Excommunicated!

 

Newly consecrated Bishops, from left, Marc Hanappier, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, Michael Goldade and Pascal Schreiber stand at the end of their consecration ceremony at the Society of St. Pius X seminary in Econe, Switzerland, on Wednesday, July 1. (Baz Ratner/AP via CNN Newsource)

Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communtion with other members of the congregation, and of receiving the sacraments..

How did I end up being a Protestant minister, a pastor of the United Church of Canada? What is the spiritual lineage of those of us who are part of a tradition that finds its way back to Martin Luther, the Catholic priest who hoped for reform and eventually broke from Rome? Perhaps we should say that the Roman Catholic church broke from Martin Luther and excommunicated him for his radical notion of grace. 

Most Protestant denominations and groups don't use the word "excommunicate" although they have processes to shun or disenfranchise members who don't adhere to their orthodoxies. Even the United Church has protocols to discipline or "defrock" errant members and clergy. 

This past week the Vatican and Pope Leo took the extreme step of giving the ecclesiastic boot to several clerics who have been ringleaders of a group of traditionalists who want to return to the Latin Mass that hasn't been used, officially, in more than sixty years. They resist other reforms as well. Despite attempts by Popes Francis and Leo to address the rebellious behaviour it came to a head this week. According to this CTV report: 

The Vatican announced Thursday that priests and members of a breakaway Catholic group that ordained four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV’s wishes are in schism and excommunicated. The Society of Saint Pius X, an ultra-traditionalist group, went ahead with the ordinations on Wednesday without papal approval and despite appeals from Leo to reverse the decision.

In response, the Vatican’s doctrinal office on Thursday published a decree saying that the four bishops are excommunicated, along with the two bishops who participated in the ordination ceremony. Excommunication means they are excluded from the sacraments of the church.

It added in an explanatory note that priests belonging to the society and lay members who “formally adhere” to the group are also in schism and excommunicated.

There have been Roman Catholic clerics who have been cautioned and censored in the past half century for expressing "dangerous" views on subjects including such as the ordination of women. Some of us Protestants might consider them progressive rather than a threat to church doctrine and order. This current bunch are regressive and often obnoxious, usually older men playing liturgical dress-up insisting that old institutional ways are Christ's ways.

We'll see how this develops. 

One Nation Under God? America at 250

 

Today marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and for many Americans this is a moment of uncertainty and even mourning over the listing ship of democracy. Some are choosing not to fly the American flag today or to display it upside down as a distress signal. 

There are also plenty of patriots who are enthused about the current administration and convinced that whatever stormy waters the country is experiencing, all will be well.

Among this happy throng are millions of conservative Christians who are convinced that they are in the midst of a revival of Christian values. In recent days some of them are hailing the phrase "one nation under God," claiming it is enshrined in the Constitution and must be upheld  It may be a sign of the times that this claim is "fake news."  The phrase is part of the Pledge of Allegiance although it wasn't added until 1954. This was during what is termed the Red Scare, a few years of madness when Senator Joseph McCarthy convinced much of the American citizenry that the communists were plotting against democracy in the country. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs or were blackballed during this conspiracy theory. 

One current right-wing Christian leader credits Trump with "doing more for religious liberty than any other President in U.S. history” and there are plenty of others who share this sentiment. Of course, this liberty doesn't seem to include Christians who hold different values from Christian Nationalists or those from other religions. This sure comes across as idolatry to me, but what do I know, I live in the 51st state. 

I have family members in the States and those who are most pious are the ones who seem to be okay with what I consider an alarming drift away from both democracy and the teaching of Christ. I believe in the separation of church and state but they can complement one another. From my side of the border I'm not seeing this. 

We can pray for those who are determined to uphold democratic values in the United States. We can pray for those whose religious values, including Christians, lean toward compassion and equality. Without them its hard to imagine the United States holding together for another 25 years, let alone 250, 

The BBC "Comes to Jesus"

 

                                                              Jesus Walks on Water Icon 

1. Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
   Things I would ask Him to tell me if He were here;
   Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
   Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.

I had to chuckle in a "Dad joke" way when I saw the Variety opening "The BBC is experiencing a 'come to Jesus' moment." The venerable British Broadcasting Corporation is creating a four-part series about the life of Jesus of Nazareth to be released in 2027. 

