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Holy Week at Home Study

Mon, 30 Mar 2020 19:57:14 GMT

Questions for Reflection - Holy Week 2020

Sunday, April 5 marks the beginning of Holy Week for Christians around the world. Yet, it will be a Holy Week unlike any we have experienced in our lifetimes. Still, while we won’t be waving palm branches on Sunday or singing, “Were you there” on Friday, the story has the power to comfort and challenge us – perhaps more than ever before.

For these questions, I’ll be mostly reflecting on Matthew 21:1-11, but you may want to read past that to consider the holy week stories as a whole.

Reading can be found here.

1. Matthew’s account of the parade and procession of palms emphasizes Jesus’ role as King. The crowds were imagining a very literal king who would overthrow Rome and sit on the throne of Israel as David had. The way they lay their branches and cloaks on the ground demonstrate this. But Jesus turns out to be a very different kind of ruler and leader.

Who is Jesus for you? How has your image of Jesus the person changed or been challenged over time?

2. The disciples are asked by Jesus to do a risky thing, and something they don’t quite understand. They are asked to untie a donkey and colt, and to bring them to Jesus for the procession. If anyone asks what they’re doing, they’re to say, “The Lord needs them.”

If I was one of those disciples, I would have been extremely uncomfortable with this request. What are the risky, uncomfortable things Jesus asks of us today? What gives us the courage to follow?

3. Richard Lischer offers a beautiful reflection on what Holy Week, and in particular, what Holy Saturday might mean for us in these Covid days. Read the article here .

What are we waiting for this Holy Saturday? What do we hope will emerge from this time of isolation?

Lent Study Week 5: Valley of the Bones

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 18:15:17 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14

Can be read here.

“Can these bones live?” Oh, Lord, you know. God asks Ezekiel if he believes the valley of bones before him can ever live and breathe again. Ezekiel is unsure. After seeing so much despair and destruction, and years of exile, he’s having a hard time finding hope for his people.

“Oh, Lord, you know.” It might be a response many of us are returning to this week with our many questions. How long will we have to stay isolated? How many will die? How will this impact our families and communities? Will we be the same people once it’s all over? Oh, Lord, you know.

Ezekiel is a long and complex book. For an entertaining and informative overview of it's context, you might want to watch this YouTube video.

Reflection Questions

1. The bones, even stitched back together with flesh and sinews are not truly alive until God breathes life into them. What gives you that feeling of energy? How does God breathe new life into you? Perhaps exercise? Music? Travel? A new project?

2. Despite that last reflection question, this really is a passage about a whole people being brought to new life. The house of Israel will be restored by God. How do we need to be restored? As a church community? As a geographic community in the GTA? As humanity? How might Covid-19 change or impact this need for restoration?

3. Walter Wink writes of this text, “That is how history is made: by envisioning of new alternative possibilities and acting on them as if they were inevitable. That is how despair is overcome: by the declaration of unlikelihoods welling up from the center of reality, by prophesying a course of action Cod is conspiring to bring to pass.”

How would we prophesy in these times of despair? What course of action is God conspiring to pass?

Music

Of course, none of us can read this passage without thinking of the “Dry Bones” song. Here’s a fun Fats Waller jazzy version to play as you reflect and pray this week.

Quote above from "These Bones Shall Live" by Walter Wink. The Christian Century V ol. 111, Iss. 16, (May 11, 1994): 491.

Lent Week 4 At Home Study

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 16:28:22 GMT

John 9:1-41

Read John 9:1-41 here.

And read this article for a great overview of the text.

Who can we blame? Whose fault is it? These are questions we may find ourselves asking in the days of the Covid-19 pandemic just as people asked in Jesus’ time. In John’s long story about a man born blind, healed by Jesus, the religious leaders and even Jesus disciples want to know who to blame – first for the man’s condition, and then for his healing. It can be hard for us as people to simply accept what is without judgment or blame. Yet, we learn in this text that Christ himself is about healing, not blame. He is about shedding light, and opening eyes to see, rather than adding to the chaos and confusion.

Reflection Questions:

Thinking of the current pandemic situation, where do you see blame being cast? The community here seems glad to dismiss their obligation to help the man by assuming his condition is due to sin. Are there times when we as a culture dismiss our obligation to love others because we believe they deserve their condition? The impoverished, addicted, mentally ill, etc?

What about times in your personal life? When have you sought answers to a situation that was ultimately without a cause? How did you come to accept that reality?

Can you think of a time in your life when you received much needed healing? Either physically, emotionally or spiritually? Or perhaps you need healing now. Take a moment to pray to God, thanking God for that time of healing and enlightenment or praying to experience healing.

In this passage, Jesus makes one of his famous “I am” pronouncements. What does it mean to you that Jesus is the Light of the World? What should be our response to that identifier as his followers?

Music: Here’s a fun, upbeat song to sing along to called “I am the Light of the World” – different than the one in our hymnals.

Lent At Home Study Week 4

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 16:14:48 GMT

John 9:1-41

Read John 9:1-41 here .

And Read this article for a great overview of the text.

Reflection Questions:

What about times in your personal life? When have you sought answers to a situation that was ultimately without a cause? How did you come to accept that reality?

Music: Here’s a fun, upbeat song to sing along to called “I am the Light of the World” (different than the one in our hymnals). Listen here .

Unraveled Week 8

Wed, 14 Aug 2019 18:44:07 GMT

Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus the Wealthy Tax Collector

This Week
Click here for the Bible text

Our last text is the story of Zacchaeus. He is a bit of a unique character. Luke is the only gospel where his story pops up. For some context, Zacchaeus made his wealth as a tax collector, which meant that he taxed his own Jewish friends and neighbours, likely charging them additional fees, before sending the taxes on to Rome. As "Chief" tax collector, he might have been making money off of lesser tax collectors. To say he was unliked would be putting it mildly. He was seen as a traitor by his neighbours.

Discussion Questions
As with previous weeks, if you wish to leave a comment, you can answer these in any way you wish.

1. What stands out to you about this text?

2. This artwork is a bit unique. The artist, Garrity, says in the journal (Page 16) how it's inspired by her interactions with her middle school art students. Do you think that's a fair metaphor? How would you visually represent this story?

3. What is unraveling in this story? With whom do you identify? Zacchaeus? The grumbling townspeople? Jesus? The silent disciples who we assume are accompanying Jesus? What about the members of Zacchaeus' household?

4. What does this text say to you about who God is? About who we are? Are these helpful ideas to you?

5. There is an interesting translation problem in this text. Verse 8 is most commonly translated as "“Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” But, it could also be translated in the present tense like this, "Look I give my half of my possessions to the poor, Lord; and if I defraud anyone of anything, I pay back four times as much." How does this change the meaning? Do you see Zacchaeus as a man transformed and converted by Jesus? Or potentially a misunderstood, but righteous person, whose ostracized because of his community's bias?

Further Reading
Justin Tse offers a rich and fascinating reflection on this story from his perspective as a Chinese-American Catholic, and the challenges of the concept of being a "model minority". Read more here .

Next Week
This is our final text in the Unraveled series. I hope it has helped you to see some familiar stories in a new way, and learn some new ones, while providing some touchstones for those times when our lives unravel.

We will be talking about the second half of the texts in a study session on Tuesday, the 20th from 7-8:30pm in the McGill Room. Hope to see you then.

Unraveled Week 7

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 17:18:51 GMT

Job 28:12-28 Job's Lament and Loss

Threads from Last Week
In reading the comments from the Paul's conversion post, I'm reflecting on the physical nature of transformation and conversion. Loretta raised our evolutionary history, and Arliene spoke of blindness. I wonder as we grow and evolve after these times of unraveling, how are bodies might be changed as well? In our faith tradition, we're often focused on head and heart or interior changes, but sometimes a transformation might lead to physical changes as well - perhaps becoming healthier, exercising more, or growing more gray hairs after a traumatic experience. I wonder, church family, if you've ever experienced a physical change coming from a spiritual one.

This Week
Click here for the Bible text

A bit of a background on Job - Job is situated between our wisdom tradition (Ecclesiastes, Proverbs) and our Biblical poetry (Song of Songs). In some ways, Job seeks to answer the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" As your journal suggests, the book challenges our consumerist notions of God and life: "If I do good things, I will receive good things." The book of Job turns that way of thinking on its head suggesting that no one, even the most righteous person, is immune to suffering.

The text we're reading is in many ways for a person of mature faith. Job is wondering here how we as faithful people come to terms with our faith and our God when everything has unraveled. It's at these crisis points when many people may give up on faith. In contrast to some of the other stories we've read about a God who is intimately involved in our lives, caring deeply and lovingly for each one of us, in some ways, this passage distances God a bit. God here is a Creator who has set the world on its course, and the rules of nature mean that there will be suffering. And yet, Job, remaining faithful, believes that seeking God and moving away from evil will eventually move one toward wisdom and understanding.

