“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior, for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done good things for me, and holy is his name.” Luke...
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...
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...
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...
I was pregnant with my first child in December 2000. When my pastor colleague and I divided up the services we would lead and preach during that Advent season, I requested the third Sunday. Mary’s Magnificat, Luke 1:46b-55, was the lectionary text assigned for that...
Advent is a season of waiting, waiting for the birth of the Christ child, waiting for the second coming of the Messiah. But it ought not be a season of twiddle-your-thumbs waiting or rush-around-to-get-everything-done-before-December-25th waiting. No, instead, we...
Reflection by Beth Herrinton-Hodge In the brief days between Christmas Eve and Epiphany, many of us in church work enjoy a bit of a breather. Christmas Eve services have been held, candles lit, favorite carols sung. Luke’s familiar birth narrative has been recited....
Reflection by Beth Herrinton-Hodge In 1998, I had the opportunity to travel to Taizé, France on a study tour with Estelle McCarthy and fellow alumnae from Presbyterian School of Christian Education (PSCE). It was a life-changing, soul-deepening journey. I selected a...
In my worship community, we use art and art-making in worship as another layer of preaching and liturgy. On this day, I offer the piece before reading the text and invite folks to consider and answer aloud: What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? This...
by John Earl Art during the season of Advent is more often to reflect the characters central to the season. The Holy Child, the Blessed Virgin, the humble Joseph and the distant shepherds. An honest Advent theology will ask; ‘What kind of Christ does our world now...
