Featured

The Call of Ordinary Time

I’m sure that, at some point, many parishes had one of those “liturgical year” posters hanging in the parish hall or Sunday School area. Sometimes they’re set out in a long line, beginning with Advent and ending with the Reign of Christ, but most often they are pie-charts that show

September Magazine 2018

September’s issue is on Work. We have articles from Bishop Don on the telos of the Church, Jamie Howison on the season of Ordinary Time, and Kurt Armstrong on the time he worked at a photo store. We’ll also introduce you to Theo Robinson, a transgender, theological student at St. Luke’s. And,

Connection and Representation

Not long ago, my soon-to-be father-in-law wanted to treat my partner and me to a movie that recently came out. He loves movies and, as a film scholar, I do too. However, as soon as I discovered that he had chosen a “Christian” movie, I began to think of ways

Water for Kasaka

On March 24, the Diocesan Council carried a new motion: “That the report of the Companion Diocese Committee on the Kasaka Water Project be received; that Diocesan Council commended this to parishes for their prayer and financial support; and that the Diocese endorse the Water Project for Kasaka as a

Hold Texts Lightly

I was recently invited to speak to a church group about pop culture and theology, using movies and television shows to explore matters of faith. In the course of our conversation, I realized that many audience members were looking for something much more directional from me, something to tell them

June Magazine 2018

June’s issue explores how we consume, and think about, Pop Culture, with articles by two media scholars: Mandy Elliot and Michael Boyce. We also have an article on how to make your own compost bin for the Fifth Mark of Mission and an introduction for a new Diocesan program: the

I Believe… in the Communion of Saints

In the Clinical Pastoral Education, one of the skills we teach is theological reflection. The method I use is based on Robert Kinast’s 1996 book Let Ministry Teach: A Guide to Theological Reflection and his subsequent book Making Faith Sense: Theological Reflection in Everyday Life. Theological reflection is not reserved

A Galaxy of Stories

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… Any treatise of the history of filmmaking would be remiss to mention the influence of George Lucas. Director/creator of the Star Wars universe (which spans movies, TV shows, video games, comic books, toys, and more), Lucas initiated a world of

Urns for Healing

Our society no longer knows how to deal with death, grief, and mourning. No more do the grieving shroud themselves in black, indicating to those around them a loss has been suffered. So how, or where, does one hold that brokenness now? I have found that pain, and healing, is

Story Creature

God created Adam and Eve in God’s image and every human being who has ever lived reflects this – the imago dei. This means we create because our God is creative; we tell stories because God is a storyteller. Stories are a fitting medium for a God who is called

True Myth: Why do We Tell Stories?

Once upon a time… Sing in me Muse and through me tell the story… In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit… Perhaps you’ve heard these lines before. They are a signal. They tell us something is coming, something strange and beautiful, something wild and imaginative. But how

May Magazine 2018

May’s issue on Myth explores the human compulsion behind telling stories, with articles from Loralee Dyck, Matt Civico, and Hannah Foulger, as well as a via media piece on theological reflection by Mary Holmen. You can download the pdf, or read it in Issuu below. Individual articles: Editorial and Bishop’s

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint at Home

With Spring beginning to make an appearance, you may be thinking about sprucing up your home, or getting to those renovations you put off over Winter. Whatever it is, here are some helpful tips for simple things you can do to reduce the carbon footprint of your home, as well

Creation Connects Us to Our Neighbours

I started defending the environment by arguing with people about the amount of napkins and paper towels they used. “You’re killing my future children!” is a phrase I’d often yell at my friends when I was a passionate, but naïve, teenager. In my mind, napkins were a symbol of our

The Value of a Generous Church

We have been rehearsing the phrase “Stewards of Faith” since the Diocese of Rupert’s Land Synod 2016. The phrase seems new to most of us, and some of us have been unsure what it means; I still get lost in the deep images the phrase conjures up for me. But,

Celebration of the Light

Praise be to God, the Father of lights and colour. His faithfulness never ceases to amaze me. I am humbled that the Creator of the universe is faithful to meet me at the empty canvas time and again, allowing me to partner with him with the creative spirit in me.

April Magazine 2018

April’s issue of RLN is on Stewardship, exploring how Christians are called to be stewards of the Church and the environment, with articles from Geoff Woodcroft, Jamie Fox, and Beverley Eert. Also included is some art for Easter from Portland, Oregon, artist Anneli Anderson. You can download the pdf or

Worship Declares God and Shapes Us

Whatever else believers do, they worship God. For some, that’s where the trouble starts. In an age of unreferenced spirituality, it’s much better to speak about God in non-specific ways so as not to privilege or offend. Thus, a person may affirm their spiritual nature without the risk of particularity.

CURRENT ISSUE

Lux et Origo

Kirsten Pinto Gfroerer begins this issue with an exploration of light — light as the source of creation, light as the Good, light as the glorious love of the Holy Trinity. She writes, “the creation story teaches us that the promise in the midst of the dark is not only that the light will come again, but that light is always present. All that is has light as its substance and ground. Light is here, in the dark, in the fabric of everything. And this light is the glory of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons and one God held in unity by the life of love.”

Then, the Ven. Simon Blaikie writes on what he learned on a recent trip to Holy Island. He reminds us that we are all called to draw ever closer to the Lord, and that we experience the mystical presence of God in silence, stillness, and witnessing God’s beautiful creation. We must remember, he says, that “the Divine mystery lives within every human being…”.

Following this, Cinna Baran writes on the idea that God is Nothingness — a paradoxical idea put forth in one of Meister Eckhart’s sermons. His article explores what this concept means, how it is not contradictory to the Christian faith, and how Paul experienced this when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Durell Desmond concludes this issue with a poem titled “Shadow and Light.”

Peace be with you; I hope you enjoy.