Hard to believe that my three-year ministry as Moderator is coming to a close… although?General Council?still looms large in my thinking and in my dreams. So, friends, this is my final posting, the last of over 165. What a journey it’s been. I have particularly appreciated these final 40 days, this?prayer pilgrimage?to General Council 42, …
My “water mug” – the one I will be bringing to the?42nd?General Council?– comes from last February’s?Youth Forum?and it declares, “God’s World Needs Young Leaders.” Recently, a friend pushed this further, and said that in this changing reality of church, we may not need buildings, but we sure are going to need good leaders, young …
So perhaps you have a sense of why you and the church need to be involved in the work of justice, not as an optional part of the gospel, but as an integral expression of it. But then comes the question of how such a commitment gets expressed. Within the United Church there has been …
No matter what you call it… justice, social action, outreach… it’s part of our United Church DNA. It’s been there from the beginning, with our roots in the social gospel, in the Methodist commitment to social well-being, in the belief that evangelism and social service need to be linked together. It’s one of the marks …
I hadn’t intended to write?two posts?about evangelism… being so interested in what evangelism means is a new direction for me. However, it arises from my experience of the past three years, recognizing that people who call themselves “Spiritual But Not Religious” have deep and serious questions; and believing that the United Church is actually well …
So, if you think “discipleship” is a loaded word, how much more baggage does the word “evangelism” carry!?! Stereotypes abound… ?and few of them are appealing. And yet, the founding denominations of the United Church had rich understandings and traditions of evangelism. For many years we had a department at General Council called “Evangelism and …
The church in Canada exists in a changed world, a society that is increasingly secular, with many “Nones” (no religious affiliation); “Dones” (who have a church background, but are no longer interested); “SBNRs” (Spiritual But Not Religious); and those who are fervently atheist, anti-religion (Richard Dawkins et al). We are a “sideline denomination”—small, and on …
As part of the?GC42 Prayer Pilgrimage, Moderator Gary Paterson has written a series of blog posts around the question, “So What’s a Good Church For?” This is Part 3: “Naming Core Values.” See Parts?1,?2, and?3. I am very grateful to be on this pilgrimage to Corner Brook, and so glad to be travelling with you. …
And so it begins, friends, the?40-day pilgrimage?to Corner Brook, where the church will gather in worship and prayer and work at?General Council 42, open to the Spirit, seeking to discern the ways that God is calling us into the future. As pilgrims we travel in faith, motivated by a yearning for a deeper relationship with …
The pilgrimage to Corner Brook begins Monday, June 29, and then it’s 40 days and 40 nights of travelling time, until?General Council 42?begins. I would like to invite the whole church to participate in this pilgrimage – not only General Council commissioners, staff, and guests, but all of you “back home,” who won’t actually be …