According to the BBC's news release: 

Ambitious new landmark series on the life and world of Jesus Christ announced

Jesus Christ is one of the most recognised and influential figures in human history --  yet what we know about him comes from remarkably few sources.

This ambitious series will bring life and focus like never before. With new historical research and insights, there has never been a more compelling moment to re-look at the evidence and follow the path of Jesus' life to map  how he sparked a revolution that continues to impact our lives 2000 years later. 

                                                          The Greatest Story Ever Told film, 1965

Is it just me or is there a gosh golly "Greatest Story Ever Told" feel to this introduction?  That's okay, I have a high tolerance for talking heads documentaries so I hope I can watch it and not be disappointed. 

There was a in-depth series by PBS back in the late 1990s called From Jesus to Christ and I recall it being worthwhile. It's still available online so I may take a look. And I'll continue to read my New Testament where I have regular "come to Jesus" moments. I might even re-watch The Life of Brian. 

The Sound of God on Fogo Island

Musician Jake Nicoll appraising the pipe organ in St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Fogo, Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada. Photograph: Noah Bender

I was pleasantly surprised to see an article a few days ago in Britain's The Guardian about organ music in rural Newfoundland. And I was delighted to see that one of the organs that the group of musicians headed by Michael Cloud Duguay visited was on Fogo Island and historic St. Andrew's Anglican Church. The title of the piece is: A sacred kind of sound’: inside a solar-powered journey to preserve the music of church organs.

This team showed up at old churches in various communities preparing their solar-powered mobile studio to record instruments "both humble and monumental, whose complex systems of keys, stops, hand cranks, foot pedals, bellows and reeds were designed to vibrate the air around them until it approximates the sound of God" to quote from the article. 

Remarkably, I have literally been inside the pipe organ pictured above through a low, almost concealed door just to the right of Jake Nicoll's outstretched arm. I have written in the past about first looking inside the organ 45 years ago when I was a United Church minister in Carmanville,  across Hamilton Sound from Fogo Island. 

At that time the wind chest was still human-powered. There was a long history of boys from the congregation enlisted to pump the bellows, getting a message from the organist to get ready for the next hymn or anthem. There is even a gauge to indicate whether the pressure level was too high, too low or in the sweet spot. Over the decades those kids signed their names to indicate they had been in that role.

       Red spire of St Andrew's Church with Brimstone Head, looking toward Change Islands

We continue to visit Fogo Island most summers when we are staying on nearby Change Islands (see map). We take the ferry over to pick up groceries, go for a hike, and, if possible, stop in at the beautiful church. 

A few years ago we popped in and were soon joined by an older guy who turned out to be the custodian. i explained our experience of decades past and his face lit up. He had been one of the boys tending to the wind chest for the organ and took us to see his name amongst the many. 

May I say that the music played in the five outport congregations I served on my first pastoral charge after ordination did not bring to mind the phrase "the sound of God." More often "the wrath of God." 

 I am pleased that the Fogo church organ has emerged from the fog for a moment in the musical sun. 

A Canada Day Unlike Any Other?

 

This is a Canada Day unlike any other in my lifetime, having been born in the mid-1950s. I am  old enough that I was well aware of the adoption of our new Maple Leaf flag and when I spent time in Europe  as a nineteen-year-old that flag was sewn on to my backpack. Times and awareness change so while I'm still proud to be Canadian I'm also aware that "our home on Native land" might be an honest and necessary change to our national anthem.

Canada Day 2026 will be celebrated with an awareness that our closest neighbour can no longer be construed as "our best friend whether we like it or not", as the quip goes. The disrespect and outright hostility exhibited by the US administration makes America an existential threat to our wellbeing and sovereignty.

Prime Minister Carney has countered these realities with legislation and proposals that will expedite our security in many facets of our national life, including infrastructure. There was a timely opinion piece in the Globe and Mail on Monday with the title: Canada needs to invest in nature as infrastructure. 

