by Liz Ivkovich

“What is my posture before God and reality?” I receive the Center for Action and Contemplation’s daily reflections and that was the question just a few weeks ago. I’ve been challenged recently by Andrew for not living up to my contributor role here on the blog. I also felt convicted by the Onion article he posted. I’m pretty good at biting my tongue in the internet, especially because I love my Christian friends who have more orthodox views than I do and I hate the idea of offending them.

Then I read “When Elijah saw how things were he ran for dear life…” And I see myself as Elijah running away from Jezebel in fear, right after seeing God perform a miracle. Maybe in running I’m committing a greater sin than offending some of my friends, I’m biting my tongue in fear instead of speaking words of love.

“What is my posture before God and reality?” The reality of the world is the problem for me with homosexuality and Christianity. It’s a really cut and dry issue in a lot of faith communities; including the Roman Catholic Tradition that I have professed and the Born Again traditions I was raised in. The thing for me in 2009 is that a cut and dry stance on human sexuality based on as Walter Wink says, a culturally (Western Christian sub-culture) developed sexual ethic from Scripture doesn’t reflect the reality of my experience; my experience as a friend to people who are gay.

Once a woman I admire and respect said to me “Who would ever choose to be gay? Why would anyone want to choose that suffering?” As I thought about that it made sense. Maybe a few people, but out of all the entire LGBT population, especially the Christian LGBT population, I can’t imagine every single one of them is in rebellion against culture, enjoys being outcast, typecasted, stereotyped and judged.

If I’m facing the reality of the people, the names and faces of those that are my friends, I feel like I can’t run away from the way things are with a black and white stance, and that is what many of us as Christians are doing. Seems like a lot of people with cut and dry stances on homosexuality only have one acquaintance who is gay, or they might have had several experiences to reflect on, but very limited interpersonal interaction. Another friend that I love and respect once said “I have no problem telling my gay friend [singular] that I believe he is sinning.”

That, to me, is the great luxury that well-resourced, educated heterosexual Christians have and use. We can sit, comfortably displaced from the pain, anxiety and hurt of being gay and condemn or debate the Biblical merits of varying levels of pro-gay or anti-gay theology. It doesn’t seem much different than when people in a Bible study debate whether or not you should give a buck to someone who is begging. It’s interesting and important to use our logic and reason and apply those to today’s issues, but at some point we have to come out of the tower of our minds and face reality. People are hurting, people are starving, and people are gay.

I didn’t blog for the Synchroblog because I realized that I don’t know enough yet to debate Biblical theology around homosexuality. Then I heard “What is my posture before God and reality?” I don’t think this conversation should stay at the level of theology because that posture is one of running away from the way things are. It should find a starting point  in  Scripture but not be disconnected from the reality of the world, and the hope that we have of finding Jesus in the places where people are neglected, forgotten, or abused.

by Brian Walsh 

James, a slave of God and of Jesus, the Messianic King,

            To the people of God scattered to kingdom come around the world,

            Greetings.

When the bottom falls out,

            when things come apart at the seams,

            when the stock market crashes,

                        your job is up for grabs,

                        the mortgage payments are getting harder to pay,

                        and you really don’t know how you are going to make ends meet,

            this is a time for pure, unadulterated, ecstatic and contented joy!

When your church is without a pastor,

            when older, faithful members are moving away,

            when you are in a time of transition, unsure of the future,

            when the budget looks like an unattainable dream,

            that’s fantastic!

When you face all kinds of trials,

            the infirmities of older age,

            the insecurities of being a young person,

            the struggles with loneliness,

            painful confusion about sexuality,

            the collapse of beloved institutions,

            a marriage that has seen happier days,

            tensions within the family,

                        you name it!

            then again I say to you, this is pure joy!

“Joy?” you ask.        

            Grin and bear it, maybe.

            Dig in and get through the trouble, perhaps.

            Maybe even patience.

                        But joy?

            This is the kind of stuff that strips me of any capacity for joy.

                        Economic anxiety,

                        worries about the future,

                        deep internal pain,

                        that debilitating sense of loss,

                        that impending death in so many areas of our lives …

            and you say we should receive all this with joy?

                        Pure joy?

Yes, my friends, joy.

            I understand that all of this is hard.

            I’ve been there, I know.

