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 […]
You’re In(vited)!
The latest Pew Research report has some amazing statistics in it. Almost every headline has been about the incredible losses being sustained by Christianity across the board. The evangelicals are putting a positive face on it by referring to the remaining righteous remnant. We in the liberal church did that twenty years ago. The graphs could be […]
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 […]
Shucking God: Interview with a Non-Believer
Almost two months ago, Presbyterian minister, John Shuck, posted a guest blog on Hemant Mehta’s Friendly Atheist Patheos Blog. It was titled, I’m a Presbyterian Minister Who Doesn’t Believe in God. I was delighted. It is always a celebration when someone comes and stands in the field with you. And it’s humbling to have that someone […]
why should i?
This week at West Hill we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of “Our Words of Commitment” which were originally known as “The Children’s Prayer.” It has shown up in many places. We made a video of it and accompanied it with the song As I Live by Anne Walker, who set it to music. I recall being amazed when, […]
Love, Again
This week opened with the wonderful news that a tumor in the lung of a much-loved friend and member of West Hill was benign. A week or so ago, as the medical diagnosis was still pending, that friend asked me to rewrite the song Amazing Grace. Since Scott has already adapted the original words for use […]
Clarington Answers Clarion Call
The council meeting in Clarington, Ontario, opened this past Monday with a time of reflection. It always does. This week, however, Regional Councillor Willie Woo, rather than invoking the god called God, read a reflective piece that made no mention of the town’s previously favoured deity. Mayor Adrian Foster, who felt no one would be harmed by the […]
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 […]
semantics sleight of hand
For the past many years, I’ve been struggling against the power of the Christian story within the traditional church and outside of it. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Baha’i, and so many other religious streams ply stories of a cosmology that includes either a deity residing in a supernatural realm or a life that is more (or […]
All Roads
For this Sunday, the service is looking at privilege. So my hymn writing challenge veered off in that direction. An abrupt shift in the first verse might be disconcerting but it evidences the kind of “scales falling from our eyes” reality that consciousness raising so often is. And I hope that the song ends with […]
abomination
Who really uses that word anymore? Really? Andy Oudman of Talk 1290 in London, Ontario, that’s who. A listener had alerted me to Oudman’s remarks about the United Church yesterday and said that the radio host planned to return to the topic today. So when he began to talk about the inappropriateness of my leading […]
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 […]
women rock
It might seem a bit cheeky, but I thought that since rewrite for this week’s traditional hymn should focus on women and we’ve had a Women Rock service at West Hill several times, that I’d use the tune Toplady to which Rock of Ages is most often sung so here it is! This year, in addition to focusing […]
’til all, in truth, are free
The nature of truth is a long conversation. We often, in the church, speak of it as though it is an exact thing that we can define or capture between the covers of a designated book. Outside of the church, it’s a philosophical tome or a microscopic film. We can’t capture truth. It is not […]
what is a theologically barrier-free church?
I am often asked questions about the work that I and the congregation I serve do. These quick answer videos are meant to help you understand that. If you’ve any question you’d like answered, don’t hesitate to ask me through the contact page. I’ll be happy to consider it for a quick answer video. Thanks […]
the moral of the story
Our final installation in the Academy Award series is Into the Woods, a film that didn’t get nominated for Best Picture Oscar. Still, it has much to say. I captured its relativistic approach in the new words to the old hymn tune Blaenwern – also singable to Hyfrydol – Nothing Once for All. The truth is […]
nothing once, for all
A new hymn written to the tune Blaenwern, one of the tunes most often used for Love Divine. Scott named it this morning as one he wanted new words for, so this is what came in the late afternoon. I’ve been preparing for Sunday’s reflection on Into the Woods, the first film I’ve ever picked for […]
bravery in the face of tyranny
a letter to gary paterson regarding paris
January 8, 2015 Gary Paterson Moderator The United Church of Canada 3250 Bloor St. West Toronto, ON Dear Gary, I write with deep concern for the world’s community as it reels following the religiously motivated attacks in Paris this week and as diverse groups respond with courage and a renewed commitment to ending acts of […]
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