The authors argue persuasively that as a nation we can't dismiss what I would call caring for Creation as vital to our health and independence. They term it differently, of course, and here are a few paragraphs: 

Anastasia Mourogova Millin is a founder of Ombrello Solutions and DanSa Capital Innovation.

Jeremy Guth is director of conservation programs at the Woodcock Foundation.

Nina-Marie Lister is professor of urban planning and director of the Ecological Design Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University.

This spring, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the Force of Nature strategy, followed later by the Canada Strong Fund. While the two are separate initiatives – the first to protect and enhance the country’s biodiversity, the second to stimulate investment in Canada’s economy – they are, in reality, closely integrated. Nature is the primary vital infrastructure on which Canada’s economy and its future depends. We need new investment tools to finance its permanence.

We are all familiar with grey infrastructure – roads, bridges, sewers, pipelines, rails – and Canadians especially are equally aware of the critical value of nature. Without biodiversity (the basis of nature), there is no foundation for our economy, which relies on pollination, food, forests, soils, and clean water. Biodiversity is also our best natural defence against climate change. But what we often miss is the direct value relationship between nature, private assets, and grey infrastructure.

What follows iin the piece wise and to my way of thinking as a Canadian and a Christian absolutely necessary for our future.

We aren't declaring "elbows up" much anymore and that's probably a good thing. It was a patriotic slogan for a particular moment but hockey metaphors can become tired, eh? 

 I figure we should sing "God keep our land, glorious and free" with a renewed fervour (with a U) and awareness that this land, "from sea to sea to sea"  is a gift from the Creator for all. We can woof all we want about the threat posed to Canada by America but we need to ensure that this land is abundant and livable, a force of nature, through the choices we make now for generations to come. 

A Covenant Before the Creator

 

There are a fair number of United Church congregations which include a Land Acknowledgement before or within their worship services each Sunday. They are not all the same but all of them recognize that the land on which we meet is a traditional territory of an Indigenous community that existed prior to colonization. To a degree these acknowledgements are also a recognition that we are all Treaty people with rights and responsibilities. The Treaties made between Indigenous peoples and the representatives of the British Crown were intended to be reciprocal rather than capitulations by First Nations and Inuit and Metis peoples. 

The language used in these treaty agreements suggest promise relationships akin to biblical covenants and they are based on sacred trust. I came upon a recent piece by Indigenous writer Brandi Morin about the separation question on the impending Alberta referendum with the powerful header you see, above: 

A Covenant Before the Creator: Why Alberta's Treaties Cannot Be Broken

The historical record shows the Creator was invoked as a a party to every treaty signed on Alberta land. A referendum cannot undo that

Morin goes on the describe the central place of Creator and Covenant language in the original treaties and that ignoring them is messing with God. I can't quote Morin's article at sufficient length but I'm grateful that she opens up this conversation. 

As National Indigenous History Month draws to a close we might all delve deeper into the meaning of our Treaties and Covenants. As a Christian denomination that attempts to take Truth and Reconciliation seriously we need to listen and learn and respond whenever these covenants are undermined or broken. 

Here are a few lines from the article among many that are thought- provoking: 

This land was never surrendered. It was shared. Before God. With God watching. 

Much of mainstream society has drifted away from the Creator- Indigenous peoples, by and large, have not. The relationship with Creator remains central to who we are, how our nations govern, and how we understand our obligations to one another and to this land. That is not a relic. That is a living reality. And it is precisely why what was sealed in ceremony on those treaty grounds still holds.

As Good as Gold

But knowing their hypocrisy, [Jesus] said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” They answered, “Caesar’s.”  Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him.

    Mark 12 15-17 NRSVue

 When Peter said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the children are free.  However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.”

    Matthew 17: 26--27 NRSVue

I'm definitely showing my age when I admit that as a kid finding a nickel or a dime meant sugary treasure at the corner store. In the early 60s even a penny bought three black balls. Did we like black balls? It didn't really matter because they cost so little.

Children of that era figured out quickly that coins were valuable and paper money was wealth. When the one-dollar "loonie" was introduced almost 40 years ago it felt that we were going backward initially, then we all got accustomed to both loonies and toonies. We have moved ever closer to a cashless society anyway, using cards and devices to make our payments in even the remotest of settings. Our eleven-year-old entrepreneur granddaughter accepts e-transfers for her crocheted creations although she still hits up Grandpa for folding money from time to time. 

