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

For your browsing pleasure.... 

1. From Geez Magazine - 'Cultural Activism' - Jennifer Verson gives her take on the meaning of 'cultural activism' - taking back "control how our webs of meaning, value systems, beliefs, art and literature, everything, are created and disseminated." The theory behind the practice of questioning the status quo.

2. From Geez Magazine - 'Confessions of a contemporary Christian colonialist' - What would happen if Zacchaeus kept his ill-gotten gains, and passed them on to his heirs? Josh Kaufman-Horner asks what the responsibilities modern Christians have towards the benefits they enjoy from injustices of the past.

3. From Geez Magazine - 'Lessons from a White Republican Male" - What does a left-wing activist son have to learn about serving the poor from his middle-aged Republican father?

4. From Geez Magazine - 'Triumph' - "Activism" goes one-on-one as Kate Masson takes time off from her job at Christian mission in Toronto to help one homeless 17-year-old find a place to live.

5. From ShipOfFools.com - 'The Twelve Days of Kitschmas' - "Turn on the Xmas lights, cue the mall muzak, release the elves into Santa's grotto, stick Cliff's "Mistletoe and Wine" on endless repeat, and welcome to Kitschmas 2008." Check out Ship of Fools' annual list of 12 of the worst Christmas gifts ever.

6. From ThinkChristian.net - 'Shades of Green' - Across the church today there is a running debate on what you might call the "religious value of ecology." Steven Koster takes a crack at the issue, giving his thoughts on just what the church as an organisation, and Christians in general, should preach and practice when it comes being "green."

7. From ThinkChristian.net - 'Creavolution' - Even for the many Christians who accept evolution, the relationship between God and science (particularly evolutionary theory) can be uneasy. Michael Geertsma reflects on a childhood brought up in creationism, and those who live 'between' the worlds of science and Christian faith.

8. From ThinkChristian.net - 'Tithing... without the church' - Do you tithe? Is money given in the name of God tithe, no matter where it goes? Andy makes an interesting discovery about just how people are spending their 'church' money.

9. From ThinkChristian.net - 'Beautiful words from "unclean" lips: finding spiritual light in unexpected places' - Andy Rau discovers grace from an unexpected source, and asks his readers if they have done the same.

10. From the Out of Ur blog - 'Mission and Recession'  - Skye Jethani describes the effects that economic downturns have on people's leisure time—and how that negatively impacts the time they spend on church and mission-related activities.He suggests that our whole approach to
"church work" needs adjusting...

11. From the January 2009 issue of Sojourners - 'Buy, Buy Baby' - Valerie Weaver-Zercher writes about the "branding of childhood" and helping parents protect their children from the over-commercialisation of Christmas.

12. From the January 2009 issue of Sojourners - 'A New Faith Coalition' - "The faith community can help bring people together on the biggest moral issues of our time, even across old political divisions."

13. From the January 2009 issue of Sojourners - "Amazing Grace in the Mental Ward" - "For years, I had fought against the stigmas that dehumanize people with mental illness. Now here I was on the inside."