Latest Posts
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Endangered Species: The Pulpit
I mean the physical object, the piece of furniture in ecclesiastical settings for preachers to use. There is no biblical mandate for this piece of furniture, so its use or non-use is a study in social history. What does the… Continue reading
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Michael Haug, Founder, Preacher, House Painter
Not many of us help to found a new denomination. The 16 names printed for over 75 years in “Origin of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ,” in the Discipline (like a constitution) of the members of the 1st meeting of… Continue reading
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Flossie Willison and the rest: Loving the Brothers and Sisters
Pursuing some history project, I came across an Ontario Conference Journal record that a certain “F. Willison” was “conditional” at the time the Conference needed to know who was available for stationing (assigning to ministry locations) in September 1932.1 My… Continue reading
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Fundamentalism and the EMCC 2
Continuing a survey of the intersection of fundamentalism and the Missionary Church. My idea is that the early Missionary Church, at least the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, approved some of the theological aims of the fundamentalist opposition to liberal theology… Continue reading
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Fundamentalism and the EMCC 1
This is my trouble–/These were my fathers/ So how am I supposed to feel?/ Way out on the rim of the broken wheel. from Bruce Cockburn, “Broken Wheel” (1981) When Presiding Elder Alvin Traub of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ… Continue reading
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Fred Carlton, Christian
I have written in EMCC History about forgotten women preachers in the Church’s history,1 but I should not make the opposite impression that there were no men who were lesser-known members of the ministry. Even today, people come and go… Continue reading
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Forming the Ministry: The Probationer’s Reading Course Part 2
Theology really matters. Like a worldview, of which it is a major part, one’s theology, what you really believe about God, Jesus, the universe and everything, will direct your life choices, your love-life with God and creation. So this examination… Continue reading
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Forming the Ministry: The Probationer’s Reading Course Part 1
Sarah Pool applied to be a “probationer” in the Canada Conference of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church in March 1894. She was from Markham, ON, and was hoping to be a preacher in the MBiC.1 The first interview she… Continue reading
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The Schlabachs and Migrant Workers
During an Emmanuel Bible College choir tour in 1978 or 1980, a fellow choir member and I were billeted in the Vineland, ON, home of Be and Mary Ann Schlabach. They were wonderful hosts, but little did I know what… Continue reading
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Local Church Histories: blessings and headaches for a historian
A big anniversary comes around for a congregation and often the members think of a big party, or possibly an anniversary booklet to celebrate. Parties are nice, but histories are the delight and the headache for people like me. We… Continue reading
EMCC History 