Inviting Your Stories About Adoption

How has adoption shaped your sense of identity and belonging? How has it influenced your faith?

The Theology of Adoption Working Group (part of The United Church of Canada's Theology and Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee, which I chair) is seeking stories about adoption and forming families of choice. If you have been affected by adoption as an adoptee, parent, grandparent, family member, and/or in some other way, we invite you to tell your story.

We recognize that these experiences may be positive, negative, or mixed. You are welcome to respond by submitting a story (spoken or written), video, photograph, piece of art or music, and/or other forms of expression.

Your stories will inform the work of expressing a theology of adoption for the United Church. We will seek your permission before sharing your stories in a widely distributed format. Any features that could personally identify those involved will be changed.

Responses will be received until July 15, 2016. Responses may be sent to:

The Theology of Adoption Working Group
E-mail: ticif@united-church.ca
Mail: Attn: John Young
3250 Bloor Street West, Suite 300
Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4
Fax: 416-231-3103 (attn: John Young)

Donkey Theology: Sermon for Palm Sunday, March 20, 2016

The "little piece on Donkey Theology" I cite is by Koloma Make of Papua New Guinea, who spoke with two elders, Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Morris, in Jamaica. It is found in Let Justice Roll Down: A Worship Resource for Lent, Holy Week and Easter, compiled by Geoffrey Duncan (Norwich, Norfolk: Canterbury Press Norwich, 2003).

After Jesus said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

As Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task. He said, “Go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If someone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say ‘Its master needs it.’” Those who had been sent found it exactly as he said.

As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “Its master needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their clothes on the road, and lifted Jesus onto it. As Jesus rode along, they spread their clothes on the road.

As Jesus approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of his disciples began rejoicing. They praised God with a loud voice because of all the mighty things they had seen. They said,
“Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace on heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”

Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, scold your disciples! Tell them to stop!”

He answered, “I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.”
- Luke 19:28-40, Common English Bible

Last week we were in the Caribbean, in the Cayman Islands. The Caymans are a British Overseas Territory, so when we got off the plane and entered the airport terminal there were portraits of the Queen and Prince Philip, so as Canadians we felt right at home. We have a friend who lives there, so he has a car and is used to driving on the left side of the road, which I am not. He took us around Grand Cayman, down some roads where tourists almost never go, to see where many Caymanians live.

And all over the island there are churches. Each village seems to have a church for our partners the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, and a Church of God Full Gospel Hall, and a Seventh Day Adventist church. And we saw a Wesleyan Holiness Church, and a church that meets in a movie theatre, and a Presbyterian church. I guess that, just like here, that’s where the Presbyterians go who didn’t join the United church. In the National Museum of the Cayman Islands there is a section on religion, and how important the church is in Cayman life. On Sundays everything on the islands closes. No shopping at all. Cruise ships anchor in Georgetown harbour on Sunday and several thousand people get off, ready to shop, but nothing is open.

Well, Grand Cayman last week may be 20 centuries and an ocean removed from our story about Jesus entering Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, but there are palm trees everywhere, and it’s hot, and I can imagine people eagerly cutting branches from the trees and waving them to greet Jesus. And I can imagine a donkey. In the days before banks and finance companies and resorts came to the Caymans, people lived by fishing and catching turtles and farming. We visited a heritage farm, with an outdoor hut called a caboose for cooking in the heat, and a yard with no grass, just sand, as they have in the West Indies, and fruit trees. And in those days, people used boats, and horses, and donkeys to get around. Now the Caymans have one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean, and most people drive. We were in a Kia, identical to ours except that it had right-hand drive. Our friend said everything is in the same place except you will turn on the windshield wipers when you want to signal a turn, until you get used to driving.

Our story tells us that Jesus asks two of his friends to bring him a colt to ride. The Greek word Luke uses here means a young donkey. I was reading a little piece on Donkey Theology, written by someone who spoke with two elderly men in Jamaica. One of the elders says that a patient man rides a donkey. The first lesson you learn riding a donkey is patience. If a rider is in a rush and wants to reach their destination quickly by forcing the donkey, the animal will hesitate, and move slowly, or halt. Patience is a virtue you learn from not struggling against the donkey.

The other elderly man points out how humbly the donkey carries its load. In the West Indies donkeys were, and still are, used to carry water, sugar cane, and people, and to pull carts, all over long distances. Donkeys and their owners know about weight. This old Jamaican man quotes from the Bible, from Mark 8:34, where Jesus says, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.” In the West Indies, a donkey often carries two hampers, placed on either side of its back. It’s like a yoke, a burden to carry. These old men say that the donkey is a symbol of the cross.

Patience. Humility. Carrying the cross. All shown to us by the donkey, and all shown to us by Jesus. The donkey is not what we would think of as the most magnificent of animals. And look at Scripture, the prophecy of Isaiah about a man of sorrows, a suffering servant, a prophecy we see as fulfilled in Jesus:

He possessed no splendid form for us to see, no desirable appearance.
He was despised and avoided by others; a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces, he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.
- Isaiah 53:2-3

Riding a donkey teaches patience. The donkey carries its load humbly. And look at what the letter to the Philippians says about Jesus:

When he found himself in the form of a human, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
- Philippians 2:7-8

Donkey Theology. The old men of the West Indies have a lot of wisdom pointing us to the donkey, an animal who is laughed at yet played and plays an essential role in rural life, a poor beast which with its load becomes a symbol of the cross. The donkey and Jesus are both humble, both teach patience, both are mocked, both carry burdens – the donkey whatever people put on it, Jesus the weight of everything we have done wrong. The donkey, such an object of ridicule, becomes a royal mount for the King of Kings, carrying Jesus down the slope into the city and his destiny: the cross.

That cross is waiting for him on Friday. The shadow of that cross reaches out to him now. We may want to rush right to Easter Sunday, to fast forward to lilies and coloured eggs and an empty grave and resurrection, and zip right by Friday and that cross. But remember the patience the donkey teaches. If you try to hurry a donkey, it will slow down or stop completely. We can’t race past Good Friday. This is one story, from Palm Sunday through Holy Week to the Last Supper Jesus shares with his friends on Thursday, through his arrest and trial and death on the cross on Good Friday, to waiting as his body lies in the grave on Saturday, before we get to Easter morning. One story. So much meaning: pain and joy, sorrow and mystery. Holy Week begins.

The photos are mine: Elmslie Memorial United Church in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, a congregation of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands; and cruise ships moored off Georgetown harbour, taken from Grand Cayman's Seven Mile Beach.

New book is available!

I have been trying for some time to publish my Master's of Divinity thesis on the Atonement (the Atonement is the restoration of humanity to a right relationship with God through the saving death of Jesus Christ). Here it is! Sure to be a bestseller - well, probably not, but it may be of interest to those interested in Atonement models in theology, soteriology, the Patristic Fathers (and particularly the Cappadocians, as much of the thesis deals with Gregory of Nyssa), feminist and liberation theologies, and pastoral theology.

The title of the book is Ransomed by the Fall: An Investigation of the Classic Model of the Atonement and Its Contemporary Pastoral Significance. It is available in the United States from Amazon and worldwide from the German portal morebooks.de.

Bus Tour Highlights Mission & Service in Newfoundland

I wrote this article for the February 2016 issue of Mandate, the United Church of Canada's Mission and Service magazine.

If participants in an August 2015 Mission and Service tour of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, had heard of Rawlins Cross before, it was as a well-known Celtic rock band, or as a famous intersection in the St. John’s historic downtown. Now they will think of the hope offered by the ministries of Stella’s Circle, clustered around Rawlins Cross, and one of several community projects in the city supported by M&S.

After the United Church of Canada’s 42nd General Council finished its meeting in Corner Brook on August 15, six commissioners set out to learn more about how Mission and Service is changing lives in St. John’s. Ruth Noble from the General Council Office shepherded the group onto a bus for the trip across Newfoundland. Lunch and hospitality at Faith United Church in Northern Arm fortified the travelers for the rest of the journey. Worship at Gower Street United Church in downtown St. John’s the next morning was followed by lunch and a look at the facilities used for the church’s lunch program.

