When a high-risk, low functioning, repeat child abuser was released from prison in the Hamilton, Ont., area in 1994, many locals responded with predictable revulsion. Harry Nigh,... Read More
News & Stories
It may not look like much, but the abandoned 90-hectare site of Kapyong Barracks is prime real estate in Winnipeg. It could also be a healing bridge, according to Steve Heinrichs... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in the Church | Deborah Froese
Kirsten Hamm-Epp and Jerry Buhler prepare to serve the Lord’s Supper to participants at the Mennonite Church Saskatchewan annual delegate sessions held in Saskatoon recently. (Photo by D. Michael Hostetler)
“We don’t all know God in the same way,” Bruce Jantzen reflected at the recent Mennonite Church Saskatchewan annual delegate sessions, “but that doesn’t change who God is.”... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in the World | Emily Summach
Like her counterparts in other area churches, Ida Buhler has the unenviable task of making budget cuts. At the recent Mennonite Church Saskatchewan annual delegate sessions, the... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in the World | Donna Schulz
Jerry Buhler, outgoing area church minister for Mennonite Church Saskatchewan, gets a hug from colleague Kirsten Hamm-Epp, area church youth minister. Buhler served MC Saskatchewan for nine years.
With appreciation and affection, participants at Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s annual delegate sessions said thank you and farewell to Jerry Buhler, who served as area church... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in the World | Donna Schulz
SMYO Committee members Zachary Stefaniuk, left, area church youth minister Kirsten Hamm-Epp, Gabby Martin (back to camera) and Hailey Funk discuss proceedings at the MC Saskatchewan annual delegate sessions.
“We want a church that is for everyone, and we want to be part of making that happen.” This statement from a Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization (SMYO) report to the... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in the World | Donna Schulz
“Any loss for me is a grief,” said Willard Metzger, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada, in response to the withdrawal of Plum Coulee Bergthaler Mennonite Church from... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in the World | Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Maciel Arias from Toronto New Life Mennonite Church, left, translates for Lili Hurtarte, lay leader at Toronto New Life Mennonite Centre, while Rebecca Yoder Neufeld of First Mennonite, Kitchener, listens with Lucy Roca of the Refuge de Pais congregations in Quebec. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
“Evangelism is dangerous,” Sze-Kar Wan said in conclusion of his three-day exegesis of the first three chapters of Galatians at the 2015 Mennonite Church Eastern Canada School for... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in the World | Story and photos by Dave Rogalsky
Gerry Loewen manages an MCC thrift shop in Winnipeg. She is the daughter of Selma Loewen, one of the founders of the first MCC thrift shop, in Altona, Man. That shop grew into a network of more than 115 shops in Canada and the United States. (Photo by Meghan Mast)
Gerry Loewen runs her fingers along a row of books and moves toward a clothing rack packed with sweaters and cardigans. She is explaining what sort of donations come in to the... Read More
March 25, 2015 | God at work in Us | Meghan Mast
Rudy Wiebe shares themes from his new book, Come Back, with an audience at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. (Photo by Amy Dueckman)
“Faith and death: An evening with Rudy Wiebe” drew an interested crowd to hear the noted Canadian Mennonite author speak at Trinity Western University (TWU) on March 3. Wiebe read... Read More
March 25, 2015 | Artbeat | Amy Rinner Waddell
Community Mennonite Church face off against East Zorra Mennonite Church at the 2014 Bible quizzing event. (Photo courtesy of Jeramie Raimbault)
For about 30 years, youth from several Mennonite Church Eastern Canada congregations in Ontario have looked forward to their annual Bible quizzing event. It’s centred around... Read More
March 25, 2015 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen
Retired pastor Erwin Cornelsen, fourth from the right, meets daily with a group of Chinese Christians to sing and pray. (Photo courtesy of Jonas Cornelsen)
There is a natural dignity in the morning routine of a 95-year-old man living alone. Especially when the routine is based on building friendships across cultures. At 6:42 a.m.,... Read More
March 25, 2015 | Young Voices | Jonas Cornelsen
Emmaus House is an intentional community for university students in Winnipeg made up of 13 people. (Photo courtesy of Emmanus House)
When Davis Plett was considering moving out of his parents’ home, he wasn’t sure he was ready to be on his own. Moving into a 103-year-old house with 12 other people seemed like a... Read More
March 25, 2015 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