Discussion Questions
As with previous weeks, if you wish to leave a comment, you can answer these in any way you wish.

1. What stands out to you about this text?

2. As you look at the artwork above and read the artist's statement on page 43 in your journal, what stands out to you?

3. What is unraveling in this story? What emotions come up for you in reading it, especially as you reflect on times of suffering within your own life?

4. What does this text say to you about who God is? About who we are? Are these helpful ideas to you?

5. What has guided you toward wisdom in the unraveling times of your life?

Further Reading
Kate Bowler is the author of Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved. Here is an interview with her on her theology of suffering evolved as she journeyed through her cancer diagnosis.

Next Week
Next week is our last week in the Unraveled Series! Thanks for taking this journey with me. We'll hope to end on a high note with the story of Zacchaeus.

Unraveled Week 6

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 14:57:21 GMT

Acts 9:1-20: The Conversion of Saul to Paul

This Week
Click here for the Bible text

Discussion Questions
As with last week, if you wish to leave a comment, you can answer these in any way you wish.

1. What surprises you about this story?

2. As you look at the artwork above and read the artist's statement on page 24 in your journal, what stands out to you?

3. What is unraveling in this story? What emotions come up for you in reading it and imagining the scene?

4. I like the third "Reflect" question in the journal: Throughout your life, what identities, beliefs, or practices have you shed? How has unraveling from former patterns and identities helped you to grow or become more whole?

5. Who are the real life Ananiases? Have you known people (maybe famous people, maybe people you know personally) who have been able to offer grace and healing to enemies?

Further Reading
This week's further reading is actually viewing. Click here to watch a Ted Talk from Christian Picciolini on his conversion from a white supremacist to an author and speaker who counters racism and hate.

Next Week
Next week and on August 11, we're diving into some Job and considering the idea of faithful wisdom.

Unraveled Week 5 - Peter Sinks in the Water

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 14:37:55 GMT

Matthew 14: 22-33: Peter Sinks in the Water

Threads from last week
Rizpah's story was certainly a challenging one. Arlene raised that there is no easy way out of grief. That theme will pop up with the Job reading as well. Being faithful followers of Christ and obedient to God does not prevent suffering from entering our lives. The story for this week, though, invites us to consider whether and how we expect God to show up in the unraveling of our lives.

This Week
Click here for the Bible text

Questions
As with last week, if you wish to leave a comment, you can answer these in any way you wish.

1. What surprises you about this story?

2. As you look at the artwork above and read the artist's statement on page 7 in your journal, what stands out to you?

3. What is unraveling in this story? What emotions come up for you in reading it and imagining the scene?

4. Traditionally, Peter's walking out on the water is celebrated as a risky act of faith. But notice that it starts with him testing Jesus as Satan and others do in the gospels. "If you are who you say you are, command me to come out on the water to you." What do you think? Is Peter being bold and faithful or foolhardy?

5. Jesus responds 3 times in this text to the crying out of the disciples. First, as the storm is threatening them, he shows up. Then, Peter asks him to invite him out onto the water, and he does. Then, as Peter cries out to be saved, Jesus reaches down to pull him out of the water. When have you been surprised by Jesus showing up in the storms of your life?

6. As a church, how might we respond to those who feel like the storms of life are overwhelming them?

Further Reading
Writer and minister, Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, in her characteristic sarcasm and wit, offers a beautiful sermon on this story reminding us that it's not about what Peter or the others are doing, it's about what Jesus is doing. Read it here .

Next Week
For next Wednesday, while I'm on study leave and Mississagua Mennonite Fellowship leads worship, we'll look at the conversion of Saul to Paul text, which we read in worship in the spring.

Unraveled Week 4

Wed, 17 Jul 2019 14:42:52 GMT

2 Samuel 3:7; 21:1-14 Rizpah Mourns her Sons

Threads from last week
Reflecting on the comments from last week and our discussion last night at the face to face study time, I'm thinking about notions of control and release. At our meeting last night, we spoke briefly to what the plagues and Pharaoh's hard heart say about our control of the environment and its resources and how that is actually leading to less control in terms of climate change, disasters, etc. Might there be a way that unraveling is actually liberating?

Secondly, I would note that these stories seem to be raising for us challenging notions of who God is. Is God a tough bully? A loving, grieving mother as we'll see today? A somewhat blunt, unfeeling visitor like the one that appeared to Sarah? All of these things? How do we make peace with these conflicting versions of God? A great thing for us to wrestle with!

This Week
Click here for the Bible text

Questions
As with last week, if you wish to leave a comment, you can answer these in any way you wish.

1. What surprises you about this story?

2. As you look at the artwork above and read the artist's statement on page 11 in your journal, what stands out to you? Note, in this case the full image is not in the journal. It is shown above.

3. What is unraveling in this story? What emotions come up for you in reading it and imagining the scene?

4.How does the grief of others make us feel? Why might that be the case?

6. Are there times when you have found God in grief? Either your own grieving or the grieving of others?

Further Reading
Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a poem entitled "Rizpah" that grapples with our Protestant notions of propriety, grief and salvation. The voice is not meant to be the Biblical Rizpah, but a more modern grieving mother. Click here to read.

Next Week
For next Wednesday, we'll be looking at “Peter Sinks in the Water" Matthew 14:22-33. This one might be more familiar to us than some of the others, which means the challenge is discovering something new.

Unraveled Week 3

Wed, 10 Jul 2019 15:45:51 GMT

Exodus 5:1-2, 7:8-23: Pharaoh Hardens His Heart to Moses' Requests

Threads from last week
In some ways, I think the story from last week about Jesus healing the man with a "legion" of demons moves well into this one. Arlene wondered about our "community demons" and those things we try not to acknowledge. In this week's reading, Pharaoh's heart is hardened to the plight of the enslaved Israelites. When God turns the river into blood (the first of the ten plagues), Pharaoh literally turns around and walks back into his house - refusing to listen and to see. We wonder what God is up to in all this pain.

This Week
Click here for the Bible text

Questions
As with last week, if you wish to leave a comment, you can answer these in any way you wish.

1. What surprises you about this story?

2. As you look at the artwork above and read the artist's statement on page 20 in your journal, what stands out to you? What images would be important to you if you were creating art based on this story?

3. What is unraveling in this story? What emotions come up for you in reading it and imagining the scene?

4. Why do you think Pharaoh responds the way that he does?

5. Who might be the modern day Pharaoh's of our world? Are there times when we are like Pharaoh?

6. We can tend to have a hard time with a God who inflicts suffering on Creation. Yet, this story makes no bones about it - our choices have consequences. Pharaoh's unwillingness to acknowledge suffering brings more suffering both to his own people and the Israelites. What do you make of the plagues?

Further Reading
Older Testament Scholar Walter Brueggemann reflects on how Pharaoh and the Exodus narrative reflect the myth of scarcity rather than a "liturgy of abundance" that God envisions. Article here .

Next Week
For next Wednesday, we'll be looking at “Rizpah Mourns her Sons” 2 Samuel 3:7, 21:1-14, and for those who can make it, we'll see you at the in-person gathering on Tuesday, July 16 from 7-8:30.

Unraveled Week 2

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 20:09:53 GMT

Mark 5:1-20 "Jesus Heals Legion"

Threads from last week
Thanks for trying this out, everyone. I hope the journal and on-line questions gave you some added insight into the passage about Sarah. And thanks to Arlene for sharing some thoughts with us. Arlene raises a good question about the idea of unraveling - is it a negative or positive? Or can it be both at different times in our lives? When we feel unraveled, we might feel that things are chaotic, we might feel isolated. Things feel frenzied. But in group dynamics, I often think about the positives of unraveling - of pulling at the various strings to better see a problem or challenge, to unravel so we might see what the truth is. In any case, something to keep reflecting on as we go along!

This Week
Click here for the Bible text

This is Mark's account of the Gerasene demoniac. We read Luke's version a few weeks ago in worship. They're very close in structure and detail.

Questions
As with last week, if you wish to leave a comment, you can answer these in any way you wish.

1. What surprised you about this story?

2. As you look at the artwork above and read the artist's statement on page 48 in your journal, what stands out to you? What images would be important to you if you were creating art based on this story?

3. What is unraveling in this story? What emotions come up for you in reading it and imagining the scene?

4. Why do you think the townspeople respond with so much fear?

5. Looking at the writing part of the journal, how would you rewrite the ending of this story? And/or where do you think the man and the townspeople are a year or so later?

Further Reading
This article connects this story to modern day incarceration.