Stella’s Circle, housed in several buildings around Rawlins Cross, is named after Dr. Stella Burry, a United Church deaconess who founded Emmanuel House in 1945. Tour participants visited Emmanuel House and heard how Mission & Service supports a residential treatment program for at-risk adults. Stella’s Circle has a Real Work strategy to provide job experience in construction, office cleaning, maintenance, and food services. The centerpiece of the food service training program, and of the Rawlins Cross intersection, is the Hungry Heart Café. Real Work participants receive on-the-job training as cooks, servers, and kitchen staff – and the results are delicious! Tea is served in china cups, because that’s how Stella Burry herself liked it.

Arriving at Naomi Centre on the other side of downtown, tour participants found a secure door that opened to reveal a welcoming environment as an emergency shelter and support service for young women. Naomi Centre is also a Mission & Service recipient.

Bridges to Hope located up the hill (and St. John’s is a hilly city) is another Mission & Service partner. Participants were shown the large kitchen, where cooking classes teach preparation of nutritious, low-cost meals, and the food bank housed in a converted garage. Then it was off to Cochrane Street United Church, where Bridges to Hope volunteers were assembling backpacks full of school supplies for children from low-income families.

Another recipient of Mission &Service is the Jimmy Pratt Memorial Outreach Centre, located at George Street United Church. Most of the church’s lower level is taken up by the drop-in centre, soup kitchen, and used clothing depot. A fire at the nearby Salvation Army building has resulted in shared space with social workers and counsellors working out of the Jimmy Pratt Centre and George Street United Church.

General Council commissioners on the Mission & Service Tour were left with lasting memories of how these community ministries are bringing hope, healing and justice to the heart of Canada’s easternmost and oldest city.

The photos are mine, of the colourful "jelly bean row" houses of downtown St. John's, and the food bank at Bridges to Hope.

Two Roads Diverged: Sermon, January 31, 2016

The details of Ken Holland's story come from the January 25, 2016, issue of The Hockey News.

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Then said I:

“Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

But the LORD said to me:

“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.

Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:

“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.”
Jeremiah 1:4-10, New King James Version

And Jesus began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’” Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
Luke 4:21-30, New King James Version

The story we heard last week continues. Jesus returns to his home town, Nazareth, and reads in the synagogue, and tells everyone that this Scripture is fulfilled, that God has anointed him to preach good news to the poor and proclaim release of prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind and liberate the oppressed. Everyone is very impressed. But then Jesus starts telling them that God’s favour is also for foreigners. The very thought sends people into a fury. Judging from the news these days, the idea that foreigners and immigrants are just as deserving is still as controversial today as it was in Galilee 20 centuries ago. Those people in Nazareth are so angry that they run Jesus out of town, and drag him to where they can throw him off a cliff.

But Jesus escapes. Luke’s Gospel says, “He passed through the crowd and went on his way.” In the next verse, he has moved to another town, Capernaum, and is teaching there. And you have to wonder, what did Jesus think about being rejected in his home town? He expected the reaction to him might be hostile, because he tells them, “I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet’s hometown.” But his neighbours, people he had grown up with, perhaps even childhood friends, trying to kill him? You would think that almost being murdered by your neighbours would be a real setback for any new venture. Did the thought even cross his mind that maybe he had made a mistake in responding to God’s call? Did he second guess his decision?

I’m always fascinated by how all the decisions we make combine to become the map of our journey through life, how many forks in the road we take. Robert Frost wrote a poem, The Road Not Taken: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." What if Jesus had given up? What if Jesus had made a different decision, and taken a different road in life? Look at all the decisions he has made in Luke’s Gospel so far. He decides to leave his home and family and work, and travel to be baptized. Then he decides to go into the wilderness, where he is tempted. There he must decide not to give in and take a different road to his destiny. And now, barely escaping the clutches of a furious mob, he must decide to continue with his ministry. What if Jesus had chosen to settle down, and do something else with his life?

Of course, Jesus is the Son of God, and has knowledge much greater than ours when we make choices. But looking at our Old Testament reading, what if Jeremiah had given in to his doubts about being too young to be God’s prophet, and stopped listening to God? What if we had taken a different road at so many points in our lives? What if we had decided to take a different course in school and thus been directed into a different career? What if we had decided differently after a failure in business or the loss of a relationship? What if we had decided not to speak to that attractive person and thus not met our future spouse? Last Monday was the 68th anniversary of the day Kirsty’s parents got engaged to be married. They had met at a dance in Winnipeg some time before. What if Kirsty’s father had decided not to ask this woman to dance? How many lives would have been affected if that particular road had not been taken? It’s like the story about time travel, where scientists manage to go back far into the past and they accidentally squash a butterfly, and when they get back to their own time everything is different, because that set off a whole chain of events.

I was driving somewhere and listening to NHL Network Radio, and some guys were talking. On sports radio, it’s always guys talking, and the occasional woman. They were discussing the contract extension for Joel Quenneville, the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Now, I didn’t know this, but at one point Joel almost decided to leave hockey. This was at the start of his career, when he was playing for the Windsor Spitfires. Maybe it was Windsor’s 12-50-4 record in his first season, which included losing 10-1 to Guelph in that season opener, but he figured hockey wasn’t working out for him and he was going to go into medicine. But for whatever reason he chose not to take that other road, and stuck with it. He was drafted by the Maple Leafs, and later tried coaching in St. John’s and liked it. He stuck with coaching even after St. Louis fired him. Now he has the second most wins of any NHL coach ever, after Scotty Bowman. And he has three Stanley Cup rings – and maybe the Blackhawks wouldn’t have won those Cups if he had become Dr. Quenneville instead of Coach Quenneville.

And another story. Ken Holland was a minor league goalie in Vernon, BC, working at the liquor store while his wife Cindi was a nurse at the hospital. They had three kids. He was told by the team that his contract wouldn’t be renewed. One day he came home from work and his mother candidly asked him what his plan was for his life. And he said, Cindi will keep working and I’m going to Okanagan College, then to the University of British Columbia. His mother said, “Ken, you’re 29 years old, you’re the man of the family, you have to put food on the table.” He replied, “Mom, I have a Grade 12 education and I’ve played nine years of pro hockey. That’s all I know.”

And his mother told him that there was an ad in the paper for an Electrolux vacuum cleaner salesman. She had already called and confirmed that the job was still open. If he sold a vacuum cleaner, he would get 40 percent of the profit. She told him that she would be his first customer, and her mother, Grandma, would be his second. So Ken Holland thought, this isn’t a bad gig. If his mother and grandmother bought vacuums, maybe his aunt, who lived two doors down, would buy one too. Ken Holland was going to be an Electrolux salesman. But two days later the Detroit Red Wings called and interviewed him to be their Western Canada scout.

Ken Holland is now executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. He has been in that position for three Stanley Cup championships and, if Detroit makes the playoffs this year, the team qualifying for the post season each year for 25 years. Again, maybe the Wings wouldn’t have won those cups if he had decided to become Ken Holland of Electrolux vacuums. He has spearheaded such innovations in the NHL as three on three overtime. The other teams imitate the system of player development that Ken Holland pioneered.

You may have read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, which has been popular for a number of years. It tries to answer the questions we have when we wonder why we are here, why God created us the way we are, in the place we are, among the people who surround us – when we feel like we were made for something, but can’t put a handle on what, or why, or how, when we struggle with doubt and lack of self-worth. And the book basically provides answers from the Bible. Because the Bible is all about purpose, finding our purpose, realizing our purpose, and keeping to our purpose when those roads diverge. And we know from the Bible that each of our purposes involves loving God and imitating Jesus and spreading his good news by loving and serving others.

If you look at that book, The Purpose Driven Life, the second chapter begins, “You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God.” And God tells young Jeremiah the same thing, “Before I created you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I made you a prophet to the nations.”

Now, most of us as we work out and live out God’s purpose for us will not have to suffer through the destruction of our city, as Jeremiah did. Most of us won’t be set upon by a bloodthirsty mob, as Jesus was. Well, that might happen to me if I mess with one of the congregational traditions here, but it’s probably not a risk for anyone else. But all of us are confronted by decisions about the road to take in life, about which way is the best one to fulfill God’s purpose for us, and doubts when we seem to have failed, and second guessing of the choices we made that put us on the wrong road. The way of Jesus isn’t easy. Jesus says that the gate that leads to destruction is broad and the road wide, so many people choose that road. The gate that leads to life is narrow and the road difficult. That is the road less traveled, but that is the road to living out God’s call to the purpose God set for us before we were born.

