Donning my biology lab coat and goggles, I push through the bustling crowd of eager campers who are anxiously waiting to sing for their lunchtime mail delivery, and I raise my... Read More
News & Stories
Anna Kuepfer (aka Teka) is pictured in her role as Hidden Acres' environmental services coordinator. (Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp photo)
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Anna Kuepfer
When I was 5, my parents dropped me off for a week of camp at Silver Lake, near Sauble Beach, Ont. I was terrified. When they were trying to say their goodbyes, I would not let... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Ruth Charette
Janet Peters, right, the associate program director for MC Manitoba's Camps with Meaning, is pictured with an adult camper. (Camps with Meaning photo)
A young girl pretends she is an expert equestrian. Slightly older, she learns the difference between a J-stroke and a C-stroke. Later, as a counsellor, she races through pouring... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Janet Peters
Campers pose with assistant wrangler Janelle Martens, holding the horse, at the Youth Farm Bible Camp. (Photo courtesy of Cheralyne Gibson)
Many summer camps offer horseback riding as part of their overall programming. The Youth Farm Bible Camp is developing its summer horse program into a year-round ministry. The... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Donna Schulz
Johnny Wideman of Theatre of the Beat shares his peacebuilding wisdom with campers at Conrad Grebel University College's Peace Camp. Peace Camp is a day camp and peace educational program for youth aged 11 to 14 in Waterloo Region. Campers learn that peace is possible as they share stories and learn from people in the community and meet people from various cultural backgrounds, faiths, and orientations. (Peace Camp photo)
Have you ever been in a place, space or community where you have been encouraged to try something new? Have you been challenged to take risks and leap out of your comfort zone?... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Focus on camping | Katie Gingerich
Luke Nickel recently completed a PhD in music composition at Bath Spa University in England. (Photo by Leif Norman)
Since Luke Nickel was young, his parents instilled in him the value of thinking critically. He recalls one conversation—the exact topic escapes him—during which his father said to... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
James DeGurse, centre, a Roman Catholic, finds value in reading the Bible communally. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
Scripture is a massive, ancient, messy archive of God’s relationship with humanity that many claim to interpret correctly. But with such diverse understandings of the Bible, how... Read More
February 21, 2018 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Seth Ratzlaff, left, a student at Conrad Grebel University College, his father Victor, lay minister of Westview Christian Fellowship in St. Catharines, Ont., and Aileen Friesen, the J. Winfield Fretz Visiting Research Scholar in Mennonite Studies, discuss her ‘Muslim-Mennonite Encounters in the Russian Empire’ lecture on Jan. 25, 2018. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
Aileen Friesen was the go-to person to help visitors order in Russian cafés at a scholarly gathering in Russia’s Far East, according to Marlene Epp, Conrad Grebel University... Read More
February 19, 2018 | Web First | Dave Rogalsky
Kindred Credit Union has reached a major milestone, marking $1 million in support for churches and charitable organizations since its inception in 1999. A total of 146 groups have... Read More
February 15, 2018 | Web First |
The Ten Thousand Villages Heritage store in Calgary is one of nine Canadian stores that have already closed or will be closing in 2018. (TTV photo)
In early February 2018, Ten Thousand Villages (TTV) began the process of permanently closing nine stores in four provinces. They include: • Calgary (Heritage) • Saskatoon (2nd Ave... Read More
February 9, 2018 | Web First |
Emerging adult: it’s a relatively new category to describe the life stage between adolescence and the adult they will become. They are no longer teens but are not yet fully... Read More
February 7, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Henry Neufeld
Matthew Bailey-Dick, left, the Anabaptist Learning Workshop coordinator, gives instructions to panel members Tanya Dyck Steinmann, Roberson Mbayamvula and Jim Loepp Thiessen. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
Listening to God in worship, contemplatively in a labyrinth, or in the Bible. Listening to each other across cultures, when your hearing is impaired or when with the elderly... Read More
February 7, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Dave Rogalsky
Steve Heinrichs, director of Indigenous-settler relations for Mennonite Church Canada, presents a workshop at Rosthern (Sask.) Mennonite Church entitled ‘Unsettling discipleship: The cost of colonialism, the joy of jubilee.’ (Photo by Donna Schulz)
What does the ancient Levitical concept of jubilee have to do with reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and their settler neighbours? Plenty, according to Steve Heinrichs... Read More