            And I know, you know, we all know,

                        that all of these trials,

                                    these economic and personal anxieties,

                                    this kind of pain and confusion,

                        all that would strip us of joy,

                        all that would tempt us to cynicism or despair,

                        all that might render us numb and disconnected,

            is, at heart, a test of our faith. 

Derailed and desperate,

how did I get here,

hanging from this high wire

by the tatters of my faith.

           Hanging here for dear life

            by the tatters of our faith.

            Faith that is like a fraying rope

            getting closer to breaking.

            Faith lost its promise,

            and bruised me deep blue.

It’s all about our faith,

            my beloved, well-tested,

            trialed-to-the-end-of-your-rope friends.

It’s all about whether we can believe the promises,

            when the evidence is pretty thin.

It’s all about a faith that knows deeply that

            this world belongs to God.

It’s all about a faith that believes that

            this God is faithful.

It’s all about a faith that hangs on to that high wire,

            even if all we have left is the tatters of our faith.

It’s all about a faith that continues to sing,

            even when it has been bruised deep blue.

Such faith doesn’t come easily.

Such faith may well be a gift,

            but it takes hard work.

Such faith perseveres in the testing,

            endures in the trials,

            is proven in the fire.

Pure joy, my friends,

            for this opportunity to grow.

Blessed are you,

            for proving your faith through endurance.

Persevere,

            hang in there,

            don’t look back,

            dig deeper,

            grow your faith.

Trials test your faith.

Testing produces perseverance.

Perseverance brings maturity. 

Trials make you feel incomplete.

            You are lacking something,

                        money,

                        security,

                        health,

                        happiness,

                        leadership. 

Perseverance,

            when it has done its job,

leaves you complete,

            whole,

            fulfilled,

            lacking nothing.

I know, I know.

            It sounds crazy, but its true.

I know, I know.

            You can’t quite believe this.

I know, I know.

            This all seems beyond you.

“Lacking nothing?”

            Unimaginable!

            Impossible!

I know. I know.

            We seem to lack what it takes

            to believe that we could lack nothing.

So pray.

            If you lack the wisdom to embrace trials in joy,

            then pray.

            Ask God.

            His generosity is infinite,

                        and he won’t come down hard on you

                        because you can’t quite accept all of this. 

Just ask.

            But one caution, my friends.

            When you ask, really ask.

            Don’t try to keep your options open,

                        saying,

                        “Yes, God, give me the wisdom to live with such faith,”

while secretly trying to control things on your own.

                        “Yes God, help me to face these trials with joy,”

while anxiously imposing your own agenda on things.

In a well-managed world of control,

            faithful and honest prayer is a rare thing.

So don’t go playing these kind of games with God.

            If you ask, then ask with integrity.

            If you pray, then mean it.

            Don’t be double-minded,

                        trying to have your cake and eat it too.

I know, I know.

            None of this makes sense.

I know, I know.

            All of this seems to turn everything upside down.

                        Receive painful trials with joy?

                        Faith even against the evidence?

                        Prayer without doubt?

Who lives in this kind of world?

You do. We all do.

But we have to open our eyes to see it.

So you want to see things upside down?

            You want to see the world turned on its head?

Then consider this.

            The person who is at the bottom of the heap,

                        is at the top.

            The person who is in the lowest position,

                        should take pride in being in the highest position.

            The poorest of the poor,

                        the lowliest of the lowly,

                        they are the ones who are rich and esteemed.

            And the person at the top of the heap,

                        is at the bottom.

            The person in the highest position,

                        should take pride in being in the lowest position.

            The highly esteemed,

                        the most powerful,

                        the richest of the rich,

                        they have as much staying power as a summer flower.

            They look good,

                        they are incredibly attractive and draw attention to themselves,

                        but in the end the bloom falls

                        and the flower dies.

Make no mistake,

            those who trust in their riches,

            will fade away.

            Those who boast in their financial security,

            will be the first to go in the scorching heat of economic collapse.

            Those who shield themselves from such trials,

                        through their stock portfolios,

                                    their extended health plans,

                                    their monster homes,

                                    their overly consumptive, self-indulgent lives,

                                    their business-as-usual lifestyle in the face of crisis,

                        will not stand in the heat of the day,

                        will not survive the trials before us,

                        will not persevere,

                        will not come to a mature faith,

                        will never feel that they “lack nothing,”

                        and will never, ever, ever, experience “pure joy.”

So, blessed are you who are poor,

            for yours is the Kingdom of God.

