cold wind weren’t enough to keep a large group of people from gathering in the parking lot at the Bethany Manor seniors’ housing complex to celebrate the facility’s 30th anniversary. With the help of warm jackets and, in some cases, blankets, residents, family and friends enjoyed music, visiting and a barbeque supper to mark the event.
Holy Spirit fire dances in Bercy Mundedi's eyes. It sets aflame the ministries to which she has been called—the most recent being to lead the Kalonda Bible Institute in Democratic Republic of Congo.
By the time Feryal arrived at a camp for displaced people in Iraq’s northern Ninewa Governorate, she had little desire to leave the security of the tent she shared with her parents and sister. And for the first four months, she mostly stayed put.
“I didn’t like to talk to anyone, just be silent,” recalls the 22-year-old, whose last name is not used for security reasons.
God is at work and the gospel is alive in our cities, towns and communities. This is the message Marty Troyer wants to share in his new book, The Gospel Next Door, released by Herald Press.
A conversation about the needs and issues facing military veterans has been arising in an unexpected place this year: the halls of Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS).
The Ripple Effect Education (TREE), a peace education initiative based out of the Frank and Helen Epp Peace Incubator in the MSCU Centre for Peace Advancement on the campus of Conrad Grebel University College, is the beneficiary of a $150,000 grant from the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation over three years (2016-19).
Pastor Sririsack Saythavy stands in the entrance to Grace New Life Mennonite Church in Hamilton, Ont. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
After a quarter-century of shepherding Grace New Life Mennonite Church, Pastor Sririsach Saythavy—now in his late 50s and working two full-time jobs—is hoping a younger leader will arise to take on the Hamilton, Ont., congregation. His day job is making custom doors for homes, and his evening and weekend job is pastoring the congregation.
The first Mennonites arrived in Brazil in 1930, coming as refugees from Russia/Ukraine, where their property, churches and schools were taken over by the state during the Stalin years.
Soviet Ukraine was a traumatic place for a Mennonite kid. Peter Krause, born in 1935 and the youngest of four brothers, had to look after himself as a preschooler. Supervision was a luxury few could afford. His parents were working in the fields, and his brothers were at school. Once a day a gracious neighbour lady would check on him.
On July 9, 2016, a clear majority of delegates to Mennonite Church Canada’s Assembly 2016 voted in favour of a resolution seeking non-violent solutions to injustices in Israel-Palestine. Only one of 343 registered delegates voted against the resolution. (The resolution can be seen below.)
David Driedger enjoys challenging stereotypes, pushing boundaries and making people think. “[He] often pushes against established practices and the beliefs of the church from the inside,” Ben Borne said, introducing Driedger as a speaker who loves the church and engages with tough subjects and discussions.
Someone once asked Sharon Schultz if she became pastor of Eyebrow (Sask.) Mennonite Church in order to help the church to die well. Schultz did some soul-searching and came to the conclusion that “I don’t think that’s why God brought us here.”
That 14 people out of 38 who registered showed up for the “Partnering with God’s healing and hope” seminar may have indicated some wearying of Assembly 2016 participants. But those who came paid close attention to the presentation and asked good questions about what a mission partnership with a Mennonite Church Canada Witness worker or ministry means.
Readers of Canadian Mennonite know Vic Thiessen as a writer of thoughtful film reviews—an interpreter, as it were, of pop culture for Mennonites in Canada. In that same vein, he presented “The Divergent Mockingjay: Female prophets, dystopian films and life on earth in 2016” for Assembly 2016 participants.
“Wade in the water. Wade in the water, children. . . .”
Susan Beaumont had Mennonite Church Canada ministers sing the well-known spiritual at their “Leading in a season of change” conference preceding this year’s assembly on July 6, 2016. She invited them to stop, though, with the line, “God’s gonna trouble the water.”
Despite the standing ovation, I cannot imagine I was alone in having mixed feelings about the play we had just experienced. My mind was a full cup of queasiness and a dollop of laughter stirred with hard questions as I boarded the stuffy school bus with a crowd of other Mennonite Church Canada Assembly folks for the trip back to Saskatoon.
The march was set to begin at 11 a.m. on July 9, 2016. But at the top of the hour, Michelle McHale, whose fight for civil rights in Steinbach recently brought the city into the national spotlight, asked the crowd to indicate by applause whether they would mind “waiting for the folks on the highway,” as traffic was backed up to St. Anne, nearly 20 kilometres out of town. Steinbach’s E.A.
Assembly 2016 may become known by delegates as a watershed event.
By turns intense and emotional, joyful and worshipful, the gathered delegates made significant decisions that will impact the Mennonite Church Canada body for years to come. They met in Saskatoon, Sask., July 6 to 10, 2016.
About 500 Mennonites from across Canada will gather in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, July 6 to 10, 2016, for the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly. This event, which happens every two years, brings together people for worship, fellowship and to make decisions for the national church.
Five hundred Mennonites from across Canada will gather in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, July 6 to 10, 2016, for the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly. This gathering brings together people for worship, fellowship and decision making for the national church.
