Numbed and Helpless
I didn’t know how to feel—I felt indignant, angry, frustrated, sad and ultimately helpless to respond appropriately. I wonder if there is an appropriate response as a person of faith, as a Christian, as a Canadian Presbyterian?
Pop Christianity
Blessed Are Your Ears
A bad actor only “acts” when speaking and goes dead when they have no lines. A good actor is most alive on stage when they have no dialogue. May I be so bold as to say that you and I, and most of us in our denomination, are really bad actors?
Binging on the Gospels
Jesus Christ is not ideology. Both modern day liberals and conservatives would have rejected him equally, though for different reasons, in his time.
A Bumpy Year
In my child’s world same-sex unions, families headed with same-sex partners, are commonplace. In her world this is not a debate.
In the Outer Courts
I was born into a Presbyterian family, have been a member of this denomination for over 40 years, have been an elder, occupy a visible position within the church. But I’m still a Paki because I do not look like a supposed demographic that defines the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Off the Beaten Path
If General Assembly represents the Main Street of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, then the Women’s Gathering and Canada are two of the side roads, or crossing arteries. Good theory perhaps; but like so many municipalities, the landscape is shifting.
Intelligence and Beauty
The word “business” is bandied about often in relationship to General Assembly. But what is this business?
Deconstructing Work
Ten years later the stacks on my desk are replaced with folders in my computer. I no longer have a visual marker for my work. It’s still the same work, still the same amount of work, but I can’t visualize it in the same way.
Spring Humour
Two jokes—one with truth in it and one that’s true.
A Church of Now
Like so many others my church is no longer a neighbourhood church, yet not quite something else either. It is locked in its physical location in search of an identity.
Fallen or Graced
Why does a discussion of homosexuality tend inevitably to shift into a discussion of holiness versus sin, or wholeness versus brokenness?
Out With the Old
Last year Andrew Faiz asked readers to share their stories. Here’s one. For almost 15 years, I’ve been the keeper of our family tree and […]
An Uncomfortable Topic
There is something silly about grown men parsing Greek and Hebrew to discuss sex acts acceptable to God.
Heavy Hearted Holidays
I enter this season heavy hearted. As I write the weather is cooling, the leaves turning, falling. This year I feel sadness and anger. A dear friend died and I can’t think of a good reason for it.
Personal Conversations
While worship has a ritual and a tone, both of which are always under discussion, there is a hidden element we rarely talk about.
The World I Live In
This is a snapshot of the world you live in. Personal, global, environmental, social. It’s a confused and complicated mixture of interests.
A Mausoleum to Christendom
Walking through Westminster Abbey, London, I felt like I was in an episode of Hoarders.
Place Yourself
There is leadership in our church: It comes from the local churches, from the pews and pulpits, from the sessions. That’s where it starts.
Proclaim Jesus
Last month I asked for your thoughts. A few of you took me up on it.
Your Turn
We have shied away from issues of sexuality and gender. Readers get riled on either side of the political spectrum; they say nasty things to each other and subscriptions are cancelled en masse. It has made us overcautious; but, is it time to talk about this in our church?