I'm intrigued by a new exhibit called As Good as Gold outlining the history of money in this country. According to the Globe and Mail article: 

Most of us don’t carry a lot of cash in our wallets these days, given the ubiquity of credit and debit transactions. Change feels like a dead weight. But an exhibit by Toronto-Dominion Bank, which features currency used over the past 230 years, offers a rare historical glimpse into a world that is slipping away. 

As Good As Gold: The TD Bank Currency Collection is an exhibit held in – where else? – a steel-reinforced vault at the bank’s headquarters in Toronto. It includes early pre-Confederation promissory notes from merchants, grocery stores and lumber companies, dating as far back as 1790.

The first Canadian currency arrives in 1851, when each dollar was backed by gold. From there, paper notes become increasingly ornate to reflect their nation-building role in establishing trade, trust and commerce.

Cool. As I read about the exhibit I wondered about money in the New Testament and realized that even though peasant cultures tend to be barter based there are a fair number of money and cash references, including the warning above.

We do depend on moolah to make our societies function and some amass staggering amounts they will never actually see while others beg on street corners or play instruments  behind open instrument cases for cash. Churches may be heavenly minded but they are down to earth in seeking financial support and, yes, many have made generosity easier in a number of ways. And we're told that God loves a cheerful giver!

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully  will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

                         2 Corinthians 9: 6-7 NRSVue

 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.  And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

                          Matthew 14: 14-16 NRSVue 

                                           Elon Musk becomes a trillionaire (briefly) earlier this month 

Embracing Church of the Wild

 

1 Teach me, God, to wonder, teach me, God, to see;

let your world of beauty capture me.

Praise to you be given, love for you be lived,

life be celebrated, joy you give.

                                                                Voices United 299

church

1. a building for public Christian worship.

2. public Christian worship of God; a Christian religious service.

Early yesterday morning we headed out in our kayaks onto the Bay of Quinte, an arm of Lake Ontario. We checked that the wind speeds were low, the temperature was perfect, and it was simply a glorious summer day. We paddled for just over an hour before the bay became busier with motorboats and fisherfolk, enjoying a stretch of shoreline with only a handful of residences. We saw plenty of creatures including blue herons, ospreys, egrets, a green heron, kingfishers, a beaver, a deer, and turtles. We love it along here and the risk of being out on bigger water is moderate.

As regular readers will know, we consider spending time in the natural world as sacred and we do so as often as possible in every season. We have done so over the course of 50+ years and we hope to continue doing so as long as our general health and the grace of the Creator allow us to do so. My aged joints grumble a lot more now getting into the cockpit of my boat than they once did but I'm not prepared to stop just yet.

Is this "church"? Some would say no, emphatically, and certainly the congregation was small in terms of humans, although "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Matthew 20:18. There was a heavenly, watery host when other species were counted in. We often offer praise, perhaps a recalled verse from a Creation hymn, and we have a brief physical ritual of acknowledgement of the Creator we engage in. There is no building but each space is a templum, using the definition of dedicated to a deity, place of divine worship, sanctuary, shrine, temple. 

                                                                          Photo: Ruth Mundy

There is a book Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred. The author,  Victoria Loorz, is passionate and persuasive in speaking about the formation and  transformation which unfold in the natural world. She is a founder of the Wild Church Network with a growing number of wild churches, committed to worshipping en plein air. 

The natural world -- that world where we already belong -- is an alluring invitation into the sacred, into a relationship with something larger. And that very sacred presence invites us into the wild. The whole process is holy. It is a dynamic, a reciprocity, a loving conversation, a relationship -- one that includes me and you and God and the whole wild, alive world. 

I love inspirational church architecture, old and new, but more and more I chafe at supposedly sacred spaces that don't even give a hint of the glory of Creation. How did we ever get to the place where it became either/or for our worship gatherings and we shut out the outside world with stained glass windows? Some modern church structures have no windows at all. 

This morning we attended worship 10:30 at Trenton United and it was a meaningful service. Before we did so we drove to North Beach Provincial Park and were there for the opening at 8 AM. In the solitude we went for a swim and listened to a loon calling from across the bay. Both experiences fed our souls. 

