In his book Money, Sex and Power, Richard Foster tells this story: “A doctor once asked a very wealthy patient, ‘What on earth are you going to do with all of that money?’ The patient replied, a bit reluctantly, ‘Just worry about it, I suppose.’ The doctor went on, ‘Do you get that much pleasure out of worrying about it?’ ‘No,’ replied the patient, ‘but I get such terror when I think o
On a deliciously warm summer afternoon in the middle of August, I greeted my neighbour who is a teacher. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then I began to ask him about the coming school year. “Don’t even start down that direction,” he warned, holding up his hand palm-out, like a nonverbal stop sign.
When Mennonite Church Canada’s Assembly 2012 drew to a close, so did my four-year term as Moderator of Mennonite Church Canada.
Can church conflict find reconciliation?
Anita Amstutz grew up in northeast Ohio, but is now a pastor in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Recently I was visiting the homeland of my childhood, Wayne County, in Northeast Ohio. Here, corn is king, God and family are first and most have been farming for generations. The land is wrapped in grain fields and mature hardwoods. Cows idyllically graze on rolling green pastures. Communities are prolific with vegetable gardens and graceful flower beds.
An artist’s drawing of the proposed MCC Ontario building.
The new $12-million complex Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCCO) is building in Kitchener will fit the more-with-less ethos, says Rick Cober Bauman, MCCO’s executive director. “But,” he adds, “it is still clearly sending a message that we are a serious player in relief, development and peace; and we’re not hiding.”
The church in the North American context is facing limits she must accept, for God has placed them in her path for the sake of his glory and the integrity of faithful witness to the Kingdom of the risen Jesus.
This is nothing new.
Abe Buhler and Eric Olfert
What’s at the heart of the matter? What is basic and essential to our questions of faith and life? Such questions were asked of Jesus in attempts to trap him. They are also important questions in helping us find our way to a more life-giving centre in a context where our Christian faith is often perceived as more exclusive than embracing—more restrictive than freeing.
Must respect be earned, or simply expected?
I have been fortunate not to have to wear glasses to correct my vision for most of my life. But like many others who have reached a certain age, I now need glasses in order to read or see anything up close. For a time, I was managing to get by with a few pairs of inexpensive reading glasses kept in strategic locations for me to pick up and use when needed.
On a lovely summer day 36 years ago, my husband and I were married in an outdoor service at our church camp. Standing beside him and facing our family and friends, I was overcome with a joyful surprise. “All of these people have come just because of us!” I thought, as tears came to my eyes. I was awed and delighted by the sight of these people and the love they extended towards us.
I don’t think I am delusional, but as the leader of a national church, I sometimes feel as though I am romanticizing a lost cause. I serve a collective within the context of individuals. I depend on the communal while appealing to the private.
A healthy alternative to no meat or factory-farm meat
The previous article, “Landscapes of war, a people of peace,” June 25, page 12, noted the challenge of identifying “the Mennonite experience” in the War of 1812, and the fact that the war was significant as the first testing of conscientious objection in Canada.
Decline easily gives rise to lament and worry. Is there an alternative? Perhaps this is the time to consider exploring renewal of our covenant with God.
“Howdy ho, neighbour!” were the famous words of Wilson on that 90’s sitcom, Home Improvement.
“Hi dilly ho neighbourinos!” That’s what Ned Flanders happily blurts to Homer in The Simpsons.
MCC must now compete for CIDA grant money
No one ever asks me if I think it’s a good idea for them to begin living with their boyfriend (or girlfriend). If they did, I would say, “No! That’s a dumb thing to do.”
Wills and estate planning are hot topics of conversation, and while it may seem like we hear about them a lot these days, it is certainly not new news, either in content or importance.
In the fall of 2010, congregations in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick expressed yearning for a stronger multi-lane bridge of connection with the wider church—namely Mennonite Church Canada and MC Eastern Canada. One year later, I am helping to build that bridge.
Mennonites need to engage politicians ‘creatively and critically’
Every Sunday evening our church hosts a community dinner. The peculiar mix of human diversity and dysfunction is beautiful. They are, in a word, authentic. What you see is what you get.
Twelve years ago, on beginning as conference minister of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, I described a painting of a small boat on a large body of water with these words inscribed below: “How frail my craft; how vast yon sea.”
Intimate worship part of Mennonite DNA
According to Moses Znaimer, founder and CEO of ZoomerMedia Limited, “Everybody wants to live long, but nobody wants to be ‘Old’.”