It may not be easy, but look at our stories from Scripture. God tells Jeremiah, “Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you to rescue you.” The story from Luke begins, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.” We are not alone as we come to where roads diverge and decisions must be made. We have a guide through the narrow gate and onto the difficult road, the Holy Spirit that nudges and pushes us onto the right way. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

The United Church of Canada Delegation Returns From China

This is the news release I wrote (and which General Council Office staff edited) to try to sum up the United Church of Canada delegation's experience while visiting the Protestant church in China. It is posted on the delegation's blog.

An official delegation of The United Church of Canada has returned from a visit to China at the invitation of the China Christian Council (CCC) and the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China.

The 10-day visit, from November 28 to December 7, was a major partnership initiative for both the United Church and the Council. The delegation was led by the Moderator of the United Church, the Right Rev. Jordan Cantwell, and the General Secretary of the General Council. The 22 members of the delegation were selected from across Canada to represent the diversity of the United Church, and included lay people and ministry personnel, theological educators and students, people in community ministries and Aboriginal leaders.

In China, the delegation was warmly welcomed by national, provincial and city CCC leaders and pastors and the faculty and students of the national theological college, Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. Visit sites included the CCC and Three-Self Patriotic Movement national office in Shanghai, longtime mission partner the Amity Foundation and Amity Printing’s Bible printing plant in Nanjing, and the State Administration for Religious Affairs (the Chinese government body supervising the country’s five official religions), the Institute for World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the CCC office in Beijing. Churches were visited in Shanghai, Suzhou, and Beijing. Delegates met with the Canadian Consul General in Shanghai and the Canadian Ambassador and staff in Beijing.

A centrepiece of the visit was a two-day theological consultation with Chinese and Canadian presenters at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. One topic explored during this time was the understanding of the church as a minority. This may seem obvious from the Canadian perspective, as membership, revenues and influence decline in Protestant denominations. In China, although the church is growing very fast, the Chinese church is in fact a small minority in society, and Christian communities have always been in the margin of the larger society. Dr. Lin Manhong, Associate General Secretary of the CCC and Dean of the Nanjing Seminary, noted that these characteristics can be of great significance.

As partners, we may want to ask ourselves, what do we want our churches to be? Should the church be prosperous, powerful, influential, largely populated, at the center of the world, or should be the church be content with being powerless, small and marginal, but prophetic, caring and loving?

The delegation was also given opportunities to visit important cultural sites such as the Yu Gardens in Shanghai, the Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, the Memorial to Dr. Sun Yat Sen in Nanjing, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the Great Wall in Hebei Province.

This visit will certainly result in increased cooperation between the two churches in areas of mutual interest such as community ministry and, it is hoped, in exchanges among Chinese and Canadian seminary professors, students, and ministry personnel.

The visit was an historic opportunity for learning and deepened partnership. General Secretary Nora Sanders commented:

Throughout our journey, as we looked forward to renewed relationships with the China Christian Council and Three Self Patriotic Movement … reminders of our historic relationships in China enriched the sense of possibility and purpose. The joint commitment now is to continue the journey – to learn, to work, to worship, to create together new paths toward unity, justice and peace.

The United Church of Canada delegation meeting with the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Beijing. Photo by Rev. Dr. Alan Lai.

Rejoice in the Lord Always: Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent, December 13, 2015

Rejoice, Daughter Zion! Shout, Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem.
The LORD has removed your judgment;
he has turned away your enemy.
The LORD, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you will no longer fear evil.
On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem:
Don’t fear, Zion.
Don’t let your hands fall.
The LORD your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory.
He will create calm with his love;
he will rejoice over you with singing.
I will remove from you those worried about the appointed feasts.
They have been a burden for her, a reproach.
Watch what I am about to do to all your oppressors at that time.
I will deliver the lame;
I will gather the outcast.
I will change their shame into praise and fame throughout the earth.
At that time, I will bring all of you back,
at the time when I gather you.
I will give you fame and praise among all the neighboring peoples
when I restore your possessions and you can see them—says the LORD.
Zephaniah 3:14-20, Common English Bible

Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7, Common English Bible

Two weeks ago I was in Shanghai, China, attending Grace Church. It was founded in 1942 as a Baptist congregation, and is now part of the China Christian Council, the Protestant church of China, which hosted our United Church of Canada delegation. Now, much of the service was very familiar. The first hymn was He Leadeth Me, and the second was Blessed Assurance, so I knew both of those, and the words were printed in English in the bulletin even though most people were singing in Chinese. There was also simultaneous English translation with headsets. There were opening prayers, Scripture reading, a choir anthem, a sermon – 40 minutes long – and a closing prayer and benediction. But this church didn’t mark the first Sunday of Advent, although that isn’t that unusual as the season of Advent only began appearing in United Church of Canada worship 40 years ago or so.

And after the service we met with the head pastor, and he told us about Grace Church. It has 8,000 members, with between 600 to 800 at Sunday services and others worshipping in smaller meeting points around Shanghai. There are 200 in the youth group, and 300 children in the five Sunday school classes. So, coming from rural Eastern Ontario, numbers like these were unfamiliar to me.

In the 1960s China went through what is called the Cultural Revolution. In the chaos millions of people were persecuted, historical sites were destroyed, and churches and temples were looted. Chinese churches were closed until the late 1970s. And the pastor of Grace Church told us that, when the church reopened in 1978, "the brothers and sisters were so happy." Imagine that, the church was closed for a decade, and Christians were unable to worship publicly. They had to keep their faith a secret. Imagine the joy they felt when they were finally able to gather together and praise God. We heard this all over China, about cleaning up and reopening churches after the Cultural Revolution, and the first worship services taking place. I visited the site of the first church in Beijing to start worshipping again. It began again in 1979 with a congregation of 30 seniors. That was it - that was the church in China’s capital city. Today 100,000 people attend worship in Beijing churches every Sunday. The head of the Christian Council said, “We are very sure that it is due to God’s grace that we have this growth in our church.”

In Beijing I attended Sunday worship at Haidian Church. It has 10,000 members and 17 staff. In fact, they had to demolish the original building and erect a new one to accommodate the crowd of worshippers, about 4,000 each Sunday. I went to the third service of the morning, and there were people lined up to get in, and many of them were young, so that was certainly unfamiliar. The service was so full there were people standing along the walls, and even sitting in the front pew. And we went back that night for the annual Christmas tree lighting. There are actually Christmas trees and decorations in stores and shopping areas everywhere in Chinese cities, even though Christmas is not a public holiday. Haidian Church had a huge Christmas tree made of wire outside on the sidewalk, and a thousand volunteers from the church took part in the service, with an enthusiastic choir in Santa hats, and dancers in costume, and thousands of spectators. The only Christmas carol I recognized was Angels We Have Heard on High, but that was fine. I don’t think I have ever seen as many happy people in one place as at that Christmas tree lighting in Beijing.

On this Sunday of Joy, the prophet Zephaniah says, "Rejoice and exult with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem." The letter to the Philippians says, "Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks." Our Christian brothers and sisters in China are living out these words, rejoicing in the Lord always, exulting with all their hearts, giving thanks to God - even though their religious freedom is not the same as here, even though the church may be the size of Canada’s population but is still a tiny minority in a country of a billion people. Are we rejoicing, with our freedoms and privileges? When we sing Joy to the World, are we just reciting a much-loved Christmas carol, or do we really mean that the coming of Jesus is joy to the world? Are we like that choir on the street in Beijing, showing everyone around us how happy we are that Jesus is born and the Saviour reigns? Are we genuinely glad that the divine has become human in Jesus Christ, or are we just putting on the brave face our culture wants at Christmas? Be glad in the Lord always! Again, I say, be glad!