                                                                     Photo: Ruth Mundy

Sublime Twelve

The Mission of the Twelve

 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town,  but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.     Matthew 10: 5-8 NRSVue

Twelve. Did you know that the number 12 is considered a sublime number? I didn't either but a few days ago I got up at the ridiculous hour of 5 AM (a regular occurrence) only to discover that I had misread the clock and it was in fact 4 -- arrghh!

I listened to a CBC Radio Ideas episode at that ungodly hour with the title 12 is Sublime. Here is the description of the show: 

The decimal — or base 10 — system that we use for all our numbering needs comes to us so naturally we barely notice it. But in the past, there have been other contenders, among them: 60, 20 and, perhaps most promisingly, 12. Why was 12 so promising? 

Twelve is a “friendly” number because it is so highly divisible compared to 10. But there is so much more that makes the humble dozen extraordinary. It is one of only two numbers ever discovered to be “sublime.” And that description has nothing to do with the fact that 12 is a number highly significant to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism — and even Hellenism. Still need convincing of 12’s perfection and indispensability? Check your watch.

Within the first few minutes the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve disciples came to mind, as well as the 12 Days of Christmas came to my mind. Sure enough, all of these were explored as was the 144,000 elect from the book of Revelation -- 12 times 12 thousand. The 12 Days of Christmas were the bridge between East and West in the celebration of Christmas in the Roman Empire. 

I was surprised a while later when the daily gospel reading was titled The Mission of the Twelve (from Matthew 10, not 12). 

This is an interesting episode at any hour and you might want to seek it out as a podcast. 

The Tragedy of Camp Mystic

 

                                  Camp Mystic Texas cabin after the flood of July 4, 2025

Almost exactly a year ago heavy rains and catastrophic flooding occurred in Texas Hill Country. This was one of the deadliest storms in US history and nearly 140 people died . 

Amongst those who perished were 28 campers and staff members from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp which would have celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. The meandering Guadalupe River turned into a raging torrent and swept away many of the young girls in the lower lying cabins. 

In April there were hearings into what went wrong at Camp Mystic and last week a report from the Texas Legislature concluded that the camp did not have written emergency ​evacuation ⁠plans and poorly trained its staff, Some of the parents of children who died testified in April and called for the closure of Camp Mystic and this week the camp filed for bankruptcy.

                                                               Camp Mystic in a happier time 

I have followed this story to a degree, perhaps because I worked at Christian camps in my youth and our children and grandchildren have attended them. We know what joyful, formative places they can be, including for faith. 

I have yet to hear anything about climate change as an intensifier of the storm. I don't know whether those who owned and supported the camp actually "believe" in climate change in a state where so many are deniers, including lots of conservative Christians.

There is a term "an act of God" to describe natural disasters but there is strong scientific consensus that climate change is disrupting weather patterns and that belief, one way or another has nothing to do with it. It is the scientific reality of human-caused climate chaos.

What happened at Camp Mystic was a tragedy and the families of the children who died deserve prayerful support. Perhaps closing the camp was the only possible outcome, bankruptcy or not. 

 It's hard to know if this will be a wake-up call regarding what we are doing to our planetary home. We can pray that politicians everywhere including here in Canada will come to their senses about the threat we face. God the Creator, help us all. 

"I Trust You" Prayer

 

“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6:7-8 NRSVue -- Jesus of Nazareth

Last evening I watched a short video that popped up in a social media featuring an aging woman I'd never heard of before. She was observing that she's spent a lifetime praying, often lengthy and earnest. In recent years she's realized that she's been telling God things she/he/they already knows, so why go into such detail? In this season of her life a three word prayer has become her go-to, "I trust you." The wisdom of this simple prayer really hit home.

This morning I cycled to visit two elderly people son Isaac asked me to see just once when he was away for few days because they are in Belleville hospital. I've continued to drop by over the past month or so because they're nearby, their stays have been extended, and I just like both of them. One is struggling with health complications, the other is on the way to a new home in another city nearer family. I shared the "I trust you" prayer with them and they both really like it. I began our concluding prayers with the words "we trust you" although I added some condiments particular to their situations.

