Lecture

The 2019 Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies will host Dr. Irma Fast Dueck from Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg. Fast Dueck is a practical theologian whose lecture will explore the topic of young people in the Mennonite church today.

Join us for a youth panel discussion.

There has been particular interest in the experience of young adults in this past decade, particularly in light of the decline of church attendance with the implicit assumption that if the church can’t connect with young adults it is indeed in serious trouble. “Why don’t young adults go to church?” is the question put simply if not superficially. And even if they are part of the church, why aren’t they getting baptized and becoming members? This evening we will engage the wisdom of young adults as they have encountered the church with the aim of better understanding what it means to be the church together, in this time and place.

The 2019 Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies will host Dr. Irma Fast Dueck from Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg. Fast Dueck is a practical theologian whose lecture will explore the topic of young people in the Mennonite church today.

Join us for a public lecture on reclaiming baptism in an Anabaptist church.

Baptism is one of the most primordial of Christian practices and until recently, has been a defining act, marking the believer as Christian and initiating them into the Christian community. For the early Anabaptists, critical of the sacramentalism of the medieval church, this primitive act of pouring water on heads was hardly a benign act, as that act of pouring eventually resulted, for many of them, in their own martyrdom. Indeed, for the early Anabaptists, the practice of baptism was a political act. The past couple of decades have presented serious challenges for those practicing baptism in the Anabaptist tradition—do Christians even need to be baptised?  Does baptism require church membership? This lecture will explore the contemporary practice of baptism in the Anabaptist tradition in light of these challenges. Baptism is not simply an event in time but it carries within it the contours of the Christian life. Baptism fuels the Anabaptist imagination for peace and justice. 

Reception to follow.

This illustrated talk will look at the 1850 Brubacher House in the context of the University of Waterloo’s 1000-acre campus, explaining its historical role as a Mennonite farmhouse, the reasons for its preservation, and the role of the Region of Waterloo, the University, and the Mennonite community in its restoration.

Conrad Grebel University College and Mennonite Central Committee Ontario are excited to be hosting Ray & Vi Donovan from the United Kingdom as guest speakers for Restorative Justice Week in November.  As parents of an 18 year old boy murdered in the street 16 years ago, they work passionately to give voice to a restorative justice approach, through education and creating system change in areas such as policing and probation.  

On Friday, March 8, 2019, Dr. Ysaÿe Barnwell, appointed as the College’s Rodney and Lorna Sawatsky Visiting Scholar, will offer the Sawatsky Lecture on “The Power of Music to Create Inclusive Communities.”

The 2018 Benjamin Eby Lecture features Professor Alicia Batten, presenting "Memory, Identity, and the Sermon on the Mount: The Case of André Trocmé."

Conversations with the 2018 recipient of the Conrad Grebel Distinguished Alumni Service Award - Dean Peachey '82,'86

This conversation, hosted by Associate PACS Professor Reina Neufeldt, will focus on Dean's current work and some reminiscing on the early years as the PACS program was emerging at Waterloo.

Join us for a conversation with 2017 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and world-renowned nuclear ban advocate Setsuko Thurlow.

Free Public Lecture

Addressing what many consider the world's most intractable conflict, Naim Ateek offers a succinct primer on the theology of liberation in the context of the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination. He proposes a strategy for biblical interpretation that emphasizes the prophetic themes of inclusivity and justice. He concludes by providing broad principles for achieving security, peace, and justice for all the peoples in Israel/Palestine.

This event has been cancelled due to bad weather impeding the speaker's travel. We hope to reschedule this talk in the near future.