GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: wholst@telus.net
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: wholst@telus.net
This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally - waholst@telus.net
*****
Dear Friends:
Sorry for my lateness in sending out this past weekend's
edition of Colleagues List. I was awaiting information, and
it has now arrived.
This week, my Special Item is my November column for
the Anglican Journal, entitled - "For All the Saints".
All Saints Sunday has just passed, and I continue to think
of spiritual mentors in my life like my father, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
This week, the United Church of Canada (Toronto Region)
announced that colleague Greta Vosper has been fully
restored to the roster of clergy. For more than three years,
her status has been in limbo since she declared herself an
atheist. "How can you be a Christian clergyperson if you
don't believe in God?" That is the question she and many
others in the UCC have been grappling with, as she sincerely
wants to be the minister of her local congregation.
What the United Church stated, in essence, is that it seeks
to be both "orthodox" and "inclusive" as a body of Christian
believers. Both terms are classic theological values that
are cherished by Christians. Our history, however, suggests
that there are times when we have sacrificed inclusivity on
the altar of orthodoxy, or vice-versa. In other words, if your
beliefs are different from mine, we must separate into different communities at best, or declare each other heretics at worst.
To my mind the decision of the UCC was a good one, and
it flies in the face of two thousand years of Western history.
Holding orthodoxy and inclusivity together in equal suspension
is a mystery but it is a sacred mystery. Perhaps we need
voices from our Canadian Indigenous community or from
an ancient eastern faith tradition like Buddhism to explain
this to our Western minds.
I am certain that the end of debate on this matter has not
been achieved, but I heartily welcome Greta fully back
into her wider-church family.
Please enjoy the items on the Parliament of World Religions
just completed in Toronto. Colleague Lorna Dueck shares a
video presentation. Colleague Brian Arthur Brown sent an
article that I was unable to include, but thanks Brian.
There are many other items I have gathered for you this
week as well.
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
My November column for the Anglican Journal is entitled:
*****
Dear Friends:
Sorry for my lateness in sending out this past weekend's
edition of Colleagues List. I was awaiting information, and
it has now arrived.
This week, my Special Item is my November column for
the Anglican Journal, entitled - "For All the Saints".
All Saints Sunday has just passed, and I continue to think
of spiritual mentors in my life like my father, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
This week, the United Church of Canada (Toronto Region)
announced that colleague Greta Vosper has been fully
restored to the roster of clergy. For more than three years,
her status has been in limbo since she declared herself an
atheist. "How can you be a Christian clergyperson if you
don't believe in God?" That is the question she and many
others in the UCC have been grappling with, as she sincerely
wants to be the minister of her local congregation.
What the United Church stated, in essence, is that it seeks
to be both "orthodox" and "inclusive" as a body of Christian
believers. Both terms are classic theological values that
are cherished by Christians. Our history, however, suggests
that there are times when we have sacrificed inclusivity on
the altar of orthodoxy, or vice-versa. In other words, if your
beliefs are different from mine, we must separate into different communities at best, or declare each other heretics at worst.
To my mind the decision of the UCC was a good one, and
it flies in the face of two thousand years of Western history.
Holding orthodoxy and inclusivity together in equal suspension
is a mystery but it is a sacred mystery. Perhaps we need
voices from our Canadian Indigenous community or from
an ancient eastern faith tradition like Buddhism to explain
this to our Western minds.
I am certain that the end of debate on this matter has not
been achieved, but I heartily welcome Greta fully back
into her wider-church family.
Please enjoy the items on the Parliament of World Religions
just completed in Toronto. Colleague Lorna Dueck shares a
video presentation. Colleague Brian Arthur Brown sent an
article that I was unable to include, but thanks Brian.
There are many other items I have gathered for you this
week as well.
