The reflections listed here are transcripts of the Reflection presented by our minister or guest preachers. They are provided for those who may not have been present at the time, or for those who would like to review and reflect further on the words spoken during worship.
An archive of previous sermons can be accessed on the “Past Sermons” page.
The late Rev. Dr. Fred Craddock tells a story about preaching on an Easter Sunday in the church of Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, GA, Ebenezer Baptist Church. (Incidentally, Ebenezer is a Hebrew word that literally means rock or stone of help—keep that in mind.) The pastor of the church was Joe Roberts. It read on
In a faith and leadership on-line newsletter I received Tuesday, two of the headlines read: “Notre Dame, long a symbol of Catholicism in Europe, becomes a picture of its collapse.” And the second was “Telling the Passover story in the shadow of the Pittsburgh massacre.” As I thought about those stories, it made me think read on
Scriptures: Isaiah 43:16-21 and John 12:1-8 Sermon Title: Along the Way Gifts Rev. Carol Prochaska A little girl is smiling with delight as she skips down the steps and out of her yard. She begins to run. Her feet fly over the ground. She is running very fast. The sun shines and read on
When I was a teenager in Nanaimo, we lived in the church manse with a lovely view looking east over Departure Bay; on a clear day, we could see the high-rises of downtown Vancouver. Our neighbours were a retired couple who loved to garden and were very friendly. The elderly gentleman of the couple next read on
There are some age-old universal questions that get asked in every generation. Some are existential questions about our identity and beingness. Some are questions about our background and our kin—where do we belong? And some are questions about tragedy. Why did this have to happen to this group of people or this person? Throughout read on
We haven’t conducted a baptism in some time; it’s been a couple of years, in fact. Baptisms are lovely; they give a focus on hope as we watch a little one move through the ritual of baptism. And because baptism is one of two sacraments celebrated in the United Church, it is special. A read on
Today’s focus—RESISTANCE—comes from the online community called Many Voices; it is a Black Church Movement for Gay and Transgender Justice. As they say on the website, “Black gay and transgender people are too often case studies in discrimination, shame, hardship, insecurity and isolation.”[1] They offered a candle-lighting litany for Lent that we’ve adapted it read on
I remember when I was 19 or so, I worked 2 summers for BC Ferries at the Nanaimo terminal. I worked shifts and so had varied starting times; my earliest start was 4:30 am and my latest end was 11 pm. Even in my teens, I was a poor sleeper. It was a change read on
I just finished the novel, A House without Windows, by Nadia Hashimi. It is about how women were, and in many places still are (in spite of many trailblazing Afghani women), treated horribly by the legal system and the patriarchal culture of Afghanistan. The novel is about one woman who is accused of read on
It has to be said that the Scripture readings for today are quite challenging in some ways. For those that don’t know, we use the same readings as other mainline churches, what we call the lectionary. It is a 3-year cycle of Bible readings for worship and in these other churches, preachers are dealing read on
