God at work in the Church

U.S. pastor elected as next MWC president

Church leaders pray for J. Nelson Kraybill, second from left, president-elect of Mennonite World Conference (MWC). Also pictured from left: Danisa Ndlovu of Zimbabwe, MWC president; Ervin Stutzman, Mennonite Church U.S.A. executive director; and Janet Plenert of Canada, MWC vice president.

Larry Miller, left, general secretary emeritus of Mennonite World Conference (MWC), and Thobekile Ncube of Zimbabwe hold a quilt that was given to Miller at the MWC General Council meeting in Switzerland in May. Every delegate brought a piece of fabric, and in three days the pieces were assembled.

It took three impromptu songs to count the ballots and confirm the results, but Anabaptist leaders from around the world elected J. Nelson Kraybill as president-elect of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) at the organization’s General Council meetings from May 20 to 27 in Basel.

‘The gift we hold together’

In three presentations at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) General Council meetings last month, theologians and historians revisited the Anabaptist vision in a global context and sought input from meeting participants.

Manigotagan Community Fellowship thriving

Norman Meade divides his time between co-pastoral duties at Manigotagan Community Fellowship and his work as coordinator of Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba’s Aboriginal Neighbours Program.

Manigotagan Community Fellowship is thriving nine years after budget restraints led to the cutting of Mennonite Church Canada’s Native Ministry program.

Migrant church grows new roots

Christuskirche Niedernberg members—Jenny Spenst, 24, left, Tatjana Hagelgans, 23, Alexander Spenst, 49 (Jenny’s father-in-law and one of three church elders), and Johann Siemens, 23—enjoy a sunny day after the Sunday morning worship service on May 20 in Niedernberg, Germany.

Jenny Spenst is fascinated by her parents’ stories of life in the Soviet Union.

Migrant church grows new roots

Christuskirche Niedernberg members—Jenny Spenst, 24, left, Tatjana Hagelgans, 23, Alexander Spenst, 49 (Jenny’s father-in-law and one of three church elders), and Johann Siemens, 23—enjoy a sunny day after the Sunday morning worship service on May 20 in Niedernberg, Germany.

Jenny Spenst is fascinated by her parents’ stories of life in the Soviet Union.

Dusty Bibles?

Dusting off the Bible? Does that mean we aren’t using our Bibles, or is it an overstatement meant to capture our attention? Perhaps it implies looking at scripture with new eyes, learning to see beyond the familiar so that we can apply biblical teachings to life in today’s world.

Canadian Mennonite wins top award

Canadian Mennonite earned the top award given by the Canadian Church Press in an awards banquet here Friday, May 10, 2012, a recognition called the A.C. Forrest Memorial Award which is presented annually for “excellence in socially conscious religious journalism.”

The beautiful feet of those who bring good news

Muriel Bechtel, left, retiring area church minister, is greeted by Linda Brnjas, assistant moderator and pastor at Bethel Mennonite Church, near Elmira, during Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s 25th annual church gathering.

On the cusp of its 25th year, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada returned to the place it had its inaugural gathering:

Looking at life differently now

Derek Janzen, a Grade 12 student at MCI, Gretna, Man., plays with young children at Hope Community Centre in Kenya.

MCI student Sarah Martens looks at life differently now after her visit to Hope Community Centre in rural Kenya, where she got to play around with orphaned and abandoned children like Rebecca during a spring break trip.

“You can watch a thousand World Vision commercials and still not fully understand what life is like for some,” says Emily Hildebrand, one of 12 students from Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI), Gretna, Man., who spent her spring break living and working with the children of Hope Community Centre in Kenya.

‘We want to be Anabaptist’

Brian Bauman, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada mission minister, and his wife Nancy Brubaker, interim pastor at Shantz Mennonite Church, Baden, Ont., travelled to Myanmar earlier this year at the invitation of Truth Biblical College and Seminary to speak at its 13th convocation service in Kalay.

Manitoba churches experience smudging ceremony

Northern Manitoba aboriginal churches that met with Mennonite Church Manitoba congregations in the southern part of the province last month for their semi-annual Partnership Circle meetings continued the work of building understanding and breaking down cultural barriers.

