News & Stories

In the late 1990s, Robert Witmer served as a consultant for the Giving Project in Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. (Canadian Mennonite file photo)

Robert Witmer, who served in France from 1956 to 1984 with the Mennonite Board of Missions (MBM), helped to plant the Châtenay-Malabry church in Paris and was instrumental in... Read More
January 19, 2022 | People | Lynda Hollinger-Janzen

Jeff Nickel, right, has served with Communitas Supportive Care Society for 25 years. He is pictured with his friend Richard. (Communitas photo by Krista Petrie)

There are not many people these days who can say they have been in a job they love for 25 years, but Jeff Nickel says exactly that. As he celebrates his silver anniversary working... Read More
January 19, 2022 | People | Angelika Dawson

‘I am fine with not being able to walk, but I want to make a difference in the world, and a difference in the lives of people I meet,’ says Matt Ferguson, who attends Sterling Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg. (Photo courtesy of Matt Ferguson)

Matt Ferguson is smart, likes rocking out to music such as the Tragically Hip, is a big fan of the Winnipeg Jets and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and has cerebral palsy. He relies 100... Read More
January 19, 2022 | People | Carl DeGurse

Wendy Janzen began her role as Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s eco-minister, a new quarter-time position, on Jan. 1.

Wendy Janzen began her role as Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s eco-minister, a new quarter-time position, on Jan. 1. She will work closely with both the leadership and the... Read More
January 19, 2022 | People |

Eli Bergman, left, a first-year student at Mennonite Collegiate Institute, gets a hug from his mother Julia, a 2002 MCI graduate. (Photo courtesy of Julia Bergman)

Being a graduate of Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) remains a precious part of my life’s memory bank. Moving into the dorm my Grade 11 year gave me a sense of independence... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education | Julia Bergman

Menno Simons Christian School was blessed to appoint George Graffunder as its vice-principal this school year.

Menno Simons Christian School was blessed to appoint George Graffunder as its vice-principal this school year. He completed his bachelor of physical education degree in 1987 and... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education |

Hella (Dahl) Harder, front row centre

For his Grade 12 year, Jacob Harder (1946) was determined to go to Rosthern Junior College (RJC). But he had two big problems. One was that he didn’t have any money to pay for... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education |
As the pandemic lingers, and students persevere in challenging times, students in the master of theological studies (MTS) program at Conrad Grebel University College created pods... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education | Ashitha Mantrawadi

Pictured here are several high school students who participated in the Lower Voices Ensemble, directed by Jeff Enns. (Photo by Xingyi (Jessica) Li)

Musicians come from all walks of life, with varying degrees of passion for what they do, but most are quite resilient to begin with. Add a global pandemic for two years, with... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education | Jeff Enns

Grade Two students build cardboard cars together. (WMEMS photo)

When I reflect on my years at Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle Schools (WMEMS), the thing that stands out to me the most is the community. I still connect with some of the... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education | Pamela Doerksen
Anneli Loepp Thiessen A vibrant children’s book featuring 26 women in music will soon hit bookstore shelves, and it was created by two Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) alumni... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education |

Westgate Mennonite Collegiate’s varsity boys volleyball team won this year’s AAAA Provincial Volleyball Championship, ending the season with a 30-0 record. Team setter Sammy Ludwig was chosen tournament MVP. (Westgate Mennonite Collegiate photo)

I first heard of Westgate Mennonite Collegiate in the fall of my final bachelor of education program year. It was 1978, and this very small school surprised the local sports scene... Read More
January 19, 2022 | Focus On Education | Bob Hummelt

(Photo by Markus Winkler/Unsplash)

Vaccines, sexual misconduct and defunding the police were the subjects of some of the most popular stories Canadian Mennonite published on its website in 2021. Here are the top... Read More
January 13, 2022 | Web First | Aaron Epp

Steve Heinrichs, director of Indigenous-Settler Relations for MC Canada, will co-host a learning series on the climate crisis based on the book, ‘A Good War.’ (Photo courtesy of Instagram.com/heinrichs_steve)

Mennonite Church Canada is hosting a new online community learning series. “Creator’s Call in a Climate Emergency” starts on Jan. 20 and lasts eight weeks. Co-hosted by the... Read More
January 10, 2022 | Web First |

Ohio siblings Caleb, Bekah and Joshua Liechty, who perform as Girl Named Tom, recently won the NBC singing competition ‘The Voice.’ (Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/girlnamedtom)

