My Answers to the Questions of Ordination
Yesterday was a big day. I met with the Toronto Conference Ministry Personnel Committee. Well, they were actually members of the Toronto Conference Interview Committee which normally interviews candidates for the ministry, but that committee had been seconded to act as the committee that would hear my beliefs and decide whether or not they constituted […]
Getting Your Religion at the Gym?
For many, something other than religion meets the definition of religion It’s true. Fewer and fewer people in North America are heading to church on Sunday morning. Religion, well, its Christian iteration, is on the wane. But for hundreds of thousands of those who avoid church, alternate sources of inspiration, engagement, community, and well-being exist. We […]
Denmark Bans Ritual Animal Slaughter | TIME
“Animal rights come before religion” As the world’s anger rages in response to the senseless (and illegal) killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe by American dentist Walter James Palmer, an avid trophy hunter, Denmark takes a provocative step toward limiting religious freedoms and preventing what it terms animal cruelty. Jewish and Muslim leaders have […]
Witchcraft and Sorcery
We thought it would be hard not to become immobilized by fear as the acts of terror associated with religious extremism spurred on by anti-imperialist sentiment began to scroll through our Twitter and Facebook feeds and captivate our shuddering attention with alarming regularity. And yet, for many of us, as the news of beheadings slips closer and closer to […]
American Atheist: An Oxymoron?
Before you get all excited about the Pew Research results and begin thinking that the rising number of those who report no religious affiliation means a more rational approach to all things religious, think again. Yesterday’s release of research by the Public Religion Research Institute shows that fifty-two percent of the American population (52%) believe […]
What I learned at the American Humanist Association’s Annual Conference
A few days before Mother’s Day, I headed to Denver for the 74th Annual Conference of the American Humanist Association’s Annual Conference. I, along with three other Directors of The Clergy Project (TCP), were sharing the work of TCP, each of us introducing a different aspect of the many realities faced by clergy caught in the […]
Confronting the Unbelievers
The United Church Observer, a magazine that explores issues relevant to The United Church of Canada (UCC) and its members from an arm’s length position, has drop-kicked the conversation on whether clergy who no longer believe have a place in the UCC’s pulpits. Confronting the Unbelievers was published in its May issue.* It is a conversation that […]
The Church of Gleaned Practices
There is a group currently meeting in Houston that calls its members “spiritual naturalists”. They are, for the most part, people who do not believe in doctrinal claims of any religious sort, but who have noticed that the act of everyday living seems to demand something more from them. So they get together twice a […]
on being an atheist minister
Had an opportunity to share some ideas with AM640’s Jeff McCarthur this afternoon. Here is the clip. Enjoy!
to the glory of good
On Sunday, March 15th, Eric Andrew-Gee of the Toronto Star joined us in our weekly gathering. It was a busy morning. We’d removed half the pews that Saturday in one of our first efforts at continuing our work toward creating a barrier-free community, this time focused on the challenges that traditional forms of gathering as […]
vidoyen – a new question and answer video library
Well, I’ve recorded my first answer to a question on Vidoyen, a new site for the collection of video responses by thought leaders, academics, lecturers and people like me who have something to say about a particular topic. I was asked whether it was possible to be religious or spiritual and an atheist. Here’s my […]
the perfect storm
At the CCPC conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia a few weeks ago, I spoke about the perfect storm into which I believe we are heading. It’s concocted, actually, by three other storms already raging: one brought about by environmental realities; one by social changes and challenges; and one by the lost of mainline religious institutions. […]