Mykayla Turner. Supplied photo.
While pursuing degrees in health studies and music at the University of Waterloo, Mykayla Turner stumbled into a plethora of worship songs that left her wondering why and how she’d never heard them before.
A young congregant shares a reading at an evening service at Cedar Valley Church in Mission, B.C. Supplied photo.
Mennonites in British Columbia celebrated the holidays in a variety of ways last month.
With both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve falling on Sundays, churches were presented with the question: How many services should be held, and what kind? Will congregants come to multiple services on a holiday weekend?
Ruth Isaac Wiederkehr. Photo by Andre Wiederkehr.
One winter day in 2022, our family was discussing the problem of our society’s dependence on fossil fuels. One of our young-adult sons, who perhaps felt we were slipping into finger-pointing, brought the focus back around to our own household by asking: “What about our hot water heater?”
Mary, played by Donna Driedger, gazes lovingly at Jesus during Bethany Manor’s ‘Nativity on Wheels.’ (Photos by Emily Summach)
It’s not your typical nativity play.
Protesters at City Hall in Waterloo, Ontario call for a ceasefire in Gaza. [Photo by A.S. Compton]
On December 19, approximately 250 Mennonites, Palestinians and others gathered in Waterloo’s City Hall to call on Member of Parliament Bardish Chagger to publicly support an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.
Anna Vogt, director of advocacy and policy for MCC Canada, is an expert on the theory and practice of non-violent direct action. (Supplied)
Whether it’s a vigil for missing and murdered Indigenous women or a march for climate justice, chances are you’ve seen an article about a protest in recent years.
Lori Bohn (left) and Carla Kehler at the Mennonite Action rally in Winnipeg on December 19. Photo by John Longhurst
“We come with intense pain and grief over the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis.”
Lydia Fawcett reads a statement about the Gaza war at the office of MP Ed Fast in Abbotsford, B.C. Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell
About 30 Mennonites assembled in the lobby of Garden Park Tower on December 19 to make their voices heard on the Mennonite Day of Action asking for a ceasefire in Palestine.
Sherbrooke Mennonite Church in Vancouver received a grant to upgrade to more energy efficient lighting. Photo by Walter Toews. Used with permission.
Mennonite Church Canada is pleased to announce Emissions Reduction Grants (ERG) totaling $23,021 to help one rural and eight urban congregations reduce their carbon footprint. Fourteen additional congregations expressed interest in the program.
On October 24, 2023, the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre (TMTC) held a virtual closing ceremony to mark the end of its 33-year existence. The centre’s mandate was to develop theological leadership for church and academy, by supporting Mennonite graduate students in theology, biblical studies and related fields.
YElshaday Baraki of Meheret Evangelical Church in Kitchener. (Supplied photo)
On November 29, Canadian Mennonite hosted “Answering the Call,” an online event featuring three young pastors: Curtis Wiens of Aberdeen Mennonite Church in Aberdeen, Saskatchewan; Kennedy Froese of Sterling Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg; and YElshaday Baraki of Meheret Evangelical Church in Kitchener, Ontario.
Louise and Ed Janzen. (Photo by Cyndy Brandt)
Welcome to “Life in the 80s,” a semi-regular series in which we ask people in their 80s or 90s to share their wisdom.
Ed (85) and Louise (84) Janzen met as students at Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) in Abbotsford, B.C. Both grew up in the Mennonite Brethren Church.
(Photo courtesy of Brad Langendoen)
The film Custodians: A Story of Ancient Echoes won big at the Saskatchewan International Film Fest (SIFF) in October. The documentary explores the work of local landowners, volunteers and municipal government officials in conserving the many signs of historic Indigenous presence in the Herschel, Saskatchewan, area.
Mackenzie Hildebrand (left) and Kirsten Hamm-Epp led worship at the Fall Leadership Assembly. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan continues to deliberate on the future of its camping ministry. The regional church operates Camp Elim, Youth Farm Bible Camp and Camp Shekinah. On November 25, over 40 people from across the province gathered at the Fall Leadership Assembly to hear an update on the future of the camps.
