Love, Prayer, and Academic Life

12 September 2016rolanddevries

It’s been too long since I have spent any concentrated time with the writings of Søren Kierkegaard – but this summer saw something of a […]

Can we talk?

14 June 2016rolanddevries

The past few days, in the wake of the violence in Orlando, have revealed the challenge that “progressives” and “traditionalists” within the Presbyterian Church have in talking to one another about human sexuality and identity.

Scars

29 March 2016rolanddevries

Thomas encounters the risen Jesus in this Sunday’s lectionary passage: John 20:19-31. A new poem based on this passage of scripture. Scars Running blind ‘round a […]

Declaratory Acts: A question of trust

2 March 2016rolanddevries

There are various reasons why some within The Presbyterian Church in Canada are suggesting that a Declaratory Act is just what the church needs in the […]

Supreme Court Confusion

27 January 2016rolanddevries

Like most Canadians, I don’t make it a habit to read judgments written by the Supreme Court of Canada. Rather, I rely on journalists and […]

God is good. All the time?

13 January 2016rolanddevries

God is good. All the time? On the final day of a recent study trip to Cuba, one of our Pentecostal students led morning devotions […]

Wearing Christ

8 July 2015rolanddevries

My final sermon as minister of Kensington Presbyterian Church, from this past Sunday. — Clothing has always been a significant part of human identity. Historically […]

National Immigration Day?

14 May 2015rolanddevries

My parents are immigrants to Canada. My mom and dad came to this country with their families, from the Netherlands, in 1951 and 1952 respectively. […]

Global Songs/Worship

11 May 2015rolanddevries

It seems that a truce has been called in the so-called worship wars. Or at least I seem to hear a lot less these days about worship […]

habit – art – seeing again

17 April 2015rolanddevries

Daisy Tsai describes her work, presently on display at Luz Gallery, Montreal, with these words: Painting is habit-defying labour… As our world dazzles, rushes, and […]

Kids’ litany for Easter

1 April 2015rolanddevries

We will use this litany this Sunday at Kensington – written with the kids in mind! This is a great day; a beautiful day. […]

Poem for Palm Sunday

29 March 2015rolanddevries

PALM SUNDAY by Roland De Vries hymn Time-pressed sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic rocks Burst with anticipation that, human voices stayed, Their moment of unlocked […]

Kids’ Litany – Palm Sunday

24 March 2015rolanddevries

A litany written for this Palm Sunday – with kids very much in mind! It will be led by a child at Kensington, in French. […]

Transparency – Showing Ourselves

5 March 2015rolanddevries

Questions of identity preoccupy us – much more than has ever been the case, historically speaking. This is so on account of the leisure time […]

Grief and Distance on the Web

4 March 2015rolanddevries

In our digital age it’s not always easy to register an appropriate or meaningful emotional response when sad or difficult news reaches us from far-off places, […]

Boredom

20 February 2015rolanddevries

This piece was recently on exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, as part of the exhibit “From Van Gogh to Kandinsky.” I was […]

Call and Encouragement

23 January 2015rolanddevries

A sermon preached at the memorial service for the Rev. Dr. Ian Victor, held at the Presbyterian College. Based on Jeremiah 1:1-10. ______________ God says […]