"A vision of what downtown Winnipeg could be." Holy Trinity Anglican Church inspires vision for greening of Graham Ave.

Cathy Campbell was tired of seeing parking lots when she looked out the window from her office in Holy Trinity Anglican Church. 

Six years ago, when she was rector of the church, located at 256 Smith St., Campbell thought a park, garden or trees would give her a much better view. “I could almost see it in my mind.” 

Today, Campbell’s vision is becoming reality, now that the City of Winnipeg has temporarily blocked off parts of nearby Graham Avenue to create a pedestrian corridor—a greening that is partly due to the inspiration and foresight of Campbell and others at Holy Trinity. 

Read my story about how Holy Trinity put its theology of creation care into action to help with the greening of Graham Avenue in the Free Press.

Photo above: Cathy Campbell and Andrew Rampton.

Occasional religious practice the new normal for Anglicans, other Christians today

If you are a Christian, how often do you go to church? Do you go weekly? Once a month? Or maybe only on Christmas and Easter? 

If you are in the latter group, you are not alone. That has become normal for a growing number of churchgoers in Canada, especially in the Anglican Church of Canada.

That’s what Sarah Kathleen Johnson found when she did research on attendance patterns of members of that church. Through her research, Johnson found these occasional attenders are quite content with their current practice. “They don’t feel the need to go more often,” she said. 

As for why they feel that way, Johnson said it wasn’t because they are anti-religion; they just didn’t feel going to church was necessary anymore. And when they did go, it was usually because of tradition or family — Grandma wants the family together at church on Christmas Eve. 

Read more about Johnson’s research and findings in the Free Press.

Manitoba connection to Live Aid on 40th anniversary of groundbreaking concert to raise funds for Ethiopia famine

Forty years ago — on July 13, 1985 — Live Aid rocked the world to raise funds for millions of starving people in Ethiopia. And a Manitoban helped make it happen. 

That Manitoban was William Rew. He was the pilot who flew a BBC film crew into what was considered the epicentre of the famine in the fall of 1984 so they could provide the world with its first view of the terrible suffering unfolding in that country. It was that coverage which led to Live Aid. 

“It was just another day at work in Ethiopia,” Rew said of the BBC trip on Oct. 19, 1984. But that ordinary work day changed the world. 

Read about Rew and his world-changing flight in the Free Press.

Photo above: William Rew (second from right) with his plane in Ethiopia. 

Carnie Rose returns home to be rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. “I want to invite people into the deep mystery of God."

After decades of living and working in the U.S., Israel, Japan and Europe, Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose has come back home. 

Rose, who was raised in Winnipeg, took up his new responsibilities as senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek on July 1. 

He returns after serving as CEO of a Jewish community centre in Cleveland. “I wanted to go back to teaching in a synagogue,” he said. “I realized I was more of a pastor, teacher and preacher, not an administrator. I missed those things.” 

As a rabbi, Rose wants to pass on the tenets of Judaism to members of Shaarey Zedek. 

“Judaism is a 4,000-year-old tradition that still has something to say to the world today,” Rose said, noting he wants to help the synagogue continue to be a place “where people can come to learn and develop deep roots in Judaism and in the Jewish community.” 

“I want to invite people into the deep mystery of God, to see Judaism as a tradition that has something to say about how to live with a partner, with children, with parents, neighbours, others and the world.” 

Read about Carnie Rose and his vision for Judaism in Winnipeg in the Free Press.

"I want to be a voice for trans people in the church." Anglican priest Theo Robinson leaving Manitoba for new role in B.C.

“I want to be a voice for trans people in the church.”

 

That’s what Theo Robinson, who serves as an Anglican priest in Manitoba, says.

 

Robinson, the first trans person ordained to be a priest in the Diocese of Rupert’s Land—and likely the first in Canada, too—is leaving the province to take a new role as a priest in B.C.

 

Before he left, he shared his story with me (again). By telling it, Robinson hopes to make it easier for other transgender Christians to feel welcome in the church.

“Ignorance brings on hate,” he said, adding that more exposure to the stories of trans Christians can normalize them as people who also are faithfully following Jesus.

Read my story about Robinson in the Free Press.

A lunatic question: Whose side is God on in the Middle East when it comes to war?

As a rule, I try to refrain from writing about the Middle East. The conflicts in that region are mostly geopolitical, not religious. But every now and then religion leaps to the forefront and can’t be ignored. 

That’s what happened during the so-called “12-day war” between Israel, the U.S. and Iran, when leaders of all three countries invoked God and their respective religions to justify their actions. 

It started with Benjamin Netanyahu, who was followed by Donald Trump. And then came Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—all of the invoking God as being on their side against their enemies. 

Which raises several questions, starting with: If, as these monotheistic religions claim, there is only one God, who does that God listen to when asked to bless the wars of one country or another? 

Or maybe, as Mark Twain wrote, that's a lunatic question.

Read more in my recent Free Press column.

100th anniversary of the United Church of Canada; time for another "united" church movement?

 

Turning 100 is a significant milestone for people — and for denominations. That’s what the United Church of Canada did on June 10, this year. 

It was on that date a century ago that Canadian Methodists, Congregationalists and the Presbyterians came together to form the new denomination.  

A big reason for the merger was to reduce duplication of effort and resources; so many little towns and villages across the country had multiple churches from different denominations. There was also a desire for greater Christian unity and collaboration. 

Today, Canada is a less religious place and the challenges are different as the country's over 300 denominations lose members and see churches close. But the need for unity and collaboration is as great as back then, or even more. Is time for some 21st century visionaries to step forward to promote a new kind of “united” church in Canada today?

Read about it in my Free Press column.