And woe to you who are rich,

            for you have already received comfort.

And blessed are you who persevere under these kinds of trials.

Blessed are  you when you have stood the test.

Blessed are you when you gave up everything, but held on to Jesus.

Blessed are you when you were poor for Jesus sake.

Blessed are you.

            Your trials produced perseverance.

            Your perseverance made you mature.

            Your faith was made complete.

            You have lacked nothing.

And for you who have persevered in the very face of death,

            there is the crown of life that was always God’s promise,

            there is the crown of life for those who keep faith,

            there is the crown of life for those who have embraced life,

            there is the crown of life for those who have loved God,

                        even when tempted to let go,

                        even when tempted to curse,

                        even when tempted to break faith.

But let’s be clear about something, my friends.

            It is a false piety to say that these temptations came from God.

            It may sound all spiritual to say that these trials were put there by God.

            But it’s a lie!

            A fine-sounding, pious, misdirected lie

                        about God,

                        about evil

                        and about ourselves.

God is the God of light

             and there is no darkness in him.

God is the God of all goodness

            and there is no evil in him.

Evil has no legitimate place

            in God’s good creation.

Evil is an alien intruder,

            a distorter,

            a liar.But evil isn’t something “out there,”

            lurking around looking for people to tempt.

No, evil is deeply internal to our broken lives.

Are you tempted?

            Then don’t blame God.

            Don’t even blame evil itself.

            Don’t say, “The Devil made me do it.”

No, if you are tempted,
            then take a good hard look at yourself.

Whose desire leads you into temptation,

            if not your own?

You know what that’s like,

            and so do I.

Your desire is your desire.

            It is not imposed from somewhere else.

            This is your desire,

                        for security,  

                        for wealth,

                        for health,

                        for status,

                        for honour.

            And yet, somehow, this desire takes control of you.

            These are your desires,

                        these are my desires,

                        and yet we find ourselves,

                                    dragged away,

                                    enticed,

                                    seduced,

                                    perhaps even raped,

                        by our own desires.

            We become slaves of these desires,

                        sex slaves.

            And from our unholy copulation with our own desires,

                        after those desires have conceived,

                        after we have become pregnant

                                    through this perverse form of self-rape,

                        sin is born.

            And when sin grows up,

                        when sin comes to maturity,

                        when sin becomes full-grown,

                        sin itself gives birth

                                    … to death.

From trial to perseverance to maturity to wisdom and life,

            or

from temptation to desire to full-grown sin to death.

From trial to perseverance to maturity to wisdom and life,

            or

from temptation to desire to full-grown sin to death.

That’s the stark choice before us, dear friends.

That has always been the choice.

So don’t be deceived my brothers and sisters.

            Don’t be duped.

            Don’t fall prey to the lie.

All that is good,

            all the gifts of this creation,

            all that is worth having,

            comes from the exceeding and abundant generosity

                        of the Father of all light.

The God of light,

            the God of all goodness,

            the God of all life, and life abundant,

            is a God of faithfulness.

He is not double-minded.

            He calls us to bear his image by being faithful.

We know that desire seduces, sin is born and sin will kill us.

We know that sin is born of lies,

            deception is at its heart.

Well here is the good news that I proclaim to you this morning.

            Here is the good news in the face of the deceit of sin.

            Here is the good news in the face of death.

            Here is the good news in the face of the trials that we face.

God chose to give us birth,

            through the Word of Truth,

            that we might be the firstfruits

            of all he created.

Evil desire’s birth of sin unto death,

            or God’s birth of us unto life?

Death rooted in deceit,

            or the Word of Truth?

The passing beauty of a wildflower born of economic wealth,

            or the firstfruits of all of creation?

Wisdom or foolishness?

Truth or deceit?

Joy or anxiety?

Life or death?

Choose life, sisters and brothers.

In the name of Jesus, choose life.

Amen

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

A few weeks back I started to write about notions of healthy sexuality in Christian community. One of the things that prompted me to do so was simply a lack of nuanced writing on the subject, whether in print, on the web, or wherever. This isn’t to say that there aren’t all sorts of books and materials out there that cover the topic, but I’m honestly just not satisfied with the idea of leaving it up to Joshua Harris or Lauren Winner to be the final arbiters in this discussion.

