Mennonite Brethren in Christ

  • 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

    A Speculation About Theodore Roosevelt
  • 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

    Mergers That Didn’t Happen Part 2
  • 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

    Mergers That Didn’t Happen Part 1
  • 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

    UFO Politician: The Honourable Beniah Bowman
  • 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

    UFO Politician: Preacher Beniah Baer Bowman
  • 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

    Washing of the Saints’ Feet
  • 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

    Mennonite Armenian mission Part 3
  • 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

    How to Kill a Program of “Women in Ministry” Part 1
  • Uncredentialed

    Some women in the early EMCC in Ontario served in public church work outside the City Mission Workers Society (CMWS). Noted in Church literature, or hired/appointed by local congregations, they were uncredentialed by the MBiC Ontario Conference 1885-1946. Elizabeth Risdon,… Continue reading

    Uncredentialed
  • One Hundred and Thirty-Three Women

    Banner: City Mission women early 1930s. Back: L to R: Annie Srigley, Martha Doner, Edith Raymer, unknown, unknown, Front: Rosie Sargeant, unknown, unknown, Annie Yeo, unknown, Winnie Barfoot? From a reader-friendly-blog point of view, I am going to do something… Continue reading

    One Hundred and Thirty-Three Women