News & Stories

In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario By Samuel J. Steiner. Herald Press, 2015, 877 pages. Sam Steiner has pulled off an amazing feat. He has... Read More
August 12, 2015 | Artbeat |

Jim Cheng and Matthew Veith rode their bikes from New York City to Pennsylvania to take part in PA 2015.

Youth and young adults from all over the world went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from July 21 to 26 for a reunion with the global Mennonite family. We spoke with a handful of young... Read More
August 12, 2015 | Young Voices | Rachel Bergen and Aaron Epp

Coming out to Charleswood Mennonite Church, the congregation in Winnipeg that he grew up in, was an emotional experience for Dustin Loewen. (Photo by Anya Snider)

Growing up, Dustin Loewen was sometimes teased by his friends for being a “Mennonite poster boy.” He had a well-rounded Mennonite upbringing, attended Mennonite schools and has... Read More
August 12, 2015 | Young Voices | Anya Snider

From left, Emmanuel of India, Khanyisani Ngwenya of Zimbabwe, and Tim Hochstetler pack green beans into cans in Mennonite Central Committee’s mobile canner at the Mennonite World Conference assembly, held July 21 to 16, 2015. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman for Meetinghouse)

Mennonite Central Committee’s mobile meat canner went vegan for the Mennonite World Conference assembly, switching for one week from pork, beef and turkey to green beans. Slipping... Read More
August 11, 2015 | Web First | Tim Huber

Volunteers helped build two prefabricated houses for Mennonite Disaster Service at PA 2015. MDS staff were on hand every afternoon to guide volunteers in constructing the floors and walls for houses destined for families who lost their homes in natural disasters. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Pounding nails may be the last activity one might expect at an international church convention, but for many at the Mennonite World Conference’s PA 2015, it was a perfect fit... Read More
August 11, 2015 | Web First | Byron Rempel-Burkholder

The Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pa., hosted the events of PA 2015, the 16th Mennonite World Conference assembly. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Would the attendees of Pennsylvania 2015 accept “an occasional farm smell” in their meeting space? That’s just one of the many questions Howard Good, national coordinator of PA... Read More
August 11, 2015 | Web First | Devin Manzullo-Thomas

Enjoying the international connections at the first ever Anabaptist World Cup. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Two-hundred and sixty-nine individuals played in the Anabaptist World Cup in Logan Park in Dillsburg, Pa. This was the first soccer tournament for Mennonite World Conference and... Read More
August 11, 2015 | Web First | Anna Groff
For my “First thoughts” see here . I will begin at the end. There was the installing of a new president of MWC. When the outgoing president, Danisa Ndlovu of Zimbabwe, gave his... Read More
July 28, 2015 | Web First | David Driedger

Bruxy Cavey, the keynote speaker at the Saturday evening service, challenged listeners to go beyond the “ethics of a rock” in their love for other people. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman, for Meetinghouse)

Love for neighbour is absolutely central to the gospel, speaker Bruxy Cavey said in the final mass worship service of Pennsylvania 2015, July 25, 2015. This service saw the... Read More
July 28, 2015 | Web First | Doreen Martens

Hippolyto Tshimanga reminded listeners at Mennonite World Conference Assembly: “There is no such thing as a church without mission; mission is the DNA of the church.” And yet, he wondered if some Mennonites are “allergic” to evangelism. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman, for Meetinghouse)  

Energy was still high in the penultimate mass session of PA 2015, July 25, 2015, and speakers issued sharp challenges to Anabaptists, calling for a more active and evangelistic... Read More
July 28, 2015 | Web First | Virginia A. Hostetler

The July 24 evening service concluded with a communion service led by Janet Plenert, MWC vice president, J. Nelson Kraybill, MWC president elect, and Danisa Ndlovu, MWC president. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman, for Meetinghouse)

Each person is never alone. They must live in community. Yet each also craves independence and autonomy. Citing Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32, Wieteke van der Molen told... Read More
July 26, 2015 | Web First | Tim Huber

Young Anabaptist Kevin Ressler asked how the Anabaptist church can regain its confidence and become boldly prophetic again. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

“We are here today, celebrating our common Anabaptist faith and our position in the Lord Jesus Christ,” was the greeting from Shantkumar S. Kunjam of India, who took the platform... Read More
July 26, 2015 | Web First | Lil Goertzen

Nzuzi Mukawa, a Congolese Mennonite Brethren pastor and educator, preached on walking with conflict and reconciliation. He highlighted the biblical character Abigail as an example of faithful peacemaking. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Nzuzi Mukawa, a Congolese Mennonite Brethren pastor and educator and the MB Mission team leader for Sub Sahara Africa, challenged his audience Thursday evening to leave Mennonite... Read More
July 25, 2015 | Web First | Connie Faber

