This week has been a big week for my Doctor of Ministry studies. For a good chunk of the winter, I have been working on a course on the Gospel of Mark, a lot of learning which I incorporated into my preaching (and will continue to) and into our Lenten study. I handed in the ..read more

I know that Easter Sunday is supposed to be a day of surprise; the empty tomb is a reality that changes everything. But I didn’t expect the Easter surprise I woke up to on Easter Sunday morning this year.  Knowing that this is the time of year when snow mould and spring allergies are beginning ..read more

As we enter the back half of the season of Lent we are near to Laetare Sunday or ‘Rejoice Sunday’ which occurs on the 4th Sunday of Lent. It is meant to be a Sunday to celebrate – in the middle of a season of solemnity – as we approach Easter.  It kind of feels like a ..read more

We are at the mid-point of the season of Lent. Jesus has come from the wilderness to meet us where we are. Jesus has addressed our fears along with Peter’s fear. Now the lectionary turns from the Gospel of Mark to the Gospel of John, we hear the story of Jesus clearing or cleansing the ..read more

Our Lenten journey has taken us from the wilderness where God waited for God’s people for 40 days. And when we didn’t go out, God came to find us.  The next stop of Lent is the hustle and bustle of Greek Caesarea Philippi. A busy tourist stop where Jesus gathers his disciples to teach about ..read more

Each Lenten season takes its own shape and form, at least in my experience. Whether it is things going on in the world, things happening locally in the congregation, things happening in our personal lives or simply the fact of getting older, each year Lent has a different slant to it. Who can forget the ..read more

Mark is my favourite Gospel. This year we are in the Lectionary year of Mark. As we begin hearing the stories of Jesus’s teaching and ministry, particularly stories around Jesus calling his first disciples and Jesus beginning to minister in the region of Galilee, I cannot help but think about how our world has rapidly ..read more

This year we are in Lectionary year B, which is the year of Mark. For those who might be wondering, the lectionary is the 3-year cycle of appointed readings for every Sunday (every day in fact) of the church year.  The lectionary that we use is called the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), which is used ..read more

We are through Advent and awaiting the big night to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. We have waited and watched, we have prepared. But we have also heard again the promises of God given in Advent stories. Advent stories that give context to the Messiah who is about to come, stories that help us ..read more

Years ago, as the “decline” of Christianity in North America was just starting to be noticed by church leadership, I read an article by a clergyperson trying to describe and diagnose the church’s condition. She wrote that as a church we have begun to tire and slow down, that as a body we are transforming into something we don’t recognize and it feels like we are no longer in control of what is happening to us, we are headed towards something that we know will change us forever. Some would diagnose this as the symptoms of dying ..read more