Spiritual Presence
If you are looking or listening or watching for God in church, you may well find God in the words, the liturgy, the order of […]
Faith
Recipe for Success
Not all amalgamation stories have a happy ending. But Burlington East Presbyterian, located west of Toronto, has seemingly discovered a recipe for success. “There were […]
Beyond Truth and Relevance
The late DeCourcy Rayner edited the Presbyterian Record from 1958-1977. A minister and journalist, he was elected moderator of the General Assembly in his last […]
HMS Generosity
During Assembly I invited commissioners to sail with me into the future God is preparing for God’s people on a ship I christened, Generosity (see […]
At Least We Have an Anchor
Hymns shape us in ways deeper than our expressed theology—sometimes for good, sometimes not. Here are some hymns that should be shaping us. Agree? Disagree?
Review: Angus Sutherland
Angus Sutherland, minister at Doon Presbyterian in Kitchener, Ont., is also a multi-instrumentalist: bagpipes, penny whistle and guitar. He is also a song and hymn writer.
The Hymn Society
Hymn Societies, both local and international, keep lovers of congregational song in touch with what’s new and what’s familiar in hymnnody. Those who attend Hymn Society conferences find them invigorating and exhausting-and then they return with new ideas and new energy to their local congregations.
“Paradise Found”
A new CD of Charles Wesley’s hymns by the creators of Sing Lustily and With Good Courage makes the old new again. Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band present traditional hymns with a “gallery” band—flutes, lutes, fiddles and drums, singing and presenting them as they might have originally been heard.
Stories of Generosity
His name is Percy. He is a frequent visitor at the Saskatoon Native Circle Ministry Centre, dropping in for a cup of coffee and a […]
Forgive Us Our Sins
There’s a great scene in the movie Invictus in which the newly elected South Africa president Nelson Mandela is justifying his policy of including the […]
Bent Over. Set Free!
One Sabbath as Jesus preached, he saw a sermon illustration, right there in the synagogue! What if, in the middle of the assembly of the […]
The Wonder Of It All
Picture yourself outdoors, in a place that takes your breath away. What are you picturing? Impressive mountain peaks glistening with snow? A misty rainforest with […]
Imago: Connecting Artists
The leavening work of artists is critical to vital, faithful worship. This is because worship is not only an act of the heart: it’s a work of art. Arts organization Imago, under the direction of John Franklin, encourages and supports artists who work from a Christian imagination.
The Music of Good and Harding
Linnea Good and Bruce Harding are two Canadian song-writers who pursue that elusive middle ground between musty traditional and trendy contemporary: a middle way, but definitely not middle-of-the-road.
If All Are One, How Far Does It Go?
June 20, 2010 — 4th Sunday After Pentecost-C Galatians 3:23-29 “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there […]
God in Other Religions
In major cities and small towns of Canada, the presence of a wide variety of peoples, religions, and cultures presents opportunities and challenges. One advantage […]
A Time to Listen
In our house, one of the most wonderful moments each day is reading books at bedtime to our little girl. So many books and so […]
Rev. Harvey Self, Moderatorial Year, 2009-2010
The Dash Poem (Revised) by Harvey Self; Apologies to Linda Ellis I heard of a man who stood to speak When his Moderatorial Year was […]
Jamming with Jim and Jean
I first met California singer-songwriters, Jean and Jim Strathdee, at the Naramata Centre, near Penticton, B.C., when I was writing for the church curriculum The Whole People of God.
Sing Lustily with Good Courage
There’s an album, now 20 years old, that keeps popping into my conversations. It came up most recently in a planning meeting for the Emmaus Project.