Learning a Perspective of Marginality: An Amazing Pilgrimage Through China

I have been away in China with a United Church of Canada delegation invited to visit the China Christian Council and Three Self Patriotic Movement, which means the Protestant church there. We visited Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Beijing, and met with Chinese church leaders, theologians, pastors, seminary students, and church members as well as with the State Administration for Religious Affairs (the official body overseeing China's five officially recognized religions), the Canadian ambassador and his staff, and the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Our delegation's experiences during the visit are documented on our blog, with wonderful photography by my colleague Dr. Alan Lai of Toronto's Chinese United Church, but here are just a few of the memories I bring back (in no particular order):

• Worshipping at churches full of people, often singing familiar hymns (Blessed Assurance) in Chinese;
• The queue of people waiting to get into the third Sunday service at Haidian Church in Beijing;
• Amity Printing's huge Bible printing plant in Nanjing, which has printed over 100 million Bibles for use in China and abroad. I recognized pages from a New International Version edition that I had just given to a boy in one of my congregations!
• Hearing about the work of the Amity Foundation with people with disabilities;
• Consulting with Chinese, Canadian, Australian and Finnish colleagues at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary;
• The questions asked by eager seminary students after my presentation on United Church of Canada ecclesiology;
• The respect paid to my mentor Dr. Ray Whitehead, who taught at the Nanjing Seminary, led the Canada-China project, and is considered an old friend of China and the Chinese church;
• The 21st (or 22nd) century skyline of Shanghai, reflected in the Huangpu River at night;
• The high speed train that travels from Nanjing to Beijing in four hours at 300 km/h;
• Passing over the Yangtze River on the train;
• The view over the mountains of Hebei Province from the Great Wall;
• Beijing's air pollution, like the fog of my youth in Nova Scotia but smog that made the entire city hazy;
• Chinese formal gardens, visited at Shanghai and Suzhou, emphasizing ponds, trees and pavilions rather than lawns and flowers;
• Christmas trees everywhere at malls and shopping areas, as well as in churches;
• Haidian Church's outdoor Christmas tree lighting service, with a huge and enthusiastic choir in Santa hats singing Angels We Have Heard on High in Chinese to a thousand happy spectators;
• Coming out of the Dushu Lake Church in Suzhou and seeing as many as 20 or more couples having their wedding photos taken;
• Walking in the footsteps of one of my favourite theologians, Pierre Teilhard de Cardin, through the old streets of Beijing. One of our Canadian delegates was Maylanne Maybee, whose grandfather Dr. Davidson Black worked with Teilhard on paleontological digs;
• Strolling near our Beijing hotel and realizing that I was at the former Italian Legation, burned by the Boxers during the siege of the foreign Legation Quarter in 1900;
• Being told at the State Administration for Religious Affairs that we were meeting in the house where the last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, was born;
• Being given much to think about regarding religious freedom and the church's relationship to the state;
• So much delicious food, even if it was often unfamiliar!
• The overwhelmingly gracious hospitality of our Chinese hosts, and the support and friendship of my fellow pilgrims from Canada.

More will occur to me as I take my photos off the camera and phone. But I also want to note an "Aha!" moment during our presentations at the Nanjing seminary, as a Chinese colleague mentioned that the Protestant church in China dates from 1807, when Robert Morrison of the London Missionary Society began his mission work in Guangdong Province. The first congregations of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches which became the United Church of Canada date from the 1780s through 1810s, which means that our church and the Chinese church are actually about the same age (while, both, of course, stand in the historic catholic and apostolic tradition).

We heard numbers that were mind blowing to Canadians: Beijing churches with six Christmas Eve and four Christmas Day worship services; building a new Protestant church a week in Jiangsu Province; 600 baptisms a year at the Dushu Lake Church in Suzhou. But Protestant Christians still account for only three percent of China's population. At the Nanjing Seminary consultation, the seminary's academic dean (and associate general secretary of the China Christian Council) Dr. Lin Manhong said something that spoke to me. She was reflecting on Christians in China being a tiny minority, and in Canada experiencing declining influence:

I just want to humbly remind our two churches that a church being small and marginal has great significance. The significance of a church being small and marginal is that it helps the church re-read the gospels from a perspective of marginality instead of a centralist point of view, which tends to put more emphasis on Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords, which is more interested in his lordship than his servant-hood, and which is interested in the power and majesty of Christ, which leads the church to tend to seek to be at the central place, and to tend to measure the success of a church by the size of its membership and its budget. But if we read the gospel from the perspective of marginality, we will realize that the birth, childhood, life, and death of Jesus have indicated that the incarnated God was a marginal person, and therefore, as a result, we Christians are called to be the marginal people of God. Furthermore, a church being small and marginal is more apt to respond to the new shift from mission to the margins to mission from the margins.

This will be a continuing story: How the Canadian and Chinese churches deepen our relationship, how we make the transition from being "united and uniting" into being "post-denominational," and how we embrace the possibilities in marginality.

These are my photos. From top to bottom:

The Forbidden City in Beijing, from which Imperial China was governed. The photo is of the first Outer Court. There are three more courts before reaching the Inner Courts where the Emperors and their retinues lived.

The Great Wall of China at Badaling in Hebei Province. The wall was created before 200 BCE by the Qin Dynasty bringing together earthen ramparts built by individual states. These fortifications were built about 1505 during the Ming Dynasty.

Looking from Shanghai's famous Bund across the Huangpu River to Pudong at night, with the Oriental Pearl TV tower.

Wars and Rumours of Wars: Sermon, November 15, 2015

Then, as Jesus went out of the Temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!”

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”

And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. And when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.”
Mark 13:1-8, New King James Version

I want to tell you a story. There was a man, who served in the military of his country, and then left the army and tried his hand at farming. But there was unrest in that country, because of the oppressive actions of the government. Soldiers fired on a crowd and killed protesters, and the man heard about angry anti-government meetings, and sabotage, and reports of guerillas stockpiling weapons. Then it came, soldiers on their way to seize weapons were ambushed by insurgents, and fighting broke out in several places in the country.

The man kept to himself, but soon the strife reached his area. Rebel militias began to pressure pro-government people, and then things escalated, and rebel fighters seized property and burned homes and even executed those loyal to the government. And he heard that the same thing was happening to rebel sympathizers in pro-government areas. The man was already under suspicion as a former officer in the government’s army, so he had to flee before the rebels came for him, and after he left they did take his farm.

The man made his way to an area controlled by the government, and joined the regime’s forces. In a city held by the government he met a woman, and despite all the chaos around them they decided to get married. But her family supported the insurgency and they had to elope.

The man and the woman had children, a boy and a girl. But a foreign power intervened in the conflict on the rebel side, and the war eventually reached their city, and it was surrendered to the rebels. Government officials and soldiers and anyone else who sympathized with the regime had to get out, and the man and woman and their son and daughter were among the desperate families who crowded onto ships and sailed away from their country, knowing that they might never return. The ship they boarded was jam-packed, there was not enough food and water, the sea was rough, and the vessel was probably unsafe, but after a stormy voyage they reached a new land, as refugees.

This sounds like a story of Syria today. And it could be. Wars and rumours of wars. But this story is 230 years old. This is the story of my ancestors: John Hatfield who had to abandon his property in New Jersey, and he and his wife Mary Lockerman and their children had to leave New York City by ship in 1783 and come to Nova Scotia. They were loyalists, like so many of the families here in the Seaway Valley, refugees from the American Revolution.

I hear people say that refugees from Syria are dirty, that they carry disease, that they are terrorists in disguise and threats to security, that they are only trying to get free healthcare, that they will cost us too much money, that they are too different and will change our culture. And, you know, the same things were said about my ancestors in 1783. The United Empire Loyalists were dirty. The ones here walked from the Mohawk Valley in New York, after all. They often contracted disease in crowded camps and on ships. They could have been secret rebels. They could have just been after a Crown land grant. They cost the British government lots of money in transportation, and land, and compensation. A loyalist from South Carolina or Massachusetts probably didn’t have a lot in common with the habitants of Quebec or aboriginal people. And similar things have been said in more recent times, about the 35,000 Hungarian refugees who came after the defeat of the revolution in their country in 1956, and the 60,000 Vietnamese boat people who came to Canada 35 years ago.

Imagine the horror of Paris on Friday happening every day. That is the daily reality of life in Syria. The refugees from that country are not coming to bring this kind of violence to Europe and North America - they are trying to get away from the terrorists who bomb and shoot civilians. Most of the victims of the Islamic State have been Muslims themselves.