Next Week
For next Wednesday, we'll be looking at Exodus 5:1-2, 7:8-23, which tells the story of Pharaoh continually hardening his heart to God's demand for justice.

Unraveled Study Week 1: "Sarah Laughs"

Wed, 19 Jun 2019 18:45:48 GMT

Genesis 18: 1-15, 21:1-7

Text here .

Welcome to the first week of the Unraveled study! Each week, I'm going to post a few discussion questions related to the journal and other materials to help us explore the stories a bit more deeply. An overall question you may keep in mind is, "When have I felt unraveled? When and how have I been woven back together by God?"

Some questions will repeat week after week, while others will be specific to the week's focus text. You can respond by posting a comment. Don't feel that you need to answer all the questions, just answer whatever questions jump out at you.

So without further ado, let's jump into this story of Sarah and the unraveling that comes with surprise and joy.

Questions :

1. What surprised you about this story? If you knew the story well already, what was different in reading it this time?

2. Looking at the artwork and artist's statement, what stands out to you? How does the art make you feel?

3. What is "unraveling" in this story? How is God at work?

4. When have you been unraveled by unexpected joy and surprise?

5. Hospitality is another important piece of this story. The surprise Sarah receives and God's presence come through the three strangers she and Abraham welcome and entertain. When has God showed up for you in holy hospitality? Either by hosting or being a guest?

6. Lastly, what else? Is there anything else you'd like to add about this story?

Further Reading:

This cheeky article nevertheless addresses some of the challenges of this story.

Next Week :

July 7 is a hymn sing Sunday so we're not doing one of the Unraveled passages. Instead, just in this on-line format, we'll be looking at Mark 5:1-20, "Jesus Heals Legion". We just read the Luke version in worship, and they're pretty similar.

Home, Sweet, Home

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 20:10:00 GMT

Please note, the views I express here are my own from my own experiences, and don't necessarily reflect those of all church members. Last week, my spouse and I did a big thing - we closed on a house and moved into it. We’re officially homeowners. After years of being assigned housing at school or through ministry positions, and years of sometimes tense relations with landlords, we now have our own home - a home we can do what we like to, a home we can make our own. This step, like any big life decision, hasn’t come without its internal wrestling, however. We live in a society that idealizes huge houses with tons of space, which is often bad for the environment and bad for communities. Internally, they must be shiny and up to date, which can mean wasting materials that are working just fine. In the GTA where we live, housing prices rise while income has not risen at nearly the same rate meaning the system keeps people in debt. Most municipalities in the area are woefully under-serving low income families in terms of affordable housing. All of this leading us to wonder over the last year or so, do we even want to participate in this system? What are the real benefits and how much are we just experiencing the pressure, which many young adults feel that somehow you’re not a “real” adult until you own your own home? Well, we obviously went through with it - for all the usual reasons. It’s an important investment. We want to be able to create our own space, and have rooms and appliances that suit our needs. We want to truly invest in our community and neighbourhood. It makes sense for a lot of reasons. But as we unpacked boxes this weekend, I thought about the notions of home that we have and all those who are without a home. As caravans of thousands of migrants move through Central America and Mexico seeking safety and asylum in a new home, I remembered again the privilege it is to be able to live in a space that is safe, and to be able to call that space our own. As millions of people are displaced worldwide due to war and natural disaster, (not to mention those who are homeless right here in the GTA), there are many conversations being had around who has the right to make a home in certain places. While no one questioned our buying a house, I too, am an immigrant. While my situation in America wasn’t a dangerous one, I did come to Canada in 2011 because there was an opportunity here that wasn’t available in the US at the time. Not one person ever insinuated that I married my spouse because it was convenient for me, and so, no one has questioned the idea that we would buy a home and own property here. Just why we see some people as entitled to a safe home and others as not entitled is something we must grapple with in the Western world, and in the church - especially if our ancestors were people who also moved to new places seeking a better life. We should pay attention to the ways certain comments are coded in racial terms. For example, as a young, educated white woman who speaks English, I was seen as “ambitious” and “brave” for starting my career in a new country. No one accused me of “stealing” a job. Yet, people with different skin tones and languages can be seen as dangerous or hostile to the people already living there. The fact is, the world is getting smaller and much more global. My spouse grew up in a teeny town in Ontario with his four siblings. In our expanding family, two of us siblings in law are currently applying for Canadian citizenship, and our other sister-in-law is first generation Canadian. We are a fairly diverse bunch it turns out, and embody just in our family, that it is natural for human beings to move and set up home in the places that will give them the best chance at the best life. As Christians, it’s right that we have a bit of a tenuous relationship with the concept of home. Throughout scripture, we are reminded that our true home is with God, and that our homes here on earth are temporary. Far from home being something that is used for power or keeping others out, though, any home we have here should be for strengthening us to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Our homes should radiate God’s love and be a little oasis, a glimpse of that forever home we aspire to. God’s people, too, have always been on the move - from the Israelites in the desert to Jesus’ disciples - we are a wandering people. So when we see people on the move, we might wonder, is something holy happening here? What is God trying to draw our attention to? Over and over, God reminds us we must love the immigrant, the refugee, and the stranger because we have been those things too. As followers of Christ, we are to make home a possibility for all people - it’s not just a privilege for some. I am so proud of the work our church has done to resettle some refugees from the war in Syria. We also work locally to make home a reality for those who are housing insecure in Mississauga. Our church home, beautiful in diversity, and beautiful in all its imperfections, offers a glimpse of God’s home, God’s Kingdom, which is the ideal for which we strive. Especially as we approach this Advent and Christmas season, and we hear the ancient story again about a family without a place to stay, we pray that all our neighbours around the world would find a home, and we pray that our own homes would be places of peace and compassion and generosity.

Please note, the views I express here are my own from my own experiences, and don't necessarily reflect those of all church members.

Last week, my spouse and I did a big thing - we closed on a house and moved into it. We’re officially homeowners. After years of being assigned housing at school or through ministry positions, and years of sometimes tense relations with landlords, we now have our own home - a home we can do what we like to, a home we can make our own.

This step, like any big life decision, hasn’t come without its internal wrestling, however. We live in a society that idealizes huge houses with tons of space, which is often bad for the environment and bad for communities. Internally, they must be shiny and up to date, which can mean wasting materials that are working just fine. In the GTA where we live, housing prices rise while income has not risen at nearly the same rate meaning the system keeps people in debt. Most municipalities in the area are woefully under-serving low income families in terms of affordable housing. All of this leading us to wonder over the last year or so, do we even want to participate in this system? What are the real benefits and how much are we just experiencing the pressure, which many young adults feel that somehow you’re not a “real” adult until you own your own home?

Well, we obviously went through with it - for all the usual reasons. It’s an important investment. We want to be able to create our own space, and have rooms and appliances that suit our needs. We want to truly invest in our community and neighbourhood. It makes sense for a lot of reasons.

But as we unpacked boxes this weekend, I thought about the notions of home that we have and all those who are without a home. As caravans of thousands of migrants move through Central America and Mexico seeking safety and asylum in a new home, I remembered again the privilege it is to be able to live in a space that is safe, and to be able to call that space our own.

As millions of people are displaced worldwide due to war and natural disaster, (not to mention those who are homeless right here in the GTA), there are many conversations being had around who has the right to make a home in certain places. While no one questioned our buying a house, I too, am an immigrant. While my situation in America wasn’t a dangerous one, I did come to Canada in 2011 because there was an opportunity here that wasn’t available in the US at the time. Not one person ever insinuated that I married my spouse because it was convenient for me, and so, no one has questioned the idea that we would buy a home and own property here.

Just why we see some people as entitled to a safe home and others as not entitled is something we must grapple with in the Western world, and in the church - especially if our ancestors were people who also moved to new places seeking a better life. We should pay attention to the ways certain comments are coded in racial terms. For example, as a young, educated white woman who speaks English, I was seen as “ambitious” and “brave” for starting my career in a new country. No one accused me of “stealing” a job. Yet, people with different skin tones and languages can be seen as dangerous or hostile to the people already living there.

The fact is, the world is getting smaller and much more global. My spouse grew up in a teeny town in Ontario with his four siblings. In our expanding family, two of us siblings in law are currently applying for Canadian citizenship, and our other sister-in-law is first generation Canadian. We are a fairly diverse bunch it turns out, and embody just in our family, that it is natural for human beings to move and set up home in the places that will give them the best chance at the best life.

As Christians, it’s right that we have a bit of a tenuous relationship with the concept of home. Throughout scripture, we are reminded that our true home is with God, and that our homes here on earth are temporary. Far from home being something that is used for power or keeping others out, though, any home we have here should be for strengthening us to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Our homes should radiate God’s love and be a little oasis, a glimpse of that forever home we aspire to.

