At LMC
Join the Lendrum Piecemakers on Saturday, February 25 to participate in the Great Winter Warm-Up! Drop in at the church any time between 9:30 and 3:30 to help tie quilts for MCC and contribute to their donation goal of 45000 blankets. No quilting experience is necessary—anyone who can tie knots and use a needle is welcome! Lunch will be provided.
Soup and Dessert Luncheons are coming up! There will be three dates: Feb. 26, March 5, and March 12. Please check the display in the foyer to see which week you are invited to, and, if you are unable to make it that week, move yourself to a different week. Church guests and youth and young adults are welcome every week. If you are able to bring buns, soup, or dessert, please contact your host.
Loaves and Fishes is coming up again on Saturday, March 4. Join us for food, fellowship, and fun at the church at 5:00 pm, and bring a potluck dish to share! More details will come next week.
In the community
Mennonite Central Committee
MCC is accepting donations to support people affected by the Feb. 6 earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. MCC is working with long-term partners in Aleppo and surrounding areas to provide emergency food, shelter, hygiene, sanitation supplies and trauma counselling. In a country already vulnerable from years of conflict, this was a devastating blow. You can share God’s love and compassion with our global neighbours by providing a gift online at mcccanada.ca/earthquake, by calling 888-622-6337 or by sending a cheque earmarked for “Syria and Türkiye earthquake” to your local MCC office.
Volunteer with MCC Thrift! Whether it’s sorting, pricing, or working at the cash register, volunteers are a vital part of MCC Thrift Shops. Become a volunteer in Taber, Edmonton, Lethbridge, or Calgary by filling out an interest form at www.thrift.mcc.org and you’ll be entered to win a $50 MCC Thrift gift card!
Relief, development and podcast. In this episode we bring you to the Mwenezi district of Zimbabwe to a program called Men Can Cook! A story of what happened when Zimbabweans from MCC’s local partner SCORE Against Poverty came together to create a program that addresses gender inequities in their community. Listen at: reliefdevelopmentpodcast.libsyn.com/men-can-cook-zimbabwe
Canadian Mennonite University
Face to Face | Polarization: Get over it! Stories that lead the way – Guest panelists will share examples and stories of how they’ve overcome polarization in big and small ways in their various contexts. Join in-person and livestream on Monday, February 27 at 7:00 PM CST. More information and livestream at cmu.ca/face2face.
John and Margaret Friesen Lectures – “The Neglected Role of Dutch Mennonite Innovators in the Scientific Revolution and Early Enlightenment” with Dr. Gary K. Waite, PhD, FRSC; Professor Emeritus, Dept. of History, University of New Brunswick. Watch in person or via livestream on Thursday, March 9 at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM CST. Visit cmu.ca/friesenlectures for more information.
Chester Ronning Centre
Blog: Don’t Secular-Wash Black People This Black History Month. February has been Black History Month. Check out a blog post from interim director Joseph Wiebe on the religious influences and convictions of well-known Black history-makers in Canada and the US.
Indigenous Speaker Series: Decolonizing Sex and Gender Identities. Tues. March 7, 2023 | 7 p.m. Join us during Augustana’s Pride Week for a panel discussion featuring three Indigenous activists who work to raise awareness about, advocate for, and celebrate Indigenous sexual and gender identities in a cisheteropatriarchal and colonized society. Learn more and register here.
An Evening with G. Willow Wilson. Mon. March 20, 2023 | 7 p.m. Muslim writer and convert, G. Willow Wilson—relauncher of the famous Ms. Marvel series, now a TV series on Disney+—is coming to Camrose. We will have the unique opportunity to hear from Wilson about the importance of religious representation in popular culture and her experience writing her memoir, fiction, and comic books for Marvel and D.C. Learn more and register here.
The King’s University
Everything Series: What Makes a People? “How does a random gathering of persons with different interests, representing different class, race, and gender particularities, become a people?” Professor of Theology Stephen W. Martin examines this question and relates it back to the work of the church in his public lecture on March 21, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Dr. Martin’s current research is on contemporary political theologies.
Richard Eaton Singers
Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Concert on Friday, March 31, 2023 at 7:30 pm at the Winspear Center. Mendelssohn’s Elijah is undoubtedly one of the greatest choral/orchestral masterpieces of all time. Last performed by Richard Eaton Singers in 2012 to great acclaim, this magnificent choral work has remained enduringly popular with audiences since the first public performance on August 26, 1846. Produced by RES in 1977 and 1981, and in the opening season of the Winspear Centre in 1998. Elijah is beloved by RES choristers, who are excited, once again, to showcase this masterpiece.
Featuring Dr Leonard Ratzlaff as conductor in his final concert in the Winspear as the Music Director of Richard Eaton Singers.
Learn more and get tickets on the Winspear website.
Russlaender 100 Tour
There are still a few seats available for the third leg of the Memories of Migration: Russlaender 100 Tour. Take in the Rocky Mountains along with author Armin Wiebe, song leader Henry Engbrecht, and tour leaders Henry Paetkau, Ingrid Moehlmann, and me. Enjoy a reflection from renowned writer Rudy Wiebe and learn more about the experiences of the Russlaender in the Soviet Union and Canada. The tour will conclude with a lively concert highlighting music of the “old country” and the new lands where the Russlaender Mennonites settled, and a gathering with the Indigenous community from the Fraser Valley to acknowledge the displacement of the Stó:lō Nation caused by the draining of Sumas Lake.