Category: church

Fred Reinders (1930-2023): A Life of Structural and Moral Integrity

February 9, 2023

Born in 1930 Friesland, Fred Reinders was a dreamer, a visionary, and a leader, and he expressed that gift first of all through engineering design and construction. The Dutch have a proverb, roughly translated, that says “You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Well, Fred left the shores of his native Netherlands in 1953 to see what opportunities lie in Canada and it seems his life was a series of calculated risks from there on. … More Fred Reinders (1930-2023): A Life of Structural and Moral Integrity

Have a Righteous Christmas, Joseph Style: A Meditation on a Saint in a Season of Sexual Misconduct

December 12, 2022

Was St. Joseph’s character more about being righteous or being just? The original Greek word opens up possibilities in meaning that have been a matter of a translation debate which has implications for sexual ethics today. … More Have a Righteous Christmas, Joseph Style: A Meditation on a Saint in a Season of Sexual Misconduct

Sexual Abuse Sends out Wide Ripples of Hurt: Bruxy Cavey’s Meeting House Wreckage

November 2, 2022

when leaders go off the rails, it is not only the celebrities and their victims who crash and burn in the brush. They take with them a whole trainload of unsuspecting people who trusted them, and many who bet their lives on the leader’s integrity and vision. How does this happen in a place driven to be a balm in a bruised world? … More Sexual Abuse Sends out Wide Ripples of Hurt: Bruxy Cavey’s Meeting House Wreckage

Grace Happens: Reconciliation in a Post-Colonial Age as the New Paradigm for Christian Mission

September 8, 2022

Reconciliation is not new to the faith, but as a paradigm for mission, it is being put in a position of greater urgency in Christian practise. Christian mission has been focused on growth, expansion, translation, transformation, and renewal. But now reconciliation must take centre stage. Reconciliation is when conflicting parties come to make amends, ideally turning to friendly relations, and right now the Church is one of the offending parties. … More Grace Happens: Reconciliation in a Post-Colonial Age as the New Paradigm for Christian Mission

Why I Changed My Mind: The Perils of Highway Charisma and the Megachurch

June 7, 2022

News of pastor Bruxy Cavey’s arrest, which comes after other sad news of his sexual transgressions, prompts me to take a more critical look on the liabilities of megachurch charisma. “Highway charisma” is my new term for the runaway power of personality fostered by megachurches and the technology that built them. … More Why I Changed My Mind: The Perils of Highway Charisma and the Megachurch

“She Supposed He Was the Gardener”: Misidentifying Jesus, An Eastertide Meditation

May 4, 2022

Mary Magdalene supposed the resurrected Jesus was the local gardener. Mary’s mistake can be our corrective, and a rich creation theology can keep us from the self-centred and earth-destroying idea that Jesus is all about the Big Me that has become the focus of our modern consumeristic world. Jesus was resurrected in his body, and that was as the first fruit of all creation. This is theology for a choking planet. … More “She Supposed He Was the Gardener”: Misidentifying Jesus, An Eastertide Meditation

Caught Up in the Fray of Clergy Sexual Abuse: Media, the Megachurch, and the Mess We’re In

March 15, 2022

The news of Bruxy Cavey’s fall from grace is bigger and more wide-spread than any promotion of his gift of grace, which was teaching Jesus’ Way with words. His moral failure has overtaken his teaching charisma, like many others before him. A media presence celebrating the end of religion that took over two decades to … More Caught Up in the Fray of Clergy Sexual Abuse: Media, the Megachurch, and the Mess We’re In

Resisting the Temptation: Bruxy Cavey’s Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

February 26, 2022

One of Canada’s most well-known evangelical pastors, Bruxy Cavey is facing allegations of sexual misconduct, as his chair of overseers publicly announced early in the week of Dec. 6th 2021. He has been placed on a leave of absence while an independent third-party investigation takes place. Some things to consider before you jump to any conclusions… … More Resisting the Temptation: Bruxy Cavey’s Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

Engaging the Global Polylogue: Why Listen to Christians in the Majority World When it Comes to Sexual Ethics?

December 1, 2021

Is the majority world on the wrong side of history when it comes to sexual ethics? Where harsh laws exist criminalizing homosexual acts, it seems to be true. But Western arrogance in declaring the direction of history could be seen as the vestiges of colonialism. What about the church? Who is having their ethics sullied by their social context? Here I don’t give all the answers, but I do raise some issues and say we can at least start by listening to each other. … More Engaging the Global Polylogue: Why Listen to Christians in the Majority World When it Comes to Sexual Ethics?