God’s people, too, have always been on the move - from the Israelites in the desert to Jesus’ disciples - we are a wandering people. So when we see people on the move, we might wonder, is something holy happening here? What is God trying to draw our attention to?

Over and over, God reminds us we must love the immigrant, the refugee, and the stranger because we have been those things too. As followers of Christ, we are to make home a possibility for all people - it’s not just a privilege for some.

I am so proud of the work our church has done to resettle some refugees from the war in Syria. We also work locally to make home a reality for those who are housing insecure in Mississauga. Our church home, beautiful in diversity, and beautiful in all its imperfections, offers a glimpse of God’s home, God’s Kingdom, which is the ideal for which we strive.

Especially as we approach this Advent and Christmas season, and we hear the ancient story again about a family without a place to stay, we pray that all our neighbours around the world would find a home, and we pray that our own homes would be places of peace and compassion and generosity.

Love Letter to Our Old Fashioned Directories

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 16:00:00 GMT

Over the past few months, our church has been working on creating a new photo directory. This happens in most congregations every 5-10 years. Everyone says, "We should do a new directory," people mumble agreement, but no one wants to actually take on the work of phoning people, setting up appointments and communicating with the photographers. This time around, over the spring, thanks to some amazing volunteers, we finally got to work. The minister is always asked to write a message for the directory. I struggled with this because, frankly, a photo directory is such a unique thing, and feels old fashioned. I haven't been a part of any other group that does a photo directory - aside from schools, I suppose, which have something similar in terms of a yearbook. But that serves a different purpose. Yearbooks are for nostalgia - not for getting to know people. Ultimately, though, as I flip through the pages of what will now be known as the "old directory", I see the advantages of a bound book that holds faces and names. In our society where people are coming and going all the time, it feels so meaningful to literally hold our church family in my hands, to see their faces and say their names. And I wonder, even if we're not a part of this church or any church, how we might start to see the Divine in all faces we encounter -whether it's in "real life" or in some virtual way like social media. For more, read below the message that will be printed in our new directory. A Message from our Minister In a time when the church at large is changing in some very profound ways, we always try to remind ourselves that the church is people – not a building. The church is Christ’s body on earth – Christ’s hands, feet, heart and soul. In your hands, you hold a representation of that Body – a group of people brought together by the Spirit to love God and neighbour in this little corner of the world. While church directories might feel a bit antiquated in our modern age of social media and technology, this is actually a great resource for prayer and fellowship. Outside of trying to remember the name of that person we chatted with over coffee, we can also use this directory to occasionally turn the pages and pray for one another. We see the faces of those we know and love so well and offer a blessing for them, and we see the faces of those we don’t know and pray that we might grow in that relationship. As this directory is being developed in the spring of 2018, we are up to some new and exciting things at Erindale United, and have recently welcomed several new members into our midst. We know, though, that this directory will become outdated almost immediately. New people will join us and not be in the directory. Children will grow and leave us. Sadly, some of our saints will move on to life beyond death. Such is the normal progression of life. Still, if we find ourselves looking at this directory again several years from now, we might give thanks for the ways in which God is always moving ahead of us and guiding us forward. We give thanks for the Holy Spirit of wind and fire who is always changing and remolding, and we give thanks for Christ who makes all things new. We give thanks that even as our church and the world around us looks different year to year, God’s abundant love for us is unchanging and unceasing. As our United Church creed says, we are not alone. We live in God’s world. This directory is a testament to that simple and beautiful fact. Thanks be to God.

The minister is always asked to write a message for the directory. I struggled with this because, frankly, a photo directory is such a unique thing, and feels old fashioned. I haven't been a part of any other group that does a photo directory - aside from schools, I suppose, which have something similar in terms of a yearbook. But that serves a different purpose. Yearbooks are for nostalgia - not for getting to know people.

Ultimately, though, as I flip through the pages of what will now be known as the "old directory", I see the advantages of a bound book that holds faces and names. In our society where people are coming and going all the time, it feels so meaningful to literally hold our church family in my hands, to see their faces and say their names.

And I wonder, even if we're not a part of this church or any church, how we might start to see the Divine in all faces we encounter -whether it's in "real life" or in some virtual way like social media.

For more, read below the message that will be printed in our new directory.

A Message from our Minister

In a time when the church at large is changing in some very profound ways, we always try to remind ourselves that the church is people – not a building. The church is Christ’s body on earth – Christ’s hands, feet, heart and soul. In your hands, you hold a representation of that Body – a group of people brought together by the Spirit to love God and neighbour in this little corner of the world.

While church directories might feel a bit antiquated in our modern age of social media and technology, this is actually a great resource for prayer and fellowship. Outside of trying to remember the name of that person we chatted with over coffee, we can also use this directory to occasionally turn the pages and pray for one another. We see the faces of those we know and love so well and offer a blessing for them, and we see the faces of those we don’t know and pray that we might grow in that relationship.

As this directory is being developed in the spring of 2018, we are up to some new and exciting things at Erindale United, and have recently welcomed several new members into our midst. We know, though, that this directory will become outdated almost immediately. New people will join us and not be in the directory. Children will grow and leave us. Sadly, some of our saints will move on to life beyond death. Such is the normal progression of life.

Still, if we find ourselves looking at this directory again several years from now, we might give thanks for the ways in which God is always moving ahead of us and guiding us forward. We give thanks for the Holy Spirit of wind and fire who is always changing and remolding, and we give thanks for Christ who makes all things new. We give thanks that even as our church and the world around us looks different year to year, God’s abundant love for us is unchanging and unceasing.

As our United Church creed says, we are not alone. We live in God’s world. This directory is a testament to that simple and beautiful fact. Thanks be to God.

"Embracing the Gospel" Sermon from April 15

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 15:03:00 GMT

Because many couldn't safely make it to worship on April 15, I'm posting part of my planned message here. It is part two of a five part sermon that looks at the first letter of John in relation to our church mission statement: Erindale United Church is a people of God. We embrace, proclaim and practice the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We seek justice for all people, striving to become a loving, nurturing, and ministering community. Our texts for this day were: Luke 24:36-48 and 1 John 3:1-7. Embracing the Gospel As we move into this second week of a First John sermon series, I invite you to take a moment and reflect on this question: throughout your life, how have you known that you were loved? Whether it was the love of a parent, the love of a child, the love of your partner or spouse, the love of a friend, or even the love of a stranger - how have you really known you were loved, experienced and internalized that love? And, to complicate things, how would you explain that feeling to others? I can recall a moment when (my now spouse) Jordan and I were preparing to join our finances and create one household together. We sat down at the computer screen and pulled up some financial documents so I could show him my debt from graduate school. Now, compared to many people coming out of the US higher education system, my debt was small and manageable, but still, in a relationship, our finances can be an incredibly vulnerable area. So I braced myself a bit - as I revealed my debt to a person who had no debt and hadn’t chosen this particular debt and I explained, “Okay here is where a piece of our income will go every month,” - I braced myself waiting for some judgment and questioning. But instead, Jordan took all the information in, thought about it in his reflective, calm way, and said, “Well, I guess your debt is my debt now,” and these were some of the most romantic words I’ve ever heard. While we don’t think of finances as being particularly romantic, I knew how deeply I was loved in that moment, a moment when I could share something that was a bit shameful for me, and receive grace and understanding instead of judgment - a moment to really take in the fact that I didn’t have to face my financial challenges alone. Now, Jordan would roll his eyes to hear me say this, but it was, for me, a moment of fully experiencing God’s love in the form of my life partner, a moment of embracing and taking in what sacrificial love looks like. Still, communicating that feeling of being truly seen and known and loved for your whole self - it’s hard work. It’s one of the most challenging things I find in ministry is to explain in words an internal feeling that goes so far beyond words. And if it is hard to explain what it feels like to be loved by other people, it feels still more difficult to explain what it feels like to be loved by God. Yet, the resurrection, the Easter story, means just that: God loves us. If we had to boil it down to one sentence, the resurrection is a sign for us that, in spite of everything, in spite of the flaws of humanity, in spite of those things that are most shameful to us, those parts of ourselves we wish to keep hidden, God loves us. As John writes, see what love God has for us that we should be called children of God. But this message has always been hard to take in and to embrace. Our two readings point to how challenging it can be to hold onto those feelings of love, and really have God’s love be a part of our identity. In Luke’s gospel, the disciples are still trying to figure out all that has taken place, and as we talked about on Easter Sunday, fear and doubt are still part of the story. This section follows the Emmaus Road text where the risen Christ walks and talks for a time with two disciples outside the city of Jerusalem. They don’t recognize him until he breaks bread in front of them. After he disappears, they return to Jerusalem to tell the others, and in the middle of that conversation, risen Jesus pops in again, and they share this meal of fish together. It seems that, like me, the risen Christ is drawn to good food and good company. But Jesus can tell they are kind of freaked out by everything that is happening. “Why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” he asks them. Can’t they see that he is right there before them? God’s love, God’s power over death is standing right before them, and yet they are having a hard time embracing it. Decades later, John is trying to offer Christ’s peace to his people who still don’t fully understand what the resurrection means or looks like. He invites them to trust in the mystery saying that we don’t know what we will become, we don’t know exactly where this all is leading. We have seen glimpses of God’s love, like the disciples who see him before he moves on again, but we can’t see or understand the full picture of God’s love for us. We get these moments, but not the whole thing. Still, John says, we know something of God’s love, we see it, take it in and embrace it, whenever we we can act like Christ, whenever we can be righteous as Christ is righteous. We remember, here, John’s call to fellowship at the opening of the letter we read last week. We have unity with God and Christ, and our lives are to proclaim the love of the resurrected Christ in such a way that others are invited in. The theologian Miroslav Volf writes in Exclusion and Embrace, “Because the Christian God is not a lonely God, but rather a communion of three persons, faith leads human beings into the divine communion. One cannot, however, have a self-enclosed communion with the Triune God- a ‘foursome,’ as it were-- for the Christian God is not a private deity. Communion with this God is at once also communion with those others who have entrusted themselves in faith to the same God. Hence one and the same act of faith places a person into a new relationship both with God and with all others who stand in communion with God.” In other words, while the idea of embracing the Gospel, as our mission statement suggests we strive to do, seems solitary and personal, it actually should lead us to sharing and reflecting that love back out into our relationships, and should give others a glimpse of what the resurrected Christ’s love and peace look like. In times when we are closed off to others and not willing to share that generosity and love, I would suggest it’s because we haven’t actually fully embraced God’s love for us, we haven’t taken that in and allowed ourselves to be transformed if we’re not willing to let others into that unity with God. So in this Easter season, as we seek communion with Christ and with one another, we can acknowledge that fully understanding the scope of God’s love and what God is up to in the world is challenging, if not, impossible and sometimes startling. However, we can start with the people right in front of us. We can embrace the love offered to us by friends and family and partners and see it as a way of God embracing us. Strengthened by God’s loving embrace, we can’t help but share it with others. Let it be so. Amen.