Floating in the back of my mind through all of this has been the thought that if Christians cannot manage to have meaningful, open, frank conversations about heterosexual relationships, then it’s not going to be easy to have meaningful, frank conversations about broader questions of sexuality.

That’s why I’m hopeful about today’s Bridging the Gap synchroblog. Bringing together bloggers gay and straight, from a variety of faith perspectives, Wendy Gritter and the folks from New Direction are stimulating the dialogue. Here’s what it’s all about:

The purpose of this synchroblog is to share positive stories, ideas, suggestions on how we can bridge the gaps between people on the topic of faith and sexuality. Another way to put it is, “How can we embody mutual honour and respect in our conversations and relationships with those with whom we may disagree on the topic of homosexuality?”

From personal experience, one of the more difficult things has been getting to a point of dialogue with my own family. I can think of an evening several months ago at an extended family get-together where the conversation suddenly ended up focusing on same-sex marriage. It was a short-ish conversation – ten minutes in all – but it made some folks around the table a bit uncomfortable. It made me uncomfortable to share my thoughts and experiences with my family because I wasn’t sure how they’d respond. The unknown factor of their possible response scared me. And yet, I don’t know that it was terribly helpful on my part to minimize our (assumed) differences, or to pre-emptively end the conversation.

I didn’t continue sharing my thoughts. I chose instead to cut the conversation short rather than offending someone. In so doing, I tried to sweep the gap underneath the rug to minimize conflict. Then last week I read this story on The Onion. My life as satire. Convicted by The Onion. How often does that happen?

Looking back, I wish that I had done more to engage in that important conversation with my family. To meet them where they are. To provide them an opportunity to meet me where I am. As it was, I denied that opportunity by being more focused on how I’d be seen in light of the conversation than on truly being present to the people, thoughts and ideas around the table. Perhaps this is the beginnings of a resolution. Perhaps this is the start of a push out of this little comfort zone to engage my own family and to engage this conversation more deeply.

I’ve written previously on this blog about a friend who used to remind me that “a bridge goes both ways.” My response to that assertion remains the same. Sometimes people need help crossing it. If it’s a dangerous bridge to cross, if it’s a bridge that leads to a place of discomfort or discrimination, then we have to do more than lazily call out from the other side. If it’s important that someone be able to bridge the gap, then we need to reach out, and accompany them to make sure they get across safely.

I now work in a denomination that is in the midst of its own debates over how LGBT folks should be recognised within Christ’s body. These debates have led to wounding on all sides, in countless churches and denominations. Folks turning their backs on one another because they don’t agree. Folks puffing up in pride because they’re right and others are decidedly wrong. Such postures are not not limited to one side of the debate.

I’m not sure that militancy on either side is going to lead us towards a place where we can see the image of God in all people. Embodying mutual honour and respect is difficult if all you see is an enemy. If we are unwilling to share place with one another, to enter in to each others’ struggles and joys by truly and respectfully listening, we will never get anywhere together. And that’s sad. I heard it said somewhere that all things hold together in Christ. If that’s the case, then how, St. Paul, do you explain all the divisions amongst us?

Maybe there’s a solution Maybe everyone in the church should just give up sex for one year. No sex. One year. For anyone.

Don’t do it. Don’t talk about it. No innuendos. Nothing except fasting and prayer and working together to build God’s kingdom. Maybe if we just learned to work side by side, to see one another as human, we’d learn a few things along the way.

Then again, talking about it isn’t a bad idea either. So long as we can do so with respect and humility. To help us along, we could start by reading and engaging with the rest of the posts on the Synchroblog.

by Brian Walsh

It seems to me that the environmental crisis is, at heart, a failure and a perversion of the human imagination. Our imaginations have been taken captive by an ecocidal ideology of economic growth that invariably will render us homeless in a world not fit for habitation. If imagination is the issue, then a redirection of our lives towards creation care will not emerge out of statistics of ecological despoliation, as important as those statistics might be. What we need is liberated imaginations, imaginations set free to envision an alternative life, an ecological imagination that engenders a life of restorative homemaking in this our creational home.

And so, when asked to give a chapel talk at World Vision Canada on the environmental crisis I turned to the music and poetry of Bruce Cockburn. Over a career spanning 40 years with 30 albums to his credit, Cockburn has been dedicated to the hard work of imagination, the weaving of word and music in such a way that we see anew, feel more deeply and are animated by the joy of a creation-caring life. At World Vision I was assisted in my presentation by the fine Toronto folk-jazz ensemble, Hobson’s Choice.

