News

MCEC Call to Prayer for Sunday, June 7, 2020

MCEC, in solidarity with its sister regions of Mennonite Church Canada, asks all MCEC congregations to set aside a specific time of prayer on Sunday, June 7 to be in intercession for our sisters and brothers of colour in Canada and the USA as we lament the injustice and violence suffered by people of colour.

This nationwide call to prayer is a call for the church to boldly stand against racism that rips apart the social fabric of both of our countries. As a church, we speak for a God who made all persons in the image of the Creator’s likeness. We are called to raise our voices and prayers and denounce the evil that racism inflicts upon our fellow human beings.

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Mennonite Church Canada donates $50,000 to Mennonite World Conference for COVID-19 relief fund; asks constituents to match or exceed donation

Mennonite Church Canada is donating $50,000 to the Global Sharing Fund operated by Mennonite World Conference / Congreso Mundial Menonita / Conférence Mennonite Mondiale (MWC) to help MWC-member churches struggling because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

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Chaplaincy in Long Term Care - Touched by the Loving Hands of Seniors

“It’s the best job in the world,” says Bev Suderman Gladwell, recently retired chaplain from Parkwood Mennonite Home. “Where else can you do a walking hymn sing, then share communion with someone who is really fragile, or sit with a family as a loved one experiences end of life?”

Bev Suderman Gladwell was chaplain at Parkwood Mennonite Home for 16 1/2 years. In 2009 she was ordained to special ministry as a chaplain at a service held at Parkwood Mennonite Home. Her home congregation, Waterloo North Mennonite Church, recognized her as a ministering person and requested her ordination from MCEC. Meet Bev, an MCEC pastor...

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Embodying God's mission with authenticity

At the 2020 Mennonite Church Canada study conference, plenary speakers from Mennonite Church Canada-affiliated schools will share on themes of ecclesiology, worship and mission.

For the five-person team planning the conference, these themes are essential for our time. The global pandemic has scattered our worshipping bodies and introduced new ways of being church together. The team sees the present moment as an opportunity to discern, discuss and explore what we really mean what we say when we are church.

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Sharing Across Zoom from Canada to Vietnam

The pictures were unbelievable as Chung Vang, pastor at First Hmong Mennonite Church, viewed his email. The damage was so extensive. Mangoes lay on the ground surrounded by round bits of ice. Pieces of roof lay broken on the ground around homes. Houses were completely open to the elements. It was hard to imagine that hail the size of chicken eggs had fallen on the village in Vietnam and destroyed so much.

“God is opening a new door for us at First Hmong to connect with our brothers and sisters around the world,” says Pastor Chung at First Hmong Mennonite Church.

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Open to us a door by Doug Klassen

Yet I feel the need to reflect on this moment. I think it is significant. While this scramble to offer digital worship services is understandable, I believe COVID-19 has revealed how “worship-focused” western churches are at the expense of being missional communities. I knew this, but I had not seen it as starkly as I do now.

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