Erindale United Church is a people of God. We embrace, proclaim and practice the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We seek justice for all people, striving to become a loving, nurturing, and ministering community.

Our texts for this day were: Luke 24:36-48 and 1 John 3:1-7 .

Embracing the Gospel

As we move into this second week of a First John sermon series, I invite you to take a moment and reflect on this question: throughout your life, how have you known that you were loved? Whether it was the love of a parent, the love of a child, the love of your partner or spouse, the love of a friend, or even the love of a stranger - how have you really known you were loved, experienced and internalized that love? And, to complicate things, how would you explain that feeling to others?

I can recall a moment when (my now spouse) Jordan and I were preparing to join our finances and create one household together. We sat down at the computer screen and pulled up some financial documents so I could show him my debt from graduate school. Now, compared to many people coming out of the US higher education system, my debt was small and manageable, but still, in a relationship, our finances can be an incredibly vulnerable area. So I braced myself a bit - as I revealed my debt to a person who had no debt and hadn’t chosen this particular debt and I explained, “Okay here is where a piece of our income will go every month,” - I braced myself waiting for some judgment and questioning. But instead, Jordan took all the information in, thought about it in his reflective, calm way, and said, “Well, I guess your debt is my debt now,” and these were some of the most romantic words I’ve ever heard.

While we don’t think of finances as being particularly romantic, I knew how deeply I was loved in that moment, a moment when I could share something that was a bit shameful for me, and receive grace and understanding instead of judgment - a moment to really take in the fact that I didn’t have to face my financial challenges alone. Now, Jordan would roll his eyes to hear me say this, but it was, for me, a moment of fully experiencing God’s love in the form of my life partner, a moment of embracing and taking in what sacrificial love looks like.

Still, communicating that feeling of being truly seen and known and loved for your whole self - it’s hard work. It’s one of the most challenging things I find in ministry is to explain in words an internal feeling that goes so far beyond words. And if it is hard to explain what it feels like to be loved by other people, it feels still more difficult to explain what it feels like to be loved by God. Yet, the resurrection, the Easter story, means just that: God loves us. If we had to boil it down to one sentence, the resurrection is a sign for us that, in spite of everything, in spite of the flaws of humanity, in spite of those things that are most shameful to us, those parts of ourselves we wish to keep hidden, God loves us. As John writes, see what love God has for us that we should be called children of God.

But this message has always been hard to take in and to embrace. Our two readings point to how challenging it can be to hold onto those feelings of love, and really have God’s love be a part of our identity. In Luke’s gospel, the disciples are still trying to figure out all that has taken place, and as we talked about on Easter Sunday, fear and doubt are still part of the story. This section follows the Emmaus Road text where the risen Christ walks and talks for a time with two disciples outside the city of Jerusalem. They don’t recognize him until he breaks bread in front of them. After he disappears, they return to Jerusalem to tell the others, and in the middle of that conversation, risen Jesus pops in again, and they share this meal of fish together. It seems that, like me, the risen Christ is drawn to good food and good company.

But Jesus can tell they are kind of freaked out by everything that is happening. “Why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” he asks them. Can’t they see that he is right there before them? God’s love, God’s power over death is standing right before them, and yet they are having a hard time embracing it.

Decades later, John is trying to offer Christ’s peace to his people who still don’t fully understand what the resurrection means or looks like. He invites them to trust in the mystery saying that we don’t know what we will become, we don’t know exactly where this all is leading. We have seen glimpses of God’s love, like the disciples who see him before he moves on again, but we can’t see or understand the full picture of God’s love for us. We get these moments, but not the whole thing. Still, John says, we know something of God’s love, we see it, take it in and embrace it, whenever we we can act like Christ, whenever we can be righteous as Christ is righteous.

We remember, here, John’s call to fellowship at the opening of the letter we read last week. We have unity with God and Christ, and our lives are to proclaim the love of the resurrected Christ in such a way that others are invited in. The theologian Miroslav Volf writes in Exclusion and Embrace, “Because the Christian God is not a lonely God, but rather a communion of three persons, faith leads human beings into the divine communion. One cannot, however, have a self-enclosed communion with the Triune God- a ‘foursome,’ as it were-- for the Christian God is not a private deity. Communion with this God is at once also communion with those others who have entrusted themselves in faith to the same God. Hence one and the same act of faith places a person into a new relationship both with God and with all others who stand in communion with God.” In other words, while the idea of embracing the Gospel, as our mission statement suggests we strive to do, seems solitary and personal, it actually should lead us to sharing and reflecting that love back out into our relationships, and should give others a glimpse of what the resurrected Christ’s love and peace look like. In times when we are closed off to others and not willing to share that generosity and love, I would suggest it’s because we haven’t actually fully embraced God’s love for us, we haven’t taken that in and allowed ourselves to be transformed if we’re not willing to let others into that unity with God.

So in this Easter season, as we seek communion with Christ and with one another, we can acknowledge that fully understanding the scope of God’s love and what God is up to in the world is challenging, if not, impossible and sometimes startling. However, we can start with the people right in front of us. We can embrace the love offered to us by friends and family and partners and see it as a way of God embracing us. Strengthened by God’s loving embrace, we can’t help but share it with others. Let it be so. Amen.

