July/August. High summer. Hot days with high humidity leaves a body feeling listless. Makes it hard to focus on kingdom priorities. What to do? Fight it? Stay only in an air conditioned environment? Or realise it’s part of summer in Canada and it definitely won’t last forever? After all, as Ecclesiastes says, “There is a [...]

A Surprising Recipe for Parish Renewal
The Church’s prayer in every generation is always for the people of God to be renewed. When our hearts and minds are renewed it opens us up to the unifying love that is Christ, brings the desire to serve others, and offers peace and hope to our families, communities, and [...]

If you were to hang out at a Christian bookstore at the edge of many Canadian cities, you might be surprised to see who is there.  Ditto if you drive past a packed church parking lot any day of the week, or a bustle of people leaving a newly planted church in an industrial area, [...]

photo courtesy City of Ottawa

fresh expressions canada update
january 12 2010

A very Happy New Year to all of you, and especially to those in the Diocese of Ottawa who have recently joined this list following various Fresh Expressions-related events in your diocese.
It is already shaping up to be a busy year for Fresh Expressions [...]

Perth, ON
story by Laura Mueller, copyright Perth Courier
Peter McCracken, Rev. Christine Piper and Thor Stewart have joined together to start up a Tuesday-night youth ministry based on skateboarding. Melissa Di Costanzo
Where signs warding off skateboarders once hung, a new movement to blend skating culture with Christianity is taking root.
Tonight, Christian rock music will [...]

“There is a mistaken understanding that fresh expressions of Church are mostly linked to Evangelical churches and traditions.  However, this is simply not true, as can be seen at the website, Fresh Expressions of the Sacramental Tradition.” writes Thomas Brauer
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Among the misconceptions people have about the Christian spiritual life—and there are many!—is the idea that it’s somehow easy. While we have all heard variations of this theme many times, youth seem particularly vulnerable to it. For many young people, when they have had a truly significant encounter with God and begun to explore their [...]

The name Eckhart Tolle is hardly a household name—at least, yet. Earlier this year, his book The New Earth, was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as the choice of her Book Club and has sold 3.5 million copies so far. (And to think I was excited that my Narnia book has sold almost 1,000!) He has [...]