A basket of cloth strips was used to symbolize the pain victims of John Howard Yoder’s sexual abuse at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. The note reads: ‘Beloved of God, may you go into the complicated places with courage, for darkness will be conquered by light. May you go with resolve, for God has gone before you. May you go with hope, claiming the promise that evil never has the last word. Amen.’ (Photo by Rich Preheim)
For 40 years, women who had been sexually violated by John Howard Yoder were left suffering in silence while the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) professor became one... Read More
March 24, 2015 | News | Rich Preheim
More-with-Less Cookbook author Doris Longacre and her daughter Cara Sue prepare a garden vegetable and ground beef dish by the Chinese stir-fry method at a seminar. (Mennonite Central Committee photo by Ernie Klassen)
With one simple idea, a movement was born. As the classic cookbook of thrift and Christian compassion, the More-with-Less Cookbook has given generations of cooks healthy basic... Read More
March 17, 2015 | Web First |
A quantifiable angst hangs in the church air these days. Mennonite Church Canada is in decline. There are exceptions and bright spots, but the trend has long been unmistakable... Read More
March 11, 2015 | God at work in the Church | Will Braun
Peter Rempel, right, board chair of MC Manitoba, welcomes Pinawa Christian Fellowship into membership at the annual delegate sessions on Feb. 27 and 28, 2015. Ken and Willa Reddig and Lorna Hiebert, at left, are part of the Mennonite subset of the fellowship. In the 1960s, the government created Pinawa for workers to build and service a newly established nuclear research facility. Christians from a variety of backgrounds and traditions established homes in the community and, rather than forming many little denominational groupings, they formed one body called Pinawa Christian Fellowship in 1963 to convey a message of Christian unity. (Photo by Evelyn Rempel Petkau)
“Be not afraid“ was an apt theme for the 2015 annual delegate gathering of Mennonite Church Manitoba. Delegates were informed of a $234,647 deficit, the withdrawal of one their... Read More
March 11, 2015 | God at work in the Church | Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Tofield (Alta.) Mennonite Church.
In a letter dated Feb. 4, Tofield Mennonite Church notified the congregations of Mennonite Church Alberta that it had voted 94 percent in favour of withdrawing its membership from... Read More
March 11, 2015 | God at work in the Church | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Delegates at Mennonite Church B.C.’s annual general meeting discuss future directions for the area church. (Photo by Amy Dueckman)
With a focus on being missional and staying vibrant, healthy and connected, delegates and friends of Mennonite Church British Columbia gathered for annual sessions at Peace... Read More
March 11, 2015 | God at work in the Church | Amy Rinner Waddell
Edgar Schmidt
Despite risk to his reputation and livelihood as a federal lawyer, for more than a decade Edgar Schmidt has consistently spoken out against the federal government’s practice of... Read More
March 11, 2015 | God at work in the World | Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Reverend Ibrahim Nsier stands in front of the site where his congregation, the Arab Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Aleppo, Syria, worshipped before the building was bombed. (Photo courtesy of Reverend Ibrahim Nsier)
In his own words, Reverend Ibrahim Nsier, a pastor of the Arab Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Aleppo, tells about his ministry in Syria. Mennonite Central Committee, through... Read More
March 11, 2015 | God at work in Us |
Ruth Zehr, pictured in her ‘garden home’ at the Nithview Community in New Hamburg, Ont., holds Everyone Has A Story, Vol. 2, and the companion, Notes of Interest. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
Ruth Zehr believes that everyone has a story worth telling. A decade ago, Zehr overheard a conversation involving Norma Iutzi, program assistant coordinator at the Nithview... Read More
March 11, 2015 | God at work in Us | Eastern Canada Correspondent
‘Barn raising,’ an iconic image by David L. Hunsberger of mutual aid, has come to define the essence of community for many, including Governor General David Johnston. (Photo by David L. Hunsberger, The Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
According to Paul Heidebrecht, director of Conrad Grebel University College’s MSCU Centre for Peace Advancement, “Advancing peace requires many hands. It requires shoulders to... Read More
March 11, 2015 | Artbeat | Jennifer Konkle
A buzz of conversation filled the Bethany Manor fellowship hall as about 150 people gathered to celebrate the launch of three new books by Saskatchewan authors. Jake Buhler,... Read More
March 11, 2015 | Artbeat | Emily Summach
St. Michael’s Residential School was open for 50 years. It now stands empty and decrepit, serving as a dark reminder of past abuses, awaiting its final demolition. (Photo courtesy of Janna and Jon Janzen)
Jon and Janna Janzen stood in front of St. Michael’s Residential School in Alert Bay, B.C., in February and they say they felt darkness in its presence. During the half-century... Read More
March 11, 2015 | Young Voices |