The conversation with Shane continues as I ask him about sexual purity. W: In our ‘Bridging the Gap’ DVD we had the opportunity to speak with Ron and Justin who are good friends, but who hold differing views on the sanctity of same-sex sexual relationships. Ron, traditional in his views and committed to celibacy as…
Here is the third installment of the Q &A with Shane & Wendy: W: What insights would you share with Christians who perhaps have little experience with relating interpersonally with gay people? S: I think most of what I would have to say applies to relating to all people whether they are gay or not…
To continue my conversation with Shane ….. W: What do you think is useful about attempts to bridge the gap and nurture safe and spacious places where sexual minorities can explore and grow in faith in Jesus Christ? S: I want to begin my answer by reflecting on the phrase “to bridge the gap.” This…
I have had some wonderful and challenging conversations this week. That’s the way it is with relational engagement. Some weeks are very full with coffee connections, in office-sessions, phone and email contact – but it is generally unpredictable how much time I’ll commit to nurturing such conversations. When I’m busy connecting with people, things like…
So I’m sitting here at camp and I should be working on the workshop I’ll be delivering in a couple of days at the Comfort & Hope Conference. I’ll be speaking on the suffering of loneliness and the tension between intimacy and fidelity in finding our way to staying alive to hopefulness. But instead, my…
While I was in California, an old friend of mine died suddenly. He was 42 years old with a beautiful young wife and four lovely children. I hadn’t had a conversation with him in several years – but he always held a special place in my heart. At one point in my life I had…
I have been reflecting on a number of happenings and stories that have intersected my path of late. Each is unique – yet they intersect around this question of identity and acceptance. “Who am I?” “Will I be accepted?” (Or, “Who are my friends and will they be accepted?”) Fundamentally, all point to the question…
I can’t believe it is July 5th. In fact, I have no idea where the month of June went. It feels like forever since I’ve written a blog post. I wasn’t able to go to the Toronto Pride parade this year because I was away camping with about 90 people from my church. A couple…
I remember sitting in a fundraising workshop hosted by Intervarsity a year or so ago. The facilitator had a resume a mile long and clearly knew his stuff. One of the challenges facing any non-profit, including and perhaps especially Christian ministries, is the reality of a changing constituency. An older generation of donors with incredibly…
My friend NakedPastor posted a cartoon this week that has stimulated some good conversation. It was kind of fun for me because I’d commissioned NP to do a cartoon for the cover of a new DVD resource we’ll be releasing soon – and the cartoon he posted was one of the possible submissions (but we…