Calgary Church – Join a movement….

You'd think Christmas would be Christmas for Christians, but in reality Christmas is one huge shopping spree complete with turkey meals and merriment around the gift tree. I'm not like some fundamentalist Christians who consider gift giving and pine trees pagan rituals, but I do acknowledge that Christmas had no place in the early church.

Mind you, Easter is now a frilly pastel holiday with chocolate easter bunnies that sound like chickens. One pastor remarked at a service on Good Friday how Good Friday is the last uncommercialised holiday for Christians....

That may be true, but Epiphany would be the other one :P.

Actually, the two major festivals were Epiphany and Easter. We are currently within the single most important time period in the Christian calendar: Passion Week. The Passion of the Christ movie directed by Mel Gibson--the pre-modern blood and guts spectacle--was set mostly during the Passion Week (to give you context). Continue reading »

Luke 23:26-56 (scroll over)

But Sunday is a comin'.....

Spring is upon us and the snow is melting, albeit slowly. This quick note is to outline some changes and updates to the missio dei Missional church in Alberta network we've created on Facebook. Continue reading »

Part of our purpose at Calgary Church is to help like minded leaders/individuals/communities network with each other. We don't feel there is a fundamental need to be divided across denominational lines so we value other communities who hold similar beliefs to ours and are engaging in the same mission as us.

The 'Missio Dei - Missional Church in Alberta Network' is focused to present a forum for Christians in Alberta to discuss ideas and join networks engaging in God's mission to redeem humanity -- the missio dei.

We are the hub to connect people into communities and to network communities with each other.

These people and communities have some of these characteristics: Continue reading »

I just finished watching a documentary called, "One Size Fits All?" on Fringe churches across Canada. I was really excited when I came across the DVD because it's so rare to find a uniquely Canadian production on church.

Sometimes, to our detriment, churches in Canada tend to consume all the products, services, and stats, from the US. Although there is room to exchange information across the border, we still have look long and hard on how communities can be leaders in a uniquely Canadian context.

'One Size Fits All?' essentially looks at non-traditional church communities getting into the nitty gritty messy details of communities. Some really cool stories about leaders across the country taking a gospel message and making it known in their particular context. From theaters, to gardens, to coffee shops, almost every urban center in Canada has a form of 'missional church'.

However, despite floating across the country, the producer skipped a province--ours. Continue reading »

Haven't posted anything new for a few days largely due to some server problems. They appear to be fixed so hopefully it's clear sailing.

The anti-abortionists are back at U of C for their once a semester offensive attempt to horrify people into becoming pro-life. You'll remember some of them were actually arrested back in November over their row with university administration.

You have to feel for the U of C students that are a part of this propaganda machine. The Christian right fuel the morality debate, of which abortion is top of the list. The students caught in the cross-fire may be kicked out of school and worst, exist with a criminal record. That's tough for something that's so ineffective and representative of a very American religious right. Continue reading »

It seems like I've been using the word inaugural quite often lately! Just a heads up that the inaugural podcast is coming within DAYYSSSS. Yes you should be that excited....

Apparently I missed a good fight, at least that's what the media would have me believe. In a country that contains apathetic people who identify primarily with their cultural background over nationalism, getting people to protest is one of the hardest gatherings to pull off.

This past Saturday one of the larger activist rallies connected to mark a day of anti-racism. They were eventually met by a bumbling group of clandestine Aryan Guard members and other hapless white supremacist.

I have two comments: 1) I can't believe we still deal with white supremacy in Canada, 2) I can't believe how poorly the media covered the event getting numerous facts very wrong. Continue reading »