Then a few weeks later I went to Christ Church (Anglican) in Burritt’s Rapids, Ontario to preach at a Cockburn influenced Eucharist. At Christ Church the music was wonderfully led by the Cameron Strings. The significance of Burritt’s Rapids wouldn’t be lost on any fans of the early works of Bruce Cockburn since many of those pieces were composed when Cockburn lived in that town.

The sermon “Creation Dreams and Ecological Nightmares” is rooted in a series of counterpointal readings from Scripture coupled with a number of Cockburn songs.

The first set of readings places Genesis one in tension with a number of prophetic texts. Read these texts in this order and see what happens:
Gen 1.1-4 ……………….. Jer. 4.23
Gen. 1.9-12 …………….   Is. 24.4-6, 11, 19
Gen 1.20-22 ……………  Hos. 4.1-3
Gen 1.24-25 ……………. Jer. 9.10
Gen. 1.26-28, 30-31 ….. Jer. 4.23-26

Then add in John 1.1-5 as the Gospel and Colossians 1.21-23 as the Epistle.

Now stir it all with the music of Bruce Cockburn. Begin with “One Day I Walk”, play “Creation Dream” just before reading the sermon, and finish it all off with “Lord of the Starfields” and “All the Diamonds.” You might also want to top it all off with “In the Falling Dark,” and “Night Train.”

Here’s the full-text sermon.

Recently we asked the Rev. Julie Golding Page if we could re-post her review of u2’s new “No Line on the Horizon” from the Diocese of Saskatchewan’s website. She graciously said yes, and we share it with you below…

by the Rev. Julie Golding Page

Die-hard U2 fans finally have their wish, after waiting five long years since the release of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. U2’s new album, No Line on the Horizon, is a carefully crafted series of songs about being lost, finding the self in God, becoming disoriented and lost again, and becoming re-oriented to God and the world. Musically, the album continues the U2 tradition of vigorous rock tunes, complete with the classic guitar riffs, but with the addition of Middle Eastern overtones in several songs, giving homage to the band’s time recording in the unusual location of Fez, Morocco.

As usual, U2’s lyrics give a combination of scathing critique and encouraging hope to the Western world. More particularly, the band’s political and religious exhortations are addressed to the USA and, it could be argued, equally to the Christian church.

The title track and first song, “No Line on the Horizon,” begins the album’s journey with a feeling of disorientation or lostness, with no distinguishing marks to provide perspective in modern life. This track is followed up with “Magnificent,” whose driving beat, proliferation of biblical imagery and confident, soaring expression of purpose under God – the Magnificent – make it the album’s closest facsimile to a gospel song and reminiscent of their 1987 hit “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” U2 lead singer Bono sings to God, “I was born to be with you in this space and time.” Yet this song is not a blithely upbeat denial of the very real disorientation we all feel in our personal lives in the modern world. He continues, “After that and ever after I haven’t had a clue.” This combination of honest confusion and hope in God is what attracts many to U2.

The next two tracks address God’s call to us but in modern idiom, using technological metaphors. “Moment of Surrender” speaks of a moment of clarity and surrender when one goes down on one’s knees and recognizes “vision over visibility” or, in other words, invisible faith over what is physically seen. Love, often used as a placeholder for God, appears in this song and throughout the album. “Unknown Caller” uses the metaphors of computer and telephone to instruct hearers who are “lost” to listen to God: “cease to speak that I may speak. Shush now.” Both songs employ organ music interludes to allow hearers time to ponder, as if in church after an altar call.

Now that the listener has been called by God and had the chance to be made right with him, the album invites participation in the political and religious realities of the world. “Get on Your Boots” and “Stand Up Comedy” are particularly pointed injunctions for Westerners, Americans and the Church to get ready and begin engaging in the world. If there was any doubt about equating the oft-mentioned “love” with God, it is made explicit in “Stand Up Comedy,” which says baldly, “God is love.”

Those who remain unsure of U2’s Christian content will appreciate “White as Snow.” Sharing its melody with “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” the song is a haunting retelling of the Advent hymn in U2’s vernacular. Bono sings of the great longing for the lamb as white as snow, who brings forgiveness to all – both Westerners and their current arch-enemies, the people of the Middle East, from places like Fez.

