New Kid on the Blog

 I think I might have been overconfident about getting two reviews done quickly! It's been a busy couple of weeks, with some heavy stuff to deal with, but I did get Zach's book read! What a delight this book is! Really worth five stars - it's accessible, written with clarity and depth, there's a warmth about it that is engaging and encouraging.  Zach reminds us (because many of those who claim to be Christian don't believe it) that we all read the Bible through interpretative lenses. I grew up in a Church tradition which thought that it read the Bible in the 'right' way - that the interpretation given by the pastor was the only way we should look at Scripture. As soon as I started studying Theology I realized how many different ways the Bible is read - and that more often than not, more is read INTO the Bible than actually comes from Scripture.  'better ways...' looks at three of the lenses which are used in many Churches and which cause hurt and har...

 Continuing the series - nearly there with what I have recorded so far! Some further thoughts on Jesus - there could be many many more, but I think there's only two more to come. Comments etc welcome!

 Theology around Jesus is a whole discipline in itself, in fact called "Christology" - I can only dip into the ocean of words and thoughts on the subject, but even then (at about 8 minutes a video) I will have to divide these thoughts up into about three or four parts. So here's the first one relating to Christology - particularly to the ideas around what we call 'Incarnational Theology'

And here's a second short video about thinking theologically - none of this is definitive, nor do I claim to have a handle on it all, and as you may have seen in the first video, I sometimes stumble and need to backtrack (3 legged Stool vs Lambeth Quadrilateral, anyone?) Anyway, again, likes and comments and reflections and discussions very much welcome.

Over the past few weeks I've been doing a few Facebook live videos with some theological reflections in them - initially in response to a friend asking for some simple, (hopefully) thought provoking and accessible, introductions to theological thinking. I have put them up on my YouTube channel, and thought I would share them here over the coming few days (or weeks knowing my usual blogging schedule!). I started off calling them 'Rambling Rector' - probably part of my overly self-effacing approach and my attachment to the 'bumbling Vicar' persona that at one time I thought served me well. I am not in that place any more, so I decided to call them (after the first few attempts) Theology Bites. I hope they offer some food for thought. Likes (on the YouTube Channel) and thoughts would be very welcome... 

So often in the Church, indeed in life, I see people taking sides, getting polarised, creating division. More often than not we hear false equivalence or other logical fallacy as the basis of this - stuff like "if you're liberal/conservative/whatever you can't believe/do x" or "if you're Christian you can't think y" or the joy of "if you really cared about y you can't do x"  What this so often stems from is a failure of imagination, an inability to see a different way of thinking or doing from your own, or a lack of empathy with others. Chimamanda Adichie describes this as the danger of a Single Story and it is the basis of racial and cultural prejudice and misunderstanding, a cause of division, and a barrier to progress and co-operation.  We have such issues in our church communities all the time. With regards to sexuality and gender identity I so often hear "if you believe in the Bible you will think...." With regards to soc...

I spoke Tuesday at the Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria 12-Step Recovery Service, and as I am unlikely to share this elsewhere thought I would come back to this blog and leave it here... Based on Psalm 96 and Matthew 18:12-14 Judgement I got to indulge my overacting ability last week when I was asked to come in and play John the Baptist in a school assembly here in the Cathedral for the school next door. After shocking a few of the tots by shouting ‘Repent – the kingdom of God is at hand’ as I walked in wearing a hairy poncho of some kind, I was asked questions by the children which I was asked by the teacher to answer as if I was in character. One of those questions was a very astute one – is God angry at us? It comes from John’s quote to the pharisees in the book of Matthew ‘you hypocrites, who told you could flee from the wrath to come.’. And it’s not a bad question. It certainly seems that in some streams of what is broadly called the Christian tradition that God seem...

Here's the second article I wrote for our local Times Colonist newspaper. I think I'll reproduce the whole thing here - but do go have a look at the site, there's lots of interesting and stimulating pieces on the Spiritually Speaking Blog from a variety of contributors. Link here . Over the weekend it was, as always, my privilege to publish some thoughts in Faith Forum under the title ‘Finding God is not as hard as you might think”. I’ve been grateful to those in my own faith community of The Anglican Church of St John the Divine who responded with encouragement to the ‘thinking out loud’ that makes up such articles, as well as those who on social media have shared, replied, and offered thoughtful reflection on what I wrote. One response, however, has particularly stuck with me, asked at the social time following our Church service on Sunday – “I really liked what you said about finding God, but what I really want to know is how to have a relationship with God....

