January 2019

Transformational Development (AKA my ongoing journey to the other side of cynicism) / January 27, 2019

Sarah MacPhail gives a wonderful talk on the dream of holistic development in communities around the world. She also talks about the ongoing need for transformation in the change-makers. Having experienced faith-based attempts at solving the world’s problems, as well as having done graduate work in this field within a secular mindset, she sees the weaknesses in both approaches. However, she also sees some strengths, and she gives some practical ideas that can help us become better agents of change. She draws from the example of Jesus and from people who have great experience in this field.

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Plain Jesus: Wholeness is how you live / January 20, 2019

Walter Thiessen starts a new series with the small but hardy group that braved the storm. The emphasis today was on actions rather than words or doctrines – responding with our lives to the invitation of Jesus.

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The Listening House / January 13, 2019

Peter Fitch used a song from an old band called Lazarus to start the talk today. It is called, “Listening House,” and Peter thinks it is an honest reflection on the state of most churches and communities, but that it still encourages people not to give up trying to build something that is real. From that point, the talk centres around the idea of loneliness. SCV was formed as a possible antidote to loneliness in our area, and he talks about past and current successes and failures in meeting this need. Then he explains why we must not give up hope or give up the attempt to expand our souls in the midst of loss. He encourages the building of communities like SCV because he believes that we can be touched by God and by each other, and finally become more like Christ ourselves as we develop true empathy. Another song by Lazarus, “Blessed,” closes the talk.

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Epiphany / January 6, 2019

Peter Fitch talks about the meaning of the word, “epiphany.” It is the name for the season that follows Christmas in the church calendar, and it commemorates the coming of the Magi to visit the infant Jesus. These people existed outside of the stream of faith that is normally presented in the Biblical stories, yet they were able to accurately discern the signs of the times. Peter shared a video from a church in Auckland to remind us of the story. Then he shared a TED talk by Jessica Jackley, founder of Kiva.org, to give a contemporary example of an organization that is outside of the stream of religious faith that has important things to share with the whole world. As usual, this message gets a little subversive, and people add important thoughts at the end.

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