Only One Thing
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.” Reflecting on the challenges of the modern-day Parenting Juggling Act, the assault of the entertainment and marketing industries, and the slipping-sliding-ever-changing landscape of the institutional church, this blog journeys through the headlines, the hurry and headaches to re-discover the ‘one thing’ of which our Saviour speaks.
Nothing on my tongue but hallelujah: thank you, Leonard Cohen
Thank you, Leonard Cohen. Rest in peace and rise in glory. Continue reading
Day of the Dead: reflections on the missing and murdered
I pray that November 2nd, The Day of the Dead, will be a time when we remember our loved ones and give thanks for the imprint of love that they have left on us. But I pray, too, that it will be a day of repentance. Repentance: turning around, turning around to look again for the ones we have failed. Continue reading
Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, and reflections on idolatry
The broader and deeper witness of Scripture is that the instinct behind any divine directive is to protect and care for us. In other words, if God is so concerned about idolatry, then there must be something destructive about idolatry from which God is seeking to protect us. Continue reading
Sacred stuff and deal breakers | Dream project blog: part four
At the beginning of July, an announcement was made in two of our St. Catharines Anglican churches. In this fourth blog in a series that considers the possibility of a parish merge, The Rev. Martha Tatarnic reflects: “It is an enormous task to imagine uprooting this community and to not just bring two complementary ministries together to make both stronger and more vital, but to actually try and fit together two unique characters and histories.” Continue reading
Formal conversation begins | Dream project blog: part three
At the beginning of July, an announcement was made in two of our St. Catharines Anglican churches. In this third blog in a series that considers the possibility of a parish merge, The Rev. Martha Tatarnic reflects: “You know that saying about, “the best-laid plans?” Sometimes despite our best-laid plans, things go off track anyway. But in the economy of God’s grace, sometimes despite our best-laid plans, God’s grace emerges doing more than we could ask or imagine.” Continue reading
Michael Mondloch | Dream project blog: part two
At the beginning of July, an announcement was made in two of our St. Catharines Anglican churches. In this second blog in a series that considers the possibility of a parish merge, The Rev. Dr. Michael Mondloch outlines five “universal truths” observed in “The Great Reveal.” Continue reading
Stranger dynamics | Dream project blog: part one
At the beginning of July, an announcement was made in two of our St. Catharines Anglican churches. Whatever the eventual outcome, at the start we know that there would be a painful goodbye, a move, and a need for one community to make space and welcome for another. Continue reading
Nothing left to do but sing: The Hip’s Farewell Tour
It doesn’t feel like one person’s illness—even if they are famous—should be so newsworthy… Human mortality isn’t actually news, and it is naïve to suggest it is. And yet, “There is nothing left to do but sing.” Continue reading
Doubt and grace
In my family, we have a saying that we referred to often when it felt like life is falling apart: “Things have a habit of working out.” But of course, this saying is only a nudge, it isn’t the full truth. Life does sometimes fall apart. But “God is not helpless among the ruins.” Things don’t always work out. But there is grace. Continue reading
The hardest worship—common prayer reflections from the floor of General Synod 2016
Every single person in that assembly would walk away knowing what it was to be hurt and disappointed. Every person there had now been faced with a choice – to let that hurt and disappointment rule, or to stay together. Continue reading
