Ten young adults from across the nationwide church will take part in the Young Leaders Experience (YLE) at “We declare: What we have seen and heard,” Mennonite Church Canada’s gathering in Edmonton, from July 28 to Aug. 1.
Ann Schultz, in her final address to the Rockway community during her retirement celebrations on Nov. 28, reflected on her 30-year career with deep gratitude. (Photo by Charles Kruger)
Rockway alumni Jenny Enns Modolo, left, and Justin Martin sing snippets from musicals that Ann Schultz directed during her career at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ont., as part of retirement celebrations for Ann Schultz on Nov. 28. (Photo by Charles Kruger)
With laughter and tears, stories and good music, family, friends, colleagues and students past and present celebrated Ann L. Schultz’s retirement from Rockway Mennonite Collegiate on Nov. 28.
April Yamasaki has been selected as the new editor of Purpose magazine, a monthly magazine published by MennoMedia that offers stories of inspiration and promise. She is an ordained minister with 25 years of experience in pastoral ministry at Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C., who currently serves as resident author with Valley CrossWay Church in Abbotsford, B.C., and speaks widely in other churches and ministry settings.
Winnipegger Peggy Unruh Regehr died on September 27, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Keith Regehr)
Before #MeToo and #ChurchToo—before there even was the Internet—there was Winnipegger Peggy Unruh Regehr.
Unruh Regehr, a member of River East Church (a Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba congregation) died September 27 last year at the age of 89. She was a pioneer in championing the cause of women in leadership in Mennonite denominations in Canada.
Rebecca Riek (second row, second from left) and Rebecca Yoder Neufeld (next to her) stand among fellow participants at the September 2018 Journey Weekend Learning Event at Amigo Centre in Sturgis, Michigan. (Jason Bryant)
Thousands of miles from their homeland, a group of about 30 South Sudanese women gathers on Tuesdays in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Meeting in each other’s homes, they pray for their war-torn country and its people, share about their lives and study the Bible together. Rebecca Riek, who came to Canada from South Sudan 16 years ago, helped start the group in 2007 and continues to lead it.
I got my first taste of journalism at a Mennonite school. As a second-year English major, I began writing for The Weather Vane, the student newspaper at Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University), in Harrisonburg, Va. The following year I accepted the challenge of becoming co-editor of the features section.
Henry Paetkau addresses the final Ralph and Eileen Lebold Endowment for Leadership Training fundraising dinner on June 5, 2018, five days after his retirement from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
May 3, 2018, was Henry Paetkau’s last day in the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada office, but he wasn’t quite done yet.
After serving as interim pastor at Grace Mennonite Church in St. Catharines, Ont., Waldo Pauls ended up staying on as minister for seven years. He is pictured with his wife Pam at their farewell service following Waldo’s retirement in 2014. (Photo by Ernie Janzen)
Pictured from left to right, top row: Claire Ewert-Fisher, David Brubacher, Gerry Binnema, Harold Schegel. Bottom row: Waldo Pauls, Wanda Roth Amstutz and Melissa Miller.
“You don’t go quickly from Egypt to the Promised Land,” quips Harold Schlegel. “The wilderness is where God forms us.”
The wilderness Schlegel speaks of is the transition in a congregation’s life between one pastor and another. Church leaders suggest it’s a time that’s ripe for interim or transitional ministry.
Brandon Leis makes music at an outdoor camp service with his daughter Madeline. (Photo courtesy of Brandon Leis)
Ontario Mennonite Music Campers fine-tune a musical number from Jesus Christ Superstar during dress rehearsal. (Ontario Mennonite Music Camp photo)
Marie Penner from Toronto United Mennonite Church had a dream of a camp that would develop the musical talents of young Mennonites in Ontario.
I'm trying to be less critical.
Lately, I've noticed my tendency to critique everything. From the beginning. Often before I even have enough information to properly critique. I come in to a situation looking for things I disagree with, things that I want to argue. Overall, it leaves me feeling kind of blah and less than optimistic about things in general.
It's not just affecting me.
