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I am now the Preaching Facilitator for Southminster United Church. It took us quite a bit of work to decide on what role I would play in the church seeing as my current teaching responsibilities take up a fair chunk of my time already. This means that in addition to presiding over the worship and delivering weekly sermons, I will be spending time spiritually accompanying the congregation as we orient ourselves toward the future. I have a bit of training and reading to do in preparation for this role, but I am looking forward to connecting with the various groups that rent our facilities as well as the folk who have been faithfully serving on committees and projects.

If you are in the area, why not drop by a Sunday and see what is going on. You can catch our services and my sermons on our Facebook page.

February is going to be a full month and I am excited. In addition to my regular teaching at Algonquin College, you can catch me ministering at Southminster United Church on the 26th for the beginning of Lent. I may also be there on the 12th to fill in for a guest minister, but I am happy to have most of this month free to begin other projects. Starting in March I should be spending a lot more time with this great congregation. For Ash Wednesday Southminster and Trinity Anglican are holding a joint service with Rev. Mark Whittall presiding. I went to school with Mark (St. Paul) and am really looking forward to coming and helping out in whatever way I can. You might also want to come out to join us for our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.

February 13th I am scheduled to be teaching an online version of my History of North American Evangelicals course with the Ottawa School of Theology and Spirituality. A five part lecture and conversation series which will help us better understand the roots of this diverse and influential movement. If you have not already registered I am sure there are spots available.

Hope to see you somewhere in the midst of this full month of teaching and ministering.

UPDATE: I am preaching through most of the Lenten season at Southminster. Services are simultaneously broadcast online.

Over the years it has been suggested to me quite a few times that I should produce some regular content in the form of a podcast or vlog. It seems some people enjoy the way that I explain things which is always encouraging for a teacher to hear. Yet it is also intimidating to consider because I follow a few really polished podcasts and have generated regular content in the past, it is a lot of work. One podcast I enjoy, Advent of Computing with Sean Haas, even graciously gives you insights into his process of organizing and preparing that series. I believe what I’m considering here is best taken as a serious project treated it almost like a part-time job (at least in the beginning).

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This fall is going to be exciting, but it will be a lot of work getting there. I spent a day in the studio at Saint Paul University recording lectures for my upcoming new course THO3164: Jesus the Christ and the Language of Christian Hope. I  am really pumped because this course lets me do a deep dive into material that in the past was only a small part of courses I’ve taught. We had workers outside while we were recording and I know they could hear my projecting voice because at one point they started singing “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” We had to pause a few times. But we did manage five lectures, only 25 to go!

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I am chasing down a job lead this week, doing my research and trying to put my best foot forward. It is very time consuming. I’ve only been working part-time since I graduated which is not a sustainable arrangement. So I’m excited at each prospect that opens up, but I also find myself wrestling with the angst of stepping out in this direction of faith. See back when the tech bubble burst (2000) I was fairly burned out, in tech you must continually re-invent yourself and I was facing one of those moments where the role I had moved into was changing very fast. I completed 13 different certifications from 2000 to 2001 and I was looking at a raft more if I wanted to keep going in that direction. I did like the challenge of continually re-inventing myself for most of my IT career but the role I was doing meant lots of travel and we were finally settled enough to start a family. It seemed like the perfect time to shift gears, even just for a bit, to get some theological education, a dream of mine from my early years in ministry.

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