Palestinians at a makeshift tent camp on the grounds of a UN school in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. October 20, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Zaanoun/Active Stills)
Overwhelmed, distraught, touched and compelled by the stories and images from Gaza, Canadian Mennonite reporter Madalene Arias has interviewed many people—Palestinians and Jews—she found through various connections and means. Below are interviews with two people Arias has spoken with recently. We share this as a cry of the heart and a prayer for mercy. – Eds.
‘This tether to the Anabaptist stream is … really helpful,’ says Darren DeMelo, co-pastor of Estuary Church. (Supplied photo)
One of the latest churches to partner with Mennonite Church Manitoba is outside the province—2,047 kilometers outside of Winnipeg, to be exact.
Estuary Church, an emerging congregation in Delta, B.C., is receiving guidance and support from MC Manitoba as it gets established and finds a denomination.
Uri Weltmann. (Supplied Photo)
Uri Weltmann says support for Israel’s government and support for the people of Israel are two different things.
“This is not one and the same,” he says, speaking by video call from Tel Aviv, where he lives.
Ka Boyet Ongkiko, Joji Pantoja, Roger Tiessen (President, Seacliff Energy), Tala Bautista and Lois Konrad at Seacliff Energy, an organics recycling and bioenergy facility in Leamington, Ontario. (Photo by Rob Konrad)
Growing up as a member of the Sumacher Indigenous peoples group in the Philippines, Tala Bautista listened to American music. She longed to see snow and perhaps roast chestnuts on an open fire. She wanted to see the West Virginia country roads of which John Denver sang.
Susanne Guenther Loewen. (Supplied photo)
Working for a more peaceful world can take place anywhere. For Susanne Guenther Loewen it takes place at the front of the classroom at Saskatchewan’s largest public university. Guenther Loewen is in her third year of teaching Introduction to Peace Studies at Saint Thomas More College on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon.
Lee Ann Michayluk, CEO of More Than a Roof Housing Society, speaks at the Affordable Housing Seminar in Abbotsford, B.C. (Photo by Sharon Mkisi)
A recent seminar in Abbotsford, B.C., considered how churches can help fellow British Columbians find reasonably priced housing. The November 18 event was hosted by Emmanuel Mennonite Church.
Kennert Giesbrecht, pictured circa 2020, was the managing editor at ‘Die Mennonitische Post’ for more than 20 years. (Supplied photo)
How do you adjust after stepping away from the work to which you’ve dedicated two decades of your life?
That’s the question facing Kennert Giesbrecht now that he’s no longer the managing editor of Die Mennonitische Post, the German-language paper that serves conservative Mennonites throughout the Americas.
John Van Deusen’s Christmas album includes 14 holiday hymns. (Photo by Sandra Turner)
John Van Deusen plays in a pop band called Telephone Friends and a punk band called Buffet, but he suspects it’s his Christmas album that you’ll like best.
In the Bleak Midwinter features Van Deusen playing 14 holiday hymns, his acoustic guitar and tenor voice augmented by rich string arrangements. He released it digitally last year and on vinyl in October.
(Unsplash photo by Annie Spratt)
End-of-life care, current legislation and faith were the focus of an online panel discussion about medical assistance in dying (MAID) that Canadian Mennonite hosted last month.
The two-day conference attracted participants from across denominational and professional lines. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Tareq Hadhad, CEO of Peace by Chocolate, shares his story about fleeing Syria and coming to Canada. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Conference participants share a laugh. (Photo by Emily Summach)
Polarization was on the agenda as Mennonite Central Committee Alberta hosted its first-ever peace conference earlier this month.
Held November 3-4 in Calgary, “In Tune: Finding Harmony in a Polarized World” attracted participants from across denominational and professional lines.
The Visitation by Mariotto Albertinelli
Visitation, from Altarpiece of the Virgin (St Vaast Altarpiece). (Wikimedia Commons photo)
Mary, whose heart is full of things to ponder, goes to see her older relative Elizabeth in the hill country. Both are pregnant. Both are in on the secret of the Messiah. They are brimming with possibility and responsibility. They have both surrendered in a visceral, physical way to the flow of divine will.
