Elizabeth’s ecumenical explorations

 Last week one of my kids asked me about the different kinds of Methodist churches. I explained about the founder John Wesley and how that tradition was shaped in both the UK and the US. The British Methodists who came to Canada were in general the ones who formed an early Methodist church here and then joined in the United Church of Canada union in 1925. There are also Free Methodists and Wesleyans, both of whom are part of larger North American denominations, with more links to the United States. Churches, particularly Protestant ones, seem to be very susceptible to schisms and splits, and those who were inspired by the faith of John Wesley are no different! I attended a Wesleyan Church service on Sunday, and was struck by the large proportion of younger adults who were in attendance - not that it was a big congregation, but many of them would be younger than 40.  Besides the later hour and proximity to a university I think the style of music (contemporary praise) and preach...

The one Jesus loved The gospel of John tells us that there were three people who were there to witness the empty tomb. They were Mary Magdalene, Peter or Simon Peter, and one other disciple – who is called simply “the one whom Jesus loved.”   Who was that unnamed disciple?  That’s a difficult question to answer, at least if you are looking for a historically accurate response.  The gospel itself is not very conclusive. It might have been the disciple John, as tradition has always suggested.    Or perhaps it was one of Jesus’ followers who had good reason to hide their identity, like the Jewish teacher Nicodemus or the leader Joseph of Arimathea. They had something to protect by staying anonymous.   Or maybe it was another disciple or a follower, someone so insignificant that nobody actually remembered his or her name.     Unfortunately, without actually being there, it seems that we will never really know who that unnamed disciple r...

  Scripture Readings:     Zechariah 9:9-10; Luke 19:28-40 Making an Entrance How do you make an entrance? When I was a kid, we had a minister who spent the half hour or so before the service started “glad-handing” around the congregation – stopping at one pew to admire a baby, or introduce himself to visitors, check in with the committee chairs, tell a joke to the kids that were getting antsy to go to Sunday school. When the choir got ready to process in, he would dash out, throw on his robe and appear at the end of the procession for the first hymn. The minister who followed him was not as extroverted! He would stay closed away in his office (perhaps praying?) until someone in the choir came and got him.   Another minister felt that the time before worship should be more reflective than social, so he would sit in the front pew of the congregation and model reflective prayer for us. As a kid I can remember him turning around and glaring at us when we were not be...

  On Sunday I attended a service at a Christian Reformed Church near my home.  I had some pretty strong stereotypes and prejudices about the CRC, mostly based on people who had left the denomination decades ago, finding it too moralistic and fundamentalist. A 2023 statement by the denomination about LGBTQ relationships did not support them, but lamented their failure to offer good pastoral care to the queer community. I note that the denomination includes both USA and Canada, and progress towards inclusion is much slower in the USA. The statement also judges straight folk on premarital sex, extramarital sex, pornography and adultery. The CRC is what I would consider a mainline church, with roots in Dutch heritage, and is certainly more traditional than fundamentalist. I looked up the website and found myself intrigued: there was a woman in ministry, they named various outreach projects (including indigenous reconciliation), they also had a clear statement and reporting protoco...