Nichelle Bauman (left) and George Makinto work on a new song. (Photo by Anneli Loepp Thiessen)
Nichelle Bauman (right) along with Emily Ralph Servant (left) and Nathan Grieser, at an Anabaptist songwriters’ retreat. (Photo by Anneli Loepp Thiessen)
Nichelle Bauman felt pressure going into a weekend retreat of Mennonite songwriters. What would she come up with? What could she contribute? She also had a strong desire to learn.
Women prepare food for a Canadian Foodgrains Bank fundraiser in Leamington. (Photo by Denis Wiens)
The 10-acre corn field owned by Tiessen Acres near Leamington, Ontario, has a purpose. The proceeds of the field will be donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB), as part of the Sun Parlor Growing Project.
Asa Suderman-Gladwell (left), chaplain Jessica Reesor Rempel, Savannah Edwards and Tim Khoo at a Grebel chapel service. (Photo by Jen Konkle)
Conrad Grebel University College student Tim Khoo. (Photo by Margaret Gissing)
When Timothy Khoo was choosing a university, he looked for something that stood out. “I kept hearing about this Mennonite residence from my family and church community, and it piqued my interest,” he said. Khoo is now a second-year Honours Physics student at the University of Waterloo and a returning upper-year student at Conrad Grebel University College.
Seasonal farm workers at The Farmworkers Hub in Virgil, Ontario. (Supplied photo)
The May 4 issue of Canadian Mennonite stated that “Niagara United Mennonite Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, will use a grant of $5,000 to build a laundry facility for seasonal workers who come to the area each year from Jamaica and Mexico to work on local farms.”
The choir singing at the last German service at St. Catharines United Mennonite Church. (Photo by Mary Klassen)
On June 4, St. Catharines United Mennonite Church held its last German language service, marking the end of 78 years of providing support for the spiritual life of German speakers in the language of their heart.
Recent baptisms at a Meserete Kristos Church congregation planted by two ex-prisoners. (Supplied photo)
Eighteen people were recently baptized at a church that grew out of prison ministry by Ethiopian Mennonites. (Supplied photo)
The following is an excerpt from the June 2023 issue of MKC News, the newsletter of Meserete Kristos Church (MKC), the Anabaptist denominational body in Ethiopia. Reprinted with permission.
Oksana Druchynina discovered this photo of the room that was her office before Russians took over the Mennonite Centre in Molochansk, Ukraine. (Supplied Photo)
Ukrainian homes flooded by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. (Supplied photo)
Ukrainian homes flooded by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. (Supplied photo)
The level that flooding reached in a home flooded by destruction of the Kakhovka dam. (Supplied photo)
At first glance, the office appears unremarkable, but for the photograph of Vladimir Putin on a bookcase and the Russian flag on the desk. The woman in the picture looks awkward, her hands seem to rest uneasily, holding neither paper nor pen.
This photo sold for over $18,000 in a thrift store silent auction. (Photo by Tim Albrecht)
In May, a painting sold for $18,900 at the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Christian Benefit Thrift Shop in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Volunteers work on repairing the roof of a hurricane damaged home on Cape Breton Island. (Photo courtesy of Heather Wiebe)
Volunteers, crew and staff of the MDS Cape Breton project. (Photo courtesy of Heather Wiebe)
With suitcases full of work clothes and spirits full of enthusiasm, 13 people from Mount Royal Mennonite Church in Saskatoon traveled to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The group served together on the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) project to rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Fiona in 2022.
Electric cars lined up in front of Osler Mennonite Church. (Photo by Patty Friesen)
Every year, the town of Osler, Saskatchewan, celebrates July 1 with a pancake breakfast; a parade with horses, old cars and tractors; rollkuchen and watermelon at the community hall; and, finally, fireworks and a concert. It’s an amazing accomplishment, given that many small towns no longer have the resources to
The new housebarn at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
Jenny Bergen demonstrates a sitting bench that doubles as a children’s bed. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
A glimpse into how Mennonites lived and farmed a century ago awaits those who tour the recently opened housebarn at Mennonite Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C. The design is a slightly scaled down replica of a housebarn owned by Mennonites in the Russian village of Neu-Osterwick near Zaporizhzhia.
Pastor Reuben Tut at the 2023 Mennonite Church Alberta annual gathering. (Photo by Ruth Bergen Braun)
Pastor Reuben Tut and his church, Edmonton South Sudanese Church, celebrated God’s calling of Tut at his ordination on May 13. God’s call has pursued Tut through doubts, civil wars and across two continents.
Ordination celebration outside Glenlea Mennonite Church. (Supplied Photo)
The Glenlea Mennonite Church family was thrilled to ordain Cheryl Braun on June 11, in the presence of not only the local congregation but also many of Cheryl’s friends and family who came to show their support.