Here's an article I wrote last week for the local paper, the Times Colonist. Rather than putting the full text here I'm going to put the link up and invite y'all to go visit! https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/blogs/spiritually-speaking/finding-god-is-not-as-hard-as-you-think-1.23939156

So, I got married recently...and it was wonderful, particularly as I got to marry a wonderful, super smart, big hearted, beautiful woman. The ceremony was in church, which was not our original plan (Elvis in Vegas, or a Marriage Commissioner on the beach) - but Sabina graciously allowed us to mark this auspicious occasion in a place special to me, amongst a community I love and who have been overwhelmingly supportive of me, in a way that was deeply meaningful to me. This was indeed gracious as my now-wife is from a Sikh culture and has less-than-positive experience of the institutional church having spent time as a child in a Catholic and (not always tolerant) Anglican School setting. I worked with my Bishop in forming a service based on the interfaith liturgy of the Anglican Church of Canada, we were blessed with a speaker who is one of North America's foremost Comparative Religion scholars and who wove together Sikh and Christian tradition in a profound and thoughtful se...

Just this last week we finished the 42nd General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada - and it was a real series of ups and downs, so much so that I wrote some pieces for our church website which I think is worth reproducing here. Firstly, though, a bit of background - this was an historic Synod for lots of reasons (which come in the second piece), but in the middle of it was an important vote on inclusivising our Marriage Canon (Canon XXI) - one of the laws which govern the church, and contain the 'Doctrine' of the Anglican Church of Canada - to take away reference to 'Marriage is between a man and a woman' and change it to 'Marriage is between two partners' - thereby enshrining equal marriage for all, including same-gendered partnerships, in Church law. The reality is that the Canon doesn't forbid same-gendered marriage, and as such I have (with the permission of my Bishop and the support of my community) already been privileged to officiate at same-...

Yesterday was the middle of Pride Week here in Victoria and St John's marked it, in partnership with Christ Church Cathedral and our wider Diocese of Islands and Inlets (aka the Diocese of British Columbia), with our regular Eucharist in the morning, and with a special Eucharist in the evening at which our Bishop Logan McMenamie presided and preached. It is a sermon worth sharing - so here's the link to the recording of it: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/stjohnthedivine/episodes/2017-07-06T13_09_14-07_00 Some of what Bishop Logan said related to my own thoughts earlier in the morning - which wasn't recorded, but I have the script, so I thought I would share it here too! Cast Out I want to begin by sharing something that you might not know, but it’s important information that I think bears sharing in this hallowed setting. It’s just this – there’s a new Spider-Man movie released this week ! I know, exciting, eh? It’s the third ‘reboot’ – of the fra...

So today, again, I was presiding at the Eucharist for Recovery - 12 Step Communion at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria . It's always a welcome space for reflection and prayer and the opportunity for a short 'mini-sermon' gives me the chance to touch on a subject and, hopefully, begin the process of engaging with a subject rather than trying to give too many answers.  The thoughts below are my reflections on the reading set for today - John Chapter 11 verses 1-10 The Glory of God How do you picture glory? Lots of bling? Lots of bright light? Big ancient buildings full of beauty and art and tradition? Huge skyscrapers or outstanding buildings? Is it the wonder of nature, mountains and cliffs? Or is it the pinnacles of human achievement, in sport , or business, or entertainment, or music, or art? We often associate glory with ‘big and impressive’.  Or outstanding beauty.  When we talk of the glory of God we think in terms of a God who is great and powerful and ...

A little thought for the feast day of St Patrick...

A number of conversations, particularly centered around a hymn chosen for this past Sunday, have prompted me to resurrect this blog... or a least post something, just this time, maybe with a hope to dropping by every now and then with a thought or two. Oh, I'm well, thanks. Life at St John the Divine, Victoria, continues apace.  There are some immensely good people and immensely good things going on here, and those I am privileged to work with and alongside are a blessing to me.  I have been writing every day for Lent on the church website , and often find that rather than returning here, many of my thinkings end up on the staff blog there.  You'll also find many of my thoughts on the s ermon podcast (as well as some very fine preachings from my colleagues) as well. So, back to the hymn.  The hymn in question was 'And Can It Be?' - a great Wesleyan Ode to the redemptive work of God in Christ.  Here's a Songs of Praise (UK TV show) version: It's a ...