New Kid on the Blog

It's been a good, thoughtful Advent.  The Advent Doors project which I talked about in my last post have been very well received and highlighted a lot of creative ability within the members of St John the Divine, Victoria . I've also been writing for the staff blog - including a tribute to Nelson Mandel a, some thoughts about changes we are making/have made at the Churc h, about the process of choosing a Bishop for British Columbia (a very different affair from Episcopal appointments in the Church of England) and some reflections on Social Media and retelling the Christmas story . I keep on preaching, with sermons podcast each week, which you are welcome to listen to and comment on.  As an Arch-liberal I a surprised I don't have quite as many responses as I thought I would!  Lots of support here in the congregation! If you want to have a catch up on the Advent Sermons, then here they are embedded... Advent 1 Advent 2 Advent 3 Advent 4

Doors of Victoria We are, at St John The Divine, Victoria, offering our own twist on the Advent Calendar.  Thinking about our context, in the heart of this city, and as those who wish to ask questions about meaning, hope, faith and love we are offering online reflections every day through Advent.  Each day sees a picture of a door from somewhere in the Downtown area (or nearby) with a thought based on what the door may represent.  It's a chance to consider some of the delightful and difficult, the festive, the grimy, the thought provoking, the disturbing aspects of our city.  It's not always a comfortable experience looking at ourselves like this - or indeed asking questions about doors which are opened or closed to the most vulnerable, the needy, the privileged, the comfortable, the rich or poor.  Please join us in our reflections.  Here's an introduction to the series .  Also findable on Twitter #AdventDoorsVictoria.

The original title of this post was "Entering Deep Time' - which was the title of a Quiet Day here at St John the Divine today.  It was a day to introduce us to Advent and there was more in it than I could write in a post lasting anything less than a day!  So I just want to give a couple of reflections of my experience today.  And to consider how this is a good start to Advent! First to say that we were treated to a lot of silence - and as those of you who have read this blog for any length of time will know, this has previously been a difficulty for me, but is now a delight!  A previous posting and explanations of my dislike of silence (from way back in 2007) can be found here and  here .  The great revelation of silence being, indeed, somewhat golden can be found here . I have discovered, and it struck me today, that entering into silence can create different reactions at different times.  This may seem obvious to most people, but I hadn't re...