After a month of lock-down and pivoting to live streaming and zoom calls for everything from book club meetings to pastoral care and Sunday morning church services, how are we as “the Church” meeting the spiritual health needs of our communities? Rev. Stephen Harper from Symons Valley United Church in...
There’s a pretty great joke going around right now. I’m not sure who started it, but it goes something like this. No wonder some world leaders are thinking that the virus will be over and done by Easter and we’ll all be out living our normal lives. Seems appropriate, after...
Sometimes, I find myself challenged by how we do Easter. I mean as a church. Feel free to also celebrate the bunny and chocolate and spring (if it ever gets here). We could use a little celebration right now – observing isolation, social distancing and all the necessary protocols, of...
We’ve been through a rollercoaster of emotions this week, not only in following along with the journey of Holy Week and leading into Easter, but also in following the news of a global pandemic that has both isolated and united all of humanity like nothing we’ve seen in our lifetime....
I can’t imagine that there is anyone or anything that hasn’t been affected in some way by the virus that’s enveloping the world right now. However you’re experiencing it, isolation is a unifying part of that and we’re just not built for it. We need connection, we need to gather...
If you’re starting to lose track of what day of the week it is, today is Thursday and Palm Sunday is only a few days away. We’re all in COVID-19 self-isolation mode, so how do we celebrate this important religious tradition? It’s hard to be festive when you can’t have...
“How long’s this gonna last?” You’re probably already tired of hearing that. I know I am, and that’s mostly from the number of times I ask it in my own head. The other day, one of the late night talk show hosts, broadcasting from his home with his kids around,...
In the two weeks since our last podcast, the COVID-19 outbreak has gone from “totally under control” in Trump’s words, to a fully global pandemic with many millions of people on full lock-down or voluntary self-isolation, and NYC as the new epicentre of the crisis. Change sometimes happens a lot...
It’s a difficult time. However you’re coping with the world today, anxiety is not far away. Whether you’re isolated at home or at work and social distancing, you’d best be comfortable with your own company, at least for a while. That can be challenging at the best of times; we’re...
“Don’t be afraid.” That’s the one thing most frequently said by Jesus in the Bible. It’s not “love God” or “love your neighbour,” “be kind,” “don’t sin” or “go to church” (that one’s just silly). No. It’s “don’t be afraid.” And I’m pretty sure we don’t hear them all. I...