A Global Community
Why was I having such a difficult time referring to the people in my midst, my family and friends and the people I cherish outside of the Christian limits as “the other?” Could it be because I was once the other? Maybe I still am.
Feature
Blessings and Thin Places – Letter from Manitoba
Some believe there are “thin places” where heaven and earth come close to each other. If you’re ever seeking a thin place, Medicine Eagle Healing and Retreat Place, run by elders Stella Blackbird and Audrey Bone, is one of them.
Critical Thinking
In Eichmann in Jerusalem, Arendt described the Nazi bureaucrat as all too ordinary, as “terribly and terrifying normal.”
Faith-Based Healthcare
When you go to some of the most rural areas, particularly in Africa, but elsewhere as well, often the only healthcare you come across happens to be faith-inspired organizations.
Being Church
Isn’t it fitting to imagine the church as one expansive social network, a web of interconnected communities, extending to the far reaches of the globe?
Church in Cyberspace
After a long media career, I turned to media theorist Marshall McLuhan, who early shaped my mindset, as I reflected on what we might call Numerical Decline Anxiety Syndrome in mainline churches.
Interview with John Bell
Rev. John L. Bell is a member of Scotland’s Iona Community and a popular speaker on worship and music.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T
“Respect” is not a simple matter. There are different kinds of respect.
Because You Believe
Troubled by the issue of human trafficking and the sex trade and the common sight of sex workers in our neighbourhoods, the Presbytery of East […]
Building Hope in Our Own Backyard
We decided it would be more cost effective, and involve more people in our church, if we did mission trip projects in our own community.
Joyous Reunions
As Canadians, many of us are ill equipped to even imagine how we would cope as families in the midst of war.
Risking Change
On the first Sunday of the 2013 new year, Rev. Bill Elliott and a few members locked the door of Glebe
Presbyterian, Toronto, for the last time.
Canada’s Slave Trade
In Canada, between 700,000 and four million people each year are affected by human trafficking. Each one of those is someone’s son or daughter, granddaughter or grandson, sister or brother.
Holy Awkwardness
“Travelling Christmas carols!” my friend Faye announced. “I saw it in a movie once and I think our church should try it.”
Two Christmases
There are two Christmases. One is the Christian Christmas and the other is the secular Christmas. This winter festival still carries the Christmas name, and, for nostalgic reasons, still holds to many traditions. This is the tricky part for Christians.
Levelled and Trowelled
Every year since 2005, to mark the 100th anniversary of Grace, Calgary, a group of us has driven down to Mexico to build homes.
Coming Together
An annual meeting of the Atlantic Mission Society is kind of how I imagine a kitchen party.
Faith and the University
When I was a teenager, someone in my congregation gave me a dire warning about university. He made claws with his fingers and got a nasty look on his face. “They’re wolves,” he said. “And they will rip you apart. They’ll tear the Christian faith right out of you.”
Preparing the Preacher
“The challenge of theological education today is to prepare leaders for a church that we can’t quite see yet.” Rev. Dr. John Vissers speaks from long experience.
Everyday Samaritans
It is easy to see the heroism displayed by people who play a role in tragic or cataclysmic events. But what about those of us who live out our lives without finding ourselves in situations of danger? What does ordinary heroism (if we can call it that) look like?