These “enemies” are considered thoughtfully in many tracks. The album leaves the listener with this poignant thought: “Choose your enemies carefully…Gonna last with you longer than your friend.”

No Line on the Horizon is satisfying musically for its fusion of rock and Middle Eastern melodies, and lyrically for its astute observations and insistence that political and religious inertia can be overcome. U2’s answer is God. May listeners come to the same conclusion.

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

The nuttiness continues (perhaps unsurprisingly), this time from Colby Cosh via the National Post. I know that the NP isn’t completely full of the ignorant, but, well, Cosh’s Comment piece from May 19th is a bit of a doozy.

I’m just thankful that the Post also has saner, more informed writers like Vanessa Farquharson. Vanessa writes regularly both on her blog and in her Sense and Sustainability column on all issues green, and recently published the book Sleeping Naked is Green. I haven’t yet seen her directly take on the oil sands, but I’d suspect she’d have a word or two to share on the subject that might counter Cosh’s flagrant ignorance.

Back to the matter at hand. In the comments to my earlier Dirty Oil, Messy Faith post, Michael pointed me to Cosh’s piece. As I read the article, I just rolled my eyes. Perhaps it’s just that I hope folks aren’t really so ignorant.

Perhaps I just hope that people could see the ways in which the Biblical narrative calls us to care for creation. The ways in which Genesis calls all of creation good. The ways in which God makes covenant with not just people, but also the whole of creation. The ways in which we are to seek the holistic shalom of the world with which we have been gifted.

But then again, it’s not just the role of “non-believers” like Cosh to discount such claims. It also plays out in some of the more fundie portions of the Christian church itself. And, deeply embedded in the world of Albertan conservatism – religious, political, etc. – it’s perhaps not surprising that Cosh’s comments are shaded by a particularly oily branch of the Christian family tree. Cosh writes:

The Bible tells us that Man is given “dominion … over all the earth” and “every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” before he is even created. Whatever “dominion” may mean specifically, it cannot be reconciled with Kairos’s vision of “human societies … as not distinct and superior to the rest of nature, but part of it.

The only problem I have with this bit is that, well, dominion has nothing to do with oppression, or superiority. Furthermore, contextually it has everything to do with the role of humanity within all of Creation.

I would push back and suggest that perhaps there is some truth to the “distinct” role of humanity within nature – as it seems that the whole role of naming, as explored in the first chapters of Genesis provides humanity with a distinct role.

But that role is about care (or stewardship) and not exploitation. Again, the legacy of Lynn White Jr. and those who would finger Christianity for all of our environmental ills does not adequately attest to those like Wendell Berry, Steve Bouma-Prediger, Bill McKibben, Paul Santmire, Norman Wirzba, and others who, from the perspective of Christian faith, lead us towards the importance of ecological sustainability. Not to mention, of course, this movement’s strong theological underpinnings.

I suppose I could get into it further, but at some level I don’t know that it matters what this particular Post writer thinks. It’s just that, well, I find Cosh’s argument both obnoxious, and ill-informed. To go further to dismantle it would simply just take more time than I think it may be worth. At least for this evening. I’m just going to bed. It’s nice there.

So if you’re still interested in reading, I leave you with a link to Julie Clawson’s excellent post on Organic Food, which includes a hilarious clip from the Daily Show.

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

On Sunday afternoon, the CBC posted an article on a fact finding mission to the Alberta Oil Sands. It’s a short piece, doesn’t say much, except that a delegation will be headed to Fort Mac from May 21-27th.

It mentions that the delegation is organised by Kairos, a group that according to their own website “deliberates on issues of common concern, advocates for social change and joins with people of faith and goodwill in action for social transformation.”

In short, the news article – in no condescending way points out that members of the church are going to check it out for themselves. And this simple fact has lit the news post’s comments afire.

Reading through the pages of comments, I was both shocked, and not. The majority of responses, as ill-informed as they were, basically said “get lost, go away, this is none of your business…something about separation of church and state…oh and keep your priests away from my kid.”

The fact finding mission, according to campaigns coordinator Sarah Stratton, is entirely relevant to the life of the church, and such facts (whatever they may be) should inform her approach to them:

When you look at something as large as the oilsands…there are going to be people [in any one of our churches] who work in the industry as labour, who work in the industry as management, and [some] who very clearly oppose the industry.

