Volume 24, Number 21
Take care
We can and should seek self-care in these uncertain times. (Photo by Miguel Perales/Unsplash)
Recently the worldwide number of souls lost to the COVID-19 virus surpassed 1 million. Visualizing that large number of lives cut short touches one’s own soul. We, the living, mourn and seek to understand.
Expanding the reconciliation tent
A ‘specimen’ of the $5 bill to honour decorated Indigenous Canadian war veteran Tommy Prince. (Image courtesy of Tom Kmiec)
Don Plett, a Conservative senator, is working to help get decorated Indigenous Canadian war veteran Tommy Prince onto a new $5 bill. (Don Plett Facebook page photo)
Tommy Prince, right, is pictured with a brother at Buckingham Palace, London, England, where he was awarded two gallantry medals. (Library and Archives Canada photo (public domain))
Although I’m a pacifist who has never voted Conservative, I support the Conservative-led campaign to put a war hero’s face on the $5 bill.
Readers write: October 12, 2020 issue
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Reactions to recent ‘A moment from yesterday’ photographs
Re: A photograph of a volleyball game beside a row of tall poplar trees with a lake in the background, Aug. 17, page. 4.
Faith is so much more
Andrew Root speaks at Canadian Mennonite University in February 2020. (Instagram.com/cmuwpg)
The youth of the Mennonite church are often on my mind, and over the years, they have secured a place in my heart. It has been total joy and privilege to share time and space with them at national gatherings, regularly in my ministry within Mennonite Church Manitoba, and through the sharing of stories in Canadian Mennonite.
LaVerna Klippenstein
(Photo: Lawrence Klippenstein / Mennonite Heritage Archives)
LaVerna Klippenstein (1934-2014) fulfilled many roles, including mother, wife, teacher and author. After her marriage to Lawrence Klippenstein in 1956, the pair began working in the Métis community of Matheson Island, Man., for two years with Mennonite Pioneer Mission. She is pictured hanging laundry on Matheson Island.
Two stories clamour to be shared
'We learned that he had become a priest...'
The first story is as recent as a week ago last Sunday. As I stood to sing a somewhat familiar hymn in the morning worship service, the words came off the page to grasp my attention with unusual urgency. The song was “There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy,” and the verse that snared me was the third.
Living well together
A wall at Netiv HaAsara facing the Gaza border reads the words “Path to Peace” in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Netiv HaAsara is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the north-west Negev, it nearly borders the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Cole Keister/Unsplash)
Whether you know the word or not, shalom is central to the way most Mennonites think of what it means to be disciples faithful to Jesus. “Peace” is how the Hebrew word shalom is often translated.
Praying for the prophets
'I pray that my daughters will continue to blossom in their faith...' (Photo by Ben White/Unsplash)
I was sitting at the kitchen table, trying to read amidst my children having breakfast and building with Lego, and I read this verse: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, Your sons and daughters will prophesy. . .” (Joel 2:28).
Communion and community during COVID-19
Pastor Craig Neufeld and deacon Debbie Baergen are ready to serve communion in a “covid friendly” way at Edmonton’s First Mennonite Church, Sept. 27, 2020. (Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld)
Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, executive minister of Mennonite Church Alberta, receives communion from deacon Debbie Baergen at Edmonton First Mennonite. (Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld)
Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, executive minister of Mennonite Church Alberta, adds a leaf, signifying a commitment to a spiritual practice, to the E3 tree visual at Edmonton First Mennonite Church. Beginning in 2020, MCA congregations are committing themselves to a 3 year action plan for renewal, Encountering, Embracing, and Embodying Christ. For more information go to: https://mcab.ca/e3-mca. (Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld)
For many congregants, the invitation to receive communion at Edmonton’s First Mennonite Church on Sunday, Sept. 27 would mark the first time they had physically set foot in the building for six months.
MCC Ontario AGM goes virtual
In 1945, Alice Snyder (pictured here) took over from her mother as the manager of MCC’s cutting room, which had been moved to Kitchener, not far from where the MCC Ontario offices stand today. She is part of the 100-year legacy of serving in the name of Christ. (MCC photo)
MCC has thousands of volunteers creating kits and comforters to be shipped around the world. Here Kristen Berg from Breslau (Ont.) Mennonite Church works on one of the 9,504 comforters created as part of an international effort called the Great Winter Warm-up to mark MCC’s centennial. (Photo by Ken Ogasawara)
Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCCO) held its annual general meeting (AGM) online on Sept. 21, 2020. John Head, executive director, reported that most targets in the organization’s five-year strategic plan were met.
Niagara churches reopening
Niagara (Ont.) United Mennonite Church began in-person worship on Sept. 13, 2020. (Photo credit: Rachael Peters)
Vineland (Ont.) United Mennonite Church plans to continue meeting virtually for worship through September, using YouTube video. According to pastor Louise Wideman, the church is planning a cautious tiered approach to reopening. The first step will be to install equipment for livestreaming the service. The next stage will include inviting small groups to join for in-person worship.
Friends celebrate Leonard Doell’s long service with MCC
Leonard Doell speaks with Young Chippewayan Chief Sylvia Weenie during the Treaty Six 140th anniversary celebration at Stoney Knoll in 2016. (Photo by Donna Schulz)
Leonard Doell (far left) stands with Ray Funk, Jason Johnson, George Kingfisher and Marshall Williams at the Spruce River Folk Festival near Spruce Home, Sask. in 2019. The five men were all part of the film, Reserve 107, which depicts the coming together of Mennonite, Lutheran and Young Chippewayan people in 2006. (Photo by Donna Schulz)
When Leonard Doell was hired as Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Saskatchewan’s Native Concerns program coordinator in 1996, he was told his job was “to drink tea with elders.” It was a job description he took to heart.
Young reader likes story about seniors
Miles Kirkaldy reading Canadian Mennonite (Photo by Jennifer Kirkaldy)
Miles Kirkaldy, who is six years old and just started grade one, enjoys reading Canadian Mennonite. When a new copy comes in the mail, he reads bits and pieces and asks questions about what he reads. When the Sept. 14 issue arrived he asked, “Where does Canadian Mennonite magazine come from? Does our church really make the magazine?”
Sarah Johnson honoured as distinguished alumna
Sarah Johnson, the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award, facing the camera, is pictured speaking to a music class at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont., last year. (Conrad Grebel University College photo)
Bursary connects students to their faith
Danika Warkentin, one of this year’s recipients of the Mennonite Church Alberta student bursary, is a first-year student at Canadian Mennonite University. (Photo credit: Jeannie Willms)
“Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to attend a Mennonite post-secondary institution,” says Danika Warkentin, one of seven recipients of this year’s Mennonite Church Alberta student bursary.
CBC navigates fall class restart
Staff member Tina Richardson, left, checks in with CBC President Bryan Born prior to attending chapel service. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)
Life at Columbia Bible College (CBC) looks quite different than it did back in mid-March, when classes suddenly ended and students were sent home due to COVID-19. After six months of inactivity, CBC has reopened for in-person classes. Staff were busy over the summer preparing the campus for a safe return, balancing residence life, instructional space, and general community living.
MWC and AMBS partnership opens access to Anabaptist education
César García, MWC’s general secretary (left) and David Boshart, AMBS's incoming president (right)
Mennonites around the globe yearn for Anabaptist theological education, identity formation and leadership development, but attending an Anabaptist-related college, university or seminary has not been possible for Mennonites in many countries. A new partnership has been designed to respond to this need.
