We can’t say that the one thousand (and counting) unmarked children’s graves at former residential school grounds in Canada were a “discovery”—Indigenous people have been saying for generations that thousands of their children were forcibly taken and did not come home. It is also not new to hear the word “genocide” used to describe what happened to Indigenous people across North America. I have heard it spoken in sacred conversations of which I was permitted to be a part. I have heard it in reference to residential schools, to the violent and clearly documented project that the residential schools embodied…
And the not now and not-yet of resurrection
Reminder: The Ministry Matters blog is a space for Anglicans in Canada (and Canadian Anglicans abroad) to share stories and reflections about our relationship with God, Jesus and the Church. Views and opinions expressed here do not officially reflect or speak for the Church.
The empty space in St. George’s Chapel was the lingering image for me. To see thirty people spaced out across a sanctuary built for grand religious pageantry with a seating capacity of 800, was both eerie and all-too familiar. …
Edited (March 20) to add: As with all posts to the MinistryMatters online publication, the analysis and opinions expressed by any contributor do not necessarily reflect or speak for the entire Anglican Church of Canada.
Of all of the claims that Harry and Meghan made in their multi-hour Oprah interview last week, most analyzed is the second-hand report from Meghan of “conversations” that were had between Harry and an unnamed relative raising concerns about the colour of their baby’s skin. The audience was left with the implication that a senior member of the royal family thought it could look bad…
My daughter and I had been watching the Instagram feed of one celebrity couple over the holidays, hoping for an engagement. Instead, they broke up on New Year’s Eve. Cecilia and I were both crushed. It’s been a rough year for the few areas of celebrity culture which I follow. Harry and Meghan left their jobs in the Royal family; then they left Canada, too. Princes Harry and William had a public falling out. …
Reflections on beginning in ministry
I can now sleep the night before I preach — soundly, even, if I’m lucky. But there were many years when I was both sick to my stomach and sleep-deprived every time I had to deliver a sermon. I remember my first time preaching at the main Sunday morning service at St. Jude’s, Oakville, Ont. It was very early in my time as an assistant curate (usually just shortened to “curate”), which is a two- to three-year paid placement at the outset of ordained ministry, working under the supervision of a more senior priest. …
I recently signed on to a coaching relationship with Peter Elliott, retired Dean of the cathedral in Vancouver, a person I have respected very much as a colleague and appreciated even more as a friend over the years. I have been finding ministry in a big downtown setting increasingly complex. I have also been feeling increasingly called to grow myself and grow this ministry exactly where I am. I needed a sounding board, someone with some expertise with whom to talk through problems, an outside perspective on the various decision-making trees I navigate. …
When we all went into lockdown in mid-March, I had a pretty naïve idea of what was before us. I hadn’t been reading the dire predictions of economists who had been sounding the alarms for years that a global pandemic was on the horizon; nor had I read any of the science fiction that unnervingly imagined the potential consequences of exactly this sort of raging virus. Epidemiologists were not yet our daily oracle on how to structure our society and what case counts might tell us about what trajectory of infection and death we are on. I thought the kids…
I have long considered myself to be a borderline extrovert. Although I am naturally quiet, I feel energized by my leadership in the church — crowded services, busy coffee hours, long conversations with a group Bible study. I can go into a Sunday morning service feeling tired and out of sorts from whatever kid or dog was up in the middle of the night that weekend, and I can come out of a Sunday morning service feeling rejuvenated.
COVID-19 is laying hidden truths bare. Our societal conversation has been opened during this pandemic to considering systemic injustice in our care…
We have not been left orphaned
On May 21, clergy and licensed lay workers of the Diocese of Niagara joined together in a day of learning and conversation with Professor Judy Paulsen on the topic of “Living out our Apostolic Calling in our Cultural Context.” While the material she presented was gathered from a pre-COVID world, her carefully curated research, thoughtful insights and challenging questions offered our diocese an important springboard into the urgent questions before us as a church.
Judy talked about our apostolic calling, to go out into the world as messengers of the Gospel. And she helped us to imagine the worshipping life…
Dismantling the lie that we can ever live merely for ourselves
A picture in a March Hello magazine showed Duchesses Meghan and Kate shaking gloveless hands with people lined up to greet them outside of the big Commonwealth Day church service. Unlike the other members of the royal family who were observing the suggested protocols of wearing gloves, or engaging in touchless greetings, Meghan and Kate were as warm, close and approachable as ever. Meghan and Kate may not have said so themselves, but what they were doing was exemplifying a core Christian principle. Jesus used physical touch to offer…
Martha Tatarnic
Martha serves as the rector of St. George's Anglican Church in St. Catharines. Her book "The Living Diet" is now available on Amazon.
