In the first Advent Unwrapped Newsletter (subscribe for free) of the season, I wrote about how far it feels that we have strayed from the world God imagines* , and how grateful I am for the season of Advent, a time to dream of a better world, a time to...
Happy fall, everyone! A quick October note to let you know about three new improvements to GatheringWorship.ca that we’re excited to share with you! You asked for easier access to the upcoming weekly services, and we are excited to deliver the new colour-coded tiles (based on the liturgical season) to...
My mom loves to recount the story of a little Alydia in a very cute dress with matching hat, gloves, purse, and frilly socks, climbing over the pew to tell the very proper church women singing behind us to “shut up because my mom says so” during the singing of...
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On Easter Sunday, the music minister at my church weaved The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” into his postlude, and it felt so right, because wow, it has been a long, cold and lonely winter. And wow, it feels like years since the sun (and The Son) have been here...
When I was in university, I had a friend who was a devoted atheist. At the time, I was a very enthusiastic Christian, full of the Holy Spirit, ready to turn the world around! Late one night, she asked me, a little sullenly, why I had never tried to convert...
“Oops, sorry,” I said to my mom as we lovingly packed up our Christmas tins last year. “We have an extra tin now.” Christmas tins are priceless treasures in our house. We never have enough; between craft sales, friends, families, and neighbours, we always have more cookies than tins. Homemade...
One of my favourite Christian terms is a metaphor: Jesus the gardener. I am sure it has something to do with the random seedlings in my house. Truthfully, these seedlings rarely make it outside to the garden because they are almost all tropical plants from lush and beautiful Jamaica that...
I have been writing to you from the Worship, Music, and Spirituality Desk for over a decade now, and one of the things I have consistently heard over the years is what a blessing Gathering is. I have translated this compliment to mean anything but blessing (e.g., lifesaver, treasure, practical)...
Here is a story of two songs: a hymn from our existing collection and a folk tune I grew up with. VU 468 “Let us talents and tongues employ” (tune LINSTEAD, Jamaican; words by Fred Kaan, 1975) is a joyous communion hymn that is all about abundance: “Loaves abound!” “Linstead...
