Shane Claiborne in Ottawa :: March 19, 2010

11 03 2010

On Friday March 19, 2010 our friend and co-conspirator Shane Claiborne will be heading to Ottawa in order to join folks from the National Capital region in an evening of worship, conversation, and resistance.

It will be a great opportunity to catch Shane on his first visit to Ottawa, and to dream kingdom dreams in that city.

The doors to Dominion-Chalmers United Church open at 7pm, with the event to start at 7.30pm. The cost is $10 at the door.

The Ottawa event is being organised by The Open Table – an ecumenical Christian community by and for young adults, and supported by the Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian and United Churches in that area.

You can find more info on the event here, or invite friends through the facebook event page.


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Andy Crouch in Conversation

26 10 2009

Empire Remixed and CRC Campus Ministries present Andy Crouch … in conversation
Monday, November 2, 8.00pm
Chaplain’s Office, Wycliffe College
5 Hoskin Avenue Toronto

A number of months ago, we reported here at Empire Remixed, the greatest Christian bookseller in the world thought that maybe Beyond Homelessness by Steve Bouma-Prediger and Brian Walsh was probably the “book of the year” in 2009.

Well, Christianity Today didn’t see things that way and gave the nod to a book called Culture Making by some young upstart named Andy Crouch. We are sure that the fact that Mr. Crouch is a senior editor with that same magazine had nothing to do with their choice. So to show that we aren’t sore about this, we’re hosting an event with the guy to see if he’s all that he’s cracked up to be.

Okay, the tone of that whole paragraph was decidedly tongue in cheek. Here’s what the same Byron Borger said about Culture Making. This book “is spectacularly important and truly wonderful; wonderful for the cogent ideas and the lovely writing, the insight and the charm.” We agree. And that’s why we are hosting a salon-style conversation with Andy on November 2 in Toronto.

The evening will kick off with Andy talking for fifteen minutes or so about his book and the kinds of things that animate him as he reflects on Christian culture making. And then, over some appropriate liquid refreshments, we will have a wide-ranging, open-ended conversation with the lad about whatever we want to talk about.

Brian Walsh will host and facilitate the conversation.

The event is free, but a donation for refreshments will be gratefully received.


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Evolving Church – Amidst the Powers

22 01 2009

Yesterday we posted a piece from Sylvia Keesmaat in response to questions from Rob & Kirsten Vander Geissen-Reitsma who are teaching an interim course at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI (where they also coordinate the fabulous Festival of Faith and Music).

Strangely enough over here at ER, we talk about Empire from time to time, and we think it important to work our way through the questions of our own implication in the evil and oppression we see in the world. In that same vein, we’re excited to be participating in the upcoming Evolving Church Conference in Oakville, Ontario.

Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat will both be presenting workshops, and the entire Empire Remixed crew has something cooking to close out the conference with a bang.

It’s not often that you get to hear from Marva Dawn, Stanley Hauerwas and Walter Wink all at the same place, and it will be great to see what fires are ignited here in Canada as a result of this gathering. We’re pretty stoked about the conference, and hope that you’ll be able to join us on March 21, 2009, to challenge and to be challenged by speakers, workshops, and (perhaps most importantly), engaging in conversations that matter with one another.

You can register for the conference through their website, and let others know you’re attending through their facebook group. See you in March!


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Martyn Joseph takes Canada’s Capital

12 01 2009

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

I first encountered the music of Martyn Joseph two years ago when some friends invited me out to a concert at Hugh’s Room in west end Toronto. While I wasn’t able to attend the concert, I was able to pick up his latest album, “Deep Blue.” That album became my lifeblood for the intervening year between the missed concert, and finally being able to catch him live in January 2008 at the same venue.

Joseph’s music took me to a ragged depth and a raw profundity that I had not encountered for some time. Martyn Joseph’s narrative flare and his incredible guitar work had me captivated.

Martyn Joseph is a Welsh singer-songwriter who has been recording for over 25 years. Although he didn’t start out this way, Joseph’s more recent releases wrestle with deep issues of pain and injustice encountered throughout the world. Encountering such things, and becoming aware of their importance, it became increasingly difficult for Joseph to continue writing the same pop music with which his career had begun. And so, he turned to the poetry of prophetic lament. Read the rest of this entry »


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Ordinary Radicals Toronto Tickets

14 11 2008

Online ticket sales are closing today at noon. If you don’t manage to get tickets before then, there are still a bunch available at the door.

