On January 6, Prime Minister Trudeau announced his resignation and simultaneously prorogued Parliament. Curiously, the first editorial I ever wrote for Christian Courier was about prorogation – “The rogue and fool,” January 2009. In it, I described then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper as inconsistent, changing the rules to suit his own agenda. “Nonetheless,” I concluded, “I…
I would recognize their handwriting anywhere. Right beside Numbers 18, where God is instructing Aaron on how the tribe of Levi needs to keep itself separate, there’s a vertical note to look up the Catholic interpretation in my dad’s distinctive scrawl. And adjacent to Deuteronomy 1:6, after the description of Yahweh, “who brought you out…
CC: Where is the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in the landscape of the global church? Are we having the same conversations as other Christians around the world? Charles Oh, Philippines (Attended in-person): From where I stand, the CRC is definitely part of the broader conversation in the global church. We’re talking about social justice, poverty…
Canada, 2008-2015. Also Argentina. Australia. Congo. Czech Republic. Fiji. Finland. Ireland. Liberia. Morocco. Norway. Paraguay. Peru. Poland. Philippines. Sierra Leone. South Africa. South Korea. Taiwan. The Ukraine. What do all these countries have in common? After the coup, after apartheid, after colonialism, after civil war – they’ve each had to figure out: how can embattled…
In his book, Daniel Bowman Jr. describes wanting to crawl out of his skin when someone touches him without warning at church. Altar call, coffee hour and “popcorn prayers” are equally hard – a “gauntlet of unspoken rules and expectations requiring vigilant navigation” (p.112). We asked Bowman to elaborate on what churches can do differently….
Bruce Adema was the Director of Canadian Ministries for the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) from 2006-2012. He pastored two churches after that, then retired from CRC ministry and, in January 2024, started working as Executive Director for the Henri Nouwen Society. Christian Courier’s Editor spoke with Adema recently about his new role…
“Never question a man of God.” That’s how Emily*, 42, summarized the Word of Life church. She was working as a Youth Pastor in her early 20s when the first scandal broke. Her pastor had sexually abused a staff member – was literally caught in the act in his church office – and faced zero…
“We are all going to die by 2040,” the tour guide said flatly, “based on the cascading negative effects of climate change.” As shocking as that sentence was, I was more taken aback by the fact that it got zero reaction from his audience. This was last June: I was a chaperone with a group…
On one of the last days in June, we sneaked into church five minutes late. The Grade 12s looked resplendent in their dark blue gowns, cap tassels swinging jauntily with every movement. We waved at Emerson, a close family friend, and got ready to cheer our hearts out for his moment on stage. It was…
CC: How would you summarize the key decisions made at Synod 2024? What was the overall mood (or tone), in your impression? Rev. Al Postma: Summarizing is difficult as there were many items on the agenda. Specifically regarding the discussion on sexuality, my impression is that Synod 2022 was primarily about the Christian Reformed Church’s…
In what might have been one of the most dramatic meetings in Canadian Christian school history, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Edmonton Society for Christian Education (ESCE) began at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, and didn’t end until nearly 2 a.m. the next morning. When the gym doors opened at 6 p.m.,…
When I studied for an MA in English at Queen’s University in the early 2000s, the buzziest field was post-colonial – books about the legacy of colonialism. And in that category, the buzziest book was White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Smith was born in London to an English father and a Jamaican mother. Her debut…
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