As the descendant of refugees, I can relate to the stories of people who have fled violence and oppression in Syria, and so many other places, because they are my family’s story, and the story of so many families here. And, sisters and brothers, all of us as Christians can relate, for the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament tells us that this is the story of Jesus and his family, who were forced to flee from violence in Bethlehem and make a hard and dangerous journey to Egypt and safety.

The churches of Seaway Valley Presbytery – which includes us - are sponsoring a refugee family from Syria, a Christian family of four whose home and church have been destroyed and are now in a camp waiting to come to Canada. We have now raised much of the $30,000 it costs to sponsor them, and are waiting for our family to arrive, as it takes a long time to go through the security and background and medical checks the United Nations and Canadian government conduct on refugees.

I want to read to you a part of a message from the Moderator of the United Church.

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

I bring you greetings in the name of Jesus, Comfort and Guide—and also once a refugee.

We are called at this particular moment in time to witness in a concrete way to our Christian faith in response to the needs of millions of desperate people seeking refuge and compassion. The plight of Syrian refugee children washing up on Mediterranean shores has struck at the core of Canadian self-perception as generous and welcoming people. As we have done in the past, we are responding once again with an outpouring of concern and compassion.

For decades, churches have been sounding the alarm about a deepening global crisis for forcibly uprooted people. We know that these are not the first tragic deaths among refugees fleeing danger, nor will they be the last. We must act immediately to turn the tide on this horrific reality. Right now, thousands of people from all over the world are risking their lives every day in search of safety. Some have been offered sanctuary; millions more have died en route at the hands of human traffickers or are held in detention camps, where they are treated primarily as dangerous security threats, or are ignored as if they do not exist.

Since the crisis in Syria began, the United Church has been actively contributing to humanitarian relief and sponsoring refugees. We are once again amplifying our appeal because the church wants to do all that it possibly can to help those in need of assistance and seeking refuge.

With a renewed sense of purpose, The United Church of Canada joins others in stating that we must respond urgently, compassionately, and comprehensively. United Church congregations have a long history of supporting refugees. Many of our communities of faith are already in the process of sponsoring refugee families to come to Canada. However, the need is great and it demands an even greater response from all of us.

Together, we have the capacity to make a profound difference in the lives of thousands of refugees. The time to act is now. Please consider how you and your faith community can best support the ongoing efforts to address this desperate refugee crisis, and please continue to hold the people of Syria and the surrounding region in your prayers.

In faith and hope,
The Right Rev. Jordan Cantwell
Moderator, The United Church of Canada

The Great Election in Missinaba County

It's federal election time in Canada - there's a debate among the main party leaders tonight, and we vote on October 19th. All United Church Conferences and Presbyteries have been sent a reminder during this election period that as registered charities we are prohibited by the Canada Revenue Agency from devoting any resources to partisan political activities, including making any statements that could support or oppose a candidate or party. So I don’t want to blog anything that could be interpreted as applying to a particular Canadian party or leader.

But elections always remind me of The Great Election in Missinaba County, chapter 10 in Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, published in 1912. This is one of the funniest stories in the book, describing what is probably the 1911 Canadian federal election in the fictional town of Mariposa and the surrounding Missinaba County. I will likely be quoting from Leacock when I preach about anything election-related (without endorsing a candidate or party, of course).

Everybody in Mariposa is either a Liberal or a Conservative or else is both. Some of the people are or have been Liberals or Conservatives all their lives and are called dyed-in-the-wool Grits or old-time Tories and things of that sort... But the one thing that nobody is allowed to do in Mariposa is to have no politics. Of course, there are always some people whose circumstances compel them to say that they have no politics... So with the clergy in Mariposa. They have no politics - absolutely none. Yet Dean Drone round election time always announces as his text such a verse as: "Lo! Is there not one righteous man in Israel?" or "What ho! Is it not time for a change?" And that is a signal for all the Liberal business men to get up and leave their pews.

Similarly over at the Presbyterian Church, the minister says that his sacred calling will not allow him to take part in politics and that his sacred calling prevents him from breathing even a word of harshness against his fellow man, but that when it comes to the elevation of the ungodly into high places in the commonwealth (this means, of course, the nomination of the Conservative candidate) then he's not going to allow his sacred calling to prevent him from saying just what he thinks of it. And by that time, having pretty well cleared the church of Conservatives, he proceeds to show from the scriptures that the ancient Hebrews were Liberals to a man, except those who were drowned in the flood or who perished, more or less deservedly, in the desert.

Big church win!

...or something like that. Our county is hosting the 2015 International Plowing Match (I usually spell it Ploughing, but I seem to be in the minority). It's not well known, it seems, but the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo will be one of the biggest events in Ontario this year, and certainly the largest undertaking in this county for decades. Local farms, businesses, schools, churches, and homes have been decorating as part of the Match's Beautification Contest: the display has to include scarecrows, sunflowers, and the Plowing Match sign.

Winners were publicized tonight, and first prize in the Schools/Churches/Senior's Residences category went to St. Andrew's-St. Mark's United Church in Long Sault! I think that the John Deere tractor, which belongs to one of the members (who is also principal of North Stormont Public School, which took the third prize), probably clinched the award.

International Ploughing Match and Rural Expo near Finch in South Stormont Township, Ontario, September 22 to 26, 2015!

Kokopelli

I've been reading about Kokopelli, a deity venerated by First Nations peoples in the southwestern United States. He is a god of fertility, music and agriculture, but what is fascinating to me is that Kokopelli is depicted as being hunchbacked (his name means "wooden backed" in Hopi). This may be because he is based on Aztec traders who carried their loads on their backs, or because his origin lies in a legend of a village hunchback who was a trickster - but the Missippian culture further east depicted a hunchbacked woman in art.

All very interesting because of my own disability. Hunchbacks are represented in European art and literature as objects of fear or pity, so Kokopelli is someone I will have to become more familiar with.

#90Bells

This morning we rang the bell at St. Andrew's-St. Mark's United Church in Long Sault 90 times to mark the 90th anniversary of The United Church of Canada. The bell rang at 10:30 AM, the time that the inaugural worship service of the United Church began on June 10, 1925, as Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalist, and members of local Union churches streamed into the old Mutual Street Arena in Toronto singing "The Church's One Foundation." Many United Church communities of faith across the country are celebrating the anniversary with bell ringing, and as bells aren't as common now as they once were, some are using hand bells, noisemakers or electronic ring tones. Check #90Bells on Twitter to track the commemorations!

This is the prayer used at that inaugural service 90 years ago:

O God, who to an expectant and united church didst grant at Pentecost the gift of the Holy Spirit, and hast wonderfully brought into one fold those who now worship thee here: Grant us the hope of the same Spirit in all our life and worship that we may expect great things from thee, and attempt great things for thee, and being one in thee may show the world that thou didst send Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

Truth and Reconciliation

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is finishing its six years of work, having heard from over 7,000 witnesses to the terrible experience of Indian residential schools run by churches (including The United Church of Canada, and the Methodist and Presbyterian churches which preceded the formation of our denomination) on behalf of the federal government. The Commission calls this school system "cultural genocide" against Aboriginal peoples.

The Commission's report tells the story of those who survived residential schools, and the thousands who did not, and makes 94 recommendations. Several of these are particular to churches, so here they are in full:

Church Apologies and Reconciliation

58. We call upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children in Catholic-run residential schools. We call for that apology to be similar to the 2010 apology issued to Irish victims of abuse and to occur within one year of the issuing of this Report and to be delivered by the Pope in Canada.

59. We call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement to develop ongoing education strategies to ensure that their respective congregations learn about their church’s role in colonization, the history and legacy of residential schools, and why apologies to former residential school students, their families, and communities were necessary.

60. We call upon leaders of the church parties to the Settlement Agreement and all other faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous spiritual leaders, Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries, and other religious training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for all student clergy, and clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities, on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own rights, the history and legacy of residential schools and the role of the church parties in that system, the history and legacy of religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and prevent spiritual violence.

61. We call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement, in collaboration with Survivors and representatives of Aboriginal organizations, to establish permanent funding to Aboriginal people for:
i. Community-controlled healing and reconciliation projects.
ii. Community-controlled culture-and language revitalization projects.
iii. Community -controlled education and relationship building projects.
iv. Regional dialogues for Indigenous spiritual leaders and youth to discuss Indigenous spirituality, self-determination, and reconciliation.

