ADVOCATE
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Image by Michelle Maria from Pixabay What’s your favourite Christmas movie? I love to watch The Polar Express, and I’ve just finished binge-watching the new Netflix series Dash & Lily but, truth be told, my absolute favourite Christmas movie is A Charlie Brown...
Hope at the End of the Journey
Who doesn’t like a good road trip movie? Some of my personal favorites include Dorothy skipping down the yellow brick road toward Oz, Olive travelling on a mini bus to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, and a chain gang’s odyssey through depression-era...
Advent in Narnia: Always Winter, Never Christmas
During the late 1940s and first half of the 1950s, C.S. Lewis wrote a series of seven books for his goddaughter Lucy called The Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the most well-known in the series. It is set during a long winter in the...
Pandemic Adaptions with Moravians
As we head toward month ten of pandemic adaptations, we’re all probably finding ourselves on at least the third or fourth iteration of adaptive changes in our faith communities and our own leadership. I expect many of you are like me. You’ve delved deep into your own...
Gift of Gratitude
I am grateful to New Hope Presbytery's ConnetEd group, especially to Mary Todd Peters who introduced me to APCE and Gary Wires who made me feel welcomed at my very first APCE Annual Event in Baltimore, MD. Because of them, I came to APCE. Because of many dedicated...
Raising White Kids, a Report from a Book Study
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in May of this year, I, along with every other educator, was swept up in the rush of equipping families with resources to talk with their children about the horrific racial injustices that are ever present in our country. ...
APCE Virtual Event
At the end of August, 2020, an email exchange between Thom Cunningham and Anne Wilson began…. Thom: So, Anne could you Zoom with a few folks to talk about what it’s like to do a virtual conference? Anne: Sure, I’d love to meet with you! I’ve recently participated...
Living the Faith at Home
As many of us continue with worship and/or Christian education at home, The Advocate Ministry Team thought these perspectives from Lib Caldwell, long-time APCE leader and friend, provide a timely reminder on the value and importance of nurturing faith at home – it’s...
Dealing Christianly with Political Differences
In this 2020 election season, The Advocate blog reaches back to the Spring of 2013 and lifts up these wise and thoughtful words from Katherine Baker. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will...
Put On Your Oxygen Mask First — Church Leader Self-Care During a Pandemic
This article is reprinted with the author's permission. By John-Peter Smit If you have ever travelled on an airplane you know the root of this phrase. On an airplane it means that in an emergency you can’t physically care for others if you don’t care for yourself...