Reflections of a Canadian Churchman

The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada has recently invited Canadian Anglicans to participate in a visioning process. Anglicans across the country are encouraged to visit the Vision 2019 Website and submit their thoughts, reflections, dreams and longings about where we believe God is calling this Church to be over the next decade. Vision 2019 is grounded in the Five Marks of Mission, which include proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God; teaching, baptizing and nurturing new believers; responding to human need by loving service; seeking to transform the unjust structures of society; safeguarding the integrity of creation. I encourage readers of this blog to visit the site (see link, above) and make their contribution either by sending a letter, audio recording, video or email. I will be preaching this upcoming Sunday (Pentecost) on themes related to Vision 2019. I was pleased to participate on behalf of the work of the General Synod and provide this short video abou

Last fall, I wrote a series on this blog entitled The Gospel of Mark Challenge in which I challenged parishioners to read a half chapter of St. Mark’s Gospel each day, completing the Gospel in about a month. Along the way I commented on various passages of interest. Having since preached extensively on the Gospel of Mark (as we are currently in Year B in our three-year cycle of Scripture readings, the year in which St. Mark is read) I felt some summative comments might now be in order. On Easter Day I preached on the Resurrection appearance in Mark 16:1-8, or more correctly, the “non-appearance,” for The Gospel of Mark is the only gospel without an appearance of the Risen Christ. Instead, it is characterized by an empty tomb and the flight of the frightened female disciples. In my sermon, I argued that Mark intended this abrupt ending in order that we might write ourselves, and our own faithful witness to the Resurrection of Jesus, into the story. The abruptness of the ending, th

I recently got myself into a little hot water with some adherents of the ANiC (Anglican Network in Canada) for suggesting that we should use a little bit more civility as we explore the state of the Church. Followers of this blog will know that I was invited earlier this year to participate in the Anglican Church of Canada's Vision 2019 project. The project, initiated by our Primate, the Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, seeks to explore where the church in Canada finds itself today and where we believe we are being called in the next ten years. This reflection revolves around the five marks of mission . I was interviewed for a short video highlighting work being done by the National Church (I spoke about the second mark of mission, Teaching, Baptizing and Nurturing New Believers , in light of the work of the Anglican Book Centre publishing programme). In addition, Anglicans across the country were invited to post comments on where they see the Church today and in the future. As the feedbac