This week has been a difficult week for my family. At the end of last week, my father was contending with what appeared to be a summer flu. Over the weekend, his symptoms worsened, to the point where he needed to be admitted to the hospital. While in the ambulance, he experienced a cardiac arrest ..read more

This week we observed those two beginning of summer milestones: Canada Day and American Independence Day. While both days have muted observations in Canada (the 4th of July for obvious reasons and July 1st for colonial ones), these two statutory holidays are signs of the beginning of summer. The 4th of July is of particular ..read more

This week the school year ended for school kids across the land. The crew of parents that typically meets at the bus stop for our street each morning for 8:08 AM pick-up has been counting the days until no more school lunches need to be made, no more rousing sleepy kids for breakfast and no ..read more

Throughout the summer, I intend to share some of my reflections on my trip to Germany and reformation sites. However, I promise I won’t write about Luther and Germany every week.  Rather, this week I have some thoughts about the clergy study conference that I attended in Gimli, Manitoba this week. For folks of a ..read more

It has been almost 3 weeks since I returned from the Reformation Study Tour to Germany that I was on in the first half of May.  While I have told a few stories of my trip here and there and many photos of the trip were posted to Facebook, I am still processing and unpacking ..read more

The task of stepping into the leadership roles of newly elected Bishops (and relatively recently elected ones) will be to help guide the church through the rough waters ahead. It won’t be enough to simply keep our ship of the church steady ahead, as we already know that we need to change and adapt. Bishops will be called to lead the transformation of the church, envisioning new directions, lifting up and amplifying innovators, and making space for those who have been historically excluded from leading.  ..read more

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