Short stuff

Casting Crowns cements its place as one of the most respected and popular groups in Christian music with multiple nominations for the Gospel Music Awards, to be presented April 5 in Nashville. The group got nods in five categories and lead singer and songwriter Mark Hall got four, including Male Vocalist of the Year.

“How long are the church services?” and “how do Mennonite folks feel about Christmas presents?” are just two of hundreds of questions answered last year at the Third Way Café, a website produced by Mennonite Media on behalf of the Mennonite churches of the U.S. and Canada. Besides Q & A, the site offers columns on family and spiritual life, movie reviews, ideas for living peacefully, and more.

—The Mennonite

Ray Dirks, an artist and photographer who has been called “a visual theologian,” is available to give multimedia presentations on the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dirks earlier served with MB Mission and Service in DR Congo and visited the country again last year. He seeks to show “the beauty and dignity of common people struggling to persevere.”

After touring Africa, Europe, and North America, “In God’s Image: A Global Anabaptist Family” – a collection of about 100 pieces of art from 17 countries that premiered at the Mennonite World Conference in Zimbabwe in 2003 – will find a permanent home in Winnipeg at Canadian Mennonite University.

Canadian Bible Society is celebrating its 100th year by releasing “Good News Celebration,” a CD of 15 Canadian Christian artists, including Brian Doerksen, Steve Bell and First Nations singer Cheryl Bear, singing original songs inspired by Scripture.

Patrons needed! A CD featuring Taize music is the newest fundraising project of Mennonite Central Committee Supportive Care Services, which has been providing support to seniors and people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, brain injuries, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in B.C.’s Fraser Valley since 1974. MCC SCS has often collaborated with local musicians to produce CDs whose sales fund programs. To help sponsor this release, contact MCC SCS.