Captivating your audience
“Let’s make this go viral!” I’ve heard this phrase too many times in my work as communications director at Mennonite Church Canada, usually from dear colleagues who dream of their particular message captivating a mass audience. The fact is, audiences make messages go viral, not messengers. When hundreds, thousands and even millions of people share…
Into the wilderness
Over the past few years, I’ve been inundated with stories, statistics, articles, books and documentaries chronicling the mass exodus of people leaving the church. The most recent to make waves was a blog post published several weeks ago by Donald Miller, a best-selling Christian author, explaining why he doesn’t attend church any more. Although I…
Not okay with violent play
As followers of Jesus, Darnell and I want our sons Cody and Makai to grow up without violent toys and video games. While that can be a challenge in many cultures, it is particularly tough in the Philippines, where violent conflict has been ongoing for decades. During a recent road trip through Northern Philippines, we…
Readers write: Feb. 17, 2014 issue
Is the paraclete always comforting? Re: “Spiritual attunement: Part 4 of a series,” Jan. 6, page 16. I enjoyed Troy Watson’s recent column. The image of being pickled in the Spirit is a great one. It may, however, be worth considering if the paraclete always “comforts, encourages, uplifts and defends.” Watson speaks from his own…
A few of my favourite things
One of my favourite things is rediscovering things: a movie I haven’t seen in a couple years, or putting my iTunes on shuffle and letting it find some forgotten classics. One of my new favourite things to rediscover has been the book of Genesis. Having accepted the Year of Reading Biblically challenge from Aaron Epp,…
The Dithering Age
It shows up in the smallest of ways. Send out an e-vite or ask people to confirm their attendance and you’ll see proof that we are part of the Dithering Age. Perhaps, like yours, our church routinely asks people to sign up for events with ample notice. Every conceivable means of communication known to the…
Borscht, congee or both?
I’ve heard of borscht, but I can’t really say that I’ve eaten it. And only very recently had I come across the word zwieback. I needed to Google that one. I would hazard a guess that I would receive perplexed looks if I were to ask the people in my church if they could identify…
I’m an Olympic atheist
Amid the medal counts, terror threats and Norwegian curling flare lies the notion that the Olympics make the world a better place. The goal of “Olympism”—yes, it’s a real word—says the Olympic Charter, is to “contribute to building a peaceful and better world.” Who could argue? But what does ski jumping have to do with…
Unlearning the Bible to welcome homosexuals
Mennonite Church Canada is encouraging its constituent congregations to engage the topic of sexual orientation in the hope that a consensus can be reached in the future. I commend the national church leadership for that. Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church in Winnipeg is engaging this challenging issue as well. Central to our discussion is our use…
Spirit attunement
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for attuning oneself to the Holy Spirit. We are all wired differently. This means we will often have to take different approaches to spiritual growth and engage in different spiritual practices than our fellow believers. This is a difficult thing to do, to go against the grain and norms of…
