Saving Germany: North American Protestants and Christian Mission to West Germany, 1945-1974 is a book about North American Protestant efforts to “save” Germany from social and political chaos and spiritual...
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Lessons for our spring quarter are titled “Acknowledging God,” a broad theme that includes both familiar and lesser-known texts. The subtitle for our March lessons is “Follow in My Ways,” and includes...
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Although I am Canadian, I’m a bit of a U.S. Civil War buff. For a long time I’ve been fascinated by that terrible war — how it started, the military strategies and campaigns, the lives of ordinary...
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Mennonites first came to Pennsylvania more than 300 years ago, attracted by American values like freedom of religion and the ability to act according to one’s conscience. An initial act for those early...
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It grieves me when I read or hear about my Christian brothers and sisters for whom abortion is the highest priority in their participation in political life. We slap labels on each other with so little nuance...
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Tabitha’s story is life-giving in more ways than one. Honestly, simply reading, “There was a disciple whose name was Tabitha” quickens my heartbeat, so seldom have I been shown the lives and told the...
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Lancaster Mennonite Conference’s divorce from Mennonite Church USA became official Jan. 1. The separation reflects the tensions that have plagued the denomination since its inception, but it says more about...
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There is a sculpture of Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea on a bluff above the Missouri River in Great Falls, Mont. As they point west, they seem to dream beyond the setting sun. They believe they’ll find lands...
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Many Mennonite congregations provide sexuality education for their youth, at least on paper. Many churches include it in the four-year Sunday school curriculum, alongside baptism and the Bible. Why does...
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Parts of U.S. immigration policy make no sense unless viewed through the lens of racism. The current system spends billions of dollars each year to prosecute, detain and deport hundreds of thousands of people,...
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In early January, Oprah Winfrey gave an astounding speech at The Golden Globe awards, accepting the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement and declaring “a new day is on the horizon” for women who...
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Why does violence happen? How can we make sense of it? How can we prevent it? These questions are by no means particular to Christians. A leading reason people distance themselves from Christianity is it...
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“What are the markers of Anabaptism?” asked Nelson Kraybill, president of Mennonite World Conference, to a panel at the annual meeting of the North American Anabaptist mission agencies this winter. It is a...
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In my last column I quoted a person who responded to the world’s chaotic state by saying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” He was a far-right evangelical Christian who supported the government’s harmful actions...
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What good is it if you say you have faith but do not have works? James’ question in chapter 2 doesn’t so much pit faith and works against each other, as two opposing beliefs about the path to salvation, as...
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There are blonde jokes, lawyer jokes and Polish jokes. And then there are Mennonite jokes. As a Mennonite, and a plain Mennonite at that, I like the Mennonite jokes best. It is the perverse nature of humanity...
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“God sees the sparrows.” This phrase’s comforting appeal melted as I watched our cat dining on a sparrow. Life can be bloody and cruel. God seeing sparrows didn’t change this bird’s demise. Jesus’...
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I met Urbane Peachey about 20 years ago. I’d just accepted an invitation to serve as interim pastor for Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, Pa. He was one of the pastors at Akron Mennonite Church, the...
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In the name of Jesus, Paul and Silas healed a slave girl at Philippi whose owners exploited her for money as a fortune-teller (Acts 16). When the owners “saw that their hope of making money was gone, they...
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The language of confession is both under- and overused at present, in different ways. On the one hand, in church settings most of us practice confession in a corporate manner, speaking in unison our...
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The final project of our Christian Ethics class last semester was a field trip rooted in the implications of what we learned. My small class of four students chose to focus on learning African-American history...
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Every December, my partner, John, and I review our charitable giving and develop a budget for the year ahead. We’ve found developing a budget requires us think about what organizations, including our local...
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“Why are evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics overrepresented among those who experience higher levels of guilt, regret and uncertainty in the face of impending death?” That’s a question a...
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When a congregation goes through a pastoral transition, it has a lot of conversations. What do we want in a pastor? A good preacher? An activist? Someone who is good at visitation? Someone skilled in conflict...
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Bruxy Cavey’s (Re)union: The Good News of Jesus for Seekers, Saints and Sinners gave me a glimpse into megachurch theology attempting to work itself out within Anabaptism. Cavey is the teaching pastor for...
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