Gordon Toombs had the best intentions. He wanted to stay faithful to his belief that Jesus taught all his followers to be non-violent peacemakers. When the Canadian government conscripted him for World War in 1941, they promised he could serve as a medic by declaring himself a conscientious objector (CO). That promise was broken. Gordon felt he had betrayed his deeply held beliefs - and kept his failed CO declaration a secret for 60 years. This is his story.

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Church and state: How can we create space for meaningful interaction? How should the church call governing leaders to accountability, and how can we do this fruitfully? And how can the church be faithful in its relations with the state? This episode's guest, Reverend Doctor Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, helps explore this topic as Canada prepares to host the G8 leaders as well as a G8 Religious Leaders Summit. What can the church do to hold leaders accountable to the Millennium Development Goals?

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When the news is full of stories about devalued pension plans and retirement savings, even God's people can be tempted to make ethically questionable investments that promise temptingly high returns. What is the role of the church in tough economic times? Gary Hawton, CEO of Meritas, a socially responsible investment firm, has some words of wisdom for jittery Christians in times such as these.

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The many recent books on the market indicate a strong, renewed interest in Jesus. Some works tackle Jesus as a highly moral man with some good teachings, others interpret Jesus as a divine messenger from God. Authors use research from historical documents, scholarly works, and archaeological information. This episode explores how we know what we know about Jesus, and what this means for the church.

Guest: Tom Yoder Neufeld, associate professor of Religious Studies at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, author and respected scholar on Jesus, and a speaker much in demand. He has also been a Mennonite pastor and prison chaplain.

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The many recent books on the market indicate a strong, renewed interest in Jesus. Some works tackle Jesus as a highly moral man with some good teachings, others interpret Jesus as a divine messenger from God. Authors use research from historical documents, scholarly works, and archaeological information. This episode explores how we know what we know about Jesus, and what this means for the church.

Guest: Tom Yoder Neufeld, associate professor of Religious Studies at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, author and respected scholar on Jesus, and a speaker much in demand. He has also been a Mennonite pastor and prison chaplain.

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This episode is part 2 of a two part series on the Church's call to generosity. Don talks about how his congregation seeks to be faithful as they balance the vast need in the world with the passions of people in the congregation.Click here for Part One of this discussion.

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Peace discussions can be controversial. In this special half-hour interview with Golden West Radio, Robert J. Suderman, General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada talks about a peace meeting with President Ahmadinejad of Iran in New York City on September 25, 2008. The controversial dinner meeting saw Christians outside the hotel protesting against Christians inside the hotel. Suderman reflects on how unhelpful and hurtful it was to have Christians name calling and hurling insults at other Christians as they entered the building.Inside the event, however, things were different, said Suderman. "There were representatives of the Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Iranis, and Americans . . . and all talked about peace as though that is their primary agenda. And all of them advocated non-violence in some way or another." Also see related news release.

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This episode is part 1 of a two part series on the Church's call to generosity. Don talks about how his congregation seeks to be faithful as they balance the vast need in the world with the passions of people in the congregation.

Click here for Part Two of this discussion.

Now available from popular Podcast providers.

Fernando Enns proposed the idea of The Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) to the World Council of Churches in 1998. One year later it was approved, and preparations began. It was officially launched in 2001. The DOV "strives to strengthen existing efforts and networks for overcoming violence." Enns hopes that the label "peace church" will eventually become obsolete; all churches who strive for a culture of peace will get back to the centre of the gospel.

Enns is also a professor of theology at Heidelberg University in Germany, an author, an advisor to the World Council of Churches, and a Mennonite pastor.

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Russian Mennonites have a lengthy ancestral history with Ukraine. As part of a long migration through Eastern Europe, many Mennonites of ethnic Germanic origin sojourned there for up to 150 years, with approximately 50,000 emigrating to Canada between 1870 and 1950 to escape disagreeable government policies, and Bolshevik Revolution during the 1920s. Today, Canadian Mennonites still relate to people in Ukraine, most often through church-based connections. Anya Alipova (left on picture), is a Church Council member and Sunday School Director at Zaporozhye Evangelical Mennonite Church, and a professional interpreter. In this episode, we asked Anna what the Mennonite Church means to her. Ala Syniakova (right on picture), is Church Council Chair at Zaporozhye Evangelical Mennonite Church and a medical doctor. They deeply value what it means to be part of a Mennonite Church in Ukraine.

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