My “church” is not composed of a typical congregation. Rather, it is comprised of a multitude of faiths: agnostic, atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, and more. It is in this multi-faith, pluralistic environment that I live out my calling as a Christian chaplain.
Summertime is usually a slower time in congregational life. But this summer was very busy for St. Mark’s, Don Mills, Toronto. The congregation initiated and […]
Twenty-four people were baptized at Can Kaga Otina Tipi Wakan on Aug. 9, 2015 At Birdtail First Nation in Manitoba, the bones of a dead […]
When I was approached by session two years ago about restarting a junior choir, my first thought was, “With whom?” Did they expect me to have a choir of four? Then I remembered El Sistema
As a teenage Christian in the 1960s, I realized early in my studies how important community is to my spiritual and social development.
As I look back on our journey together, there are nine kinds of conversations that have helped us co-create the congregation with Jesus Christ, one conversation after another.
As people with physical ailments lose connections with familiar activities, places and people, feelings of isolation coupled with debilitating illness may affect their wellbeing, self esteem and even their judgement. With the loss of customary sources of happiness, life becomes a search for meaning.
About four years ago, the church to which I now belong introduced a contemporary service; and I thank God that they did.
I decided to keep my past as a comedian on the down low, but anyone who’s been knows that rehab is a really bad place to try to keep things on the down low.
On the journey to start a second service, there have been many things we did not plan for and many lessons learned.
I was ordained as a minister nearly 25 years ago, but prior to that I enjoyed my first vocation as a geologist. When I made my shift in vocation known, one of my colleagues said I was moving from the Ministry of Natural Resources to the Ministry of Supernatural Resources.
About four years ago, the church to which I now belong introduced a contemporary service; and I thank God that they did.
I notice that I am looking out my sanctuary and office windows asking myself, “What is going on out there and how can my church support it?”
Clergy leave ministry every year. Many of them are emotionally and spiritually wounded. Can a 16th century system help these men and women continue in their calling?
Interim ministers help congregations in their journeys through the wilderness.
Retired ministers have a lot of wisdom and experience to offer the church. So why do they feel excluded at presbytery?
The hallowed halls of seminary are behind me now, and the first years of ministry have quickly passed. In my time in seminary, I learned […]
As I enter my 30th year in service in the inner city of Winnipeg, it is becoming easier for me to reflect upon how God's call for me to enter and continue in diaconal ministry was a perfect match for the gifts that our Creator had granted me.
But it wasn't a straight line. I was first a Grade 4 school teacher in rural Saskatchewan, then worked for a large pharmaceutical company as a medical representative. And then my minister mentioned Ewart College to me, which in the 1970s was our denomination's college for training women and men for a life in the field of professional Christian education.
"Ministry can be never-ending and consume us and our time," says Rev. Dr. Christine O'Reilly. "I have made plenty of mistakes, and am very much a learner in the area of rest and balance."
Denominational lines are changing. In recent years, they've become more porous than ever, where people easily move through quickly dissolving boundaries, searching for the right fit. And it's not only members who migrate throughout and within this post-denominational society; ministers are doing the same. This migration may simply be the natural order of things, or it might also be dependent on theological issues, like gay marriage and ordination, or on other very personal reasons.