Opinion

In 2015, some of the summer staff at Mennonite Church Manitoba’s Camps with Meaning wrote a song called “This Ground.” The song makes the simple observation that nature inspires... Read More
December 1, 2021 | Opinion | Dorothy Fontaine
Alternative service camps during the Second World War brought young men from various traditions and regions together. Pictured, Reverend David P. Reimer of Manitoba, centre, is... Read More
December 1, 2021 | Opinion | Conrad Stoesz
I was driving the night shift that week, hauling wood chips to the pulp mill in The Pas, Man. I pulled into the Esso C-Store in Nipawin, Sask., a little after 11 p.m., closing... Read More
December 1, 2021 | Opinion | Ed Olfert
A reader who comes from outside the religious community asked what I meant by the term “flourishing” when I used it last month. I had written that God desires the flourishing of... Read More
December 1, 2021 | Opinion | Randolph Haluza-DeLay
In Dr. Seuss’s book Oh the Places You’ll Go there is a section about “the waiting place.” It is depicted as an undesirable and useless place to be. I wonder if our Advent waiting... Read More
December 1, 2021 | Opinion | Joshua Penfold
They can be necessary, but they are usually devastating. Church splits, in my experience, are not often talked about in Christian circles, yet they are not uncommon. Church splits... Read More
December 1, 2021 | Opinion | Grace Bruinooge
Recently, I found myself hungering for grace. With the world still entrenched in this pandemic, we witness the complexities around public safety, the angry words, the strained... Read More
November 17, 2021 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
‘We are in a climate emergency’: MC Canada Mennonite Church Canada leaders released the following statement on Nov. 4 during the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland: Climate... Read More
November 17, 2021 | Opinion |
The last time my in-laws came north to visit, they brought us a broken electric kettle. We had gifted it to them at a long-ago Christmas. Now, years later, it stopped working. It... Read More
November 17, 2021 | Opinion | Leah Reesor-Keller
Herb Wiebe, facing camera, visits with an inmate at the Oakalla Prison Farm in Burnaby, B.C., in 1970. A growing number of British Columbia Mennonite men volunteered to befriend... Read More
November 17, 2021 | Opinion | Laureen Harder-Gissing
I expect everyone has forgotten what I had to say when I spoke at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate’s chapel a few years ago. But I know some remember that I asked students to read... Read More
November 17, 2021 | Opinion | Arli Klassen
After a month in the woods by myself, my sabbatical plan is to spend three months listening to people who aren’t a part of church culture, to see how they view church and... Read More
November 17, 2021 | Opinion | Troy Watson
The Earth is in trouble. As I write, international leaders, scientists and activists are meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, a forum discussing actions the worldwide... Read More
November 3, 2021 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
Readers respond to ‘living simply’ Re: “ What is enough? ” Sept. 13, page 11. Randy Haluza-DeLay beautifully draws our attention to a way of life marked by enough—sufficiency... Read More
November 3, 2021 | Opinion |
I remember a conversation with my mom when I was a child. “Why is there a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day, but no Children’s Day?” I asked. My mom’s answer was rather predictable... Read More
November 3, 2021 | Opinion | Jeanette Hanson
“Gluten free” proclaims the sign on one of these desserts at a Waterloo North Mennonite Church potluck in 2011. How have the offerings at your congregational potluck changed over... Read More
November 3, 2021 | Opinion | Laureen Harder-Gissing
Our lives—Holly’s and mine, that is—changed to a significant degree. Our oldest granddaughter, Maeve, who is 19, has moved into our home. Maeve comes to us from Ontario, where she... Read More
November 3, 2021 | Opinion | Ed Olfert
What is the most dangerous place in your community? The speaker at a large gathering of Christian university students queried us. “It is the library!” he answered. Not the power... Read More
November 3, 2021 | Opinion | Randolph Haluza-DeLay
I miss my Opa. A few years ago, my daughter Ellie had a school assignment for Remembrance Day to to write about someone she remembered that served in the armed forces. She wrote... Read More
November 3, 2021 | Opinion | Joshua Penfold
Mennonites are in the news. Since late September, various articles in the secular press have brought attention to Mennonites living in Canada. An Ontario production company is... Read More
October 20, 2021 | Editorial | Virginia A. Hostetler
No religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccines: MC Canada Mennonite Church Canada’s executive ministers released a statement at the end of September responding to inquiries from... Read More
October 20, 2021 | Opinion |
I walked into my curling club for the first time in 11 months and saw my team preparing to go out on the ice. I immediately teared up, telling them, “I’m so happy to be here, I... Read More
October 20, 2021 | Opinion | Brenda Tiessen-Wiens
Look way off in the distance behind the North American Mennonite and Brethren farm boys (looking rather dazed at their surroundings) and you will notice the ruins of ancient... Read More
October 20, 2021 | Opinion | Laureen Harder-Gissing
I am pondering yet again the “Mennonite” label, and what it means for us today in Canada. There are three things that recently provoked these questions. First, Mennonite Central... Read More
October 20, 2021 | Opinion | Arli Klassen
Tomorrow I’m driving to a log cabin in remote northern Quebec to spend a month in the woods by myself. That said, I’m not exactly roughing it. The cabin has electricity, a kitchen... Read More
October 20, 2021 | Opinion | Troy Watson

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