My Obligatory Post about Millennials and Church

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 16:45:00 GMT

Well, I’ve resisted as long as I could, but I can’t hold back anymore. I’m writing about Millennials and church. Many thoughtful articles have been written about my generation (defined as those born between 1982 and 2004, roughly, which makes me an “old” millennial), and I don’t need to repeat either the thoughtful or the condescending points that have been made. To me, this is a boring conversation. The generation in power has always rolled their eyes at the generation coming up, and I’m sure when I’m seventy, I will do the same about those kids and their flying cars. But here is what has been bothering me lately. Because I am a relative minority in the church (the big one and small one) in terms of my age, people will often ask me, “What can we do to get the young people back in church?” Now, I don’t mind that question, although I don’t have any brilliant answers, except this: we need to listen deeply and offer our love and support to this group of people the same way we would to any other, and we need to be willing to compromise our routines and behaviours in order to be welcoming. So the question is fine, and needs to be asked. But what is painful to me is when the question is followed up with a lot of assumptions about Millennials and why they’re not participating in church the same way other generations have. In other words, the listening part isn’t happening. I was recently in a room full of church leaders talking about the future, and let’s just say, I wish I had a dollar for every time someone made an assumption about younger adults without any kind of concrete evidence, and without asking the one Millenial in the room (me!) who would have said, “Well, just as with any other group of people, young adults are diverse, and their needs and wants are diverse.” It reminded me of a time I was leading a discussion with some church people about the needs of different age groups in a congregation. The goal was to invite reflection about challenges people may face throughout their life stages, and how the church might support them. One septuagenarian looked me right in the eyes as he said, “People in their twenties all want to work as little as possible for as much pay as possible. They think they’re entitled to houses and cars without really paying for them so they take on loads of debt. They only care about themselves.” Now, if this person would say that to their minister, I couldn’t imagine what they would say to a new young adult at church, or how long that person - perhaps struggling to pay bills on a single income, and searching for some sense of community and peace during busy weeks with children and family obligations- would stay. Okay, one last example, which I use to illustrate just how pervasive this disconnect is- that is the disconnect between wanting to engage young adults on the one hand, while being completely condescending to them on the other. I recently noticed a video on the feed of a former church member (again, another person who at one time asked me for wisdom on “getting” those young people into church.) The video was of a Millennial going for a job interview (something we actually know a lot about since 2008, and in this age of endless unpaid internships, but I digress!) with a boss maybe in his late 50s or early 60s. It brought out all the stereotypes – the Millennial looking at her phone throughout the interview, slouching, not really paying attention, while asking for a fairly lucrative job, and the older boss proving that he, in fact, actually knew way more about technology than she did. Now, let’s imagine that a new twenty-something starts coming to your church. She feels generally welcomed and wants to get involved so she Facebooks this church leader, and what does she find but a wall full of forwarded and viral videos about how silly and terrible her generation is. If you were her, would you feel comfortable getting involved in that faith community? Would you even want to go back? In some ways, I am sympathetic to this need to lift up the gifts of seniors and their accomplishments. The world is a harsh place for seniors and the elderly. They are not often viewed as valuable in our world, and I know this because I work with them everyday and I listen to their challenges and celebrations. But because my days are generally filled with people a lot older than me, I know we can’t really make any generalizations about an age group – or any kind of group, and we can find ways to celebrate seniors that don’t disparage other ages. For instance, if you are a Baby Boomer or older reading this, let’s imagine things were reversed. Let’s imagine your minister or a young church leader was constantly commenting in church or posting on Facebook in ways that made generalizations about “old people” – how out of touch they are, how they can’t use technology, how entitled they were to use the resources of the environment without concern for the future, and of course how racist and conservative they are. Some of you at this moment are shouting, “Hey, that’s not me!” Exactly. I know everyone over seventy isn’t the same. Some struggle physically, but many are still very fit and active. Some need my help sending an email, but many more know more about technology than I do. I also know that whatever generalizations can be made are due to many complex factors and aren’t due to any personal, individual failings. So, look, I’m not trying to shame anyone, but this has to be said. If we want to share God’s love with young people in a real and authentic way, and not just because we are afraid of what might happen in the future if numbers continue to decline, we need to stop making thoughtless comments and posts on social media. We need to understand that Millennials or any other group of people are diverse – economically, ethnically, and in terms of practices and beliefs (we are not all white women with vocal fry on our phones, although this one is). We need to learn to listen rather than making assumptions, and even when we do listen, don’t let one person speak for everyone. Just as I have learned so much about seniors from working with them, seniors can put themselves in places where young adults are. They can take young moms out for coffee or hang out at the rink on a Saturday morning. In other words, the church can actually be a place of healing for all people, a place that counters the narrative of popular culture, which is a divisive and competitive one. We can be people who are curious rather than critical, and we can celebrate that God gives us different generations and life stages in order to learn from and support one another.

But here is what has been bothering me lately. Because I am a relative minority in the church (the big one and small one) in terms of my age, people will often ask me, “What can we do to get the young people back in church?” Now, I don’t mind that question, although I don’t have any brilliant answers, except this: we need to listen deeply and offer our love and support to this group of people the same way we would to any other, and we need to be willing to compromise our routines and behaviours in order to be welcoming.

So the question is fine, and needs to be asked. But what is painful to me is when the question is followed up with a lot of assumptions about Millennials and why they’re not participating in church the same way other generations have. In other words, the listening part isn’t happening.

I was recently in a room full of church leaders talking about the future, and let’s just say, I wish I had a dollar for every time someone made an assumption about younger adults without any kind of concrete evidence, and without asking the one Millenial in the room (me!) who would have said, “Well, just as with any other group of people, young adults are diverse, and their needs and wants are diverse.”

It reminded me of a time I was leading a discussion with some church people about the needs of different age groups in a congregation. The goal was to invite reflection about challenges people may face throughout their life stages, and how the church might support them. One septuagenarian looked me right in the eyes as he said, “People in their twenties all want to work as little as possible for as much pay as possible. They think they’re entitled to houses and cars without really paying for them so they take on loads of debt. They only care about themselves.” Now, if this person would say that to their minister, I couldn’t imagine what they would say to a new young adult at church, or how long that person - perhaps struggling to pay bills on a single income, and searching for some sense of community and peace during busy weeks with children and family obligations- would stay.

Okay, one last example, which I use to illustrate just how pervasive this disconnect is- that is the disconnect between wanting to engage young adults on the one hand, while being completely condescending to them on the other. I recently noticed a video on the feed of a former church member (again, another person who at one time asked me for wisdom on “getting” those young people into church.) The video was of a Millennial going for a job interview (something we actually know a lot about since 2008, and in this age of endless unpaid internships, but I digress!) with a boss maybe in his late 50s or early 60s. It brought out all the stereotypes – the Millennial looking at her phone throughout the interview, slouching, not really paying attention, while asking for a fairly lucrative job, and the older boss proving that he, in fact, actually knew way more about technology than she did.

Now, let’s imagine that a new twenty-something starts coming to your church. She feels generally welcomed and wants to get involved so she Facebooks this church leader, and what does she find but a wall full of forwarded and viral videos about how silly and terrible her generation is. If you were her, would you feel comfortable getting involved in that faith community? Would you even want to go back?

In some ways, I am sympathetic to this need to lift up the gifts of seniors and their accomplishments. The world is a harsh place for seniors and the elderly. They are not often viewed as valuable in our world, and I know this because I work with them everyday and I listen to their challenges and celebrations. But because my days are generally filled with people a lot older than me, I know we can’t really make any generalizations about an age group – or any kind of group, and we can find ways to celebrate seniors that don’t disparage other ages.

For instance, if you are a Baby Boomer or older reading this, let’s imagine things were reversed. Let’s imagine your minister or a young church leader was constantly commenting in church or posting on Facebook in ways that made generalizations about “old people” – how out of touch they are, how they can’t use technology, how entitled they were to use the resources of the environment without concern for the future, and of course how racist and conservative they are. Some of you at this moment are shouting, “Hey, that’s not me!” Exactly. I know everyone over seventy isn’t the same. Some struggle physically, but many are still very fit and active. Some need my help sending an email, but many more know more about technology than I do. I also know that whatever generalizations can be made are due to many complex factors and aren’t due to any personal, individual failings.

So, look, I’m not trying to shame anyone, but this has to be said. If we want to share God’s love with young people in a real and authentic way, and not just because we are afraid of what might happen in the future if numbers continue to decline, we need to stop making thoughtless comments and posts on social media. We need to understand that Millennials or any other group of people are diverse – economically, ethnically, and in terms of practices and beliefs (we are not all white women with vocal fry on our phones, although this one is). We need to learn to listen rather than making assumptions, and even when we do listen, don’t let one person speak for everyone. Just as I have learned so much about seniors from working with them, seniors can put themselves in places where young adults are. They can take young moms out for coffee or hang out at the rink on a Saturday morning. In other words, the church can actually be a place of healing for all people, a place that counters the narrative of popular culture, which is a divisive and competitive one. We can be people who are curious rather than critical, and we can celebrate that God gives us different generations and life stages in order to learn from and support one another.