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
My November column for the Anglican Journal is entitled:
"For All the Saints" https://tinyurl.com/ycsp5bqg
I reflect on the years when my father and I tended to our church cemetery and how my continued search for spiritual mentoring has led to a recent church group study on The Book of Joy - Wisdom from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama
*****
I reflect on the years when my father and I tended to our church cemetery and how my continued search for spiritual mentoring has led to a recent church group study on The Book of Joy - Wisdom from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Lorna Dueck,
Toronto, ON.
Context
November 9th, 2018
Report (with video) on the
Parliament of World Religions
Toronto, ON. November 1st-7th, 2018
*****
Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log,
November 7th, 2018
"Beyond My Understanding"
https://tinyurl.com/yajxerps
--
John Stackhouse Jr.
Moncton, NB
Faith Today,
Nov/Dec. 2018
"Lessons in Free Speech
From Donald Trump to Jordan Peterson"
https://tinyurl.com/ybh5g7cn
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX.
Personal Web Site,
November 5th, 2018
"When is Our Life Fulfilled?"
https://tinyurl.com/y7ahhjrq
*****
NET NOTES
GRETTA VOSPER DECISION RELEASED
She Remains a United Church Minister
United Church Observer,
November, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycpkxc8e
--
UCC MODERATOR'S MESSAGE
CONCERNING THE REV. GRETTA VOSPER
The Rev. Dr. Richard Bott
United Church of Canada,
November 8th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycgmwe8j
--
MORE THAN JUST A
'PAT ON THE BACK' FOR FAITH
Parliament of World Religions
Met in Toronto, Nov. 1st - 7th
Religion News Service,
November 1st, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y8dfqca7
--
FORMER SS GUARD WEEPS AT
TESTIMONY OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
Responsible for Many Deaths
The Guardian, UK
November 7th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/yaaugr8m
--
ANGER ERUPTS IN EGYPT AFTER
MASSACRE OF CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS
Busses Carrying Copts Ambushed
Religion News Service,
November 5th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y9mfvb2y
--
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES
AND THEIR FALSE SENSE OF PROGRESS
The Focus on "Whiteness" was Misplaced
The Christian Century,
October 23rd, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycn9wkde
--
TRUMP PRESIDENCY, WHITE SUPREMACY,
CRITICISED AT PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS
World Body Speaks Out Against US Developments
Religion News Service,
November 7th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y93gcckj
--
UKRAINIAN MONASTERIES BECOME PAWNS
IN CONFLICT BETWEEN ORTHODOX CHURCHES
Russia and the Ukraine Both Claim Them
La Croix International,
November 6th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycfysmtg
--
FRANCIS WANTS CATHOLIC CHARISMATICS
TO DIALOGUE WITH PENTECOSTALS AND
EVANGELCIAL CHRISTIANS
A New Focus for Changing Times
La Croix International
November 7th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y7uafjph
Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log,
November 7th, 2018
"Beyond My Understanding"
https://tinyurl.com/yajxerps
--
John Stackhouse Jr.
Moncton, NB
Faith Today,
Nov/Dec. 2018
"Lessons in Free Speech
From Donald Trump to Jordan Peterson"
https://tinyurl.com/ybh5g7cn
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX.
Personal Web Site,
November 5th, 2018
"When is Our Life Fulfilled?"
