What comes after? Friends The advance polls start this week for the referendum that will be held on Monday October 19th. Above all else, I want to encourage you to vote. Whatever your views about the questions before us, showing up and participating in our democracy is one of the ways we care for our community. Learn as much as you can and make your choice. Voting is a deeply spiritual act. I lived through two referendums on Quebec sovereignty. The first was in 1980 when I wa

Thank you! Friends Canadians are famous for saying sorry, but this week I have been wondering if we say two words even more often: thank you. We seem to say it constantly: to someone who holds a door, pours us a coffee, sends a card, offers help. (There is an old joke that Canadians are so polite they thank their bank machines!) I think much of the time we thank you automatically, but I wonder if those two words hold more than we realize. When we truly say thank you, we are a

This week it’s Orange Shirt Sunday when we will observe the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. We will remember and honour Indigenous children take from their families and communities and placed in residential schools. In 1986, the United Church of Canada formally apologized for its participation in the suppression of Indigenous culture and spirituality, for how it confused imposing western culture and ideals for sharing the Gospel message. In 1998, the church apologiz

Friends On Sunday we covenant together. What does that mean? A covenant is a sacred promise for how we will live in relationship. It assumes mutual responsibility but also vulnerability, growth, forgiveness, and grace. Unlike a secular contract bound by signature, a covenant is sealed through worship and so we will both celebrate and ‘sign’ our covenant this Sunday. And after worship we will gather for our Welcome Back Lunch, with thanks to the Heavenly Hospitality team. In t

Friends This Sunday we begin the Season of Creation, a newer season of the church year that emerged as churches around the world responded to the growing ecological crisis. It invites us to slow down and reflect more deeply on our relationship with God, one another, and the earth. The invitation itself has ancient roots. The Hebrew scriptures understand our relationship with God as inseparable from our relationship with the land and one another. The Bible has a beautiful word

Dear Friends Last Sunday we explored how belonging can teach us to see differently, to notice what we might otherwise miss, and perhaps to see beyond some of the either-or ways our world encourages us to think. This week we take the next step. What does it mean to follow? Contemplative practice has taught me that following often begins with paying attention. In the story we will hear from Exodus, Moses is going about an ordinary day when something catches his eye: a bush burn

Dear Friends Last Sunday we explored how belonging can teach us to see differently, to notice what we might otherwise miss, and perhaps to see beyond some of the either-or ways our world encourages us to think. This week we take the next step. What does it mean to follow? Contemplative practice has taught me that following often begins with paying attention. In the story we will hear from Exodus, Moses is going about an ordinary day when something catches his eye: a bush burn

Friends I have come to believe that people shouldn't have to believe the right things, behave the right way, or have everything figured out before they belong to a church. In fact, I think it often works the other way around. It is through belonging, through being welcomed and known, eating and worshipping together, sharing our lives, that we are formed in faith and learn what it means to follow Jesus. Part of learning to belong is remembering that this isn't really "our chur