flavour of the church

What kind of place is your church? What does it feel like? What words come to mind when you think about it? And what do you hope that it will be?

I've been giving this some thought in regard to what I hope my own church will be like. Here's what I came up with:

p.s. I made this image using www.wordle.net. You can make your own there very easily, for free.

beacon of love

St. Paul's, the church we attend, is at a new point in its life as a parish. Various conversations have been taking place regarding our future. However, it seems that a lot of the discussion that has transpired so far has resulted in many good ideas about what we might do. What I'm more interested in—what I think needs to happen first, and what this video is all about—is an exploration of who we want to be and who we want to become.

This presentation shares some of my thoughts, ideas and questions as to what the next part of our journey together might look like. The presentation is done "pecha kucha" style -- 20 images with 20 seconds to talk about each one. As a lot of the images are cartoons from this blog, I recommend that you view the video full screen in order to be able to see them properly.

I invite you to share your comments and feedback with me. More importantly, if you are part of St. Paul's, take time to pray, think and dream about what kind of a church we should be and become. Make your own video, draw pictures, make a list on a sheet of paper — record your thoughts and dreams somehow or other, and share them with the church leadership.




View full-screen for best results.

pop art: polar melting

Not quite the usual theme of this site, but in continuing my experiments at work, I came across Coke's polar bear can and this seemed a natural "pop art" piece to make. And it is clear and to the point.

[four key suggestions from Gandhi]

E. Stanley Jones, a missionary to India, tells of this conversation he had with Gandhi. While it is in the context of reaching out to the Indian people, it is equally applicable to reaching out to our friends, neighbours and colleagues here at home.

In conversation with [Mahatma Gandhi] one day I said, “Mahatma Gandhi, I am very anxious to see Christianity naturalized in India, so that it shall be no longer a foreign thing identified with a foreign people and a foreign government, but a part of the national life of India and contributing its power to India’s uplift and redemption. What would you suggest that we do make that possible?”

He very gravely and thoughtfully replied: “I would suggest, first, that all of you Christians, missionaries and all, must begin to live more like Jesus Christ.”

He needn’t have said anything more—that was quite enough. I knew that looking through his eyes were the three hundred millions of India, and speaking through his voice were the dumb millions of the East saying to me, a representative of the West, and through me to that very West itself, “If you will come to us in the spirit of your Master, we cannot resist you.” Never was there a greater challenge to the West than that, and never was it more sincerely given.