Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

July 28, 2006

WELCOME

"(Jesus is) another example of someone who was desperately needed, and was also repressed as much as he could be. But it didn't really take. If the basic principle is to love your neighbor as yourself, you can't be loving that person and watch him starve, or be a victim of violence. Love to exist has to be an act of principle. By its nature it can't be passive."

—singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn (from an interview in E/The Environmental Magazine)

ON THE LINE

Sites of Interest along the Information Highway

Ship of Fools
What The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is to news, Ship of Fools is to Christianity: it mocks the church but you learn as well. There's hilarious commentary on church life (listen to the mp3 of every church minister's nightmare of a voice mail message), bizarre religious trends ("Gadgets for God"), and absurd moments and figures in Christian history in their "Loose Canons" section. There's also some searching critique of the church and genuine love for the institution as well. And the biblical curse generator is always handy: I hope you will be smitten with all-over boils, thou child of Jezebel!

Geez Magazine
A new independent magazine out of Winnipeg, Geez strives to be "a bustling spot for the over-churched, out-churched, un-churched and maybe even the un-churchable." It explores issues of faith and justice in guerrilla style. Their submission guidelines caution, "Geez is an affront to hip Christianity. We're not about cooling down faith so it is pop-culture palatable." Their website has several samples of their latest issue.

WELCOMING MINISTRIES TOOLBOX

jPod
by Douglas Coupland
Reviewed by Graeme Burk

jPod is the "cubicle farm" within a videogame company where, inexplicably, everyone with a last name beginning with J has been paired together. Rather like Hotel California, there's no seemingly escape from jPod, and its residents are dysfunctional geeks who through an accident of birth were too late for the tech bubble and now work in a McJob that only has the illusion of creativity: their skateboard video game keeps being watered down by management who are about as culturally savvy as the Golden Girls. It's a banal, amoral existence—the narrator, Ethan, has a suburban mother that runs a grow-op (as one does) and a roommate whose business is in people smuggling. It's a life so limited in horizon the author himself (inserting himself as a character in the novel) sends Ethan a note saying, non-judgmentally, that his life, well, sucks.

[read the full article]

Resources from the United Church

Women's Concerns magazine, published by the Faith Formation and Education unit of the General Council, has been around a long time, more than 25 years now. The publication has gone through many different looks and changes in those years, as it sought to express with integrity the voices of women of the United Church. Yet, at the heart of all these changes, one thing has remained constant, and that is the celebration of asking, seeking, and knocking.

The persistence of the writers and editors of Women's Concerns to ask the hard questions, both of the church and of themselves, can be seen clearly in the recent issue, "What Do We Mean by 'Christian'?" (Issue Two, 2006). This issue features thoughtful reflections by several women, including minister Gretta Vosper and artist Regina Coupar, on what it means—and what it doesn't mean—to be a Christian. The writers in this issue wrestle deeply with this question, and as you might expect, they come up with a variety of different insights and perspectives. What becomes clear as you read through these articles is the profound value of being able to ask honest questions about one's faith together with others. In the openness of this kind of community, it isn't the answers that matter as much as the journey one begins just by asking.

For more information, see Women's Concerns website.

PULSETAKING

Below are some of the responses to the question in the July 7 issue of Emerging Spirit News: "What would you like to you tell those who don't attend church about your faith?"

If you would like to share your thoughts on this question in the next newsletter, please e-mail Emerging Spirit.

from Sandra Streifel, West Burnaby United Church, Burnaby, BC

The United Church is a place I have found people who support and challenge me spiritually and in other ways. It's a group of people with whom I can discuss and question ideas about spiritual things, and talk about how the practical things in our lives affect us and our world. The United Church is a place and time I can count on worship to refresh me, music to heal me, and ideas that might lead me to change things in my life, and in the world I live. It's the place I encounter and try to welcome and care for people whose lives and needs may be very different from mine; sometimes we manage to connect and we both are enriched. You might find what you're looking for here, too, and we're not difficult to find or intimidating to visit.

from Barbara Cope, Otterville United Church, Otterville, Ontario

I would like to let people know that in this wonderful United Church of Canada, everyone does not have to have identical faiths. Each person is at a different stage of his/her faith journey. The United Church does not require each member to have the same opinion on everything. We are free to read and study to develop our faith which, hopefully leads us to work for the "social justice for all."

from Kathryn Henderson, Westminster United Church, Shoal Lake, Manitoba

• We have a great minister who makes everything she has to say meaningful to our lives.
• I don't judge people by the way they are dressed. I have not heard of anyone commenting on my dress, and it is VERY casual. Yeah, usually jeans. I try not to wear a t-shirt with a decal (slogan or something) on it.
• It IS just like coming home, when I attend. I would think if you were raised in the United Church, it would seem more so.
• I was not raised in the United Church, and the VERY TOUGHEST PART of attending was knowing when to stand and when to sit. Seems goofy, no? But when you are new to the church, and you are already maybe a little self-conscious, the standing up for the hymns seems to be like a big secret you are the last to be in on. BUT—come to church, we'll warn you when to stand!

Ok, I just realised that the above four points have NOTHING to do with my
faith, and everything to do with...I don't know what to call it. Protocol? Dogma? Routine? "Stuff We Do In Church Just Because"?

I guess what I would tell people who don't attend church about my faith is, "Sit in on our services for a few Sundays and see if you find your own faith has found a place that is welcoming. See if you find your faith renewed, or a place where your faith can live and grow."

Also received by PULSETAKING

from Linda Parsons, York Presbytery, Toronto, Ontario

This is super! I am chair of Christian Formation and Congregational Development for York Presbytery and our committee will be highlighting Emerging Spirit. Thank you for this initiative. It is wonderful. I am 64 and I am still emerging and yearning for the spirit. Blessings.

See more of what our readers are saying in the PulseTaking section of our website.