Eat, drink and be reconciled
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Eat, drink and be reconciled

Lisa Raven’s first reaction to hearing Pope Francis apologize on Indigenous land in Canada this summer was: “Wow. That was really powerful.” She did not expect to be moved to tears. Thirty-six years ago, Raven was a student at Saskatchewan’s Marieval Indian Residential School run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. When she first heard…

CC wins 10 awards!
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CC wins 10 awards!

On May 5, the Canadian Christian Communicators Association held its annual awards ceremony showcasing the best in faith-based writing, design and content creation for the 2021 season. Christian Courier (CC) competed against at least 18 other publications and received 10 awards, including first place in the Feature Article, Interview and Photo Essay categories. “They’ve combined…

Did anyone ask the hard questions?
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Did anyone ask the hard questions?

On May 6, the Hesed Project CRC published an open letter by Dr. Mary Stewart VanLeeuwen that gives new information about her role as promotor fidei, or “Devil’s Advocate,” on the Synodical Committee to Articulate a Foundation-laying Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality for the Christian Reformed Church of North American (CRCNA). The committee’s report (commonly…

Urban exodus
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Urban exodus

When we moved to Terrace, B.C. in August 2019, most people we met assumed the relocation was job related. We’d shake our heads. “Affordability, simplicity, closer to family . . .” we’d start to explain the myriad of pushes and pulls. Most people probably didn’t hear past that first reason. Their eyebrows might raise as…

On stage in a dangerous time

On stage in a dangerous time

In Christmases past, our December calendars were decorated with the dates of school Christmas concerts and community choir cantatas. This year, there will be considerably less live music heralding the good news. But many of us felt this void long before Advent. In a normal year, according to Stats Canada, 81 percent of Canadians would…

Flight Patterns
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Flight Patterns

Not all words have wings. Some are just box printed, quick texted and rarely get lift off. So as we sit perched on Christian Courier’s 75th anniversary, we are left to wonder: what boundless grace has granted us the privilege to write, print, share, preach, laugh and walk together all of these years? May we…

When Women Lead
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When Women Lead

In the early days of the pandemic, governments had to decide: who will speak for us? In 10 key locations across Canada, women serving as public heath officers have taken on those increasingly public roles. “The women we’re seeing on the national stage during the pandemic are being celebrated for both their compassion and their calm under pressure,” write Andrea Gunraj and Jessica Howard from the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie

Are you familiar with the ice breaker “Two Truths and a Lie”? The game requires participants to share three statements about themselves – two sentences that are true and one that is false. The rest of the group tests their knowledge of the individual in question and tries to spot the lie. For example: I’ve completed the Camino, I own a horse, and I love to rock climb. Which one doesn’t quite sound like me?

Benediction From the Kitchen
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Benediction From the Kitchen

Critiquing preachers and worship styles has long been a post-church pattern for congregants. Some Sunday mornings, our tongues are quicker to question than to urge empathy and understanding for those who lead us in worship. Perhaps the move to critique is quicker these days as we come to church through emails and gather around screens. Are we tempted to forget that these are uncharted waters for the very real people who are working hard to pivot our fellowship from in-person to online?

Fresh Perspectives
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Fresh Perspectives

This month, we are delighted to welcome Jonathan Elgersma as Social Media Editor with Christian Courier for the summer. Jonathan is currently studying Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. He describes himself as having a passion for sports as well as an interest in building up relationships with people around him. He lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario, with his parents and two siblings, and says he’s happy to be a part of Christian Courier.