Churches responding to the report's findings have said:

We acknowledge and welcome the specific calls to action that offer direction to the churches in our continuing commitment to reconciliation. In particular, we are committed to respect Indigenous spiritual traditions in their own right. As individual churches and in shared interfaith and ecumenical initiatives – for example through Kairos, through interfaith groups, and through the Canadian Council of Churches – we will continue to foster learning about and awareness of the reality and legacy of the residential schools, the negative impact of such past teachings as the Doctrine of Discovery, and the new ways forward found in places, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will continue our commitment to financial support for community-controlled initiatives in healing, language and cultural revitalization, education and relationship-building, and self-determination.

May it be so.

Doctrine of "Discovery"

My friend Aric Clark, who is a PC(USA) minister and one of the Friars of the must-read (or is that must-view) site Two Friars and a Fool, invited me to write something about the Doctrine of Discovery. I don't know if he's aware that I'm a descendant of the Mayflower Pilgrims, who established the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts under the Doctrine of Discovery's assumption that land in the New World was unoccupied and available for grants by English companies. It's a good thing for the Pilgrims that the land was not empty, as the First Nations people living there helped the colony survive that winter of 1620-21, even though no one asked them about colonizing their land.

Aric has been blogging at Ecclesio.com about it, and has a very helpful post about churches repudiating the doctrine.

Briefly, the Doctrine of Discovery has been the legal basis of colonial governments' claim to sovereignty over territory that was inhabited by indigenous peoples (for example, Australia, British North America and the United States). The discovery doctrine is not a historical artifact; it was the basis of a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States decision limiting a First Nation's sovereignty as recently as 2005.

My own denomination, the United Church of Canada, has been exploring reconciliation with aboriginal people within the context of the legacy of church involvement in the horrific Indian Residential Schools, the church's 1986 and 1998 apologies, reflections on empire, and the Doctrine of Discovery. It is becoming more common at church gatherings to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of indigenous peoples (for example, our Conference annual meeting is opened by a Mohawk elder as a way of showing that we are meeting on what had been Mohawk land on the West Island of Montreal). Doing so is one way we can work toward right relations, "by repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery that assumed the land was empty when European explorers, traders, and settlers first came."

The United Church of Canada's General Council Executive moved in March 2012 to repudiate the doctrine, and in October 2012 to join the World Council of Churches in denouncing it and its impact on indigenous peoples. It's worth quoting at length from the background to the motion that the General Council Executive sent to the denomination's 41st General Council, held in Ottawa that year, denouncing "the Doctrine of Discovery as fundamentally opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and as a violation of the inherent human rights that all individuals and peoples have received from God."

In February 2012, the World Council of Churches Executive Committee denounced the “Doctrine of Discovery,” which has been used to subjugate and colonize Indigenous Peoples around the world. This doctrine has permitted the enslavement of Indigenous Peoples in the name of Christianity. The World Council of Churches’ statement declared that this doctrine is “completely opposed to the gospel of Jesus”.

The origin of the doctrine lies in the papal bulls issued by Pope Nicholas V in 1452, allowing the invasion and killing of the Indigenous Peoples. In the 14th century, some of the historical church documents such as Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex called for non-Christian people to be captured, vanquished and to have their possessions and property seized by the Christian monarchs.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 is a legal precedent in Canada that upholds the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. It was issued by King George III, after Great Britain acquired French Territory in North America at the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War to organize the new North American empire and to stabilize the relationship with the First Nations people by regulating trade, settlement and land purchases in the new frontier. In other words, The Royal Proclamation was a step in the Crown recognizing that the land occupied by First Nations located beyond the existing North American colonies were in some sense Indian Land. Title and access to these lands could only be granted by the Crown.

The World Council of Churches statement points out that the “current situation of Indigenous Peoples around the world is the result of a direct line of 'legal' precedents, originating with the Doctrine of Discovery and now codified and embedded in many of the contemporary national laws and policies of the nation states that have emerged from the European colonial process.” The doctrine has been cited by courts in the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The World Council of Churches statement rejects the idea that “Christians enjoy a moral and legal right to invade and seize lands and to dominate Indigenous Peoples.” It also supports the “rights of Indigenous Peoples to live in and retain their traditional lands and territories. And to maintain and enrich their cultures.”

Through this statement, The World Council of Churches reaffirms its commitment to the rights of the Indigenous Peoples, and asks each member church to “reflect upon its own national and church history,” and to seek a better understanding of the issues faced by Indigenous Peoples.

The repudiation of the doctrine is now being cited in our statements on aboriginal issues - for instance, in a 2013 letter sent to the federal Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, which sets out the church's history with the doctrine. Again, it's worth quoting at length:

For the first 60 years of its existence, from 1925-86, The United Church of Canada conflated Christianity and European civilization. Based on the worldview of the Doctrine of Discovery, we operated in tandem with the Canadian government and other elements of colonialism to assimilate the Indigenous peoples into our political, cultural and economic systems, thus aiming to free their lands for settlers.

Gradually, however, our direct relationship with the Indigenous Peoples with whom we worked and worshipped converted us towards a truer understanding of the gospel. A major turning point came in 1986, when our church’s General Council apologized to the First Nations Peoples for imposing our culture and spirituality, “We tried to make you be like us,” we said in that apology, “and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result, you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be.”

Thus we began a journey towards a new way of living together, based on healing, justice and right relations. That journey has included a second apology in 1998, specifically to the former students of United Church-run residential schools, and their families and communities for “the pain and suffering that our church’s involvement in the Indian Residential School system has caused.”

Churches in Canada, and Australia, New Zealand and the United States, are now engaging with the Doctrine of Discovery as part of a long history of conquest and assimilation. It will be a long journey to right relations with indigenous peoples. Repudiating the doctrine is a necessary step on this journey, but only one step.

Rags to Riches: Sermon, Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”
Luke 24:1-5, New Revised Standard Version

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:1-18, New Revised Standard Version

We know this story. Well, many of us do. We know the Easter story from hearing it on many Easter Sundays, from movies and novels and children’s books and pictures.

From all those sources, we can imagine what that first Easter looked like, and felt like. Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, John writes to start the story. We can imagine the setting, always a lush garden in the pictures, palm trees, flowers, but still dark in the time before the sunrise, as a favourite song says, while the dew was still on the roses. The women who had followed Jesus during his ministry come from the city to the tomb. In Luke’s story that we read at the start of the service, there are several women; John mentions only Mary Magdalene but she says “we” so she may not have been alone. They move through the pre-dawn darkness, coming to do their duty and finish anointing the body of Jesus. They are still in grief, in shock, they had gone through a living nightmare as they watched Jesus die on the cross on Friday, a cruel, agonizing death for an enemy of the state, destroying their hopes and breaking their hearts. But they have come, even though the male followers of Jesus have gone into hiding and, it seems, abandoned Jesus, and them. We know a bit about how they feel, all of us who have gone through the death of a loved one or a relationship or a job, who have experienced pain and isolation, who have felt overwhelmed by the injustice and violence of the world.

They talk in whispers, as they walk gingerly in the dark, about how to open the tomb to reach the body of Jesus. And they come to the rock wall where tombs have been dug, and the sun is still below the horizon, but they can see enough now to realize that the tomb is open, the heavy stone that sealed it has been rolled back. They don’t know what to think. Who could have done this? Who would have opened the tomb that they had seen shut on Friday? They’re confused, and scared, and run, hearts beating fast, lungs labouring with the effort, running back into the city to find where the male disciples are hiding. Mary Magdalene races through the empty streets to the house where some of the men are sleeping, and wakes up Simon Peter and another disciple – John doesn’t name him, but says that this is the one whom Jesus loved – to blurt out to them that the tomb is open, the body must be gone, and who knows where it is? So they get up, and run, faster than Mary can so she falls behind, they run through the city, the other disciple in the lead so he arrives first at the tomb, adrenaline pumping, out of breath, sees the stone rolled away, panting as he bends down to look in and glimpses the linen cloths the body of Jesus had been wrapped in, lying on the shelf where the corpse had been laid. And Peter arrives, pushing past the other disciple into the tomb, as impulsive and brash as Peter always is, to look at the burial cloths lying there. He has no words, he has no explanation, his thoughts are a jumble. The other disciple enters after Peter, and, John writes, he sees and believes. Then the two men leave the tomb, and just go home. It’s left to Mary, in the light of the new day, to encounter angels, then the risen Jesus himself, who says her name, says it the way only a dear friend can, and she gasps as she recognizes him in a moment of surprise that turns to pure joy. Tears of grief become tears of happiness.

