Mennonite Brethren in Christ
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Early EMCC Sunday Schools: Background
The EMCC Sunday School is in decline at this writing, judging by annual reports, or lack of them, from congregations. (Beginning in 1986, more and more EMCC congregations failed to report their statistics, especially their Sunday School numbers.) The form… Continue reading
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Levi and Fannie Raymer, Sunnidale Township, Simcoe County
Like Priscilla and Aquila in the Bible, Levi and Fannie Raymer stand out as married disciples of Christ in the history of the MBiC in Ontario. What they left behind intrigues me. First, Fannie Raymer (1844-1927) left a short manuscript… Continue reading
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A Speculation About Theodore Roosevelt
Sometime before 1947, when the Mennonite Brethren in Christ changed its name to the United Missionary Church, a certain “Mrs W J Sproule” donated a book to the “Stayner Mennonite [ie MBiC] S. S.” That was very kind of her.… Continue reading
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Mergers That Didn’t Happen Part 2
Denominations have fallen on hard days in North America though they are flourishing in much of the rest of the world. In the last Canadian census, 2 million Christian respondents declined to name a denomination as their religious identity, a… Continue reading
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Mergers That Didn’t Happen Part 1
As the old joke goes, “Put two [you name the religious group] in a room and you will get three opinions.” Baptists, Jews, Mennonites, et al– humans are prone to divide. Websites on the internet claim there are about 44,000… Continue reading
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UFO Politician: The Honourable Beniah Bowman
Beniah Bowman had a new job from October 1918: he was elected to the provincial legislature as the honourable member for Manitoulin in a by-election for the United Farmers of Ontario, (UFO—changed in connotation now!) He was their first elected… Continue reading
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UFO Politician: Preacher Beniah Baer Bowman
Mennonites in the 19th century were leery of politics and discouraged their members from participating in political parties, or standing for election. In the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church, there was no hard rule about it; members did get involved… Continue reading
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Washing of the Saints’ Feet
When my family settled in Hamilton, Ontario, in 2001 so I could attend McMaster Divinity College, we went knowing that just a few years before, the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada congregation there (Calvary) had closed. I chose the church… Continue reading
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Mennonite Armenian mission Part 3
The United Orphanage and Mission Early EMCC personnel played a significant role relieving destitute Armenians after each wave of persecution in Turkey in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Max Haines, a member and former pastor of the Missionary… Continue reading
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How to Kill a Program of “Women in Ministry” Part 1
Why are there no discussions about the problem of “Men in Ministry”?1 Think about that while we turn to the disabilities that hampered and practically shut down the public ministry of women in the early EMCC in Ontario by about… Continue reading
EMCC History 