This book reads like a novel, with four pastors as the main characters and church meetings as the plotline in the story of one church. Yet this is actually immersive journalism, based on four years of recording details about the real life, internal workings of one congregation. Circle of Hope tells of the rise and…
Growing up, like many Christians, I attended worship services with my family. Church was never something I did alone; it was a shared rhythm of life, deeply embedded in family routines. When I began studying at a Christian university, I either returned home on Sundays to worship with my parents or attended a local church…
My career as a writer was launched in 1980 when I sent an unsolicited article to Calvinist Contact – and it was accepted! The impetus for my article was born on a gold-tinged Sunday afternoon in September: the golden leaves of autumn in the woods next door, the golden sunlight streaming over the hill behind…
The Anabaptist-affiliated Meeting House church pastored by Bruxy Cavey in Ontario has become a rise and fall saga and stands now at the point of closure – without full closure for its members.In June 2024 attendees were told by the Meeting House Transition Board of Overseers that even though TMH has changed leadership and implemented…
“Imagine waiting until the minister says, ‘You may now kiss the bride,’ for your lips to meet your husband’s for the first time,” Carly said dreamily. We sat in a circle, cocooned in our sleeping bags on the church floor. Carly was the beautiful, vivacious older girl in our Pentecostal youth group, while I was…
For the past three years, I have been on a journey of deconstruction – disillusioned by the command-and-control nature of denominations and the modus operandi of the local church. At times my questioning has felt perilous. Should I be feeling this way? What would the faithful generations in my family tree think? Am I losing…
“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…
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