Another Advent

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 21:50:00 GMT

Each year, as I wait through the season of Advent, I often pause to reflect on how things have changed from the year before. Advent is a holy time of waiting and of naming our deepest longings for ourselves and the world as we look for God to break into the world again, but some Advents haven’t felt so holy. I can remember years, especially during university and seminary when I didn’t even have a chance to reflect on the season, times when I was so busy writing papers and studying for exams that I barely knew Christmas was on the horizon. Other Advents have been times of transition. Last year, for instance, was a spiritually strange time as I was in-between church ministry positions. I felt like an Advent drifter – attending services at various places, even at my family’s church in New Jersey, but not feeling quite at home anywhere. My first Advent and Christmas in Saskatchewan in 2011 was also a difficult time. It was my first time leading these holy services and I felt very overwhelmed. I was also desperately homesick despite the warmth and love I received from my church folks. This Advent, however, has been one of profound joy – a time of feeling really settled in my soul and able to enjoy and reflect on the meaning of the season. I am grateful to feel at home here at Erindale United, and as I come close to the one year mark of serving this congregation, I’m glad to feel like we are really worshipping through this season as a community. Personally, I am also celebrating my first Christmas as a married person, and have been thankful for the on-going love and support of a tremendous life partner. Perhaps, though, my sense of personal joy and contentment has allowed me to be more awake to the pain and suffering in the world this Advent season. The scriptures that call on God to tear open the heavens and come down, or John the Baptist calling out for people to transform their lives have never felt more relevant to our time. The world seems so divided and so full of injustice. Whether it’s ongoing war in Syria, the #metoo movement, which has highlighted systemic sexual assault in North America, or natural disasters like hurricanes and wild fires, it feels like a time when we might sing “O come, O come, Emmanuel” a bit more urgently. Whereas in other years I might have been distracted by personal goings-on, this year I have felt a tremendous tension between my own personal joy and what is going on in the world. The commercial version of Christmas would tell us that we should never feel down this time of year. After all, the Christmas movies and ads try to sell us miracles and cheer. But really, for those of us who seek to follow Jesus, we are called to hold these two opposing ideas together – it is a time for rejoicing, a time for praising the God with whom nothing will be impossible, but it is also a time to be aware of why God had to come down to us in the first place, a time to sit with the brokenness and suffering of the world. I wonder, as I write, what kind of Advent this has been for you. I hope whether you are rejoicing or lamenting or both that you are aware of the Holy Spirit, and are seeing signs of God’s longing to be with humanity. For as Wendell Berry writes, “It gets darker, and darker, and darker, and then Jesus is born.” And this is truly the Good News – whether we are ready or not, whether we are awake or not, Jesus will be born for us.

I can remember years, especially during university and seminary when I didn’t even have a chance to reflect on the season, times when I was so busy writing papers and studying for exams that I barely knew Christmas was on the horizon. Other Advents have been times of transition. Last year, for instance, was a spiritually strange time as I was in-between church ministry positions. I felt like an Advent drifter – attending services at various places, even at my family’s church in New Jersey, but not feeling quite at home anywhere. My first Advent and Christmas in Saskatchewan in 2011 was also a difficult time. It was my first time leading these holy services and I felt very overwhelmed. I was also desperately homesick despite the warmth and love I received from my church folks.

This Advent, however, has been one of profound joy – a time of feeling really settled in my soul and able to enjoy and reflect on the meaning of the season. I am grateful to feel at home here at Erindale United, and as I come close to the one year mark of serving this congregation, I’m glad to feel like we are really worshipping through this season as a community. Personally, I am also celebrating my first Christmas as a married person, and have been thankful for the on-going love and support of a tremendous life partner.

Perhaps, though, my sense of personal joy and contentment has allowed me to be more awake to the pain and suffering in the world this Advent season. The scriptures that call on God to tear open the heavens and come down, or John the Baptist calling out for people to transform their lives have never felt more relevant to our time. The world seems so divided and so full of injustice. Whether it’s ongoing war in Syria, the #metoo movement, which has highlighted systemic sexual assault in North America, or natural disasters like hurricanes and wild fires, it feels like a time when we might sing “O come, O come, Emmanuel” a bit more urgently. Whereas in other years I might have been distracted by personal goings-on, this year I have felt a tremendous tension between my own personal joy and what is going on in the world.

The commercial version of Christmas would tell us that we should never feel down this time of year. After all, the Christmas movies and ads try to sell us miracles and cheer. But really, for those of us who seek to follow Jesus, we are called to hold these two opposing ideas together – it is a time for rejoicing, a time for praising the God with whom nothing will be impossible, but it is also a time to be aware of why God had to come down to us in the first place, a time to sit with the brokenness and suffering of the world.

I wonder, as I write, what kind of Advent this has been for you. I hope whether you are rejoicing or lamenting or both that you are aware of the Holy Spirit, and are seeing signs of God’s longing to be with humanity. For as Wendell Berry writes, “It gets darker, and darker, and darker, and then Jesus is born.” And this is truly the Good News – whether we are ready or not, whether we are awake or not, Jesus will be born for us.

How My Comedy Class was like Church

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 19:05:00 GMT

This past summer, I got the urge to try something new and different. I occasionally find myself needing a creative outlet and space where I don’t have to be “the minister”. Having gone to a show in the spring at the famous Second City in Toronto, an idea came to mind. What if I took a stand-up comedy class? “I’m funny. I could do that!” I thought. I have also always been drawn to the lives of comedians and their proclivity for highlighting some of the most beautiful and painful aspects of the human condition. (As an aside, if you haven’t read Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, check it out.) So I signed up and then immediately subjected my spouse to weeks of, “Ooh…I could do a bit on this! or that!” He was patient and polite, as always, reminding me that I didn’t have to prepare ahead of time. That’s what the class was for. Our class turned out to be quite a diverse mix. Ages ranged from early twenties to mid-fifties. We were atheists and Christians, retired principals and magicians, people who wanted to do this professionally and those who just wanted people to laugh at them (in the good way). Some of us were new to Canada, one of us was legally blind, and all of immediately wondered if we had made a mistake during our first class. After a shy beginning, though, we found ourselves opening up to one another in the subsequent classes, getting braver and more vulnerable. Our goal: write and perform one 5-minute set for an audience of friends and family. While it seemed impossible at the start, miraculously, we all made it. Leaving a bittersweet final class and celebratory dinner with my classmates, I’ve been reflecting on what this type of experience might have to teach the church. Here are some ways this class felt like church to me: A sense of community was formed around a shared passion – not familial or even geographic lines, not ethnic or cultural lines. We all just loved laughing and making people laugh. We were open and honest with one another. I heard and shared things in our class that I have never heard or shared in church in such an open way. The class, in crafting jokes and building their sets, shared about challenges with mental health, relationships, identity and former run-ins with the law. Now, this kind of vulnerability was possible in large part because these folks were awesome, generous, open-minded people, and our teacher gave lots of attention and time to everyone. But it made me wonder why these sorts of struggles aren’t often shared so openly in church communities. Why do we feel they must be relegated to whispers only in the minister’s office? Why do we feel we must always bring our best selves to church? In our class,we trusted one another, complete strangers, with our sense of shortcomings and regrets. How can we do that more in church? We took risks and created something new. The most fascinating part of this process to me was watching everyone’s process – going from maybe one, somewhat wonky, joke at the beginning of our class to a full, hilarious, set. This took being willing to bring in some real comedic garbage – jokes that just didn’t work. It took the ability to risk failing, and to be able to say, “Okay, this joke is kind of working, but something is off. Can you help?” and then listening to one another offer feedback. In the church, we can often limit ourselves by being afraid of failure, or giving up on something when it doesn’t work perfectly the first time. Great comedians have a way of making their jokes seem effortless – as if they’re just coming up with them on the spot. The reality, though, is those jokes take years of practice and tweaking to get just right. They take years of listening to the audience for feedback and guidance. Perhaps we need to see ministry as more of a creative endeavour, worth the risks and time it takes to get right. Of course, in a lot of ways, the class was not like church. For one, aside from being brought together by a shared passion, we were also brought together by a shared ability to pay for the class. Also, there was no outreach involved in our time together, and in fact, we recognized the selfishness of comedy - the “audacity” of it as our instructor, Todd, would say to demand that people listen to me and let me try to make them laugh. So the metaphor does fall short. Still, I am so grateful for this class – for the friends I’ve made, and ways I was challenged. Who knows? I may even attempt some open mics in the not too distant future. Whether or not I do, I hope to infuse ministry and our life together at Erindale with some of the passion, creativity, vulnerability and laughter I picked up in my class. We may not always get everything right all the time, but as Steve Martin says, “Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.” -Rev. Brenna Baker

Our class turned out to be quite a diverse mix. Ages ranged from early twenties to mid-fifties. We were atheists and Christians, retired principals and magicians, people who wanted to do this professionally and those who just wanted people to laugh at them (in the good way). Some of us were new to Canada, one of us was legally blind, and all of immediately wondered if we had made a mistake during our first class.

After a shy beginning, though, we found ourselves opening up to one another in the subsequent classes, getting braver and more vulnerable. Our goal: write and perform one 5-minute set for an audience of friends and family. While it seemed impossible at the start, miraculously, we all made it.

