Our meeting on June 18-19, 2021 was very meaningful and productive. Highlights included the worship and prayer times together. We previewed the World Day of Prayer (WDP) service for 2022 written by the women of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (EWNI) and the Fellowship of the Least Coin ingathering service for fall 2021. “For I… Read more »
Summer Exercise – some thoughts on health, physical activity, and religion
With summer weather increasing across Canada, and COVID-19 restrictions lessening, more and more people are getting outside. Gardens are being planted and weeded, and walks are longer. It’s a perfect time to consider the relationship between health and physical activity. It is good to think about the factors that will keep us healthy throughout our… Read more »
Police and Racism
Two years ago, “Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls” was released in two volumes. One year ago, Chantel Moore, a young woman from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, was shot by a police officer in Edmundston, New Brunswick after being called to her… Read more »
Father’s Day and Christianity
“Father’s Day” honours fathers and fatherhood as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph’s Day since the Middle Ages. The first celebration of “Father’s Day” in America took place at a YMCA in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910. Sonora Smart Dodd, a Christian woman born… Read more »
Canadian Council of Churches and the Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada
The Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) recently welcomed WICC as an Affiliate member at their Governing Board meetings. CCC is the broadest and most inclusive ecumenical body with representatives from over 25 Christian denominations and Affiliate groups. Rev. Steph McClellan, WICC President, and Cath MacKeil, WICC Executive Director, were blessed to attend CCC meetings in… Read more »
Words of Comfort
Some years ago, I was on a flight during which there were turbulences. It was a bit unsettling so I began to pray. As I prayed, I remembered the scripture (Matthew 8:23-27) when Jesus and his disciples went into a boat. As Jesus slept, a storm swept over the boat, the disciples woke Jesus, asking… Read more »
The Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada (WICC)
In the 1900’s, a dream spread through Canada: growing Christ’s kingdom through prayer, fostering unity, and having a voice in social justice. Various denominations were already passionate about prayer and justice, but in 1918 Bessie McMurchy invited them to gather for what would become the Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada. In 2021, members of the… Read more »
Some Bread…or a Stone?
The first step to action is awareness! Recent studies show that there are 400 million children living in extreme poverty around the world. The average person in a developing country lives on $0.78 CAD a day. This can contribute to child labour and create generational poverty traps. **** THINK NAME THAT COUNTRY …. Over 840,000… Read more »
Poverty: A Reflection on The Other Face of God: When the Stranger Calls Us Home
One book that I treasure is The Other Face of God: When the Stranger Calls Us Home, by Mary Jo Leddy, a well-known Catholic writer, and the founder of Romero House in Toronto. In her day-to-day work with refugees, Mary Jo “learned that poverty is not simply a social problem to be fixed, not an… Read more »
Poverty
The story of Jesus feeding the five thousand in Matthew 14:13-21 talks of compassion for people who are hungry, and of sharing even the little that may be available. Ontario statistics indicate that the child poverty rate in Ontario, one of the richest provinces in Canada, is similar to the Canadian level (campaign2000.ca – Child… Read more »