NORTH NEWTON, Kan. — Robert S. Kreider, an educator and historian who championed causes of peace, service and cooperation through Anabaptist engagement with the world, died Dec. 27. He was 96. Driven by limitless curiosity and optimism, Kreider’s life spanned Civilian Public Service leadership as a conscientious objector during World War II, postwar relief leadership for Mennonite Central Committee in Europe, the presidency of Bluffton (Ohio) College and diverse historical interests that included a successful inter-Mennonite effort to acquire 300-year-old Martyrs Mirror printing plates.
Jessica Reesor Rempel and Chris Brnjas call themselves “Pastors in Exile.” They aren’t officially pastors, but then, their congregation isn’t officially a church. They are the part-time leaders of a ministry network — “a movement,” Reesor Rempel says — in the Waterloo-Kitchener area of Ontario.
GOSHEN, Ind. — When 27-year-old SangMin Lee, a Mennonite conscientious objector from South Korea, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, the global Mennonite church community provided support in the form of letters and prayers. In early December, Lee met and talked with a fraction of his supporters in person.
HAVANA, Cuba — Shortly before presenting the first of two Sister Care seminars, Carolyn Heggen, a psychotherapist specializing in trauma healing, and Rhoda Keener, Sister Care director for Mennonite Women USA, visited an art museum in Old Havana.