Posted on

Advent Resources

Advent Resources for 2025.

Taizé Meditations, Prayers, and Blessings

A collection of songs and prayers in the Taizé style for contemplation throughout Advent.

We have a Taizé service on November 28.

Seeking God’s Face

A daily, contemplative devotional, rooted in ancient traditions of Divine Office and lectio devina, with daily posts to their webiste.

Keening for the Dawn:

Weekly Zoom course with Brian J. Walsh

Taught by former GCF chaplain Brian J.Walsh, this weekly course will have teachings about Advent, lament, and song, with opportunities to ask questions in the chat.

The Coming Light: Daily Devotionals

Delivered every day to your inbox, the Advent Reader considers the Hopeful Presence of Jesus in Advent.

Kate Bowler

This year Kate Bowler is providing these free daily devotionals through her Substack. Register at katebowler.com

Trans Advent: Resource from Unbound

Free daily devotionals written and inspired by trans people of faith, from Unbound:Intersections of Faith and Justice.

Advent Conspiracy

Free and paid resources about celebrating Advent and Christmas humbly, beautifully, and generously.

Jan Richardson: Poetry and Blessings

One of Carol’s favourites, Jan Richardson has several books of poetry and blessings for the liturgical year, including Advent and Christmas. See some of her blessings on the GCF Instagram feed every week.

The Gift of Advent

Inspired by the True Gifts of Christmas by Megan Alexander, these free devotionals from Layola press come to your inbox daily.

Posted on

Hope as the best sort of apologetics

Gretchen Ronnevik has the following encouraging words for parents as they prepare to send their children off to university. The words of fear she names below, the warning that you might ‘lose your faith at university’ are ones that multiple students in the ministry have expressed hearing from well-intentioned Christians.

“After launching two of our six kids into adulthood, I’ve been astounded at the things other adult Christians have said to my children as they left our house to pursue the vocations God had prepared for them. There’s a consistent theme of fear and discouragement: If you go to that college or move to this place or aren’t super careful, you’ll lose your faith.

These statements come from a place of genuine and justified concern. Many young Christians go to college and never return to church. We’ve all heard of a young person who’s moved out of the house, begun dating an unbeliever, and rejected their faith to live a different life. We know the data. We know the stories. And we are filled with fear. So we impress that fear on our children, urging them to draw their apologetic swords.

But however good the intent, these warnings communicated something more to my kids: Have fear, not hope. Your faith is delicate. It’s fragile. It’s glass. At any moment, it could shatter forever.

… When people ask us about our hope in Christ, that is the surest thing we know, and we can be ready with an answer. We can be ready to explain our hope—our confidence that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us, our trust that we can’t be separated from his love.

I don’t ignore the data about loss of faith in young adulthood, but instead of speaking fear and doubt to our kids as they leave home, we equip them by speaking hope and assurance over them. …

Don’t be afraid. Your children’s salvation does not rest in their own hands; it rests in the hands of Jesus. It always has, and it always will. Their hope—and ours—is not in having the most articulate answer or the government leaders we want, getting into the right school, having our professors’ or bosses’ approval, or leading a suffering-free, easy life. 

Our hope comes from Christ, and Christ alone. Our hope is not in the strength of our faith but the object of our faith. There is nothing more certain we can give our kids.”

Taken from Emptying the Nest in Hope, not Fear – Christianity Today, September 25, 2024.

Posted on

Campus Life in the Netherlands compared to Canada

Student life is a very significant department at most Canadian (and American) universities. A positive housing experience, including a strong push by most universities that first-year students to live on campus, is also part of the Canadian university experience. Most campus ministers/ministries in Canada, with the exception of those closely associated with a local church, tend to be connected to Student Life, either through the ministry being recognized as student group or with the chaplain working directly with a division of Student Life, such as wellness, a mult-faith centre, or even international student support. 

In the Netherlands, however, student life is more likely to refer to “how you spend your leisure time at university” than look like a Canadian Student Life department. The exception to this is a growing focus on wellness, particularly with pressure being placed on universities in response to studies showing students are not doing well.

Furthermore, most universities in the Netherlands do not provide housing for students. The few places that do have ‘student housing’ available generally work with housing corporations and tend to limit the availability to international students. (Dutch) students are given free travel on public transit on either weekdays or in the weekend. This means that many students are at home frequently during their studies, either through living at home or by travelling home most weekends.

Given the significant differences in campus life, it should be no surprise that campus ministry in the two different countries looks quite different. At the same time, there were interesting parallels and opportunities to learn from each other, which I’ll say more about as I continue to reflect on my Sabbatical experience.

– Brenda Kronemeijer-Heyink

this entry has been cross-posted at Brenda’s personal blog.

Posted on

Sabbatical review – Brenda’s initial thoughts

My Sabbatical has been a gift of perspective. It was an opportunity to be far enough and long enough away, so that I could let go of the regular burdens and weariness that I carried. And embark on this adventure that was a gift from my community and God. 

