People & events

Twenty-six university students from across Canada participated in a Mennonite Central Committee seminar in Ottawa Feb. 3–6, learning about issues and processes in Canadian government, meeting Christian politicians like Bill Blaikie and Jason Kenney, and exploring the intersection of Christian faith and public policy. They simulated a parliamentary committee hearing on the First Nations Governance Act and enacted a “blanket exercise” to learn how Aboriginal people were dispossessed. MCC holds similar seminars in Washington and at the U.N. annually.

—MCC

The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. has rejected a request to reconsider the landmark 1973 ruling in the Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion in America. The request for reconsideration was filed by Norma McCorvey, who was “Jane Roe” in the earlier case. “We need a new court to hear Norma’s complaint – which is that abortion hurts women,” said Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst at Focus on the Family.

—EP News

Florida governor Jeb Bush visited a Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) site in Century, Fla. Feb. 25 and left behind a cheque for $100,000 US from the state’s Hurricane Relief Fund. MDS also received a grant of over $30,000 US from the Volunteer Florida Foundation, Inc. to help defray some of the expenses of current projects. Since August, more than 1,000 volunteers have worked an equivalent of 6,800 days on over 500 houses, doing debris cleanup, repair or complete rebuilds.

—MDS

Anabaptists “down under” celebrated ten years, as 47 members of the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand met near Canberra recently for their bi-annual conference. The theme was “Christianity and Violence.” Speaker Dr. Chris Marshall of New Zealand said Anabaptist theology offers an alternative to crusading and just war theology and something positive for a world facing annihilation. The group responded eagerly to the idea of connecting missionally with Timor, one of their closest and poorest neighbours.

—Mennonite World Conference

The Burnaby Pacific Grace Church has moved. Formerly located at 340 Ellesmere Ave. in Burnaby, the congregation is now at 3883 Triumph Street in Burnaby. Leader of the church is Sabrina Bach.

—church notice

Something’s off: applicants who hacked into the admission sites of Harvard Business School, MIT and Carnegie Mellon to check the status of their application recently, after a hacker posted instructions on an online forum, have been rejected. Several schools are still deliberating. When several applicants told the press they didn’t consider their actions unethical, MIT dean Richard Schmalensee said, “If you don’t realize you shouldn’t do that, something’s off.”

—EP News

The condemnations of Anabaptists in the Augsburg Confession of Faith, still the primary confession of Lutherans worldwide, will be the initial focus of a joint Study Commission appointed by the Lutheran World Federation and Mennonite World Conference (MWC). The commission will hold its first meeting in Strasbourg, France June 27 to July 1 this year.

—MWC

More than 70 bankruptcy attorneys who are Christians have issued an open letter warning that a bankruptcy bill (S.256) pending in the U.S. Senate runs contrary to biblical teaching on forgiveness of debt and charity. The legislation would make it more difficult for American families in financial distress to file for bankruptcy in order to rebuild their lives. The notion that the system is being “abused” is false, they say; families are driven to bankruptcy largely by “catastrophes.” Credit card banks, with record profits of more than $30 billion last year, push easy credit but face no limitations on “exorbitant and usurious fees and charges.”

—Religion News

A “mini-assembly” of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is being proposed for 2006, to be held in Pasadena, Calif., March 9–15, when the General Council, Peace Council and Faith and Life Council are meeting for business sessions. It will reflect the global character of MWC, but not the numbers of a traditional assembly. Material on how to participate will be sent to congregations as details develop.

—MWC

Teresa Kellerman (right) spoke candidly about the impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) on the family at an Mennonite Central Committee event in Winnipeg Feb. 18 called “Riding the Rollercoaster: The Impact of FASD on the Family.” She is the adoptive mother of two young adults with special needs, one of whom has FASD. A child’s behavioural problems can isolate parents, she said; public perception that they don’t “have control” of their kids can lead to anger, withdrawal or seclusion. Irma Janzen (left) leads MCC Manitoba’s Mental Health and Disabilities program.