See you tonight!


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Ordinary Radicals Screening

11 11 2008

Just a quick “hey, what’s going on, don’t forget about the film on Friday” reminder to all our friends in the far reaches of empire.

Friday November 14th, 7pm at the Bloor Cinema, we have Jamie Moffett on hand to screen “The Ordinary Radicals.” The film follows Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw across North America on their Jesus for President tour.

All of this is an invitation to join a peculiar people – those with no king but God, who practice jubilee economics and make the world new. This is not the old-time religion of going to heaven; this is about bringing heaven to the world.

Click here to get your tickets.


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Martyn Joseph in Ottawa

7 11 2008

Over here at Empire Remixed, we’re excited to be working in collaboration with Ecclesiax in Ottawa to bring Welsh Singer-Songwriter Martyn Joseph for an intimate evening performance in the heart of the Glebe.

Martyn has been a friend to many of us over at Empire Remixed, and so we’re happy that he’ll be visiting and sharing his music with us at 8pm on Thursday February 5, 2009 at Ecclesiax (2 Monk St, Ottawa).

Tickets are available online for $15. If you wait til the last minute, tickets will be $20 at the door.


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Ordinary Radicals Film Screening – Toronto

29 09 2008

On Friday November 14th, we will be screening the Ordinary Radicals film at the Bloor Cinema in downtown Toronto. [Editor's Note :: The Date has been changed from November 7th to November 14th. All tickets purchased for the November 7th event will be honoured on the 14th]

Director Jamie Moffett will be with us in the audience, and ready to answer your questions after the film.

Jamie compiled much of the footage from this film while touring with Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw on their Jesus for President tour, including their stop in Toronto at the end of June.

The film features interviews with: Becky Garrison, Shane Claiborne, Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, Rob Bell, John Perkins, Brooke Sexton, Michael Heneise, St. Margret Mckenna, Logan Laituri, Zack Exley, Aaron Weiss and our very own activist theologian, Brian Walsh.

You can purchase tickets for this event here.


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Jon Brooks in Ottawa

23 09 2008

Those of you who were at the Jesus for President event in Toronto at the Church of the Redeemer will remember Jon Brooks. Jon is the incredible singer-songwriter who performed as a part JFP, sharing songs from Ours and the Shepherds as well as his forthcoming album, Moth nor Rust.

Well Jon’s agreed to do a longer, more intimate show at the BoX Gallery at Ecclesiax in Ottawa on Friday October 3, 2008.

The show will start at 7.30pm. Admission is $10. And to top it off, if you come, you’ll be part of a live recording. We’re working with the Gallery Studios in Ottawa to record this show live. For further info, email admin@ecclesiax.com

For a recent review of Jon’s music, click here. To tell us you’re coming, say yes to facebook.


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JFP Thank-Yous

1 07 2008

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

We had a great time with Shane, Chris the Psalters and Jon Brooks on the only Canadian stop of the Jesus for Prime Minister tour, just one day before Canada Day.

Again, we can’t thank our friends and partners enough for helping to make this event happen: PWRDF, The Meeting House, Church of the Redeemer and Freedomize Toronto. Thank-you all for all your contributions to the event’s success.

Despite some delays at the Border, some questions as to whether the bus was really powered by veggie oil (and was not, instead, a travelling meth lab), the JFP Crew made it for an incredible, packed evening at Church of the Redeemer in the heart of downtown Toronto.

“What are 400 people doing,” more than a few passers-by asked, “crowded on the front steps of a church in the heart of Yorkville?” It was quite the scene, to be sure! But why were we there?

Getting fired up...

Getting fired up...

We were there to listen to stories. We were there to listen to the story of the scriptures, and stories of living those stories out in 21st Century North America. We were there not only to listen, but to be inspired.

The spirit’s breath was with us, as we were challenged to think of Christians’ role in effecting change in this world. Faith means nothing without faithful living, and we were challenged to respond faithfully to the story of the scriptures, and God’s call on our lives to seek others’ welfare before we seek our own.

Monday evening featured three local groups – Sanctuary, The Gateway, and Sketch – we were invited to come alongside, and put faith into action. These are only three examples in the GTA, but they’re good ones – and so we’d encourage you again to call them up and get involved.

We’re reprinting the backs of programs below for those who weren’t able to attend, and for those who forgot their programs at the church:

The GatewaySanctuary Ministries


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