Galatians: A Costly Welcome Saint Paul demands to know: Is Christ's welcome for everyone, or not? Who is welcome to join the movement? And at what cost?"
Pastoral Letter for Holy Week: Prayers, Tears, Funerals and Feasts Sisters and brothers: Sometimes things don’t turn out the way you hoped they would.
Resurrection and Forgiveness: A Funeral Sermon for Adam Wood Resurrection happens daily on a farm. Resurrection is in the structure of creation. Resurrection is what makes earth possible. And Adam knew this.
Jesus and the Economics of Empire Economic injustice and violence. An economics of inequity and murder. They will always, always, always go together. The rich get richer … and the poor? … they get deader.
Rape, Healing, and the Author of Our Stories Our brains generally try to explain exceptions through a model of deviance, thus the battered or raped woman is soon morphed from a victim to a (willing) deviant participant. If violence is ‘not supposed to happen’ or is ‘not supposed to happen to me,’ then it’s hard to narrate the violence credibly.
Searching for God On Tuesday morning I returned home. Home to Wine Before Breakfast, the community in Toronto where I discovered that I could still be a Christian after all.
A 20th Anniversary Reflection … in Gratitude Kissing the world beautiful. That's campus ministry! Shoulder to shoulder – sometimes in the library together, sometimes on the streets of Toronto, sometimes in sharing our stories – and cheek to cheek – in the passing of the peace, in holding each other in joy and in sorrow – we’ve tried to embrace this world, this gift of creation, in all of its beauty.
Is New Life Possible? Jesus makes new life possible. Not life driven by fear, but abundant life grounded in the assurance that we are beloved children of God. Each and every one of us. Even on those days we're told we're not. And especially on those days we can't believe it's true.
Why Church? (Pt. 3) I didn't feel I had anything to contribute except to share my nagging question of why we do church in the first place. That's what this talk is about.
Communities of Reconciliation What I hope for in 2016 is that I might grow more into my ability to offer such space for reconciliation. What I hope for in 2016 is that my own St. Brigids Community Vancouver will continue to offer in Vancouver the profoundly needed ministry of reconciliation, especially for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Refugees in their own backyard A refugee in his own backyard. That’s what Joseph was. Bethlehem became a refugee camp. But these were refugees in their own backyard.
Why Church (Pt. 2) No church's story is a first person narrative. Even if that's what the talking heads on the conference circuit want to tell us.
Scared Shitless – A Christmas Story You ever been that afraid? You ever been totally shaking in terror? You ever been scared shitless?
Why Church? (Pt. 1) Every time the Why Church question flares up, it's because I'm in a situation with folks I'm convinced have forgotten why we are Church in the first place.
Coffee Shop Prayer Years ago, it became apparent that I could not pray the way I used to. And so I stopped praying. But this has been death. What I needed was not to give up on prayer, but to learn to pray anew.