Practical Ecumenism

Ministry on the island is intimately pretty practical. I was planning to head to the Indian Fellowship Meeting at Rama First Nation today but last night one of the Roman Catholic women on the island stopped by. One of her relatives had passed away and was being brought home to the island today. Unfortunately, the priest, not understanding the need for his presence at this time, was not able to be available for the “welcome home to the island” ceremony. So…I threw on my clerical collar and went down to meet the ferry, then vested and led the service at the Catholic Church. As a former Catholic myself it was a little strange to be vested and leading worship in the Catholic Church in place of the priest! (But I kind of liked it!) The family isn’t sure whether the priest will be there for the wake tonight so I have to be prepared to lead that too… And be ready to play and sing as well.

The Pentecost Rainbow

by Teresa Burnett-Cole • 10 June 2019
Today is Pentecost Sunday. The day we see and hear about some of the great symbols of faith. The day we all see red! Traditionally Pentecost is about being surprised, and being fully enlivened by God’s spirit, as Jesus was. And Pentecost is about hearing and experiencing the present-ness of God in a language we can understand... Not just in English or French or Korean or German, but also in the language of unemployment, television commercials, supermarket shopping and school playgrounds.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

by Teresa Burnett-Cole • 28 April 2019
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia! This morning, I want to say a word about Easter, a word taken from one of the great Eastern images of the mystery of the resurrection, an icon that has been a part of the Christian vision of what the Resurrection is all about since around the year 600. I have been powerfully drawn to this icon lately, and I want to talk about it a bit this morning. Let’s take a look. Remember: icons are about the theological meaning of people and events; they aren’t representative art like we might typically encounter. Icons are never depictions of exactly what happened. They’re pictures of what things mean. So, an icon of the Resurrection doesn’t show what the resurrection might have looked like back then—an icon of the Resurrection shows what it means now.