I think it’s important that this mission is taking place, and that they are consulting widely with stakeholders involved. Inasmuch as the oil sands bring up serious justice issues, they also bring up important pastoral concerns for those whose livelihood is somehow tied to the oil and gas industry. Furthermore, very few of us are able to make outright condemnations, seeing as our rather privileged lifestyle is wholly dependent upon cheap oil.

I’ve written about this stuff before in a series of posts on the church and her dependence on cheap oil here.

I don’t really know the demographic of folks commenting on this news story – it seems to me it brought out some of the lunatics. Maybe they’re just average Canadians. Whatever the case, I think it says something both powerful and clear about public perception of the church.

Hordes of commenters tell the church to go and focus on managing their own problems and issues, insinuating that concern with dirty oil has nothing to do with religious belief. No matter how hard we try to battle back against Lynn White Jr., there’s still a lot of work to be done.

But today I’m not writing to defend the church. I’m writing to suggest that the church has painted herself into a corner.

Sure there are fantastic organisations like Kairos and CPJ who are engaging in justice and policy issues. There are individual Christians, churches and denominations who run social services, care for the poor, who are seeking to lead the way in environmental stewardship. There’s all kinds of good stuff.

And yet, somehow this caricature of Christians is still out there. My suspicion is that part of the problem is that Christians with a social conscience are not nearly as visible as those who are concerned simply with saving souls and blowing up the earth so Jesus can come back sooner.

I’m not suggesting the development of a media arm for the socially conscious parts of the church. Rather, I’m suggesting that those old mainline liberals simply need to recover some of the evangelicalism they long ago abandoned.

Some readers may have just started to choke.

To clarify – what I’m suggesting is that those folks in the mainline need to share the good news of a more fulsome gospel, rather than shuddering in a corner, waiting for the death blow to their dwindling congregations.

Because seriously, God is at work in all corners of the church, God is practicing resurrection throughout the world, and we all need to testify to this transformative work that is taking place throughout our world. It will do us no good to hide it under a bushel, or whatever…

The answer to reductionistic evangelism is not no evangelism. It’s about sharing the good news in as full a manner as we humans possibly can. I suppose I get the fear of those who might rather consider themselves post-evangelical, amongst other things. The PR campaign is a slow slog and an uphill battle. But it’s not just about PR. It’s about embodying the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed.

My suspicion is that if more socially conscious Christians actually lived this social engagement out in the midst of their communities – if our churches actually connected with the people and institutions around them – some of these comments would, over time change. If you’ve never met a socially conscious Christian, you’re more likely to caricature and stereotype.

But if you’ve met one in the flesh, it becomes harder to do so. So I guess what I’m saying on this Victoria Day Monday is that I simply wish that more Christians would get off their hands to both live and tell the story of Jesus, proclaiming as full a gospel as humanly possible. Not just to counteract the ignorance of posters to the CBC website (altho perhaps CBC would be grateful) but also to just get on with what we’re supposed to be up to.

You know, things like a long afternoon drive in the country, or throwing pound after pound of factory farmed meat on the gas-fueled grill. Happy Victoria Day, Canada!

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

via Mark who got it from Mike, who caught it from Keith, who somewhere along the line must have contracted it from Dan (this stuff is sure contagious!)

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

I’ve been thinking about sex a lot lately.

If we were  to believe what I suspect to be a baseless rumour, men think of sex every seven seconds or so. So I might be excused for such indiscretion. Then again, the Kinsey Institute suggests that 54% of men think about sex at least once daily, 43% think about it a few times each month, and 4% less than once a month. I suppose there’s a whole spectrum out there…

The reasons for which I continue to think about sexuality are really quite simple. Throughout my time growing up in the church, it has been a rare occasion when I have had a positive conversation related to sexuality.

The other week I was down at Princeton Theological Seminary for a youth ministry conference, and one of our workshops dared to broach the subject. Dr. Kate Ott, from the Religious Institute was working with youth leaders from across North America on how we might discuss sexuality in the church not just with young people, but from birth through death. Our whole lives.

For me this was new. Outside of some fantastic conversations as part of our Wine Before Breakfast community in Toronto, I have only been privy to silence, or the negative “don’t do anything” kinds of monologues about sexual behaviour. But limiting sexuality to pure mechanics or particular acts is reductionist. Sexuality is much broader than these themes suggest, and much broader than any church in my past has been willing to concede.

How then might we openly and honestly engage with the realities of human sexuality within our churches?

Ericka posted several weeks ago about Lisa Graham McMinn’s book, Sexuality and Holy Longing: Embracing Intimacy in a Broken World. In that post she pointed to a question that has bugged me for quite some time. What indeed do we do about the 15+ years of awakened sexuality, between puberty and marriage? What has the church to say about this?

Until recently, I was pretty sure that the church had nothing useful to say. The only answers I’ve had have been blank stares, or the prohibitions. This is less of a pressing question for me now, having been married for just over 2.5 years, but it still comes back to me as I consider how youth (and other) ministries of our churches might engage sexuality. With a more long-term vision, how might my generation approach these same questions with our children?

All of this is caricature to some degree. I grew up in a particular set of communities. Just because this was not the case for me, it seems at least loosely plausible that there are Christian communities out there with healthy approaches to sexuality education.  

Donna Freitas’ Sex and the Soul, studies American college students at Evangelical, Spiritual and Secular schools. What she finds is that only at Evangelical colleges does religious belief affect decisions about whether or not to engage in sex. What does that say about our mainline traditions? Where are they in all of this?

I’m not saying that the evangelical experience is all Knights in Shining Armour and Damsels in Distress (no matter what John Eldredge has to say for himself). I’m not saying that they have it all figured out. The question I’m left with, as someone who works in the midst of a mainline context, is why (if Freitas’ study is reliable) there is such a disconnect between faith and action for those coming from this quadrant of Christianity.

One could generalise, I suppose, about the failure of youth and young adult ministries in the mainline context. One could suggest that the average person in a mainline context simply doesn’t engage the scriptures in the same way many evangelicals do. Many things could be suggested. Whatever the case, I do believe that one thing we all need to be doing – no matter what corner of the Christian world we come from – is to engage in conversations about sexuality, and what a biblically informed worldview might call us to.

We have to know that whatever it is we ourselves believe about sexuality is what is going to be passed along to our kids. If we have not considered our own opinions, if we haven’t weighed these things against our scripture, tradition, reason and experience, who knows what we’ll pass on?

[Insert over-quoted Socratic notions about the unexamined life here]

In the context of the church, conversations about sexuality (amongst other things) should be taking place over the course of an entire lifetime, from birth to death. Our churches seem rather ill-equipped to take these challenges on. According to the Religious Institute, most of our clergy have received little to no training in how to engage these issues in their own seminary training. Whether they’ve received the training or not, we need to find ways to engage these issues in more contexts than simply the awkward birds’n'bees chat.

If the Christian faith has something to say about our sexuality (and indeed, I believe it does), then we need to continue to examine these things as we pass through various life stages. In the same way that salvation isn’t about some trite little prayer we pray once in our lifetime, our sexual education is not limited to one conversation during puberty. Sexuality, while not defining us, is a significant part of our identities. If we’re unable to work through our questions, struggles and joys in community, it seems to me that we’ve lost an important piece of the puzzle.

“A Bruce Cockburn weekend,” you ask, “what on earth is that?”

Well so here’s the thing. May 23-24, Brian Walsh will be leading a workshop celebrating the significant artistic contribution of Canadian singer/songwriter, Bruce Cockburn. On Saturday from 9.30-3.30, he’ll be exploring the rich spiritual images and Christian themes in Bruce’s repertoire. On Sunday, Brian will be preaching at 10:30am. Unsurprisingly, service music will be from Cockburn’s catalogue.

From the organisers:

Cockburn has always had a loyal fan base, however, there has been a re-surgence of interest in his music because of references to his songs in William P. Young’s popular novel, The Shack. The workshop is being held at Christ Church [Anglican] in Burritts’ Rapids (now part of the city of Ottawa). When Bruce Cockburn lived in Burritt’s Rapids, he wrote some of his most popular songs. This one-day workshop will be an opportunity to explore with others the connections between faith, music, beauty and brokenness in the place where Cockburn’s musical and spiritual journey all began.

There are lots of B&B’s in the area and local organizers can assist with finding accommodation if needed. If you’re interested in coming, please contact Lisa Chisholm-Smith at (613) 233-6271 ext 231 or lchisholm-smith@ottawa.anglican.ca by Tues. May 19, 2009.

Cost is $25 in advance or $30 at the door.

More info including driving directions is at http://www.merrickvilleanglicans.org/Cockburn.htm