My favourite new word is ecotone. I discovered it when preparing my sermon for the national Worship Matters event that took place in Toronto in June.

I’ve been excited by recent conversations with friends and colleagues about how we see Spirit moving powerfully throughout The United Church of Canada these days. (Pentecost seemed to come early this year!) In her book The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why, Phyllis Tickle suggests that the best way to describe “the emerging church” is with the word “conversation.”

There aren't many news outlets with religious writers these days, so I'm grateful that the National Post has Charles Lewis on staff to shed light on the religious life and experiences of Canadians. I appreciate particularly that Charles seems intrigued by The United Church of Canada.

Intrigued but also seemingly puzzled by a church that refuses to enforce a single “orthodox” point of view. In his eyes, I suspect, we appear to be going out of our way to raise questions that ought not to be raised, or provoke arguments that should be nipped in the bud.

Over the past 12 hours I have been in phone and e-mail conversations with Del Sexsmith, the President of the Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario; Faye Ford, the President of Saskatchewan Conference; and Craig Miller, who serves Oak Lake Pastoral Charge in Manitoba.

I am learning a great deal about the multiple layers of crisis people are facing in the areas affected by the flooding—flooding unlike anything seen there for over 300 years.

On March 7th and 8th I was in Ottawa with other faith leaders, urging the government to adopt the recent recommendations of a multi-party parliamentary committee report entitled Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada.