To Question Well
We are so used to the sound-bite declaratives of politicians trying to score points, that I wonder if we have forgotten the art of conversation, let alone dealing with the content of a conversation?
For the Record
Practice Real Love
Some people wistfully hope conversations can or should happen at General Assembly. But overtures, motions and the like are part of the procedures that govern debates, not conversations.
Tis the Season to be Grateful
Philanthropy literally means love of humanity.
Time to Listen for the Spirit’s Voice
Questions of whether same-sex relationships are germane in matters of ordination and marriage are once again being raised in the church.
We Are Called to Give
The sheer joy folks got out of doing something silly in order to show solidarity with friends and families of those afflicted with ALS was truly wonderful. But once the challenge took off and started garnering not only attention but serious money, questions and hackles were raised.
An Uncertain Future
What made us leave the assembly divided and without a clear direction at this pivotal moment in our history?
Burn It Down
For better or worse the fastest way to force change upon a church is to burn the building down.
Wilderness Wanderings
Understanding the times in which we live is critical but, honestly, we are much better at denial than reality.
Messy. Loving. Serving.
Apparently a “church” isn’t just a place where Christians are found; sometimes, it’s just a mess of equally messy people.
Tarred and Feathered
What people of faith should fear is how the faith element is portrayed and how broader issues of religious rights and respect are in danger of being tarred in the public eye by bizarre rights appeals.
We Are the Church
When we talk about the church and social media, we’re not usually thinking about individual Christians who use social media. Yet don’t we like to say that the church is the people?
Think Slavery No Longer Exists?
Around the world, there are likely nearly 30 million slaves. Almost all of them are trafficked—forcibly taken
from their homes and exploited to provide labour or sexual services somewhere else.¬¬
Playing God
If Canadians hadn’t been sidetracked by the shenanigans of senators and the mayor of Toronto we might have been having a long-overdue debate on euthanasia.
Francis’s Big Heart
What surprised not only Roman Catholics but the whole world were Pope Francis’s comments that the church needs to pay less attention to rules and morals and focus more on pastoral and social justice issues.
Fear of Religion
Most of the commentary on the Quebec government’s proposed Charter of Values has focused on Quebec, but it has unveiled more about Canada as a whole than just that part of our population in Quebec. And what has been unmasked is disturbing.
Written in Data
The kind of information I’m talking about is not exactly secret, but it does take some work to uncover it.
Continuing the Conversation
Today’s pace of life has accelerated the church’s anxiety about the future. Institutional change is sweeping throughout western civilization. Religious institutions are not immune.
Our Comfortable Pew
I can still remember reading Pierre Berton’s The Comfortable Pew. Berton was nothing if not prophetic. Perhaps not in all the details, but he did have a sense that organized Christianity, at least among Protestants and Anglicans, had lost its way.
Desiring Faith
Is it that as we make our way through life, with all its ups and downs, trials and joys, we look to certain people—perhaps to certain positions as much as anything—to help us measure where we are? To help us believe in our strength despite our weakness?
Receptive to the Word
The main scripture used to be Matthew 28; go make disciples of all nations, that was our evangelism verse. Now Luke 10 has become the new text for the missional church; go out as lambs among wolves, go out without money.