February 7, 2018 | God at work in the World | Donna Schulz
Art by Ovide Charlette of the Opaskwayak First Nation. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
Around 200 people gathered at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery on Jan. 26 to celebrate the opening of Reconciliation Through the Arts, an exhibition of Indigenous and settler... Read More
February 7, 2018 | Artbeat | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
The golden age of Mennonite women’s organizations in Canada and the United States came in the years between 1940 and 1970, writes Anita Hooley Yoder in Circles of Sisterhood . In... Read More
February 7, 2018 | Artbeat | Barb Draper
Using pre-digital equipment, Otto Klassen works on one of his more than 50 films that document the lives of Mennonites. (Photo courtesy of Ken Reddig) Otto Klassen dedicated many... Read More
February 7, 2018 | God at work in Us | Barb Draper
An ally holds a sign at the Winnipeg Women’s March in January 2018. ‘We need to acknowledge the fact that we are not presently equal,’ Kim Penner says. (Photo by Matthew Sawatzky)
Kim Penner graduated last November with a PhD in theology from the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto. Canadian Mennonite called Penner at her home in Waterloo, Ont.,... Read More
February 7, 2018 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
The Generational Gaps DVD features 70 minutes of material Matt Falk developed after the release of his first album, Apple Pie & Scars. (Photo courtesy of Matt Falk)
For most comedians, delivering unfiltered material means cursing a blue streak. For Matt Falk, it means something else entirely. “Stop looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror... Read More
February 7, 2018 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
Natalie Gulenchyn, who is in her 80s and volunteers at Mennonite Central Committee’s material resources warehouse in Winnipeg, sewed the medical kit bags that were transported to North Korea. (MCC photo by Rachel Bergen)
It’s been a long trek for eight small bags of medical supplies. They have been packed and re-packed, crossed an ocean, passed through three countries and numerous airport security... Read More
February 6, 2018 | Web First | Julie Bell
Bryan Moyer Suderman, teaching associate for the Church Leadership Center of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, leads a ‘Reading the Bible with Jesus’ workshop for Walnut Hill Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind., at the Amigo Centre in Sturgis, Mich. (Photo by Jace Longenecker)
Bryan Moyer Suderman believes that paying attention to Jesus as interpreter of Scripture can transform how we, too, engage Scripture and each other. The singer-songwriter and... Read More
February 6, 2018 | Web First | Annette Brill Bergstresser
At festivities celebrating 100 years of Mennonite witness in Argentina, a youth drama troupe mimes the temptations and struggles that confront a young adult seeking to follow Jesus. (Photo by J. Nelson Kraybill)
Performing before hundreds of Mennonites and passersby at a park in downtown Buenos Aires, a drama troupe from the Mennonite church in Villa Adelina, Argentina, mimed challenges... Read More
February 6, 2018 | Web First | J. Nelson Kraybill
John Mbae visits the dairy farm of Walter and Peggy Wiebe, who are Bergthaler Mennonites living near Hague, Sask. After seeing the Wiebe’s fully-automated dairy barn, Mbae remarked, ‘The cows were milking themselves with the machines monitoring and controlling the milking.’ (Photo by Rick Block)
For John Mbae, a Canadian Foodgrains Bank conservation agriculture technical specialist based in Kenya, a visit to the Canadian Prairies was informative and inspiring. “I had the... Read More
February 6, 2018 | Web First | Amanda Thorsteinsson
Members of Wildwood Mennonite Church in Saskatoon go for a hike together along the South Saskatchewan River during one of the congregation’s Unplugged weekends. (Photo courtesy of Wildwood Mennonite Church)
In this age of hectic schedules, electronic device dependency and human isolation, how can a church provide meaning, purpose and belonging? Saskatoon’s Wildwood Mennonite Church... Read More
January 24, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Donna Schulz
Karalynn Warkentin, 7, loves colouring, playing with her dogs and being outside. (Photo courtesy of the Warkentin family)
The Warkentins are ringing in 2018 as official Canadians, but the journey to reach permanent-resident status was anything but easy. Jon and Karissa Warkentin and their five... Read More
January 24, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Mark Whyte, Conrad Grebel University College’s student council president, left, and University of Waterloo president Feridun Hamdullahpur, centre, stand with Marcus Shantz, who was installed as Grebel’s eighth president on Nov 2, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Conrad Grebel University College)
Marcus Shantz laughs when it’s noted that the previous seven presidents of Conrad Grebel University College have all been pastors or academics, or both. “I guess the board sees... Read More
January 24, 2018 | Focus On Education | Dave Rogalsky