—MCC

Gerald Vandezande, retired founder and longtime leader of Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), was awarded the Kroeger College Award for Ethics in Public Affairs at Carleton University Feb. 9, given to an individual or organization “that has been an inspiring example of the importance of ethics and values in public life.” Last year’s recipient was Romeo Dallaire. CPJ was founded mainly by Dutch immigrants of the Reformed faith.

—Christian Courier

What-will-they-think-of-next dept.: Athletes Church Extreme (ACE) of New Zealand conducts their baptisms as a bungee jump off a bridge into the river below and celebrates communion in a freefall from 10,000 feet while holding hands in a formation known as “the fellowship of the ring.” They pass bread and wine before parachutes deploy. The Eucharist is dangerous, says an ACE leader, and skydiving reflects that call to danger.

—Leadership

Columbia Bible College (CBC) in Abbotsford has entered a “memorandum of understanding” with Fresno (Calif.) Pacific University, citing commonalities in purpose, foundation, and vision for academic excellence and spiritual growth. The agreement was signed Feb. 5 between presidents Paul Wartman of CBC and Merrill Ewert of FPU, and may involve collaboration in online course work and student exchange. Patmos, a trio of Moldavian musicians, performed at the event.

—Canadian Mennonite

How “help” grows: The 79 families who lost their homes in Barriere/Louis Creek, B.C. wildfires are raising $15,000 to build a school in Indonesia destroyed by the tsunami, reports Waldo Neufeld, chair of Mennonite Disaster Service B.C. The families said their effort is a response to the help they got from volunteers in rebuilding their own lives and communities.

—MDS

Forest Grove Community Church (MB), Saskatoon, now has a congregational nurse, the only one in a Saskatchewan Mennonite church. Judy Johnson assists the pastoral team of the congregation, which has attendance of nearly 900, doing health promotion, counselling, and making assessments and referrals. Mennonite Central Committee is funding the program for one year. Johnson works with a congregational Health Cabinet that lets her know of needs. Other MB churches with congregational nurses include Port Rowan, Ont. and Dalhousie Community Church, Calgary (see MB Herald, Oct. 15, 2004).

—Canadian Mennonite

Committee members are (l–r) Sarah Thompson (North America), Amandus Reimer (South America), Elina Ciptadi (Asia), Khohlwani Moyo (Africa) and Barbara Kärcher (Europe). Photo: Ross Muir of Canadian Mennonite

Youth want to be involved in decisions in their churches, especially on issues relating to them. This is a message a five-member youth committee will give in its action plan to the next Mennonite World Conference (MWC) executive committee meeting. After 18 months of e-mail contact, the group (created after the 2003 Global Youth Summit in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), now called “AMIGOS: A global community of youth Anabaptists” had their first face-to-face meeting in St. Jacobs, Ont. with Elina Ciptadi of Jakarta, Indonesia, as chair. They discussed challenges like living in a pluralistic world, bringing intimacy with God back to their families and church, and mentoring youth in the church, as well as concerns unique to their continent.

—MWC release

An executive order from the prime minister of Vietnam that may give Protestant Christians greater freedom and legal registration for groups active in the country prior to 1975 has raised dissension in the Vietnam Mennonite Church. President of the church, Nguyen Quang Trung, had entered conversation with government officials to discuss procedures for registration. Some members of the executive committee requested he suspend talks until the church’s general secretary, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, be released from prison as a sign of the government’s good faith and declared no confidence in his leadership. Trung then re-organized the administrative committee to include his supporters. Some within the church are trying to reconcile the two positions.

—Mennonite World Conference

Dutch Mennonites hope to construct an international Menno Simons Centre for Study and rebuild the only monument commemorating the birthplace of Menno Simons. Erected 125 years ago, the monument needs restoration. Plans also include that the hidden church that once stood on the spot be outlined in original form using simple materials such as walls made of hedges, in keeping with the idea of field preaching. A group of some 200 people met last fall to consider these plans, as well as bicycle and auto “Menno-routes” through northwest Friesland that would stop at historic Mennonite churches and the Centre. Presently financial resources are a problem in implementing the plans.

—Mennonite World Conference