Recently, I spoke with another pastor turned church leadership coach and consultant. Her observation about today’s pastors was strikingly simple: we expect them to do everything. She regularly coaches pastors struggling under the expectation that they become their church’s expert-of-all-trades. Preacher, shepherd, counsellor, strategist, administrator, conflict manager, staff leader, theologian, community leader – and whatever…
My last memory of Philippe* is of him rushing towards the communion table too soon. Before the pastor had recited the requisite story and familiar prayers and issued the invitation. The rest of us remained in our pews waiting for the signal that we were welcome – Philippe didn’t wait. The congregation sat in silence…
You could say it all started here in Halifax: the Canadian arm of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), that is. After World War II, most of the Dutch immigrants who founded the CRC in Canada arrived by boat at Pier 21. But if you visit Halifax this fall, you’ll no longer find a CRC. Today,…
“By meeting and engaging with Indigenous peoples, by walking Indigenous lands, and by engaging in education events off site, we are reminded that we are settlers sharing these lands,” said the Rev. Canon Jennifer Schick from All Saints Anglican Church in Whitby, Ont. For years, her parishioners have been learning that reconciliation is not a…
Last month, I raised a troubling question: Why are fewer ministry leaders choosing the local church? Seminary leaders are seeing fewer students preparing for pastoral ministry, while Barna reported that 43 percent of pastors seriously considered leaving it. Do the math forward ten years, and we see fewer pastors entering, existing pastors leaving, and churches…
Concern is growing in the research community about people’s trust in science. From vaccines to the climate, too many people doubt the clear evidence science provides. The results are all around us. Mistrust of vaccine safety and effectiveness means Canada has lost its status as a measles-free country. Enough individuals are hesitant to vaccinate that…
Have you noticed the beams? The ones that make a church worship space look like an upside-down ark? Maybe you enjoyed counting them as a kid during a long sermon (once you were done tallying the organ pipes or tracking the sun’s progress across the hymnal board). Those familiar wooden ribs are a bit of…
“Lecturing countries from afar is an ineffective strategy.” That’s what Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters during a July press conference on the decision to restore Canada’s diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. Critics argue that Canada shouldn’t engage a country with such a troubling human rights record. But Carney’s government sees it differently. Whether…
I do not normally weigh in on ecclesiastical issues in this space, but given my long association with and current membership in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), I think it is appropriate to comment on Synod 2026’s decision to withdraw from the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). I understand that church denominations have to…
I was recently invited to be part of a conference in Guelph, Ontario with about thirty Canadian Christian leaders. During one personal conversation with a seminary president, I mentioned that my daughter had recently graduated from Regent College in Vancouver with a Masters of Divinity. He asked whether she intended to serve as a local…
“I believe that the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) is at a pivot point,” declared General Secretary Zachary King in his opening address at the denomination’s annual meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 13. As King called the church to renewal, he also acknowledged the disunity the CRC has experienced in recent years. At least…
James Mackay was known to be a brilliant lawyer and Presbyterian elder long before he became Lord Advocate of Scotland (1979-84) and then Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (1987-97). He was, in the words of a past president of the Law Society of Scotland: “not only an outstanding man in his profession, but one…
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