Cathrin van Sintern-Dick (left), Carrie Lehn and Lou Bruno, at Lehn’s ordination. (Photo by Dennis Gruending)
Carrie Lehn, associate pastor of Ottawa Mennonite Church, was ordained in the Sunday morning service on June 18. For Carrie, it was a sacred and special moment, and a milestone affirmed and celebrated by Ottawa Mennonite Church (OMC), where she has worked for the past decade.
Ian Funk, pastor of Langley Mennonite Fellowship, recently graduated from AMBS. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
After eight years of study, Ian Funk was thrilled to finally receive his Master of Divinity degree in May, albeit in absentia.
Funk, pastor of Langley Mennonite Fellowship, completed his MDiv courses from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), located in Elkhart, Indiana, through the seminary’s distance education program, which combines online and hybrid classes.
An exhibit now on display at Gallery in the Park in Altona, Manitoba features more than 20 Mennonite clocks. (Photos courtesy of the Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation)
Arthur Kroeger of Winnipeg, who died in 2015, revitalized the tradition of Kroeger clockmaking. (Photo courtesy of the Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation)
A detailed image of the 'Schulz' clock. (Photo courtesy of the Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation)
Clockmaking was a skilled trade among certain Mennonites for more than two centuries, and a striking exhibit at Gallery in the Park in Altona, Manitoba, displays the art and heritage of the Kroeger clocks, as they are commonly known.
David Cramer with his copy of Major Awards. (Photo courtesy of David Cramer)
Pastor, professor and rock music impresario—David Cramer’s CV is diverse.
An image of part of the famous Khortitsa Oak, part of an art installation by Kandis Friesen at Waterloo Park. (Photo by A.S. Compton)
(Photo by A.S. Compton)
An offspring of the Khortitsa Oak at Conrad Grebel University College. (Photo by A.S. Compton)
I sat in the shade of an oak tree on the first day of summer outside Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo and listened to a recording of the sounds of a spring morning at the site of that oak tree’s parent in Ukraine.
David Scott (centre) talks about an important Ojibwe gathering and ceremonial site on the banks of what is known in English as the Dead Horse Creek near Morden, Manitoba. (Photo by Will Braun)
Standing at an intersection of mile roads on the more-or-less open prairie near Neubergthal, Manitoba, David Scott explained how members of the Ojibwe Grass Dance Society once called that area home.
“This landscape has changed so much,” he said, noting that he came to the area in his youth for ceremonies.
Sydney River Protestant United Church in Sydney, Nova Scotia. (Supplied Photo)
“Everyone is excited—there’s a buzz in the air.”
That’s what Dana Feltmate, the minister at Sydney River Protestant United Church in Sydney, Nova Scotia, said about hosting the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) response to Hurricane Fiona in Cape Breton.
The Fairmont Château Frontenac, first stop on the “Russlaender 100.” (Photo by Billy Wilson, Flickr)
One hundred years ago, the first of 21,000 Mennonites who left the former Soviet Union boarded a train in Quebec City for new lives across Canada. On July 6, some of their descendants, along with others, will replicate that journey. Over 120 people have signed up for all or parts of, “Memories of Migration: Russlaender Tour 100,” a three-stage train trip from Quebec City to Abbotsford, B.C.
Land acknowledgement quilt by Angela Hildebrand and Melanie Gamache. (Photo by Dietrich Schonwetter)
Land acknowledgments are usually spoken, but Angela Hildebrand was curious how they could be expressed in other mediums. “Being a very visual person, I resonate a lot with things I can see, touch,” she said. “So I began to think about, what would that look like for me, for our fellowship?”
The home Cathy Abbott shares with refugees in Waterloo, Ontario. (Supplied photos)
Cathy Abbott’s home during renovations.
Cathy Abbott remembers the preacher’s phrase that got her to consider taking a big step toward providing shelter for refugees arriving in Canada.
It was 2015 and Canadians were learning about the Syrian refugee crisis. The conflict had pushed millions of people to camps in neighbouring countries, with millions more displaced internally.
Assistance provided by the Uman Help Centre, a partner of the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine. (Photos courtesy of Uman Help Center)
Uman Help Centre supports Ukrainians.
Parents in Molochansk, Ukraine, awoke one morning in May to a message from Russian authorities: “Dear parents: Evacuation has been announced at the school. Today, arrive at the school building with documents for the child and a minimum of things for a couple of weeks.”
MaryLou Driedger drew on her own life experience to write her new book. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
There was no magic lamp or genie involved when MaryLou Driedger made her wish, just a felt tip marker and a famous pond.