What a story. From darkness to light. From death to life. From sadness to joy. You know, a few weeks ago as we were sitting with my mother in law in the days before she died, I brought the 1913 Kresge’s catalogue for her to look at. On one page are books, 10 cents each for hardcovers so you can tell that it’s a very old catalogue, including what are described as “books for red-blooded boys, all written by Horatio Alger Jr., the well-known writer of boys’ books. Besides being full of snap and life they all teach a beautiful lesson.” These books have titles like Strive and Succeed and Making His Way. The hero in these books of 100 years ago always starts at the bottom but prospers through hard work. We would call these “rags to riches” stories. And this Easter account is a rags to riches story, from the cloths of burial to the riches of resurrection.

Now, these riches aren’t immediately apparent to the characters in the Easter story. The other disciple sees the cloths and believes, believes that what Jesus promised has come true, that he would be killed but rise after three days. Peter takes his time to digest what has happened but later Jesus appears to him too, and Peter can preach that God raised Jesus on the third day. Mary Magdalene knows that she has spoken with her teacher and friend, somehow come back from death.

It took time for that little group of believers to think this through, to appreciate this rags to riches story and its meaning for the followers of Jesus and for all of humanity. In a few decades the Apostle Paul could write that because Jesus died and rose again, through Jesus God will raise all who have died. And it took a while, centuries even, but the church developed several ways of thinking about the riches that are ours when Jesus is raised and leaves his rags behind. The Easter story of resurrection is about the riches that are ours from God, who raised Jesus from death to confirm God’s love for Jesus and for us, for whom Jesus died. Paul says nothing, not even death, can separate us from that love. The Easter story is about the riches that are ours from Jesus. The grave can’t hold Jesus. The glory of his resurrection undermines our ideas of what is possible. The Easter story is about the riches that are ours from the Holy Spirit. We participate in the new life of the risen Jesus by the power of the Spirit. The Easter story is about the riches that are ours as the resurrection proclaims God’s triumph over all earthly empires and their injustice and violence. The Easter story is about the riches that are ours as the resurrection is the beginning of God’s new world, the world where death is defeated for all of us, the world that the United Church’s Song of Faith describes as “a future good beyond imagining, a new heaven and a new earth, the end of sorrow, pain and tears, the making new of all things.”

But all of this did not occur to Peter, Mary Magdalene and the other disciple when they encountered the empty tomb. And, you know, we may be like them as we come to this Easter story. We may believe like the other disciple, believe right away that Jesus has been raised from death. We may be like Peter, just knowing that something momentous, even world-changing has happened to Jesus. We may be like Mary, fully knowing the truth of Easter when we have some kind of experience in our lives of the presence of the risen Jesus. The way John tells the story, these are different ways of processing the transformational experience of Easter; one way of believing is not superior to another.

I said that we can know something of the grief at the beginning of the Easter story. And, whether we are most like Mary, or Peter, or the other disciple, we can know something of the joy at the end, the joy we find whenever signs of resurrection appear in our lives, in our world, whenever a tomb that we assumed was shut forever opens up and rags become the riches of God’s kingdom and hope triumphs over despair, good wins out over evil, love prevails over hatred, life comes out of death. And then, this Easter morning, this Easter day, and every day, we can tell others as Mary did, that in some way we too have encountered this mystery, this good news, of resurrection, and joy has scattered the shadows and sorrow has turned into song.

Twenty Centuries Past

As I prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, I'm reading through Let Justice Roll Down: A Worship Resource for Lent, Holy Week and Easter. One of the Palm Sunday prayers in this anthology is by John Young of Scotland (page 125). In 2015 the poem may have to say that it's nearly twenty-one centuries past now, but the words are just as relevant.

Twenty Centuries Past

Twenty centuries past, what city has not heard of your coming?
From Beijing to Berlin, from Jerusalem to Johannesburg, from New York to New Delhi
surely the word has spread that you've come in peace, not violence
to enrich, renew, transform our lives and bring us to shalom?

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Twenty centuries past, what city has not heard of your church?
From Catholic, Orthodox, or Reformed, Anglican, Evangelical or Pentecostal
surely the message of acceptance, healing, confidence
in your royal advent, has been passed on through faithful living?

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Twenty centuries past, what city has not rejected you?
From penthouse to tenement, from factory to leisure centre, from theme park to concert hall,
surely the news is that this life is for taking, not giving
and what stands in the way of this lifestyle must now be removed?

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Twenty centuries past, what city does Christ seek to enter?
From leafy suburb to shanty town, from housing estate to West End flat, from salon to slum,
surely the sign of the church free from pride, united in deed,
must be the welcome Christ longs for as he enters your city?

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Talking About Suicide in Church: Sermon, February 1, 2015

Jesus and his followers went into Capernaum. Immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching. The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts. Suddenly, there in the synagogue, a person with an evil spirit screamed, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.”

“Silence!” Jesus said, speaking harshly to the demon. “Come out of him!” The unclean spirit shook him and screamed, then it came out.

Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!” Right away the news about him spread throughout the entire region of Galilee. Mark 1:21-28, Common English Bible

I was watching the British TV series Grantchester, which is on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS on Sunday nights. It’s about a minister in England in the 1950s. I love it when TV shows clergy writing and preaching sermons, and putting on their robes – and solving crimes. In the first show there is a funeral for a man who is believed to have committed suicide. This added to the issue of suicide in our society having been on my mind for the last while. There have been several high-profile suicides in the news, like the actor Robin Williams and a senior Ottawa police officer, young people who have been bullied, and among military veterans. Lately I have heard stories of suicide among ministers. This week was the annual Let’s Talk Day about mental health. And we have this story from Mark’s Gospel this morning, about a man with an unclean spirit, which today we would probably call a mental illness.

And yet, despite all these stories and publicity, we rarely, if ever, talk about suicide in the church. There are seven different Biblical accounts in which characters kill themselves, but if you challenged most Christians to name one many people could think only of Judas, who betrayed Jesus, hanging himself. I don’t think we have ever discussed that story, or any of the others, here. In fact, we hardly ever talk about suicide outside church either. Suicide seems to be taboo in conversation. But keeping silent about it just perpetuates myths and stigmas that aren’t helpful.

Suicide is a major public health issue in our society. It is one of the leading causes of death among Canadians aged 15 to 24, and for men in their 40s and 50s. 16 percent of Canadian young people have seriously contemplated suicide. The suicide rate for First Nations youth is five to seven times higher than non-aboriginal youth in Canada, and the suicide rate for Inuit youth is 11 times higher, so suicide in aboriginal communities merits being called a health crisis. And mental health and suicide are issues for the church. We talked not so long ago in worship about assisted suicide, people with terminal illnesses ending their suffering, but this broader issue of suicide among people of all ages concerns us too, because following Jesus as his disciples means walking with each other in relationship and love, through mental as much as physical illnesses.

In September I went to a workshop for faith leaders on suicide. It was held at Knox-St. Paul’s in Cornwall, and I sat at a table with a Muslim imam and listened to a speaker from the Canadian Mental Health Association. I just want to tell you two stories from that workshop, about suicide and communities of faith.

Susan had struggled with depression for much of her life, although she managed to stay active and involved in her church. However, after the birth of her first child, Susan went into a depression so severe that she couldn’t leave the house. Her husband David called their minister and said that he was worried that Susan’s depression was getting worse. Based on what David shared, the minister told him she was concerned that Susan might be suicidal, and urged him to take her to the emergency room. Then the minister asked to speak to Susan. After talking with the minister for a while, Susan finally agreed to go to the hospital, where the minister met her and her husband. Following an evaluation, Susan entered into a program of intensive psychiatric care that was appropriate for the mother of a newborn. The doctors and nurses worked to regulate her medication and help her talk about her feelings and fears. Following the program, she was able to resume her life with the help of her outpatient providers. What happened with the church during this period was also very important. The minister obtained Susan’s permission to share with the congregation that she was in treatment and encouraged church members to help as they would have if she had been in treatment for a physical illness. They helped Susan care for the baby, brought meals for the family, wrote her notes, and welcomed her back into the community when she returned.