Leaving a bittersweet final class and celebratory dinner with my classmates, I’ve been reflecting on what this type of experience might have to teach the church. Here are some ways this class felt like church to me:

Of course, in a lot of ways, the class was not like church. For one, aside from being brought together by a shared passion, we were also brought together by a shared ability to pay for the class. Also, there was no outreach involved in our time together, and in fact, we recognized the selfishness of comedy - the “audacity” of it as our instructor, Todd, would say to demand that people listen to me and let me try to make them laugh. So the metaphor does fall short.

Still, I am so grateful for this class – for the friends I’ve made, and ways I was challenged. Who knows? I may even attempt some open mics in the not too distant future. Whether or not I do, I hope to infuse ministry and our life together at Erindale with some of the passion, creativity, vulnerability and laughter I picked up in my class. We may not always get everything right all the time, but as Steve Martin says, “Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.”

-Rev. Brenna Baker

Interfaith Work in Mississauga

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 21:06:00 GMT

Hi friends, I wanted to take some time to update you on some inter-faith dialogue that has been happening in our city. After the attack on a mosque in Quebec last February, where six people were killed, our MP, Sven Spengemann, invited faith leaders in the riding to come together to discuss ways of learning about and supporting one another across religious lines. As you may know, people of minority religions in Mississauga face discrimination, threats and bullying in their workplaces, religious spaces and schools. Since February, we’ve gathered several times to hear from one another and try to determine a way forward. Recently, MP Spengemann’s office has broadened the conversation to include faith leaders from other ridings. On October 11, a round table event was held at the Mississauga Valley community center to hear concerns from one another, and discern whether a united statement on tolerance and acceptance might be put forward from faith leaders in the city. As conversations continue, and I strive to listen more than to speak, a few things have been bubbling up for me. First is the need for on-going education, and that starts with ourselves. This past year, I’ve been privileged to learn more about the Muslim and Jewish faiths. Two specific things stand out. First, attending the Passover Seder led by Rabbi Audrey at Solel Congregation was such a moving experience for me. It greatly enriched my understanding of the Exodus story, which we share of course with our Jewish brothers and sisters, and of the Last Supper and what experiences and beliefs Jesus may have carried with him into that meal. The Passover Seder challenges us to reflect on the injustices of the world and how we might respond, and this is certainly something we can be incorporating into our tradition. Second, I heard a talk from Muslim writer and comedian, Zarqa Nawaz at the Skylight Festival in July about the role of Mary in the Koran. Did you know she has a much richer story in the Koran than the Bible? Neither did I! She is basically the Wonder Woman of the Koran – strong and blessed by God. I’ll definitely be sharing more of this throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons. So we need to learn more about other faiths – to dispel misunderstandings and create acceptance, but also to enrich our own faith. I would love to hear your ideas about how we can be doing this better as a faith community. Additionally, a sentiment that has been raised is the fact that we, as faithful people, need to go beyond just accepting or tolerating. Our traditions don’t call us to tolerate one another, but to love one another, to be in community with one another. As faith leaders look at drafting a statement, we are also seeking ways to actually live into a love of neighbour in a meaningful way. If you would like to be kept more in the loop about these developments, please let me know. We are looking at broadening the conversations beyond clergy to members of our faith communities as well. This work is so critical to this time in the world’s history, and we could use other voices to fill out the conversation. Blessings, Rev. Brenna

Hi friends,

I wanted to take some time to update you on some inter-faith dialogue that has been happening in our city. After the attack on a mosque in Quebec last February, where six people were killed, our MP, Sven Spengemann, invited faith leaders in the riding to come together to discuss ways of learning about and supporting one another across religious lines. As you may know, people of minority religions in Mississauga face discrimination, threats and bullying in their workplaces, religious spaces and schools. Since February, we’ve gathered several times to hear from one another and try to determine a way forward.

Recently, MP Spengemann’s office has broadened the conversation to include faith leaders from other ridings. On October 11, a round table event was held at the Mississauga Valley community center to hear concerns from one another, and discern whether a united statement on tolerance and acceptance might be put forward from faith leaders in the city.

As conversations continue, and I strive to listen more than to speak, a few things have been bubbling up for me. First is the need for on-going education, and that starts with ourselves. This past year, I’ve been privileged to learn more about the Muslim and Jewish faiths. Two specific things stand out.

First, attending the Passover Seder led by Rabbi Audrey at Solel Congregation was such a moving experience for me. It greatly enriched my understanding of the Exodus story, which we share of course with our Jewish brothers and sisters, and of the Last Supper and what experiences and beliefs Jesus may have carried with him into that meal. The Passover Seder challenges us to reflect on the injustices of the world and how we might respond, and this is certainly something we can be incorporating into our tradition.

Second, I heard a talk from Muslim writer and comedian, Zarqa Nawaz at the Skylight Festival in July about the role of Mary in the Koran. Did you know she has a much richer story in the Koran than the Bible? Neither did I! She is basically the Wonder Woman of the Koran – strong and blessed by God. I’ll definitely be sharing more of this throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons.

So we need to learn more about other faiths – to dispel misunderstandings and create acceptance, but also to enrich our own faith. I would love to hear your ideas about how we can be doing this better as a faith community.

Additionally, a sentiment that has been raised is the fact that we, as faithful people, need to go beyond just accepting or tolerating. Our traditions don’t call us to tolerate one another, but to love one another, to be in community with one another. As faith leaders look at drafting a statement, we are also seeking ways to actually live into a love of neighbour in a meaningful way.

If you would like to be kept more in the loop about these developments, please let me know. We are looking at broadening the conversations beyond clergy to members of our faith communities as well. This work is so critical to this time in the world’s history, and we could use other voices to fill out the conversation.

Blessings,

Rev. Brenna

Not So Ordinary Time

Fri, 11 Aug 2017 14:59:00 GMT

In the Christian Church calendar, we call the Sundays between Pentecost and Advent “Ordinary Time” because there’s no special theme to this time of the year – unlike, say, Lent or the Easter season. But if we were merging our personal lives with the church calendar, we might actually call these summer and early autumn weeks, “The Best Time!” Let’s face it. As Canadians, as soon as the snow is mostly melted and it’s warm enough to be sitting on a patio, we want to be outside doing stuff. We’re hiking and paddling. We’re at the cottage. We’re grilling and heading into the city for a Jays game. We’re taking the kids on a long road trip, and we’re soaking up as much of the sun and warmth as possible before next winter. As a minister, I know this is a time when I’ll see less of all of you. The golf course or lake is often much more alluring on a summer Sunday morning than the sanctuary. But being away from formal worship doesn’t mean we can’t continue to praise God and find God’s presence out in the world. In fact, time away can often give us a new perspective on things. Slowing down and breathing deeper this summer, I wonder how we might see and give thanks for the fingerprints of the Creator in nature. I wonder how time with friends and family can help us show Christ’s love and grace to one another in new ways. Perhaps being out and about in our communities will bring us back in the fall with new ideas of how Erindale United can be connected with our neighbours. So even though the rhythms of our church life may slow down in this “ordinary time,” as disciples of Christ, we still have work to do. In this Sabbath time where more rest and play is to be found, we re-energize and re-equip ourselves for another year of ministry in the fall. Go into this “best time” then with God’s blessing (and with your Minister’s blessing!). Go to enjoy this beautiful world God has made for us and the wonderful people with whom we share it. Go with joy to give thanks and praise in these coming weeks and months, and we look forward to the Spirit bringing us back together again in the fall.

Let’s face it. As Canadians, as soon as the snow is mostly melted and it’s warm enough to be sitting on a patio, we want to be outside doing stuff. We’re hiking and paddling. We’re at the cottage. We’re grilling and heading into the city for a Jays game. We’re taking the kids on a long road trip, and we’re soaking up as much of the sun and warmth as possible before next winter.

As a minister, I know this is a time when I’ll see less of all of you. The golf course or lake is often much more alluring on a summer Sunday morning than the sanctuary. But being away from formal worship doesn’t mean we can’t continue to praise God and find God’s presence out in the world. In fact, time away can often give us a new perspective on things.

Slowing down and breathing deeper this summer, I wonder how we might see and give thanks for the fingerprints of the Creator in nature. I wonder how time with friends and family can help us show Christ’s love and grace to one another in new ways. Perhaps being out and about in our communities will bring us back in the fall with new ideas of how Erindale United can be connected with our neighbours.

So even though the rhythms of our church life may slow down in this “ordinary time,” as disciples of Christ, we still have work to do. In this Sabbath time where more rest and play is to be found, we re-energize and re-equip ourselves for another year of ministry in the fall.

Go into this “best time” then with God’s blessing (and with your Minister’s blessing!). Go to enjoy this beautiful world God has made for us and the wonderful people with whom we share it. Go with joy to give thanks and praise in these coming weeks and months, and we look forward to the Spirit bringing us back together again in the fall.