https://tinyurl.com/y7ahhjrq
*****
NET NOTES
GRETTA VOSPER DECISION RELEASED
She Remains a United Church Minister
United Church Observer,
November, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycpkxc8e
--
UCC MODERATOR'S MESSAGE
CONCERNING THE REV. GRETTA VOSPER
The Rev. Dr. Richard Bott
United Church of Canada,
November 8th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycgmwe8j
--
MORE THAN JUST A
'PAT ON THE BACK' FOR FAITH
Parliament of World Religions
Met in Toronto, Nov. 1st - 7th
Religion News Service,
November 1st, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y8dfqca7
--
FORMER SS GUARD WEEPS AT
TESTIMONY OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
Responsible for Many Deaths
The Guardian, UK
November 7th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/yaaugr8m
--
ANGER ERUPTS IN EGYPT AFTER
MASSACRE OF CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS
Busses Carrying Copts Ambushed
Religion News Service,
November 5th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y9mfvb2y
--
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES
AND THEIR FALSE SENSE OF PROGRESS
The Focus on "Whiteness" was Misplaced
The Christian Century,
October 23rd, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycn9wkde
--
TRUMP PRESIDENCY, WHITE SUPREMACY,
CRITICISED AT PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS
World Body Speaks Out Against US Developments
Religion News Service,
November 7th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y93gcckj
--
UKRAINIAN MONASTERIES BECOME PAWNS
IN CONFLICT BETWEEN ORTHODOX CHURCHES
Russia and the Ukraine Both Claim Them
La Croix International,
November 6th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/ycfysmtg
--
FRANCIS WANTS CATHOLIC CHARISMATICS
TO DIALOGUE WITH PENTECOSTALS AND
EVANGELCIAL CHRISTIANS
A New Focus for Changing Times
La Croix International
November 7th, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/y7uafjph
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
From Sojourners and the Bruderhof onlne:
You can safely assume you've created God in your own Image
when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
- Anne Lamott
--
Voting is a decisive act of Christian faith that I matter,
society matters, justice matters, and others matter.
- Richard Rohr, OFM
From Sojourners and the Bruderhof onlne:
You can safely assume you've created God in your own Image
when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
- Anne Lamott
--
Voting is a decisive act of Christian faith that I matter,
society matters, justice matters, and others matter.
- Richard Rohr, OFM
--
Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields ... Watch, now, how I start
the day in happiness, in kindness.
- Mary Oliver
--
There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable,
those who serve God with all their heart because they
know him and those who seek him with all their heart
because they do not know him.
- Blaise Pascal
--
Freedom is not the last word. Freedom is only part of
the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative
aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect
is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of
degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived
in terms of responsibleness.
Viktor E. Frankl
--
Unfortunately, brothers and sisters, we are the product
of a spiritualized, individualistic education. We were taught:
Try to save your soul and don’t worry about the rest. We
told the suffering: Be patient, heaven will follow, hang on.
No, that’s not right, that’s not salvation! The salvation that
Christ brings is salvation from every bondage that oppresses
human beings.
- Óscar Romero
*****
A MOMENT IN HISTORY
PRIME MINISTER APOLOGIZES TO CANADIAN JEWS
Globe and Mail, November 7th, 2018
Justin Trudeau is apologizing to Canadian Jews today
for the 1939 St. Louis decision
In 1939, the government of prime minister Mackenzie King
rejected pleas to give safe haven to 907 German Jews
fleeing Nazi persecution aboard the St. Louis. Hundreds
later died in concentration camps.
Almost 80 years later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is
apologizing to draw attention to Canada’s past failings.
Canada’s anti-Semitic history is now known thanks to
discoveries in public archives in the 1970s. King’s diary
records his fear of “too great an intermixture of foreign
strains of blood,” while the man behind Canada’s restrictive
immigration policies at the time wrote “the line must be
drawn somewhere.” Discrimination could also be seen
across Canadian society in the 1930s: There were no
Jewish judges, university professors or doctors in hospitals.
*****
Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields ... Watch, now, how I start
the day in happiness, in kindness.
- Mary Oliver
--
There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable,
those who serve God with all their heart because they
know him and those who seek him with all their heart
because they do not know him.
- Blaise Pascal
--
Freedom is not the last word. Freedom is only part of
the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative
aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect
is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of
degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived
in terms of responsibleness.
Viktor E. Frankl
--
Unfortunately, brothers and sisters, we are the product
of a spiritualized, individualistic education. We were taught:
Try to save your soul and don’t worry about the rest. We
told the suffering: Be patient, heaven will follow, hang on.
No, that’s not right, that’s not salvation! The salvation that
Christ brings is salvation from every bondage that oppresses
human beings.
