Saskatchewan youth doing crafts. (Photo courtesy of Kirsten Hamm-Epp)
On September 29, 18 participants gathered in Saskatoon to kickoff the Mennonite Church Saskatchewan youth programming year. The youth got to know one another in a variety of ways as the event went on, first learning what everyone had for breakfast, then playing ‘Never Have I Ever . .
ICAME’s refugee support program in Quito, Ecuador. (Photo courtesy of ICAME/MWC)
Alexandra Meneses (right) records distribution of food aid to Carmen Maria Garcia, a recent immigrant to Ecuador. (MCC photo by Annalee Giesbrecht)
In August, Iglesia Cristiana Anabautista Menonita de Ecuador (ICAME) published a statement calling for prayers amid escalating violence in the country.
Rod Suderman, in recliner, surrounded by members of Emmanuel Mennonite Church. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
Rod Suderman, lead pastor of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., died on Sept. 2 following a cancer diagnosis earlier this year. He had also served as a pastor in Saskatchewan and worked in China, both with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and the General Conference Mennonite Church.
Mennonite teachings tend to promote complete nonviolence, stating or implying that all else is wrong. Officially, we live by nonviolence alone, but in reality, we live about the same as others. The more dangerous or violent circumstances become, the more pragmatic we become.
(Unsplash photo by Natilyn Photography)
During three decades of travel to the U.S. for work, I’ve enjoyed many conversations about faith and politics. These discussions have become more polarized in recent years, with my conversation partners often repeating odd, sometimes contradictory views.
Book cover
Sarah Augustine
Sheri Hostetler
Green growth, or green capitalism, is hailed as a novel, inventive solution to the climate crisis. But green growth assumes business as usual—a continuation of our current system based on continuous economic growth—except replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy.
Last May, the Sargent Junior Choir performed ‘The Agape League,’ a musical about the fruit of the spirit. (Supplied photo)
Norinne Danzinger-Dueck has led the Sargent Junior Choir for 11 years. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
The choir rehearses every Wednesday evening from September to May. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
Choir members rehearse a song about Deborah, an Old Testament prophet. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
It’s a Wednesday evening and the two dozen children gathered in a room at the back of Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church in Winnipeg are singing about candy-coated chocolate.
“Mommy made me mash my M&M’s” isn’t a sentence one expects to hear in church, but the members of the Sargent Junior Choir are singing the phrase as part of their warm-up exercises.
(Bethlehem Bible College photo)
Dear praying friends of Bethlehem Bible College from around the world,
Supporters of Grassy Narrows in Toronto on Sept. 27. (Photo courtesy of CPT)
Through the weight of ongoing struggles over logging, mercury poisoning and, most recently, mining, the people of Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario continue to defend their interests and make their voices heard.
(Art by Nick Schuurman)
With great hesitation, I pulled my car into the church parking lot. The winter morning was clear and brisk. After a short stop at a local coffee shop, Aaron and I had arrived at our destination: a local Mennonite church that was hosting a choir for “all abilities.” I had been warned about this event by the organization I work for.
Lydia Fawcett of Mennonite Central Committee B.C.’s End Abuse program. (Supplied photo)
Jesse Nickel is a professor at Columbia Bible College. (Supplied photo)
How to disagree well with fellow Christians was the topic of a forum held at Columbia Bible College (CBC) in Abbotsford, B.C., last month.
The Sept. 21 event, titled “Polarization and Disagreement in the Church,” was sponsored by the Faith in Today’s Church task group of Mennonite Church B.C.
Gerald Dyck (left) of MDS meets with residents of the burned-out town of Lytton, B.C. (Photo by Mark Rempel)
While Lytton, B.C., struggles to recover from a devastating fire that destroyed most of the small, remote village in June 2021, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) stands ready to help.
(Unsplash photo by JK Sloan)
Editor’s note: In this six-part series for Canadian Mennonite, Kara Carter, lead pastor at Wellesley Mennonite Church in southern Ontario, will explore some of the things she learned while earning her PhD in pastoral leadership.
Little brown bats like this one took over cabin four at Camp Valaqua this summer. (Flickr photo by Ann Froschauer)
Things got a little batty at Mennonite Church Alberta’s Camp Valaqua this summer.
During spring cleaning at the camp, located an hour northwest of Calgary, staff discovered a maternal colony of little brown bats in one of the cabins.
Mark Olfert was raised to support those in need. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
Mark Olfert has always been passionate about helping people. He wishes the systems in Canada would do more to support people, too.
Olfert, 60, is an anti-poverty activist and a member of Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, Man. He advocates for a guaranteed liveable income, something he says would have made a big difference numerous times in his own life.
Indigenous chef Sydney Keedwell speaks at Preston Mennonite Church. (Supplied photo)
On Sunday, September 24, members and friends of Preston Mennonite Church in Cambridge, Ontario, held a Three Sisters potluck. The date was chosen to commemorate The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, which followed a few days later.
Sarah Ens. (Photo by Lynette Ens)
Manitoba writer Sarah Ens has won the national ReLit Award (poetry category) for her book Flyway. ReLit is hailed by the Globe and Mail as “the country’s pre-eminent literary prize recognizing independent presses.”
One way that Peace Church on 52nd in Vancouver serves its local community is by hosting community dinners that are free and open to all.
Over the time it has been offering the dinners, the church, which is part of Mennonite Church B.C., has seen an increase in the number of people who come for food.
Joanne Moyer. (Supplied photo)
Joanne Moyer is looking for stories. Moyer, who is the associate professor and director of Environmental Studies and Geography at The King’s University in Edmonton, is undertaking a large-scale research project on environmental initiatives that involved Mennonites.
(Photo by Mortimer Mackenzie)
For Di Brandt, being a poet is a natural extension of her upbringing in the Manitoba Mennonite village of Reinland. She says the hymns of her youth were poetic, and poetry was part of sermons and family life.
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
(Photo by Amanda Pot)
“It’s so hard to explain something that feels so sacred to you,” Amanda Pot said when asked to describe Single Moms’ Camp at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp in New Hamburg, Ontario. Pot has been running the camp for over a decade. “[It’s] absolutely exhausting,” she said, “but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Proclaiming the Good News: Mennonite Women’s Voices, 1972–2006 (book cover)
Esther Patkau
Debbie Bledsoe (Supplied photo)
Debbie Bledsoe began her role as a co-pastor at First Mennonite Church in Edmonton on August 23. Bledsoe, who is a recent graduate of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, describes her journey to pastoral calling as wrestling with God.
Ryan Wood (left), president and CEO of RJC High School, and David Epp, principal. (Photos supplied by RJC High School)
Students participate in RJC High School’s choir program. (Photo courtesy of RJC High School)
Four years ago, things were looking dire for RJC High School in Rosthern, Saskatchewan. Enrollment was the lowest ever, at 65 students. It had been slowly declining for 20 years, according to Ryan Wood. Wood, who served as principal previously, is now president and CEO of RJC.
Concerned citizens—including people from at least eight Mennonite Church Manitoba congregations—attended an ecumenical event in support of searching the Prairie Green Landfill. (Photo by Michael Pahl)
Mennonite Church Canada, along with the regional churches, has issued a statement calling on “all levels of government” to support a search of the Prairie Green Landfill near Winnipeg for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, two murdered Indigenous women who are believed to be buried there.
