Canada

“God is great. God is faithful. And His love is set upon us. We come as we are, with trembling trust.” ― Sandra McCracken

Recovery After Hurricane Fiona in Canada

Hurricane Fiona decimated Puerto Rico in the last week but also deeply affected the East Coast of the United States and Canada. In Canada, houses washed away and the damage was extensive.  We pray for recovery:

My name is Harold Roscher and I am a Cree man who was adopted as a part of the sixties scoop. In spite of those events in my life I have been deeply loved and allowed to flourish. Although my story has been incredibly good, many of my Cree siblings in Christ have not experienced the same blessing.

While I was waiting in line for dinner at Inspire 2022, I struck up a conversation with someone about the workshop I was co-facilitating (with Liz Tolkamp) on restorative practices. The person’s eyes lit-up with some kind of familiarity (which sparked my curiosity!). That night, I heard yet another unique description of restorative practices, similar to what I have been hearing over the last several years.

Joyce and Katie join us again to talk about what shaping worship justly has looked like in their contexts as well as practical suggestions for ways worship leaders can shape justice and worship in their own congregations.

“1 or 2?  2 or 3? 2 or 4?”  Most of us have had the experience of sitting in a straight back chair in a darkened room with a metal ocular device pressed to our face. Whether you’re being fitted for a new prescription or just there for a routine eye exam, you know how it feels to look through this virtual reality-style contraption and decide which line up of letters looks less blurry. The end goal is always the same - give you the best vision possible so you can see clearly, and also protect the long-term health of your eyes.

2022 was the second time Canada will mark a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. It coincides with Orange Shirt Day, a grassroots commemoration marked by the wearing of Orange Shirts for children forced to leave their families and attend residential schools.

A Navajo Vacation Bible School (VBS) group stopped overnight at our Denver, Colorado church basement as they headed northward to conduct a VBS on another Reservation. Of course, on their return trip home, our church broke bread with the weary VBS group and the leader shared their VBS experience with this writer.    

"Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon." - Isaiah 58:10 (NLT)

Jacqui Mignault is one of the writers behind weekly Do Justice prayers. As a pastor, she talks about what it’s like to practice bringing current events before God. If you’ve ever wondered how to acknowledge current events in worship, this is the episode for you.

If you spend enough time with those dedicated to addressing the urgent issues of our time, you will eventually hear that we need to get people to ‘pay attention’.  Whether you and your friends are urging your city council to curb urban sprawl, encouraging your church to dedicate funds to alleviate global hunger, or organizing your school to take action against racial injustice, it’s easy to lament that nobody is noticing what’s going on.  Nobody is seeing what’s going on!  We need to get people to look and see what’s happening!  How can we get people to pay attention?