- Óscar Romero
*****
A MOMENT IN HISTORY
PRIME MINISTER APOLOGIZES TO CANADIAN JEWS
Globe and Mail, November 7th, 2018
Justin Trudeau is apologizing to Canadian Jews today
for the 1939 St. Louis decision
In 1939, the government of prime minister Mackenzie King
rejected pleas to give safe haven to 907 German Jews
fleeing Nazi persecution aboard the St. Louis. Hundreds
later died in concentration camps.
Almost 80 years later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is
apologizing to draw attention to Canada’s past failings.
Canada’s anti-Semitic history is now known thanks to
discoveries in public archives in the 1970s. King’s diary
records his fear of “too great an intermixture of foreign
strains of blood,” while the man behind Canada’s restrictive
immigration policies at the time wrote “the line must be
drawn somewhere.” Discrimination could also be seen
across Canadian society in the 1930s: There were no
Jewish judges, university professors or doctors in hospitals.
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT - Desmond Tutu
Goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate.
Light is stronger than darkness. Life is stronger than death.
(end)
*****
For those interested:
ST. DAVID'S ACTS MONDAY NIGHT FALL BOOK STUDY
A Ten Week Series September 17th - November 26th, 2018
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
"THE BOOK OF JOY"
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
"THE BOOK OF JOY"
Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
Authors: Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $25.00
Authors: Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $25.00
Registration and Book Sale began Sunday, August 26th
45 copies of the book were available for sale.
All are now sold. Total on-site registrations: 42
(plus 3 on-line participants). Grand Total: 45
Hardcover edition - https://tinyurl.com/yd849r6g
(plus 3 on-line participants). Grand Total: 45
Hardcover edition - https://tinyurl.com/yd849r6g
Background information on the study book will be
--
Some annual stats:
Some annual stats:
During the 2017-2018 fall/winter two term series -
Total class registrations: 70
Total books sold: 84
Our best year ever, since we started in 1998!
***
***
ST. DAVID'S SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS TOUR, 2019
East Europe and Russia were chosen as our destinations!
This will be our fifth Spiritual Travelers Tour, with a
group emerging from St. David's but very open to others.
The Tour is entitled: "From Vienna to Moscow"
We plan a twenty-day tour that combines a focus
on spirituality, culture and the relationship between
religion and politics. The tour will run from April 26th
through May 16th, 2019.
https://tinyurl.com/y834742f
A beautiful brochure with trip cost, itinerary, and
many helpful travel hints has been published.
https://tinyurl.com/y7j55gym
Our trip sale has just reached an important milestone
as 38 persons have registered, helping us to surpass our
optimal goal of 28 passengers (all have earned early bird
registration benefits). A waiting list has been set up to
continue receiving applicants to replace any drop-outs
and with special $300. savings to November 15th.
https://tinyurl.com/y834742f
A beautiful brochure with trip cost, itinerary, and
many helpful travel hints has been published.
https://tinyurl.com/y7j55gym
Our trip sale has just reached an important milestone
as 38 persons have registered, helping us to surpass our
optimal goal of 28 passengers (all have earned early bird
registration benefits). A waiting list has been set up to
continue receiving applicants to replace any drop-outs
and with special $300. savings to November 15th.
Our Canadian tour company is Rostad Tours, Calgary.
Contact Rostad Tours: http://www.rostad.com/
Phone 1-800-361-8687 or 403-238-4090.
Contact Rostad Tours: http://www.rostad.com/
Phone 1-800-361-8687 or 403-238-4090.
Follow these notices for weekly updates.
***
ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY
Our theme this autumn: Hebrew Wisdom Literature -
"A Study of Proverbs and the Song of Solomon" -
Ten Sessions - September 20th-November 22nd, 2018
Gathering at 9:30 AM in the St. David's TM Room
Gathering at 9:30 AM in the St. David's TM Room
and meeting 10:00 - 11:00 AM.
No charge
No charge
Study resource -
"The DK Complete Bible Handbook"
Edited by John Bowker
http://tinyurl.com/odxlv7q
*****
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