As I was leaving I encountered the lovely midlife daughter of one of these persons who drives an hour each way to support her parent. I could tell she feels the weight of doing the right things in her role and so I shared this little prayer with her -- what did I have to lose? Her face lit up and she said "is that enough?" She commented that on her drive she prays but isn't always sure what to ask for or express. I told her that this prayer works for me and she said that she's going to start using it. 

We do make prayer complicated at times, or even give up praying because we are tongue-tied or weary or feel that we aren't being heard. We can certainly chose to offer more, but when we're tangled in life's weeds, a simple expression of trust may be sufficient. We have a lot of challenging circumstances in our lives at the moment so "I trust you" is going to get a regular workout. 

"Out of the Closet", Faithfully

 

This is Pride Month in Canada, an opportunity to acknowledge the challenges and accomplishments of the LGBTQ2S+ community across the country. We attended the regional event in Picton, a town in Prince Edward County and somewhat to our surprise there was a big turnout and a really celebratory vibe. I saw a long lineup of really...colourful...individuals at a food venue where the vendors were a Syrian once-refugee family we know, the two women dressed in black hijabs. I had to smile, proud that this is the Canada I want to celebrate, one where there is broad acceptance and inclusion. 

I caught a glimpse of a former parishioner from a congregation I served and I sought him out through the crowd. He was there as part of a group sponsoring LGBTQ2S+ refugees from countries where their orientation is shunned and decried, often led by religious groups. In some of those countries their orientation is illegal and even punishable by death.

We caught up on our lives and he told me that his partner had died, a source of deep sadness. I assumed that he was a gay man but he never spoke of his orientation and he never acknowledged he had a same-gender partner even though we had several LGBTQ2S+ staff members in the congregation. 

Looking back through 37 years of pastoral ministry I can identify a number of LGBTQ2S+ members in the various congregations I served who never "came out of the closet" during my time, or only did so with considerable caution and with the assumption that I wouldn't share this reality with others. They didn't want the drama or possible rejection and in some situations they were not "out" to family or even spouses. Closeted is an older but apt term because they too often were in a stiflingly enclosed place psychologically and spiritually. And think about it, heterosexuals don't have to identify their orientation in any public way.

A couple of weeks after I began ministry in 1980 in outport Newfoundland a boy of 16 took his own life. He walked past his family watching television, took a rifle out of a cupboard, and went  into the backyard where he shot himself. The traumatized family called the paramedics, police, and the new minister. Because the first two were nearly an hour away I arrived first to the chaotic scene and went to the body in the dark. There is no seminary preparation for this sort of pastoral situation and I was 25-years-old. 

It was decades before it occurred to me that this bright young man, passionate about the arts and theatre, may have been gay and quietly in despair. While this may be stereotyping on my part, his interests were certainly uncharacteristic for guys his age in that culture. Derogatory jokes and nasty terms for gay people were still very much in use at that time. 

We have come a long way in our society but we need to continue on a path of affirmation and love in Christ's name. God give us the grace and courage to lead the way, faithfully. 

The SBC, Untruth, and Disunity

 

The men take themselves so seriously

with their coats and votes,
while Spirit laughs, plants trees, grows fruit.
The Southern Baptist Convention
said women cannot preach and lead.
So silly. Like standing on a bank
yelling at the river to stop flowing.
Like ordering dawn to become night.
Like scolding the tide from the shore.
Like expecting Spirit to ask permission
before descending where She will.
Women will keep preaching
because a voice older than any vote i HAV IN
keeps saying: Yes, her. She’s the one.

                                     Samantha Bise 

Not long ago I wrote about the impending creepy and misogynistic motion at the Southern Baptist Convention to deepen its ban on women preaching, including commenting online about sermons. The measure, sponsored by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler, is known as the "Truth and Unity Amendment". In the end the vote wasn't even close with 75% of the "messengers" supporting the amendment. This is supposedly biblical, ignoring the Easter story in John's gospel in which Mary is the first witness to the Resurrection.  

