An interesting aspect of my work these days is the opportunity to have conversations with people who hold different perspectives on the question of whether a covenanted same-sex relationship is an appropriate life choice for a disciple of Jesus. In the early years, most of my conversations were with Christians who held to a traditional…
Sometimes I forget. I don’t mean to …. it just happens. I forget the powerful feeling of being trapped, with no space to ask questions, wrestle, consider options, or simply honestly reflect on one’s experience and faith journey. I forget because I know so many gay Christians who have already made the difficult journey to…
Some time ago, I spoke at a church about the concept of generous spaciousness. It was a relatively small church plant made up of people from many different walks of life. It was a group of people who were really trying to experience a sense of true community together. They talked about hard things together…
Since the GCN panel, I’ve probably been thinking more about Exodus than I have for a while. As I have said before, I still know a lot of people serving within the Exodus network. I don’t know how many of them would still consider me a friend – but I continue to care about many…
It is understandable that the descriptive term generous spaciousness creates some inherent challenges. Some people resonate with it and seem to have a gut sense of what it is all about. For others, it is a term that fails to bring clarity to an already complex conversation. Part of the thinking behind coining such a…
The weekend before I went to Cambodia, I had the opportunity to go down to Denver to speak at the 3rd Symposium on the Evangelical Church & Homosexuality hosted by Highlands Church. Mark Tidd is the pastor there – and some of you may remember that Mark came to Toronto to participate in New Direction’s…
In the latest edition of the New Direction newsletter, Pathway, I referred to Jesus’ parable about the workers in the vineyard. Some of you may remember this story from Matthew 20 where Jesus describes a group of temp workers hired to work in the vineyard. The eager beavers get hired first thing in the morning…
Pastors’ Conversation Live Stream from Flexweb Multimedia on Vimeo. Thank you to all who tuned in and participated with us in our pastors’ conversation. Despite some technical glitches in the live stream, I was grateful for the conversation overall and pleased to see how many are accessing the video. My sense is that some will…
To what extent does our experience of sexuality interact with our sense of personhood? This is a question that has come up in conversation and times of reflection. As I navigate the variety of ways this conversation around faith and sexuality is articulated in different parts of the Christian community, I often encounter what has…
As some of you know, I started work on my doctorate degree last week. I’ve always loved to learn and I am excited after 12 years to be back in school. It is a three – four year program of studies that are meant to coincide with continuing on in your ministry position. So while…