Slaves to Survival
Too often we want all the guarantees of success before we take the first step, but that’s not how God works.
Too often we want all the guarantees of success before we take the first step, but that’s not how God works.
The sound of the drums and the songs rang out as 10,000 people turned the corner to Ottawa City Hall. This Walk for Reconciliation marked the beginning of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s closing events.
“Can you see anything? Are they coming yet?” Elizabeth, our church administrator and I squinted up the street. Standing at the open church door, gripping the bell rope, we were ready to ring our bell and cheer the Truth and Reconciliation marchers on their way
Re Ministers as a Mission Project, June In my 38 years as a minister, I have seen some incredible human hurt because after the first […]
Reconciliation isn’t easy, even when the truth is known.
Re One Sunday Afternoon, July/August The yarn started to unravel. An obvious advocacy move. Then, differing perspectives. One minority against another. Soon enough, a mess. […]
As I sat there watching people coming in to register, I began to feel myself being pulled into my past. I felt like I was back at the residential school being dropped off as a young child. A strange place. Strange people. Strange language. I started shaking.
Re Ministers as a Mission Project, June This is a well-rounded article expressing the very real mental health risks of ministry, and offers practical steps […]
Just as soldiers who went to fight did not hear of the Holocaust until after they returned, so we who were raised in Canada were never taught the story of residential schools.
Re Ordinary Radical, July/August I follow with interest Amy MacLachlan’s articles on renewal. But Amy, are you doing this with any others? Don’t you know […]
Two recent superior court decisions have stated that while religious institutions have the right to their beliefs, the propagation of those beliefs must be framed within secular standards.
Now that the TRC has come to a close, a challenge for us as citizens of both God’s Kingdom and Canada, will be that our First Nations and Aboriginal peoples continue to be a priority of our mission and outreach mandates.
As a lay missionary working with Anishinabe people on Manitoba’s Keeseekowenin and Rolling River reserves in the 1970s, I, like other missionaries at the time, was given lessons in how to learn any language and cross-cultural communications.
Re Ministers as a Mission Project, June Cue the hurtin’ music. Play the violin. Your piece on dysfunctional ministers was a bucket of cod-wallop. Spare […]
Re Co-Dependent Clergy, June David Harris’s editorial is truly what our ministers need. I try to encourage our pastors and have handed them this poem: […]
When you have a cottage on an island you learn quickly never to call an expert to fix something you might be able to fix yourself.
Rev. Bill Middleton was born on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. A graduate of Aberdeen and Edinburgh Universities, he was ordained a minister of the […]
Have you ever played with clay? I have, and it’s hard and thick.
People have asked me, what was it like? It was a wonderful experience, but not easy.
It’s an exciting time to be the church these days. Our loquacious God is always speaking and always on the move.