Last year was a big one for Girl Named Tom, a sibling band composed of Mennonites from Pettisville, Ohio. On Dec. 14, Caleb, Joshua and Bekah Liechty became the first group to win... Read More
January 7, 2022 | Web First | Aaron Epp

Alvin Klassen, Keith Rudance and Joy Dougans take a load to the dump in Princeton. Read about the efforts of Mennonite Disaster Service to help clean up the town in December, a month after severe flooding and mudslides wreaked havoc in British Columbia. (Photo by John Longhurst)

“The Mennonites are coming!” That was the buzz around the town of Princeton, B.C., in early December 2021, when the first 16 Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers arrived to... Read More
January 5, 2022 | News | John Longhurst

Pastor Desalegn Abebe, president of Meserete Kristos Church, baptizes a new believer in a barrel during a ceasefire in the Ethiopian civil strife. (Photo courtesy of Mennonite World Conference)

It is very difficult to go to the northern part of Ethiopia after the war broke out. Despite the security concerns, when I heard that members of our church in western Tigray were... Read More
January 5, 2022 | News | Desalegn Abebe

Cathrin van Sintern-Dick, MC Eastern Canada’s regional minister, centre, talks with Faith Glover, left, and Rielly McLaren at at Faith Mennonite Church in Leamington, Ont., at one of eight regional ‘Courageous Imagination’ gatherings last fall. (Photo by Yeabsra Agonfer)

It is “progress report” time, partway through Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s year-long discernment process. “Courageous Imagination: A journey together listening for God” was... Read More
January 5, 2022 | News | Janet Bauman

A variety of Mennonite bonnets are on display at an exhibit at Schneider Haus in Kitchener, Ont., that explores the symbolism and meaning of women’s head coverings. (Photo by Janet Bauman)

The vast majority of North American Mennonite and Muslim women do not wear any sort of veil or head covering. Why then do head coverings receive so much public attention? Do... Read More
January 5, 2022 | News | Janet Bauman

Inter-Mennonite Chaplaincy board members Helen Wang, left, and Susan Reynar, centre, and Mark Von Kampen, E-Menno Office’s chaplain, pack “Mind, body and spirit” care packages for University of Manitoba students who connect with Von Kampen through the E-Menno Office.

University of Manitoba students who gather online for peer support, topical discussion and spiritual guidance in the E-Menno Office had an unexpected surprise during the fall term... Read More
January 5, 2022 | News | Gladys Terichow

Hanley Mennonite Church, Sask. (MC Saskatchewan website photo)

In 2020, three Mennonite Church Saskatchewan congregations— Zoar Mennonite Church , Waldheim; Hanley Mennonite Church ; and Superb Mennonite Church , near Kerrobert—made the... Read More
January 5, 2022 | News | Emily Summach

Colin McCartney, left, prays with youth in Brazil at a young Brazilian youth mission gathering. (Photo by Judith McCartney)

Depictions of God have always informed the faith of Christian believers. Colin McCartney’s new book, Let the Light In: Healing from Distorted Images of God (Herald Press), on the... Read More
January 5, 2022 | News | Christen Kong

Tany Warkentin, left, is pictured with Adolphine, Marie and Hélène José, supervisors of the literacy program run by the Mennonite churches in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Literacy teachers are trained and provided with basic teaching supplies, and they then offer classes in their own village to women and children who haven’t had opportunities to attend school. (Photo by Lynda Hollinger-Janzen)

Have you ever been introduced to a distant relative for the first time—maybe you didn’t even know that person existed—and yet you immediately felt a connection with them? After... Read More
January 5, 2022 | People | Tany Warkentin

David Troyer, general director of Christian Aid Ministries, addressed the public in a video message on Dec. 20.

After a two-month ordeal in Haiti, the last 12 kidnapped staff members of Christian Aid Ministries made their way to freedom on Dec. 16, 2021. Seventeen people were taken hostage... Read More
December 24, 2021 | Web First | Barb Draper

Meserete Kristos Church leaders visited the conflict region in Ethiopia in June 2021. Left to right: Gelagay Himiru, Tilahun Wase, Desalegn Abebe, Abayneh Anjulo and Addisu Legesse. (Photo courtesy of Mennonite World Conference)

More than 400 Mennonite churches in Ethiopia have been affected by civil strife that started in November 2020. Though information is hard to verify and numbers will likely rise,... Read More
December 24, 2021 | Web First | Will Braun

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