Invitations for Conversation & Reflection
The Rector's Cupboard looks at why Christian expression has been so often marked with fear and judgment instead of hope and welcome. What might it mean to seek a more hopeful faith and life?
In this episode The Rector’s Cupboard David talks about the ongoing crisis in Israel/Gaza and about the nature of righteousness, rightness, and evil.
Read MoreIn this fourth part of Rethinking the Ekklesia, I am joined by Todd Wiebe and Alison Williams in conversation with Pastor Martin Baxter. Todd asked me to reflect a little on the ambiguity about the place of the church and the shape of ministry, in many who treasure her, that has grown in recent years and surfaced with the pandemic.
Read MoreI am pleased to be joined by Pastor Ingrid Cramer-Doereschel for this on-going series of conversations on the Ekklesia. Over the last few years, we have occasionally talked about the church, its shape and purpose. Are we entering a “post-denominational” period in the life of the church? What is our responsibility to families and friends who have been its faithful stewards? How do we minister to those “living rough” in our neighbourhood? Will the church be the same when the pandemic ends?
Read MoreIn this second part of Rethinking the Ekklesia, I am joined by Todd Wiebe and Alison Williams in conversation with Tim Dickau, a conversation on the church for the life of the world. Tim was pastor of Grandview Calvary Baptist Church in Vancouver for thirty years. Those who gathered shaped an intentional community rooted in the local neighbourhood sharing their destiny with all who lived close by. Common practices anchored their life: participating in prayer and worship, seeking justice for the poor, engaging scripture, creativity, care for creation, and daily confession. Church according to their shared vision was the active forming of a life together attentive to the good that is present on the streets and in the lives of all who’s pathways they crossed.
Read MoreIn this second part of Rethinking the Ekklesia, I am joined by Todd Wiebe and Alison Williams in conversation with Rev. Ken Bell. Todd asked me to reflect a little on ideology and how it may easily turn theology into what is foreign to the Gospel. Following this brief reflection Ken Bell speaks about his early notion of the church as an extended family. In his time as an angelical priest his understanding moves through several stages: the church as “those who are called out”, as a vanguard for morality in an increasingly troubled society, and, a place of spiritual renewal.
Read MoreOver the last few years and exacerbated by the pandemic many clergy have found themselves questioning the shape and purpose of the church. Who is she? Is she, our denomination? Does she only exist when we gather? Does she exist on-line? Why gather? Along with these and other questions it is also noteworthy that many clergy are facing a crisis of vocation, and many parishioners have had their sense of ekklesia stirred or troubled.
These conversations span many and varied communities of faith – ancient, those born of the Reformation and various evangelical movements. The gifts of each will be apparent as will the struggles.
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