Lost in Translation: Rethinking the Birth of Jesus

How we imagine Jesus’ birth shapes how we understand community, hospitality, and our responsibility to one another.

Reflections

A Reflection for the Longest Night

And so we gather in the dark — not to escape it, but to honour it.
Because darkness is honest. It does not pretend.
Because darkness is where seeds grow.
And because, as the gospel writer tells us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Sermons

Connected to Heaven and Earth

Highs and lows… Terror and joy… Heaven and earth… Advent asks us to open our hearts to all of it. The nativity story itself holds this tension: a birth surrounded by angels and shepherds, yet set within a world marked by empire, fear, and displacement. (Rev. Janice MacLean) Let’s listen to the words we are…

Sermons

Light is Returning

Anyone else feel like crawling into bed right after supper? The only thing that keeps me sane at this time of year is counting down the days till the days start getting longer. It’s less than three weeks before that happens! Surely we can last long? It’s no wonder ancient people of all sorts in…

Sermons

Born Again and Again

How can we share our faith?

We’re Seeking Your Presence

We’re seeking your presence.Help us find it today.We wonder and ponder.In so many ways.Hope stirs deep within us.We actively pray.As we await JesusPlease show us the way. We’re seeking your presence.Help us find it today.We wonder and ponder.In so many ways.Peace stirs deep within us.We actively pray.As we await JesusPlease show us the way. We’re…

Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, Daring Justice

Welcome back to Theological Banquet! We’re in a five-part series inspired by Undivided Love and Rev. Janet Gear’s research, using a banquet metaphor for different faith expressions. Understanding these categories helps us see how people are motivated by faith and even when they disagree with us—all paths are valid. Last week, we focused on those…

Unlearn and Learn

I thought I knew a fair bit about Indigenous Peoples in Canada. I lived in Labrador for three years and went to school with Indigenous students, although it was as a teenager. I was married to an Inuit man. I did my grad project at AST on Residential Schools. NOTHING however, prepared me for a…

Presence

Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place. As I pondered the very long reading this week, that line from the hymn we sang a few minutes ago, kept ringing through my head. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. I could remember singing it… I went searching in the…

The Art of Hospitality

A feast of food and hospitality at PEI’s Fireworks Feast sparked reflections on the church’s own welcome. From thoughtful accommodations to genuine presence, every detail made us feel welcome and included. What if our congregations mirrored that same joy, preparation, and love in receiving guests?

Light and Life

A few weeks ago, I attended a reading by Marie Wilson, one of the commissioners to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And of course, bought her book, North of Nowhere! I’ll get back to a story that she told in a minute. Did any of you attend one of the public sessions when it was…

Open Hearts

One of the ways I prepare to write my sermon is to read the scripture slowly… Then I read it again… slowly…. The third time, I pick up a pen and circle the words that jump out at me… This week, the three words that jumped out were opened, heart and listen. I was also…

Decisions, Decisions

My first thought, when I read through this passage last Sunday evening was, “I’m supposed to preach on a church meeting?” Because essentially that’s what this passage is… a report on a gathering, it’s called the Council of Jerusalem. To set the scene, we need to know a bit about what happened after last weeks…

Look! Here Is Water!

Look! Here is water! Those words, spoken by an Ethiopian eunuch from the passage of scripture that you’re going to hear in a few minutes, kept ringing in my ears this week! Look, here is water! Nova Scotia has 7400 km of coastline. No matter where you are in NS, you are never more than…

Shaping the Church

The book of Acts gives us glimpses into the early church—those chaotic, passionate, Spirit-driven days when the followers of Jesus were trying to figure out what it meant to be a community shaped by resurrection hope. In Acts 6:1–7, we see the fledgling Christian community confronted with a very human problem: some people’s needs were…