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Anabaptists inspired by Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization

Yemiru Tilahun (far right), of Ethiopia’s Meserete Kristos Church, with two leaders of Ethiopian evangelicals, the Emmanuel United Church of Ethiopia, Samson Mariam (left), Emmanuel vice-president and Bezalem Fisseha (centre), president, who were mentored by Meserete Kristos leaders.

At least 30 mission and church leaders represented Anabaptist-related communities at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization here, October 17 to 24. The gathering, which attracted 4,000 mission leaders, pastors, and academics from 198 countries, grew out of the “Lausanne Movement” that followed the first congress in Switzerland, in1974.

MSCU top 50 'best employers'

Mennonite Savings and Credit Union (MSCU) has been named among the Top 50 Best Small and Medium Employers in Canada for the second consecutive year, moving to 19th from our debut at 47th last year. The 2011 list will be published in the Nov. 8, 2010 issue of Maclean’s magazine, available on newsstands Oct. 28th.

Tutu calls for opera boycott of Israel

A Jewish group in South Africa has criticised a call by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu for the Cape Town Opera to cancel a performance in Israel in November.

Conrad Grebel University College Establishes Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace

Nathan Funk, associate professor in Peace and Conflict Studies, is the centre's lead researcher.

Conrad Grebel University College has just established The Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace (CSRP) to "advance knowledge and awareness of religious contributions to peace, and to enhance the capacity of religious communities to engage contemporary conflict issues and practice the peaceful values they profess.”

Autumn church cleanup turns tragic

Leonard Gerbrandt

Assisting with autumn cleanup and yard maintenance at one's church is a common activity for many MAX members. On Oct. 16, this annual activity turned tragic for Leonard Gerbrandt, 69, a long term, faithful member of the Ottawa Mennonite Church, Ottawa, Ontario.

Central American women theologians consider role of women

Followup included preparation of a study book, the initiation of a world day of prayer for Latin American Anabaptist women, and the declaration of a decade to work to change situations of family violence and the devaluing of leadership of women in the churches.

A sense of solidarity and fellowship took a leap forward September 6 to 8, at the third

Sara Wenger Shenk inaugurated as seminary president

Wenger-Shenk invites the congregation to declare with her, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.” --Photo by J. Tyler Klassen

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb,”

Peace is more than protest, says Buhler

Jake Buhler shares a message of peace on a highway billboard near Osler, Saskatchewan. Photo by Rod Andrews, Saskatchewan Valley News

Jake Buhler is a man with a different pair of glasses. They reflect a steely determination to pursue peace and help others do the same.

“Peace is the lens through which we see everything,” he says.

With that lens, he notices things that others may not. It colors his whole worldview. And it helps him see the world with different eyes.

Crystal Cathedral files for bankruptcy protection

The Crystal Cathedral, the gleaming Southern California megachurch known for its "Hour of Power" television broadcast, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors.

Senior Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman said in an Oct. 18 statement that the decision came after some creditors chose to file lawsuits against the ministry, Religion News Service reports.

Tension mounts ahead of Sudan vote

A former general secretary of the World Council of Churches has warned that tension in Sudan ahead of a plebiscite on independence for the south of Africa's biggest country could spark mass killings similar to the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

Public Safety minister's refugee parents came to Canada just before doors shut

Vic Toews

There's a global recession and Canada's economy is not immune.

Shiploads of strange, foreign refugees — economic migrants and oppressed minorities — have been landing on our shores, fleeing civil war, economic upheaval and famine.

No one is certain how they can be assimilated and there are concerns about criminals, subversives and agitators in their midst.

Canadians feeling ‘blindsided’ in MPN/Third Way media merger

Ron Rempel (left) converses with Sheri Hartzler, Third Way Media, Joan Pries, one of three Canadian board members of MPN and Phil Bontrager, chair of MPN's board. --photo by Dick Benner

Coming down off the mountaintop of excitement about a proposed merger

Meat canning 'won't work'

MCC canners are (left to right) Aaron Ressler, Jeffrey Durksen, Ryun Lawrence and George Wieler, Jr. -MCC photo by Brenda Burkholder

In 1997, when Martin Rahn heard that volunteers in an Ontario town were making plans to host a portable meat canner, his first thought was: “I need to stop this.”

Canadian court urges case-by-case decisions on face veils

A Canadian court has urged compromise when considering whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear veils while testifying in court.

WCC leader reaches out to evangelical Christians

The head of the World Council of Churches has reached out to a global gathering of Evangelicals

Film on effects of Afghanistan war clinches human rights award

A documentary film exploring the consequences of war in Afghanistan, "The Garden at the End of the World", has earned a 2010 human rights award from two global Christian communication groups.

It explores the legacy of devastation and trauma in Afghanistan and illustrates the consequences of the conflict, and the hunger, homelessness and lawlessness that it causes.

MCC’s children magazine a treasure in Bolivian home

The Neufeld children in Swift Current colony in Boliva reading Das Blatt für Kinder und Jugend, a magazine for children and youth. --MCC photo by Silas Crews

Eleven-year old Franz Neufeld tries to hold back his tears as he talks about a Bible story that his mother reads to him and his siblings.

It is the story of Joseph, who is favoured by his father, sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers and reunited with his father, brothers and their families when the brothers came to Egypt to buy grain.

More prisons won’t improve public safety: MCC

Spending billions on more prisons in Canada won’t create safer communities, says a spokesperson for Mennonite Central Committee.

To remember is to work for peace

Event is an invitation to harness our creativity to challenge the necessity of war.

“To Remember is to Work for Peace” is the theme for the annual Fraser Valley Arts and Peace Festival, which runs at various locations in Langley and Abbotsford from Nov. 7-13th. Its mission is to provide opportunities to celebrate, reflect and be a public witness for creativity, love of neighbour and nonviolent peacemaking.

Muslims, Christians can tackle conflicts together

Muslim and Christian leaders need to set up permanent structures of relating to each other to head off potential conflicts in a world where religion is often seen as having a divisive role, the head of the World Council of Churches has said.

War Resisters bill defeated

A private member's bill, which would have allowed U.S. conscientious objectors to the Iraq War to remain in Canada, was defeated on second reading in the House of Commons on Sept.

South African 'moral compass' Tutu officially retires

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, often described as South Africa's moral compass, officially retired on his 79th birthday saying he wishes to devote time to his wife, Leah, and family.

Peace buses roll through Saskatoon

Stephanie Epp poses in front of a “peace bus.”

A grassroots response to Mennonite Church Canada’s Peace in the Public Square initiative is rolling through the streets of Saskatoon.

Inter-faith council condemns West Bank mosque burning

The Council of the Religious Institutions of the Holy Land has expressed "grave concern" over the Oct. 3 burning by militant Israeli settlers of a mosque in the West Bank village of Beit Fajar near Bethlehem.

"The CRIHL strongly condemns these and similar acts of vandalism and arson which have taken place in the past year," said the council in a 5 October statement.

Former MWC Executive dies in auto accident

Matiku Thomas Nyitambe during the MWC Executive Committee meetings, July 2009, in Asunción, Paraguay. (Photo by Merle Good)

Matiku Thomas Nyitambe, a prominent leader in the Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania (KMT), was killed in an automobile accident October 3, while driving from his native home of Kirongwe, Tanzania, near the Kenyan border. His wife Penina sustained relatively minor injuries and was released from hospital the next day.

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