Photo by Khyta (Unsplash)
How do you discern a career change? Or, to use language many in the church are familiar with, how do you discern a new call?
After 25 years in local ministry, specifically in the areas of church planting, revitalization and change leadership, my new call came through various means.
Bontu recovered from her trauma after participating in a series of healing sessions. (Supplied photo)
For the past two years, the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC)—the Anabaptist denominational body in Ethiopia—has been working with communities and local institutions to restore peace between warring ethnic groups in the Nono district of the West Shewa Zone of Oromia Regional State.
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Humans, humus and healing
Kathleen Cahalan of St. John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Minnesota. (Collegeville Institute Photo)
The first time I remember hearing of a shortage of pastors was over 35 years ago. I was in the process of completing my Bible College degree, and a conference leader was encouraging me to consider a career in pastoral ministry.
(Photo: Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
In December 1924, this family was starting a new life in more ways than one. Katharina (Enns Rempel) and Jacob P. Braun, both widowed, separately emigrated from the Soviet Union to Ontario. A few weeks after their arrival, they were married in the Waterloo region. Here the newly blended family prepares to move from the home of their first Ontario Mennonite hosts.
(Photo by Betty Avery)
I heard some strong language this summer about church from various extended family members. I’m sure this is not just in my family! Conversation at family gatherings is not usually conducive for more thoughtful or caring conversations, but these phrases caught my ear and attention.
“I’m done with church.”
“I’m done with denominations.”
“I’m deconstructing my faith.”
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house. (flickr photo by Mariano Mantel)
This is the first summer I haven’t gone camping for at least 25 years, maybe my entire life. Since Tammy and I got married 23 years ago, our family holidays have focused on hiking, kayaking and sleeping in tents. Often in the rain. My family suggested we try something different this year, and I found myself connecting with God and nature in a new way—through architecture.
Perhaps you remember the 2000 box office hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It tells the story of a young Greek American woman, Toula Portokalos, falling in love with a non-Greek WASP, Ian Miller. Her family struggles to accept him while she struggles to come to terms with her cultural identity.
(Unsplash photo by Ümit Bulut)
I’ve been learning about waiting.
After avoiding it for three years, I tested positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of July—just in time to disrupt the return of the Grand Wallace Road Trip.
Each year we pile the kids into our vehicle and drive hard from Saskatchewan to Montana to Michigan and back to visit family. Or at least, we did until the pandemic started.
Arthur Boers’ new book unpacks the ways his father’s violence shaped the person he became. (Supplied photo)
Shattered includes vibrant, emotional vignettes. (Supplied photo)
In his new book Shattered, Arthur Boers writes, “I realized that I never understood my father, our relationship, or even myself.” In this coming-of-age story, Boers explores his relationship with his father, trying to make sense of why he both feared and loved him. How did his father’s violence shape the person that Boers became?
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
In defense of dandelions
(Photo by Haydn Blackey, Flickr)
It was a tour to remember: three days, seven venues, spanning Manitoba from east to west.
Micah Project fishing trip, 2019. (Used with permission)
As I swing my legs out of bed, with a hip-to-heel grumble from a sciatic nerve, I experience a moment of curiosity: What new thing will the day bring, what blessing will come?
Randy’s touring bike. (Photo by Randy Haluza-Delay)
It’s summer and many of us have thoughts about vacations and so-called down time. What do these things mean for your spiritual practice?
The cast of Alone, Season 8, which was taped around Chilko Lake, B.C. (Photo by The History Channel)
I love the outdoors, but I’ll admit I’m far from being able to call myself a legitimate outdoorsman. I romanticize the idea of living out in the bush, being off the grid, being self-sustaining, focusing on survival. But I know it’s not as lovely as I make it out to be in my imagination, nor do I have the skills needed, or maybe the will, to do it.
Godbreathed: What it Really Means for the Bible to be Divinely Inspired
Zack Hunt was shocked when his Old Testament professor slammed a Bible against the chalkboard and shouted, “Stop worshipping this book!”
(Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
The book of Hebrews argues that nothing compares with Jesus. Jesus is the living God, the everlasting high priest and the redeemer of humanity.
Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lay, painted by William Williams. (Wikipedia Commons)
In a time of great uncertainty, do we give up on worldly concerns, or try to return to a storied past? Or do we look ahead to what we can do for the future?
(Graphic by Betty Avery)
Column about Holy Land draws response
Mennonite youth gathering in Myanmar, April 2023. (Supplied photo)
I was recently tasked with writing a “giving catalogue” that will highlight various activities of Mennonite Church Canada International Witness.
(Photo by Central Photographic)
Peter J. Dyck was recognized with an honorary doctorate from the University of Waterloo on Oct. 18, 1974. Dyck was born in 1914 and immigrated with his family to a farm near Laird, Saskatchewan, in 1927. During World War II, he and his wife, Elfrieda were part of the MCC work in Europe helping refugees emigrate. Dyck studied and served as a pastor in the U.S.
(Photo by Gilbert Mercier, Flickr)
As a preteen more than 50 years ago, I remember asking my mom about the difference between Baptists and Mennonites, given that we were members of a Fellowship Baptist church while all our relatives were Mennonite Brethren. My mom stumbled to find an answer.
“Tree of Life,” by Saejin Lee. (Reprinted by permission of the artist)
If you have flipped through Voices Together, you have likely found that visually it looks like many other worship and song collections, with one noticeable difference: the inclusion of visual art. Unlike previous collections, the new hymnal contains 12 works of art which are interspersed throughout the collection, depicting acts of worship and aspects of the Christian story.
(Photo by Jordan Ling/Unsplash)
In my April column, I invited Canadian Mennonite readers to email me their experiences, thoughts and questions about the Holy Spirit. I’m humbled and grateful to the many people who took the time to formulate responses and send them to me. Thank you for trusting me with your stories. I have been encouraged.
(Photo by Daniel McCullough/Unsplash)
In his 2003 book, One Body, One Spirit: Principles of Successful Multiracial Churches, George Yancey shares the results of a major study funded by the Lily Endowment and conducted by Michael Emerson, Karen Chai and Yancey.
The researchers discuss four distinctive types of multiracial churches. Below, I analyze these types from a Mennonite perspective.