It's part of the relentless efforts by male leaders in the SBC to silence women in expressing their God-given faith. Some congregations and high profile women have been kicked out, harassed out, or left in frustration. This is about power and control, not the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

There are some great cartoons out there including one where the Risen Christ speaks to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning:

Jesus: Go and tell the men I have risen!

Mary: Crap, This is gonna sound crazy but I can't. In 2026 the SBC voted to silence me.

Jesus: What's the SBC? 

I wish I could share the image with you but it isn't accessible. 

I have included the powerful poem, above. "So silly. Like standing on a bank yelling at the river to stop flowing."

Cat Stevens & Morning Has Broken

 

1 Morning has broken like the first morning,

blackbird has spoken like the first bird.

Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!

Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!

2 Sweet the rain's new fall sunlit from heaven,

like the first dewfall on the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,

sprung in completeness where God's feet pass.

3 Ours is the sunlight! Ours is the morning

born of the one light Eden saw play!

Praise with elation, praise every morning,

God's recreation of the new day!

                                                       Voices United 409

In the early 1970s Cat Stevens was the folk/pop/rock dream guy. With dark and unruly hair and beard he churned out hits including Wild World and Peace Train and Moonshadow --I can hear you humming them!

 Perhaps the most improbable of his popular songs was a cover of a hymn with lyrics written in 1931, set to an even older Gaelic tune. Morning has Broken is in many hymn books and over the years folk in different congregations were surprised that we were singing a pop song,  assuming Cat Stevens wrote it. 

                                              

                                                                       Rick Wakeman 1970s

I discovered recently that the jaunty keyboard intro to Steven's version was created by Rick Wakeman of the prog rock band Yes. Steven's heard him noodling before the recording session for the hymn and liked the tempo and feel of his playing so asked him to do the intro in that style. When you listen there is a sense that the ear-catching first bars settle into the hymn in a more familiar way, with Cat's guitar as accompaniment. 

It's interesting that while this is a Christian hymn, reflecting Stevens' spiritual quest, he eventually embraced the Islamic religion and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. He all but gave up musical performance and song-writing for a couple of decades. Eventually he realized that musical expression was not forbidden in Islam and now performs and records under the name Yusuf. 

Fifty years after the the 1970 release of Tea for the Tillerman, in September 2020, Stevens remade the album as  Tea for the Tillerman2. This version includes new lyrics and new instrumentation, and he sings along with his 22-year-old self in Father and Son. We received this second version as a gift and quite enjoyed the changes. 

The Solstice and Celebrating Creation

 

                                                                 Killbear Provincial Park

All things bright and beautiful,

all creatures great and small,

all things wise and wonderful:

in love, God made them all.

1 Each little flower that opens,

each little bird that sings,

God made their glowing colours,

God made their tiny wings.  R

2 The purpleheaded mountains,

the river running by,

the sunset and the morning

that brightens up the sky;  R

On this Summer Solstice our daughter Emily and husband Brad are camping in beautiful Killbear Provincial Park on Georgian Bay. It is a place of memories for Brad's family and where he proposed to Emily. They are urban people with a trendy part of downtown Toronto as their current habitat but both of them spent lots of time in the outdoors as they grew up and still love the natural world.  

                                                      Killbear photos June 21 2026 -- Emily Hendriks

They were also raised in Christian families which attended church but that's not part of the rhythm of their lives at this point, Yet they have noted that there is a sense of the sacred in this place and that they have spontaneously sung a couple of hymns while they're rambling about, a somewhat surprising admission.  In a text exchange Emily commented that the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful was bumping through her head yesterday. It sounds perfect for the location. 

Perhaps our favourite Solstice Day ever was on Haida Gwaii a couple of years ago. We celebrated the astonishing natural abundance of this island archipelago off the BC coast on what is also National Indigenous Peoples Day. It couldn't have been a better setting. 

Wherever we are today we can give thanks to the Creator and celebrate the gifts of Creation. 

3 The cold wind in the winter,

the pleasant summer sun,

the ripe fruits in the garden:

God made them every one.  R

4 The rocky mountain splendour,

the lone wolf's haunting call,

the great lakes and the prairies,

the forest in the fall;  R

5 God gave us eyes to see them,

and lips that we might tell

how great is God our maker,

who has made all things well.  R