Is there any other time of year that brings lingering family grievances into sharper focus? The pressure that builds around what should be a joyous time goes far beyond the stress of buying presents, attending too many parties and trying to get the house in order.
A part of Advent for me is trying to gain the perspective of the Hebrews as they waited in hope for their coming Messiah. I think we can learn a lot about “waiting in hope” from them.
After the Council of Nicaea, Christians were so happy about saying “Jesus is God” that they forgot the other fact the old confession emphasizes—Jesus is also truly human.
While the days and weeks and months of a normal, busy year pass like snowflakes blowing by a window, the mystery and significance of God’s love-invasion of Earth starts to fade in my mind.
Many months we swayed over sand and scrub. The camels got ticks; our bodies got blisters. Twice, bandits robbed us of coin and food, but the treasure under our saddles was well hidden, destined for the One we sought.
Who will lead us to Bethlehem? Luke offers us some wonderful possibilities. Characters whose saintliness and ordinariness are so tightly braided we can’t turn away from them.
As a denomination we’re beginning to understand in new ways that congregations matter and their existence cannot be assumed.
It’s Remembrance Day. A lot of preachers are uncomfortable today. They don’t know what to say.
As a preacher’s kid, I grew up in Presbyterian churches in small Ontario towns. Church was always a part of my life. But there’s a difference, in my experience, between attending a church and being part of a church.
According to individualistic Christianity, Christians find reconciliation with God through their own efforts alone. Because of this Christians can miss out on the richness of the Christian faith and our historic connection with ancient Israel.
This May Kerrisdale, Vancouver, hosted a 50th anniversary reunion bash for the Kerrisdale Presbyterian Young People’s Society, 1960-1965. Of course there were youth groups at […]
Renewal is needed when passion dies. Are we passionate about the things of God?
Today, or tomorrow, when we bow our heads and say our nervous thanks over the turkey and squash, will we know for sure just who it is we’re thanking, and why?
Nothing prepared me for the experience of sitting through the testimony of survivors of residential schools. I winced and I wept. It moved our church’s 1994 apology from my head to my heart.
We don’t often think of religion and the mainstream media as natural companions. But the divide between faith communities and the secular press may not be deep or wide.
We look around the world and easily see that things are not as they should be. Something has gone terribly wrong with how God made the world to be.
Our ministry with youth is nothing more and nothing less than a participation with them in what the triune God is doing, across cultures, across social and economic groups and across generations. It involves everyone.
What does it mean to be created in the “image of God?” Rev. Dr. Richard Topping considers the way we think about our humanity—and each other.
When young people leave home they often leave the church. A 20-something reflects on how she crossed the void and stayed in church, and why many of her friends didn’t.
One day I saw an old car illegally parked in downtown Halifax. A bumper sticker demanded to know: “If yer so darn smart, why ain’t ya rich?” Well, why ain’t I rich? I’m pretty smart after all.