Sufjan StevensSufjan Stevens has been releasing electronic and folk music on the Asthmatic Kitty label since 2000, but is most well known for his 2005 album Illinois, which is often listed as one of the best albums of the decade.
The Naked Anabaptist is a runaway best-seller; Google to scan Dead Sea Scrolls for online posting
The B.C. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches is listed among more than two dozen defendants in a Province of B.C. lawsuit.
For the first time in the history of the Canadian Conference of MB Churches (CCMBC), church planters from across Canada gathered together for a retreat. It provided rest, worship, networking, recreation, and inspiration for the couples and individuals who came.
New Perspectives in Believers Church EcclesiologyEditors: Abe Dueck, Helmut Harder, Karl KoopCanadian Mennonites are a group in an identity crisis. New Perspectives in Believers Church Ecclesiology addresses the challenges facing the believers church family. The editors assure us the essays provide a rich diet of “food for thought” and that this is “good news for the church.”
Adjusting to a new language and culture isn’t easy. Suad Saidam, her husband Mamdoh, and their children Tabarak, 12, Ali, 11, Assal, 10, Yuseef, 6, have only been in Canada for a few months through Mennonite Central Committee’s Private Sponsorship program, but they’re working hard to make a life for themselves here.
“Don’t be afraid” (Luke 2:10). The angel of the Lord spoke those words to the marginalized and forgotten of society in occupied territory. Their lives were full of hardship and threats, but unexpected supernatural visitors were something else. When an ordinary winter’s night safeguarding obstinate animals is rent by divine light and a loud voice, there’s good reason to tremble.
Some church traditions observe a fast in the Advent season. In the Roman church, the Advent fast was usually kept only two days a week, and has now been reduced to the vigil for Immaculate Conception and the three days of Ember Week, after the fast of St Lucia. Eastern churches, which do not observe a liturgical season in preparation for Christmas, instead observe a three-week or 40-day fast.
Ruth Naylor is a retired pastor, ordained in Mennonite Church USA, who works as a spiritual director. She has taught English and creative writing, and has published numerous poems and …
Alvin G. Ens is a freelance writer from Abbotsford, B.C.