Sharing New Ground

Alan Hustak

October 30, 2018

A unique children’s playground project becomes the occasion for Ahmadiyya Muslims and Standing Buffalo Sioux to develop bonds, Alan Hustak reports from Saskatchewan.

It is unusual to hear prayers on an Indian Reserve offered in Arabic, but then the dedication of children's playground built by a Muslim community on Saskatchewan's Standing Buffalo First Nation earlier this month was an unusual occasion "One of the fundamental tenets of our faith is to develop rela...

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The Land of Living Skies

Peter Menzies

October 29, 2018

My mother grew up not far from where this photo was taken in The Land of Living Skies - Saskatchewan. Mum was raised mostly in Rouleau, about a 40 minute drive southwest of Regina on the flattest piece of land imaginable; a place where in the winter the wind, as Colter Wall sings, will cut you half in two.

At night, Mum told me more than once, she would lay in bed, listen to the trains rumbling through and dream "of faraway places with strange sounding names ...

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World Religions At Home in Toronto

Susan Korah

October 26, 2018

More than 10,000 visitors are expected as the Parliament of World Religions opens its doors in Canada’s largest city next week, Convivium contributor Susan Korah reports.

The Catholic Church is well positioned to send a strong message of inclusion and love, according MacCarthy and his colleagues on the Parliament of World Religions planning committee of the Archdiocese of Toronto  “Hospitality and inclusion have always been built into the church in Toronto,” says Nei...

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Love in a Time of Tornadoes

Hannah Marazzi with Joseph Park

October 25, 2018

Canadians familiar with the Christian relief agency Samaritan's Purse usually think of it working in international disaster response from Haiti to Bangladesh. But as Senior Operations Manager Joseph Park tells Convivium’s Hannah Marazzi, it also brings aid and comfort to locales across Canada, including the nation’s capital during a recent terrifying time of mighty winds.

C: How does Samaritan's Purse determine where they send people? Do communities call you? Do you have some sort of an internal monitoring service that alerts you where and when to offer your services?   JP: Samaritan's Purse worked very closely with the city of Ottawa to assist all the private proper...

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Learning from Eugene Peterson

John Stackhouse Jr.

October 24, 2018

John Stackhouse, Jr. pays fond tribute to celebrated pastor, scholar, writer, Bible translator and poet Eugene Peterson, who died Monday of this week.  

To be sure, some of us at Regent would smile in the days when Eugene and Marva Dawn would combine at our summer school, a one-two punch into the midsection of mainstream evangelical culture that left some people reeling: “Don’t they care about seekers? Do they even believe in evangelism?!” Many othe...

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The Poplar Speaks

Susan Fulmore

October 23, 2018

Rippled bark marked with chasms and canyons. A knot cracked and opened, revealing inner tender skin. Burls adorned with mustard toppings. Shadings of cream, caramel and chocolate.

...

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Building Better Christian Bridges

Andrea Mrozek

October 23, 2018

In a recent talk for Ottawa’s Theology on Tap speaking series, Cardus program director Andrea Mrozek examined myths and misunderstandings that divide Catholics and Protestants. She reminded her audience of C.S. Lewis’ admonition that we are faithfully waiting, not sullenly camping, until unity is restored.

One point Catholics can raise to help Protestants understand where they are coming from lies in the Creed, in this line: “We believe in One Universal (catholic), and Apostolic Church Worst of all is to create an environment where the other, a different type of Christian or a non-Christian altogether...

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The Garden of Herb’s Dream

Alan Hustak

October 23, 2018

A retired Saskatchewan RCMP officer is dedicated to creating a grotto of peace in a seminary garden long-ago left behind by missionary Oblate priests.

The retired RCMP officer has bought what used to be the formal gardens of the old Oblate Seminary on Mission Lake in Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle Valley, and plans to restore the grounds as a non-denominational grotto of peace ...

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Spoken for by God

Alan Hustak

October 23, 2018

Convivium contributor Alan Hustak catches up with an Anglican Bishop in Saskatchewan who recently completed a cross-Canada cycling pilgrimage for unity and reconciliation.

What is unusual is that Hardwick has not only pedaled to every church in his sprawling southern Saskatchewan diocese in 2016 and 2017 but this year spent four months on his specialised AWOL (Adventure WithOut Limits bicycle) riding 7200 km across Canada on a pilgrimage for church unity, reconciliati...

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Creation's Church

Amy Guliker

October 23, 2018

The serenity of the view speaks to the wandering soul.

To dare put footprints on the ground below would leave the questions “Am I truly worthy of coming into this space, into the presence of God?” ...

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Journey Through the Barrens

Amy Guliker

October 23, 2018

A lonely ship passes by destination unknown, moving on seeking a place to be welcomed home.

“Will anyone light the way?” The sky expects the storm is over as the thunder moves on through leaving the ground saturated with the rain, a promise lies above the mountains that the sun will shine again. ...

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Stories in Stone

Amy Guliker

October 23, 2018

Imagine the bustle of people walking by and by. Day by day being watched by the monuments attentive eyes above.

Stories untold, held within the hard etched stone, solid and unmoveable ...

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For the Taking

Amy Guliker

October 23, 2018

The warm light illuminates the cozy confines of a cluttered shop, twinkling off the colours, inviting people within.

A window opens to gather all those merrily walking by, speaking of the many gifts that are present within the light ...

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Hunger and the Bounty of Grace

Daniel Bezalel Richardsen

October 22, 2018

On a trip to Ukraine with his betrothed, Daniel Bezalel Richardsen’s eye catches small glimpses of fidelity that enlighten his understanding of the infinite abundance of faith.

This forced-dissolution pushed the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church underground and constituted, according to scholar Robert F Indian by birth, I was raised in the Anglican tradition there and in Brunei before moving to Canada in young adulthood, eventually becoming Catholic through the provisions of...

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Stories Are Sherpas of the Soul

Mark Rodgers and Mandi Hart

October 22, 2018

Mandi Hart, president of Cave Pictures Publishing, and Mark Rodgers, principal of The Clapham Group, tell Convivium readers why they’re launching a new venture that will use comics and graphic novels to help contemporary culture find its next Narnia.

We believe that stories are sherpas of the soul, and that by challenging presuppositions, they actually prepare the soil for the One True Myth, as was the case in Lewis’s own life By cultivating modern myths in this unique blending of word and picture, Cave aims to baptize the contemporary imaginati...

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