WINNIPEG, Man. — I was grateful for the opportunity in early May to sit around the dinner table on a Manitoba farm and share a Mennonite feast with local friends, some Mennonite Central Committee colleagues...
[read more]The video begins with a map of Western Europe, a dot hovering over Zurich. The scene shifts as a voice with a Pennsylvania Dutch lilt describes the baptism of Felix Manz in 1521. Woodcut pictures cross the...
[read more]I often encounter Christians who once were fundamentalists but now distance themselves from that kind of faith, which they found to be spiritually oppressive. Often, this distancing has to do with the...
[read more]I read with interest Harold N. Miller’s thoughtful opinion piece, “Scripture Overrules Experience” (March 27). I support his statement that an argument from experience alone on the LGBT issue “is not...
[read more]For many of us, church feels good and safe. We were loved there as children and respected there as adults. In fact, we often describe our churches as “families” or caring communities where all are...
[read more]Many in our church are sure we should fully include those in same-sex marriages, blessing their covenants and credentialing their pastoral gifts. I would like to join them. Life is simpler when we move with...
[read more]The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches faces many challenges: financial, organizational, ecclesiological, sociological, operational and theological. This article focuses mainly on...
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When Anne and Daniel Garber Kompaoré talk of their work in North America, they are often met with questions. Anne works as a Bible translation consultant with Mennonite Mission Network and has lived in...
[read more]It is time for all neighbor-loving Christians to get on board with the movement to transition away from fossil fuels. To learn some reasons why, consider the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Catholic...
[read more]I joined Christian Peacemaker Teams-Palestine in 2002, where I wrote countless reports, met with State Department officials five times and visited 51 congressional offices — all resulting in little change to...
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On the second Sunday of Advent, I was part of a historic celebration of the power of nonviolent resistance. At Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, thousands of voices cried out in America’s wilderness. Sunday,...
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Runners don’t improve by sitting around and talking about the sport. They get better by running. If you doubt that you can finish a five-kilometer race, the only way to find out is to try it. In September...
[read more]Before I retired, I taught in the Biblical Studies department at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Each fall term, I was assigned two sections of a required course, Encountering the Bible. Each section had...
[read more]The transformative power of the process that sought to end Colombia’s 50-year civil war was evident in the bilateral cease-fire and the FARC guerrillas’ commitment to meet their objectives through dialogue...
[read more]A Mennonite conference took action this summer to make the church a safer space by enhancing the accountability of its credentialed leaders. Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA, which includes 33...
[read more]While living in Botswana, I talked with a friend who wore a medallion identifying him as a member of the Zion Christian Church. Attached to it was a fringe of blue cloth. I asked what that meant. “I do it...
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On a Sunday afternoon, after a sedate morning worship gathering, I took a hand-lettered sign and boarded the train to join whatever marchers might be gathering in downtown Atlanta after the latest spate of gun...
[read more]We Mennonites often worry about compromises we make with secular culture. But just as often we are unaware of, or choose to ignore, the compromises we make by adhering to our religious cultures. Openness to...
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God is at work and the gospel is alive in our cities, towns and communities. This is the message Marty Troyer shares in his new book, The Gospel Next Door, released by Herald Press. Troyer is the pastor of...
[read more]Virginia Mennonite Conference has suspended the ministerial credentials of my pastor, Isaac Villegas of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship in North Carolina, because he officiated at a same-sex wedding. Villegas...
[read more]Suppose you were to ask a Mennonite, “What does Jesus command his followers to do?” Ironically, one common response would come from the Old Testament, or at least Jesus quoting the Old Testament: Love God...
[read more]This year’s U.S. presidential election may be the most important in my lifetime. Let me be clear: Politics is not the most important thing in life. Being the church, living out day by day what it means to be...
[read more]I share the longing of many others in the Mennonite church for an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, and I grieve the suffering of Palestinian people. But I have reservations about the...
[read more]Ties aren’t just underappreciated in American society, they are vilified. That’s why baseball has no limit to its innings, while ties are intrinsic to the more global sport of soccer. Yet, the tied Supreme...
[read more]Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met with President Obama and members of Congress in February, seeking further support and funding for his country. He says that 15 years ago Colombia was almost a failed...
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