Welfare Is…
What do you think when you hear that someone is on “Welfare”? For most the word “Welfare” has become associated with shameful or unfavourable connotations. We may think of people…
The Streets Age You
THE STREETS AGE YOU: The Correlation between Poverty and Ill Health Gary* and I are roughly the same age and have a decent amount in common. We both have children…
An Unholy Purge: Reflections On The Holocaust And Other Acts Of Genocide
This past Monday evening, Saint John’s Jewish community observed Yom Hoshoah — Holocaust Memorial Day— at the Shaarei Zedek Synagogue. The keynote speaker was Dr. Cheryl Fury, a professor of…
Resurrecting Religion: A Book Review
When Terence and I first began attending Sanctuary’s Sunday evening service we were young seminary students. In our hoodies and ripped jeans, we were mostly attracted by the relaxed atmosphere…
The Failure Of Confirmation Class (And We Need To Do To Make It Work)
If you’re a parish priest in the Catholic, Anglican or Lutheran tradition, you’re no doubt quite familiar with the following scenario. Carter and Mckayla— brother and sister— have, within the…
How The Canada Summer Jobs Application Form Is Affecting One Saint John Non-Profit
Its remarkable how something as prosaic and mundane as a government application form— crafted, as I imagine, by staid government bureaucrats toiling away somewhere in an Ottawa office tower— can…
On Being Called A Racial Slur
I have very high standards when it comes to defining what actually constitutes an act of racism. Mounting a reasoned critique of the fairness and efficacy of affirmative action is,…
Living Amidst The Tombs: Mental Illness Among The Homeless Of Saint John
Robert* is a thirty-five year-old schizophrenic man whom I first met through my volunteer work at the homeless shelter. With his well groomed, neatly trimmed beard, fashionable glasses and intelligent…
The Democracy Of The Dead: Reflections On All Saints Day
I know Saint Paul personally. Or that’s the way it felt roughly fifteen years ago when, for two whole semesters of my theological education, most of my academic reading centred…
Pet Loss, Grieving, And The Church
I’ve never been a pet lover. For one thing, like every other member of my birth family, I have a penchant for neatness and order and couldn’t abide a dog,…