October 2013

October MB Herald content

Just over 50 youth leaders (youth pastors, volunteer adult leaders, and student leaders) from 9 of Ontario MB churches gathered at Camp Crossroads, Torrance, Ont., Oct. 25–27 for a weekend of worshipping God, receiving biblical teaching, participating in team building & leadership exercises, and connecting with each other.

So begins Daniel McIvor’s play, Communion, a Ruby Slippers Theatre production hosted and presented by Vancouver’s Pacific Theatre, Oct. 25–Nov. 9. Communion is an exploration of the dynamics of relationships; what draws people together and what keeps them apart. In this 90-minute drama, the audience is privy to three intimate and intense conversations.

MDS is about partnership, says director of Region V (Canada) operations Janet Plenert. Board members welcomed Anabaptist church partners to the Mennonite Heritage Gallery, Winnipeg, Oct. 25, 2013, to dedicate and bless a new sleeping trailer.

Engage the study conference discussions at studyconference.mennonitebrethren.ca.

Mennonites offered an expression of reconciliation to their Aboriginal neighbours at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s sixth National Event, Sept. 18-21, in Vancouver. The commission’s mandate is to gather stories and raise awareness about the impacts of the residential school system on Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.

Angela and I have known each other since we were 13. We met at Summer Magic day camp, where we both served as junior volunteers. I recall feeling very grown-up…

Thabang Mpokathe was not supposed to make it into MCC’s International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP). The third applicant from Lesotho (a country only granted two), he was missing an important reference, and he lacked confidence.

Through high and low points over the past 150 years, Mennonite Brethren have been learning how to speak about their initial and ongoing conversions. This history reminds us that our…

World Food Day – Oct. 16  World Food Day was founded by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Quebec City in 1945 to raise awareness…

present tense: a Mennonite spirituality
Author: Gordon Houser
A gentle and personal book, present tense covers eight main distinctives Gordon Houser sees as characterizing Mennonite spirituality: practice, patience, peace, politics, play, prayer, perfection, and presence. The book offers practical reflections on how these eight characteristics have been carried out by Mennonites, and how readers might observe them in their own lives.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus heals a woman so crippled in body she couldn’t stand up straight for 18 years. Not only does Jesus free the woman from her physical ailment, he ministers emotional and spiritual healing by chastising those who criticize her, and naming her a daughter of Abraham. “This is my story,” says singer/songwriter Cathy AJ Hardy.

Lavern is a big, black woman who stands behind a hot grill making omelettes for resort guests every morning. She doesn’t look like she particularly enjoys it. A guest at…

Ken Stoesz began as pastor at Elmwood MB Church Aug. 1, 2013. He previously served 9 years with Nassau Street Church (formerly Gospel Mennonite), Winnipeg, as associate pastor of evangelism.…

Ephesians 2:8–10  Recently, a story circulated on Facebook about pastor Steepek who allegedly went to his new church dressed as a homeless man. It told how everyone was unwelcoming and ignored…