Between the Resurrection and the Resurrection Reflections on 1 John 3.1-7   RCL Easter 3B 14 April 2024   Parish of Saint Stephen the Martyr Burnaby BC            In last week’s sermon I mentioned that this year will mark the forty-third anniversary of my ordinations to the transitional diaconate and to the presbyterate.  Some of you, I know, have been active in the life of the church as long or perhaps longer than I.  We have witnessed so many changes in the church. ·      We ..read more

Here is the video recording of my mother's funeral ..read more

Simeon the prophet speaks of 'falling and rising', a reminder that when we fall, God is present to help us rise ..read more

Let Us Sing of Falling and Rising Again Reflections on Luke 2.22-40   RCL Christmas 1B 31 December 2023   Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral New Westminster BC               If you grew up singing in an Anglican church choir or attending celebrations of morning and evening prayer, then you have had heard one if not all of the Evangelist Luke’s great gifts to Christians – the Song of Zechariah, the Song of Mary and the Song of Simeon.  Over nineteen centuries of Christian devotion, these songs have found a perma ..read more

 On the Road to Bethlehem – Yet Again Reflections on Luke 2.1-14   Christmas Eve 24 December 2023   Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral New Westminster BC               One of the last photographs I took of our Shetland Sheepdog, Seren, was in April of this year as he and I prepared to take our usual walk in McKittrick Park across from our home in North Delta.  He’s looking at me with an expression he used at the beginning of every walk, an expression which says, ‘Let’s get a move on.  I’ve got pl ..read more

God's mission, begun in creation, renewed in the incarnation and empowered by the Spirit, continues in us. There is no back-up plan ..read more

A recent e-mail post from the Alban Institute focused on the need for clergy self-care. One of the articles stressed the importance of intentional breathing, e.g., breathe in to the count of four and breathe out to the count of six or breathe in to the count of four, hold to the count of seven and then breathe out to the count of eight. When Jesus invites us to come to him and rest, he is inviting us to breathe deeply and intentionally the Spirit, the Life-Giver, the Advocate and the Guide. It's an invitation to reject the urgency this time of year seeks to impose upon us and to accept the s ..read more

On the 3rd Sunday of Advent we hear John the Baptist describe himself as a voice in the wilderness. We Christians are also voices in the wilderness of this world. We may sometimes wonder whether our voices are heard, but they are ..read more

This time of year is full of advertising messages intended to create urgency and perhaps even anxiety on our part that we might miss the 'sale of the century' or such like. But the message of John the Baptist comes to us as a genuine call for renewal and for reconsideration of our lives in preparation for the coming day of the Lord. It is a persistent call that comes to us in many ways ..read more

For many Canadian Christians the feast of Nicholas has been an occasion for conflicting emotions -- the joy of the coming Nativity in contrast to the tragedy of the Ecole Polytechnique in Montréal in 1989.  Perhaps remembering the murder of the women might lead us to remember a saint who sought to care for all in his diocese, especially those at risk of exploitation, and who embodied as best as he could the agapē of God in Christ ..read more