Writings and Sermons
My first Sunday at my current Church I stood in front of the congregation before the service began introducing myself, asking for patience as I learn what they do, then I took a big breath and said,“You need to know something about how I celebrate a service. Anglican worship is full of movement. We sit, […]
Read MoreReflecting on predators in the Church This week was the third time. The other day I was talking with local clergy colleagues about how society has made safety into an idol. We discussed how the Gospel calls us to make sacrifices and take risks. That our lives, even apart from the Gospel, can never be […]
Read MoreThere is a balm in Galilee. Or at least that’s what I’m looking and hoping for, a balm in Galilee. The better known Balm of Gilead is only mentioned a few times in scripture and always as something with extraordinary healing properties, rare, and valuable. The idea was later adopted and incorporated into an African […]
Read MoreOne of the nights I worked this past week was because of an event held by our local ecumenical group. The Westmount Christian Council formed several decades ago when lay people in St Peter’s neighbourhood decided the Churches should cooperate better. On Sunday evening they hosted a service and fellowship time. I have find it […]
Read MoreI drove to and from my vestry meeting last night listening to episodes of The Collect Call. If you don’t listen to Brendan and Holli, I heartily recommend this. I enjoy it because they are church-y but they are also just plain delightful and entertaining. Holli and Brendan offer The Collect Call as part of […]
Read MoreIt started at lunch. We were a church-y group at a church-y gathering. I don’t remember how we wound our way to this topic, but we started wondering why our schedule, replete with initial meetings of all of The Episcopal Church’s Councils, Commissions, and Boards (CCABs), didn’t include Eucharist. Being nerdy Church nerds, we understandingly […]
Read MoreI sat at the deathbeds of three Churches. That was the ministry I was called to. It was not the ministry I expected. It was not, in the way that death never is, the ministry I wanted. I could see all the ways the story ended differently. More money, more people, more energy. Some of […]
Read MoreA recent post by Tony Jones on Theoblogy called for a schism over the question of women’s ordination.** This has kicked off some response. I, as a woman ordained in a liberal branch of Christ’s Church, don’t agree. You might think that I’d appreciate the solidarity for women’s ordination. After all I get quizzical looks and questions […]
Read MoreI’ve just started my new position as rector of St Peter’s in Edmonton. (Six weeks in, so everyone still thinks I’m new. A year from now, church members will still understand that I’m new.) As with most new clergy, I’m frequently asked one question. “How are you going to save the Church?” People don’t actually […]
Read MoreI started seminary the fall after I graduated college. I moved across the country and, as it happened, away from a Church situation that was…unhealthy…for me. It had been difficult for more than a year before I left. I felt I had little community at my Church; I was not being fed spiritually. I even […]
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Theologybird Writes 