Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Century of Church
This summer, I had the extraordinary privilege of preaching my way through 100 years of the United Church of Canada. Ten sermons. Ten decades. Ten stories of courage, creativity, justice, and grace. It felt less like writing a series and more like walking a pilgrimage, stepping into the footprints of those who came before us while daring to imagine the road ahead. I cannot overstate my pride in being a minister in this denomination. Proud that we were born from a bold vision of unity. Proud that we have faced hard questions about justice and reconciliation and refused to look away. Proud that we have stood with the marginalized, opened our doors wider, and proclaimed a Gospel that actually looks like good news. This is not a church content with comfort or nostalgia. It is a church that chooses, again and again, to risk love in a complicated world. Preaching through our history taught me more than I expected. Each decade reminded me that the Spirit has always b...