Between culture and faith

The relationship between culture and faith is intimate and difficult to describe. But understanding that relationship is the first step towards building bridges between culture and faith traditions.

Modest fundraising plan, fiscal year date change approved

After an unsettling year of cuts to ministry and staff, financial news from Mennonite Church Canada’s spring leadership assembly is cautiously hopeful.

MC Canada leaders revisit priorities, refocus efforts

Taking a hard look at how to prioritize activities in the face of change proved central to council discussions at Mennonite Church Canada’s spring leadership assembly at First Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, last month.

Not talking about violence ‘does not work’

Violence in domestic relationships has long-reaching and painful consequences for the entire family, as those who attended a seminar on the topic at Langley Mennonite Fellowship last month learned.

Prairie church looks to further relations with aboriginal neighbours

The CMU Male Octet performs at the MC Saskatchewan delegate sessions.

For the 200 or so delegates who crowded into the Shekinah Retreat Centre for the Mennonite Church Saskatchewan annual delegate sessions at the end of February, it was a time of looking beyond borders.

Looking back, looking forward

Indigenous carver Isadore Charters, left, directs Don Klaassen, in the fine art of wood carving. The totem pole will be exhibited at the B.C. Truth and Reconciliation Commission meetings in Vancouver in September 2013, in recognition of the Canadian government’s role in perpetrating harm upon First Nations peoples through residential schools.

Celebrating 75 years together as a church in British Columbia, Mennonite Church B.C. came together to celebrate God’s presence with the theme, “Yesterday, today, forever,” on March 3 at its annual general meeting.

Being a Faithful Church process avoids sexuality issue

Marla Langelotz, pastor of Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, participates in a table discussion at last month’s Mennonite Church Manitoba leadership seminar.

While the conversation and participation were good at Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church on a Saturday morning to discuss the Being a Faithful Church (BFC) document, Pastor Marla Langelotz told a Mennonite Church Manitoba leadership seminar on Feb. 24 that she was frustrated that participants didn’t engage the sexuality issue.

Seeking to be a ‘faithful church’

MC Manitoba board member Dave Regehr, standing, circulates among the delegates to listen and respond to questions as last month’s annual area church meeting.

“Church life as we know it is changing,” Willard Metzger, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada, told delegates at the annual MC Manitoba meetings in Winnipeg last month. “Indicators suggest that the structures that served us so well in the past can no longer be sustained.”

Meeting our neighbours

Two neighbouring Winnipeg congregations, one Mennonite and the other Lutheran, decided to share their Sunday lunches and learn more about each other. In the process, they discovered that they had much in common.

CMU names new president from within

Cheryl Pauls takes over as CMU president on Nov. 1.

When Cheryl Pauls takes over the reins from Gerald Gerbrandt, Nov. 1, as president of Canadian Mennonite University, she will guide the institution from a different academic discipline and from a different historical narrative.

New church emerges in Winnipeg

Cutline: Sandy and Barrette Wiebe Plett with their children Meredith, 2 ½ years, and Orie, 4 years.

When Barrette and Sandy Wiebe Plett returned from Egypt in 2008 after a three-year assignment under Mennonite Central Committee, they tried to move back into the church life they had left behind. But it wasn’t the same. They had changed. Their family now included two preschool children.

Tree plantings mark deepening of Menno-Lutheran relations

A plaque marks the Mennonite tree in the Luthergarten, in Wittenberg, Germany.

Mennonites planted two trees in the Luthergarten in Wittenberg, Germany, in early October to mark the deepening of Mennonite-Lutheran relations.

Lutherans, Mennonites study together

Why did the Lutheran World Federation issue an apology to Mennonites in July 2010? This question is at the heart of a congregational study guide commissioned by Mennonite Church Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada last summer.

The merger God has been waiting for

Sandy Keomany, left, Venus Moungsouvanh and Joanne Sou perform a traditional Lao dance at the amalgamation service of Lao Canadian Evangelical Mennonite Church and Toronto United Lao Mennonite Church.

It was with singing, dancing and, of course, a potluck that two Lao Mennonite churches in Toronto celebrated their amalgamation late last year. After a seven-year separation, Lao Canadian Evangelical Mennonite Church and Toronto United Lao Mennonite Church became one again on Dec. 11.

God at work in the Church

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