Upcoming Christian Unity Worship Service

A former student of mine has drawn my attention to an upcoming ecumenical worship service which she has been involved in planning.  The service, to be held at the Church of St. Andrew Anglican (2333 Victoria Park Ave., Scarborough, ON) this coming Sunday, June 4th at 7:00 pm, is hosted by the Ministerial Association of North East Toronto.  The theme of the service is “One Spirit, One Church.” Continue reading Upcoming Christian Unity Worship Service

Kuyper Lecture: “Answering Lesslie Newbigin”

Yesterday, in the midst of a seminar on the life and work of the missiologist Lesslie Newbigin, one of my students directed me to the Kuyper lecture that was recently delivered by the New York City pastor and church planter Tim Keller.  Keller’s selection as this year’s Kuyper award winner had previously generated controversy among sections of Princeton’s constituency on account of his affiliation with the Presbyterian Church in America, which holds opposing views from the seminary’s denomination (PCUSA) on the question of the ordination of women and LGBT people.  (If you missed the controversy when it broke, you can read a couple of takes on it here or here.) Continue reading Kuyper Lecture: “Answering Lesslie Newbigin”

A Modest Proposal

I came across this quote this morning from Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536).  Erasmus, who is sometimes described as “the prince of the humanists,” was a reforming voice within the church in the 16th century, although he never formally broke from Rome.  His critical edition of the Greek New Testament was highly influential for Reformers across the continent.  Unfortunately, the Magisterial Reformers in appealing to the secular authorities for assistance in reforming the church in some ways contributed to the further entrenchment of the competing national loyalties Erasmus is attempting to combat in this quotation: Continue reading A Modest Proposal