Mennonite Brethren in Christ
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Blessed Assurance Part 2
I wrote a lot about John Wesley (1703-1791) and his theology of assurance in EMCC History, “Blessed Assurance Part 1.” But the forebears of the Missionary Churches and the EMCC in the 19th century did not learn of Wesley’s teaching… Continue reading
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The Alexander Sisters: Overlooked Women Preachers
Forgotten Women Preachers series 5. Muriel Isabelle and Annie G Alexander were women in the City Mission Workers Society,1 and their younger sister Irene married a pastor of the Ontario Conference of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church. That is… Continue reading
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The Sherkston field: Forgotten MBiC believers
Not only have there been forgotten workers, men and women, in the EMCC, there are forgotten communities of believers that flourished for a while but have died out. Jesus in the book of Revelation warned a church their lamp stand… Continue reading
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Mennonite Brethren in Christ Public Worship and
the United Missionary Church of Africa Part 1 This background to UMCA worship patterns is excerpted from an essay I wrote for a conference in Ilorin, Nigeria, in November 2019. The convener, Rev Professor Samuel Ango, a UMCA scholar and… Continue reading
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We Worship Part 3
What is worship, after all? Much has been written and preached in the last generation or two about worship. I have heard many talks and books recall the etymology of the English word: Old English “weorth-shipe,” ascribing worth or honour… Continue reading
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We Worship Part 2
The first members of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church in the very end of 1883, were practically all from the Mennonite Conferences, and had therefore grown up worshiping in the North American/ Pennsylvania Swiss-South German style.1 John C Wenger… Continue reading
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Self-Denial Days
Years ago, researching other things in the Gospel Banner, I noted letters to the editor about “self-denial.” It sounded like a Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church institution of some sort which had not survived by that name into the era… Continue reading
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How Sunday Schools Progressed in the Ontario Conference
As I mentioned in the previous blog about EMCC Sunday Schools, the United Mennonite merging conference in Bloomingdale, Waterloo County, Canada, in 1875, resolved “That Sunday schools shall be organized and supported by all our power.”1 As early as the… 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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Christmas in the Church
Since my family didn’t begin attending the United Missionary Church until I was 11, my earliest memory of a Christmas church celebration is from the United Church of Canada. If the United Churches my family attended held Christmas pageants or… Continue reading
EMCC History 