Year A, Second Sunday after Christmas
Theme: Supersized Superheroes Quotes What do we do with our lives;we leave only a mark.Will our story shine like a lightor end in the dark? Give it all or nothingTerry Britten, Gary Lyle, We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) Superheroes were born in the minds of people desperate to be rescued.Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Circle […]
Year A, Advent Four
Theme: Babies and Stars: Promise or Potential? Quotes Potential has a shelf lifeMargaret Atwood All we are not stares back at what we are.W. H. Auden Revised Common Lectionary Readings Isaiah 7:10-16Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19Romans 1:1-7Matthew 1:18-25 For complete texts, please see Vanderbilt Lectionary Resources: Revised Common Lectionary Texts For commentary on original texts, please see […]
Year A, Advent Three
Theme: Hard Work Quotes Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn’t an option; it’s a necessity.Steve Pavlina Revised Common Lectionary Readings Isaiah 35:1-10, Reconsidered For the information of […]
Year A, Advent Two
Theme: Those Crazies; They Have Always Been with Us Quotes Being crazy isn’t enoughDr. Seuss Looks like what drives me crazyDon’t have no effect on you–But I’m gonna keep on at itTill it drives you crazy, too.Langston Hughes, Selected Poems In a world full of people, there’s only some want to fly.Isn’t that crazy.But we’re never […]
Year A, First Sunday after Christmas
Theme: Accompaniment: It takes all of us. Quotes It was no messenger or angel but one’s presence that saved them.Isaiah 63:9 Amended Be here now.Ram Dass Revised Common Lectionary Readings Alternate Readings Words to Introduce the Readings We celebrate a new year by singing out the old year and making commitments for the new. It […]
Advent Candle Lighting
Many Protestant congregations adopted an Advent Candle Lighting ritual several decades ago. I don’t recall having one in our church when I was a child, but I do remember it feeling like a special part of the December services when I would return from university for the holidays in the late 70s. Perhaps they became […]
Year A, Advent One
Theme: Raw and Ready Quotes A sage traveling all day is never far from the supplies in his cart, and however spectacular the views he remains calm and composed.Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching Invitation to Gather Before our eyes opened to this daynaught but darkness lay beneaththe lashes, closed, that sheltered us within the nightand let […]
Resources for inspiring community
Over the years, I have collected and written huge amounts of material and hope you might find it useful as you create opportunities for people to fall in love with being together, the most important achievement of church or any gathering we might hope to create. I’ve two projects underway. Lectionary-based Resources One of my […]
Over the Backyard Fence
Hello, my neighbours! It’s been too long! Scott and I have lived at XXXXXXX since XXXX. We’ve waved at a few of you, patted some of your pets, and said hello at the mailbox a few times. But we’ve not yet managed to get to know you. The challenges of the Coronavirus known as COVID-19 […]
What use is prayer?
A day of sorrow and anger elicits frustration with the act of prayer.
Wow. I’m in the New York Times
You’re probably thinking that it has got to be a total rush to have the weekend edition of the New York Times include a story about you. You’re right. It is. Sort of. When we read articles in newspapers and magazines, it’s easy to forget that there is an entire backstory the journalist couldn’t fit […]
We have a plus sign!
Who isn’t frustrated with Gutenberg, the new Wordpress writing system? Me. I’m totally over it.
The end of one thing; the beginning of the next
The ordeal West Hill and I have been experiencing for three and a half years as my ministry and credentials have been at stake, is over. This coming Sunday, I return to my congregation without a cloud hanging over our heads and secure in the knowledge that the community we have built at West Hill […]
An Amazing Line-up
Ensaf Haidar, Rafida Bonya Ahmed, … Wow. I am simply astonished at the people we’ve been able to schedule for West Hill’s Lives in the Balance Conference, co-sponsored with Humanist Canada. Not only will Ensaf Haidar, Raif Badawi‘s unbelievably strong wife, be with us, we also have Rafida Bonya Ahmed, author and widow of Avijit […]
Shared Humanity
Many of us were moved by the movie Avatar, and some of us most deeply by the greeting spoken by that Na’vi, “I see you.” It is a powerful moment of recognition and an equally powerful reminder to be fully present to the other. But James Cameron didn’t come up with the idea. It has […]
New Book!
Time or Too Late: Chasing the Dream of a Progressive Christian Faith Dreams One January Saturday in 2004, a blizzard slowly crossed the province, turning roads to treachery with both snow and the impatience of drivers eager to get where they were going. I awoke to watch the skies drift down in grey and white […]
Can we ever really understand?
This past Sunday was what is known in the Christian church as “Christ the King” Sunday. It’s the final Sunday in the Christian liturgical year and the culmination of all our readings and understanding. As I read the words of the scripture passages, I was flooded with the realization that we can barely understand each […]
Rare
Last week, the theme I extracted from next year’s lectionary readings for the closest Sunday on the calendar, was Oh! But to Prevail! In other words, a Perspective(s) (our take on what a sermon should be) on persistence. With everything that has happened over the past thirty and counting months since my disciplinary review was […]
Remembering with a purpose
The news plasters us with the most horrific things humanity is capable of doing to itself or to the planet, our only home. I am so occupied by its normalcy that when upbeat, “trifling” stories hit the airwaves, I snark and change the channel, rolling my eyes at the insignificance of what is being explored. […]
Malaysia
Last week, a government official in Malaysia urged citizens to “vehemently” hunt down young atheists whose pictures appeared on social media. They were members of the Atheist Republic whose founder, Armin Navabi, has provided a service to over a million subscribers who find inspiration and connection through his posts and encouragement. In a world where […]