Remilyn Mondez, from the Philippines: “I was a casualty of church conflict.” (Dale D. Gehman)

Remilyn Mondez of the Philippines warned about the perils of church conflict and then sprung a surprise. Speaking July 23, 2015, at the morning worship service of the Mennonite... Read More
July 24, 2015 | Web First | Paul Schrag

Players have fun in the first ever Anabaptist World Cup during the Mennonite World Conference Assembly held in Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Anabaptist World Cup started on July 23, 2015, in at Logan Park in Dillsburg, Pa. This is the first soccer tournament for Mennonite World Conference in Harrisburg, Pa. Players... Read More
July 24, 2015 | Web First | Anna Groff

In the Wednesday evening worship Pastor Yukari Kaga reminds those gathered at Mennonite World Conference that, “Jesus’ death has swallowed death in victory,” she said. “This is the work of God’s great power.” (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Yukari Kaga, a pastor from Japan, admitted Peter’s praise in his letter to the early church seems “a little strange to me.” Peter wrote this letter (1 Peter) in such a cruel... Read More
July 23, 2015 | Web First | Anna Groff
Many people have gathered here in Harrisburg, Pa. Many more, I think, than I have been a part of in worship. Being a part of many people gathering, of many people singing can be a... Read More
July 23, 2015 | Web First | David Driedger

During Wednesday morning worship time, Deborah, from Indonesia, leads the international music ensemble in the singing of "Nyanyikanlah" (Sing to God a New Song), with gestures typical of worship in her country. The crowd in the big arena joined in with the singing and the movements. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Three speakers—one each from Kenya, Canada and Ethiopia—shared stories of doubt in their local contexts at Mennonite World Conference’s (MWC) morning worship on July 22, 2015. “We... Read More
July 22, 2015 | Web First | Kelli Yoder

A drone (Courtesy of 1040 for Peace)

Participants in Mennonite World Conference Assembly, a global gathering of Mennonites and other related Anabaptist groups in Harrisburg, Pa., will be invited to assemble for... Read More
July 22, 2015 | Web First |

MennoHomes photo

Ken and Debbie Martin are ready to head out from Elmira (Ont.) Mennonite Church on a countryside tour as part of the MennoHomes fifth annual bike-a-thon for affordable housing on... Read More
July 22, 2015 | God at work in Us |

Photo: Mennonite Heritage Centre/Mennonite Archival Image Database

A group of 18 young men and women travel in the back of a truck on their way a Sängerfest or song festival in the Didsbury, Alberta, area in 1934. No seatbelts used here! Song... Read More
July 22, 2015 | God at work in the Church | Conrad Stoesz

Mike Martin (second from right) and his siblings (from left), Steve, Ron, Willard, Gloria and Terry Martin sang at the 25th anniversary celebration for Community Mennonite Fellowship in Drayton, Ont., on May 23, 2015. Mike, who is the chair of church council, wrote a special song for the event. (Photo courtesy of Community Mennonite Fellowship, Drayton)

The roots ran deep in both the Berea and Moorefield Mennonite Churches, north of Kitchener-Waterloo. Berea, first known as the Parker Mission, was founded in 1941 and joined the... Read More
July 22, 2015 | God at work in the Church |

Prayer team member John C. Murray of Hesston, Kan., prays during a Pink Menno hymn sing outside the delegate hall July 4. (Photo by Paul Schrag, Mennonite World Review)

Pick a category of people at the Mennonite Church USA convention, and you could identify their pain. It might have been the pain of exclusion due to sexual orientation. Or of... Read More
July 22, 2015 | God at work in the Church | Paul Schrag

April Yamasaki speaks about fasting from the Christian perspective at the Abbotsford interfaith symposium on July 6, 2015. (Photo by Amy Dueckman)

An interfaith symposium on July 6 at Abbotsford’s Garden Park Tower found Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs reflecting on fasting and peace and then eating together with a... Read More
July 22, 2015 | God at work in the World | Amy Rinner Waddell

Ester Neufeldt, outgoing operations minister of MCEC, sits in her office at 50 Kent, Kitchener. This is the third office move she oversaw in her 27-and-a-half years of working for the area church. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

 

Ester Neufeldt has been around Mennonite Church Eastern Canada longer than MCEC has existed. The area church came into being on Feb. 1, 1988, but Neufeldt began her job on Jan. 25... Read More
July 22, 2015 | God at work in Us |

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