I love questions. I love dreaming them up, twisting, stretching, pulling, and bending them, letting them stew in my brain and heart. I’d rather simmer in a good question than a hot-tub any day. Sometimes I get into trouble asking people to join me in the pot but I think I’m in good company.
What a difference 50 years makes!
Over the past five decades, congregational worship in many of our churches has undergone dramatic change. We’ve seen changes in the language used in worship – from German to English and more. We’ve also seen a steady move away from formality to a more casual approach in language, leadership style, and even dress.On the eastern side of an Alberta concave curvature – overlooking fields of cattle and grain, sweeping into the western foothills and up into the snow-capped Rockies – stands a farm, its entrance in friendly greeting: Welcome to the Evergreen Farm. A partnership consisting of two former refugees and one Canadian bachelor set out to make this place and their living on it an all-inclusive welcome to community – strangers, neighbours, church – Christ’s call to practical discipleship.
The following is a conversation between MB Herald interim editor J Janzen and Canadian Mennonite University faculty Gerry Ediger (professor emeritus of Christian history) and Gordon Matties (associate professor of biblical studies & theology, and dean of humanities and sciences). Together, they challenge the idea that study is only for academics and explore what mindful discipleship might look like for the ordinary Christian.
We learn best when outside our comfort zones. At Metro Community (Willow Park Church) in the core of Kelowna, B.C., the distant cultures of “normal” and “street” cause one to be suddenly off-balance. Serving here, my wife and I discovered early on that our best teachers were broken, addicted, sometimes only a few days along the road to recovery.
Text Examined: Hebrews 5:13-6:1 – “As much as we try to avoid any hint of superiority in matters of faith, the fact remains that we are called, as we mature, to grow in an ever-deepening understanding and experience of our faith. The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that we are to make a clear distinction between what is elemental to our faith and what is food that leads to maturity (5:12–14).”
Once a month, Gracepoint pastor Bill Hogg presides at a bar – and he invites anyone to join him. Hogg, several “expert” panellists, and guests meet at Belle’s Restaurant in Surrey, B.C., on the last Monday of the month to feed their bodies, minds, and souls with lively discussion on contemporary issues around faith and culture. The discussion podcasts are then posted on The Kindlings Muse – Canada West website (www.thekindlings.ca).
Infertility is also an opportunity, re: July; Don’t forget MDS, re: September; Interesting but hard to read, re: MB Herald print size
Changes for Jon Isaak
Introducing Richard Hovey, Ben KRamer, Carmyn Campbell, Mike Rea, Josh Reimer, Byron Rempel-Burkholder, Don Epp
Farewell to Nathan Koslowsky, Ferne Burkhardt, J. Lorne Peachey, Wendell Andres, Sandy DerksenFair trade: A human journey, Author: Eric St-Pierre; “What is an Anabaptist Christian?”, Author: Palmer Becker; Knowing and living your faith in many tongues, Author: ICOMB