writings and blogging reflections as they come to me. opinions are strictly my own.
Blog / Writings
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who gets to be more entitled? I first noticed the word being used well over a decade ago. Back then, I heard it too-often directed by older, senior management-types toward younger folks in organizations that I’ve been employed by. Entitled. These younger folk were often characterised by their elders as wanting some kind of special…
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This is a bit of a paper / presentation I wrote as part of my entry into the United Church of Canada outlining the history of radicalism (as opposed to progressivism or liberalism) in the United Church. Here’s a link to the pdf of the presentation.
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this letter was posted by Sarah Provan (scroll down on linke to see bio) a young(er) person who works in youth ministry in the United Church on Vancouver Island and across BC/Yukon. Her letter was shared to social media in September 2025. I share it here, with her permission – with my response to follow…
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This was originally posted in 2023 on the AbbeyChurch blog. For some more images of these Abbeys that I took, please see the gallery on their website here. The pretense for this trip is that I’m turning 50 in about a month. I have long been an admirer of the witness of traditional monastic communities –…
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Some thoughts on proclamation (and more specifically, preaching) from my journey across various Christian traditions which originally appeared at the AbbeyChurch blog One important and beautiful part of my sojourn through the various traditions of Christianity was with the Roman Catholic Church. At the time, I can remember saying to a United Church of Canada…
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This reflection / blog post first appeared on the AbbeyChurch blog in summer 2025. Some call it “The Holy Eucharist” – others, “Communion” – and yet others “The Lord’s Supper”. Eucharist. It literally means thanksgiving (in Koine Greek) – and, depending on which stripe of Christianity one favours, one might lean into viewing it as a memorial,…
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The following is a paper I wrote in seminary in 2017 for professor Ray Aldred. A trigger warning that the colonial practices and language of 19th century Methodist missionaries are contained in this writing. For my first paper for this course, I explored the practice of the potlatch, particularly as it was practiced in First…
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I’ve sat across from more than a few weeping souls, now, who’ve been abruptly fired by the church. In their minds, it’s without just cause – and in all cases, they were told that, if they wanted severance pay, they needed to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Hush money. The more resourced ones sought legal advice…
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In the work that I do in my day job as Regional Minister for Church Planting here with The United Church on the west coast of Canada, I’m often asked the question: Why should we bother starting new communities of faith? After all, much of the church in my context appears to be dying these…
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This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2002 issue of FaithTides. When we bought our house in Victoria, BC, eight years ago, we had already been selected for a Habitat for Humanity build. The executive director of Habitat at the time told me that, because of their model, where Habitat holds the loan at…