That’s one story. Here’s the second one, told by a woman to the Mental Health Association:

The prayer and support of our family of faith helped us survive after losing our son to suicide seven years ago. Our grief was their grief because Todd was a vital member of this faith community. They felt his absence in ways that validated our sorrow. This loving community helped us navigate a journey we had never planned to take. They stood by us as our question shifted from ‘Why?’ to ‘For what purpose? Why now?’ Our faith community was instrumental in helping my husband and I see God at work within our tragedy, redeeming some of our pain. They gave us courage to keep trusting God.

Two difficult stories, with different outcomes, yet the church responded in love in both cases. Churches also have a key role in promoting awareness and healing, by talking openly about suicide and providing education about mental illness being a treatable illness, instead of a sin. And churches are significant in preventing suicide, because what is it that we do as the church? Well, for one thing, we help each other find meaning in our lives, and a sense of hope, and we support each other as we experience life's challenges and crises. Fostering a sense of connection and belonging, especially among people who are experiencing mental health or substance abuse problems, has been found to be important in decreasing the risk of suicide.

As well, in Susan’s story there were signs that she was suicidal. In eight out of 10 suicide attempts, the person hints about it to family or friends beforehand. We need to be aware of the problems that increase the risk of suicide and the behaviours that may mean there is an immediate risk.

Finally, I want to talk about what to do when a suicide takes place. The suicide of someone in a congregation is devastating for the entire faith community. It can create feelings of stigma, shame and guilt for those close to the deceased person, and may increase the risk of suicide for people who are already vulnerable. When there is a suicide, it is important for all of us to reach out, support, and promote healing among those who are grieving. But when we do so, we should try to avoid the common phrase that the person is “at peace,” and steer clear of words that imply that suicide was a reasonable response to stress.

In our reading today, Jesus reaches out to a man whose mental illness isolates him from society. As the followers of Jesus, we are called to reach out, to let go of attitudes that abandon people with mental illness and survivors of suicide, to bring this difficult subject into the open, to provide a safe space for listening and relief. The two stories we just heard tell us that as the church we can help each other navigate this journey towards hope and healing.

Canadian Mental Health Association: Preventing Suicide

Fishing on the Other Side: Sermon for the Third Sunday After the Epiphany, January 25, 2015

After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news, saying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!”

As Jesus passed along the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew. They were fishermen, so they were throwing fishing nets into the sea. “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” Right away, they left their nets and followed him. After going a little further, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. At that very moment, he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers.
- Mark 1:14-20, Common English Bible

Mark’s is the shortest of the four gospels in the Bible, and we think it’s the first one written. It has the least detail. Some of us hearing this little story about Jesus calling the fishermen may remember how the other gospels tell the same story. Matthew tells it pretty much the same way as Mark. But Luke’s version is a bit different. In his account Jesus tells Simon to row the boat out farther, into the deep water, and drop the nets. Simon replies, “We’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll drop the nets.” So they do, and the catch of fish is so large that the nets are splitting, and another boat has to come help them, and then both boats are so full that they start to sink. In yet another version of this story, in John, Jesus says to them, “cast your net on the other side of the boat, and you will find fish.”

I’m mentioning this because this is a good opportunity for me to talk about something facing the church right now. In the United Church of Canada we have General Councils every three years, with commissioners elected from Conferences across the country. I went to the General Council in Ottawa in 2012, and we voted for a comprehensive review of all of the church’s structures and programs. And the group formed to conduct that review came back with a report last year that in some form will go to the next General Council, this summer in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador. That report begins with this story of Jesus and the fishermen. It’s called Fishing on the Other Side.

This report is the result of consultations with congregations about who we are as the United Church, how we do things, and how we can live faithfully in changing times. Since then there have been more consultations with presbyteries and conferences. Now, I don’t have to tell anyone here that times are changing in the church. Fewer people attend worship. Fewer young adults, youth and children are participating in congregations. We don’t have the money or the volunteers to do everything we used to do. These pressures are resulting in congregations amalgamating, clustering, or closing, and we have gone through all of that here and around here.

So when the task group consulted with over 600 congregations across the country, they heard about these changing times, and they heard a clear understanding that we are being called to change and to live out God’s mission in new ways. They heard a strong sense of identity as an open, welcoming, and justice-seeking church. They heard that the way we govern ourselves may have worked well at the time of church union 90 years ago but is now too expensive and cumbersome, and needs to be simpler and more effective.

This wisdom from the church is reflected in the principles guiding the comprehensive review. As a church we want strong and vibrant communities of faith at our core, to support people in their spiritual journeys and inspire and equip them to participate in God’s mission. We want our structures to support and enable congregations, and focus on relationships and connections rather than setting and enforcing rules. We want congregations to group together in networks for mutual support and faithful action, rather than governance. We want a strong denominational voice. We want adaptable, nimble and sustainable structures and policies. We want to support and nurture ministers, and to ensure their effective and efficient oversight and discipline.

Fishing on the Other Side, and the reports that the comprehensive review has produced since, set out a model of what a church based on these principles would look like. At the centre of the new model are communities of faith - congregations and a variety of other ministries. You know that right now our decisions in lots of areas, including what we do with property and how I am employed here, are subject to approval by presbytery. In the new model, we would be solely responsible for community life, including worship and learning, and property, leadership, and local administration. We would be able to access support, resources and services from the denomination to help us do that, but we wouldn’t have to answer to anyone.

Right now we are part of a Presbytery, which is part of a Conference. The original Fishing on the Other Side report set out a model with no presbyteries or conferences at all. There would be no levels of church government in between communities of faith and the national body. Communities of faith would be able to group together voluntarily with other like-minded communities around a particular interest or issue. So, just off the top of my head, there might be a rural ministry network, or a network focused on sponsoring refugee families in a particular area, or a French-speaking network. These might continue some of the mission of presbyteries and conferences. But these networks would, as I said, be voluntary and have no decision-making authority.

Now, just recently the comprehensive review responded to feedback by proposing that there would be a middle level – not like presbyteries or conferences, but several regional councils to support, rather than oversee, communities of faith.

And at the national level there would be a much smaller denominational body, tasked with taking public positions, looking after our relations with other churches and faith groups, ordaining and commissioning ministers, and providing shared services like payroll and pensions.

Finally, Fishing on the Other Side puts forward a major change in how we support and oversee ministers. Many of us are familiar with colleges for nurses, teachers, and other professionals. The report proposes a national college of ministers to implement the standards for ministry set by the United Church. A congregation would only be able to call a member of the college as their minister. The college would investigate complaints and discipline ministers. And, if there is to be a college, ministers would be encouraged to form a corresponding association to support and represent them.

Summing up this new model: no oversight of congregations in matters like property and personnel; no presbyteries or conferences, only regional councils and voluntary networks; a college of ministers. That’s what the model looks like now; the final version that will go to General Council will be presented in March.

This may seem very "inside baseball," but it represents a major shift in how we act and what we do right here. And this is all pretty radical, given that we have done things pretty much the same way for 90 years. I was elected as a commissioner to the next General Council, so I will be voting on the comprehensive review recommendations in Corner Brook in August. The theme and logo for this General Council are inspired by the history and culture of Newfoundland, and by our fishing story from the Bible, with the logo depicting a fish, which is a very old Christian symbol, and water, with words taken from the book of Revelation: "Behold, I make all things new/Voici je fais toutes choses nouvelles." And, after General Council decides, their decisions will go to all pastoral charges and presbyteries to vote on in a series of remits, so we here will also get to decide on the future shape of the church.

When the Moderator of the United Church, Gary Paterson, was with us in November he said that the way things are can’t continue. The status quo is not an option. The words he chose as the General Council theme, Behold I make all things new, remind us that the church can’t remain static – it is always reforming. Change is coming – the question is what kind of change.

We know the challenges we face. And we know that Jesus continues to call us to follow him. And, maybe, setting aside our ties to the ways things have been and the ways we are used to doing things will open us to amazing new possibilities. Is Jesus calling us to let down our nets on the other side? We need to decide. I welcome your questions and comments and prayers as I make my own decision.