It was truly a Sabbath, a time away to help me let go of my sense of being needed so I could remember what was good. Those I left behind were more than able to care for things when I wasn’t there. I had enough distance from the hard things to remember what I love about my job and our life in Canada. I know people have been praying for us as we’ve been gone, and we’ve received encouraging notes and many reminders that we are not the only ones looking forward to us coming home soon. 

I received so much hospitality: from the people who offered us a place to stay in the Netherlands to the many people who I could talk to about campus ministry or bibliodrama to the meals and childcare provided by my in-laws. How can I not return with a sense of wanting to share that hospitality, particularly after having my own cup overflow? 

We got to have adventures as a family: the kinds which involve trains, mountains, museums, castles, bikes, and good food. We connected with friends and family, delighting in our daughter’s ability to communicate with others (part now in Dutch) and her getting to really know Matthijs’s family. 

Like many of my projects, there are things I didn’t get done. In the last two weeks, I felt pressure to work as hard as possible to finish them off, forgetting that the projects of the Sabbatical were a means to an end: learning to practice listening to the nudges of the Spirit and pay attention to where God is working and how best to use my gifts and experiences. A Sabbatical won’t make me a different person, so much as it has hopefully helped me be more content with who I am and the life that I already have, even as I hope to continue to grow and change in good and holy ways. 

The hope is that the campus ministry’s blog (and my own personal blog) will be a place for me to write more about the Sabbatical: as a way of remembering and processing, as well as sharing this gift I’ve received with others. 

Posted on

Silent Retreat January 2025

Silent Retreat

January 25, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at St Andrew’s By-the-Lake Anglican Church, Centre Island

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Ps. 46:10)

Looking for some calm, quiet space in the midst of your busy life? Interested in a time of being still with God in a beautiful place? Every year, our campus ministry hosts a silent retreat: a day in which we invite you to set aside some time and space to listen and reflect. This year we will once again meet at St. Andrews By the Lake Anglican Church on Centre Island. We invite you to join us for our Silent Retreat on Saturday, January 25, from 10 am to 4:30 pm. The retreat is open to all those connected to the campus ministry community or at a university here in Toronto, so feel free to forward it to others who might be interested.

For an impression of last year’s retreat, see this Instagram post.

Schedule

The day will begin at 10 am with coffee/tea and scones followed by a time of prayer and entering into the silence together at 10:30am. The day will unfold in silence, including a silent lunch together and a quiet afternoon coffee break. We will gather at the close of the day to end our silence together and reflect on our experiences. Carol, one of the campus ministers, will be available for pastoral conversations during the day if things emerge you need to talk about. 

Getting there

As we are meeting on Centre Island, you will need to catch the Ward’s Island ferry (round-trip ticket $9).

Resources

Some reading material and resources will be available for those who want them on the day. Please feel free to bring along any items that will deepen the experience and the silence for you. Suggestions include a journal to record any of your reflections, a Bible, devotional materials, poetry, art supplies and/or books on faith. Additionally, you can take time outside on the beach or walking around Centre Island, or do the labyrinth on the church grounds.

Contact/Registration

Registration will open in January 2025. The cost for the retreat is not yet determined, but should be under $50.00, which includes lunch and two coffee breaks.

We hope you will join our community for this day of intentional quiet – to give space to reflect on what our hearts are telling us, and encounter the presence of God. 

Posted on

Advent Resources: Contemplation, Visio Divina and Poetry

With advent just around the corner, we’ve drawn up a list of some our favourite resources for the season. With some free and paid options, these resources come from a range of Christian artists and writers, and engage with poetry, visual art, spiritual practices and anti-consumerism.

We hope you find something that helps you engage with the season of watching and waiting.

Posted on

Using the First Nations Version Bible: Learning from indigenous voices

As we start our gatherings, we “acknowledge the history, spirituality, culture, and ancestral stewardship of the land on which we regularly meet by the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Anishinabek Nations, and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.” We continue our land acknowledgement with words that one of our emerging leaders helped us adopt several years ago: “we commit ourselves to seeking to live out the Good Way, which encompasses both love and humility as we bravely journey towards the justice which Jesus proclaimed with his words, life, death and resurrection.”

Our land acknowledgement recognizes our complex histories of the land on which we live and gather and reminds us of our desire to learn from other cultures. One way we as a community have chosen to more actively learn from Indigenous wisdom is through using the First Nations Version of the Bible, which is an Indigenous translation of the Bible. Using a different translation of the biblical text can be helpful for hearing the text in a new way; furthermore, the use of cultural norms and words that are different from what many of are used to can challenge our assumptions about what the text means.

As we have been using this version of the Bible at our gatherings these past few years, many people have commented on how the translation uses descriptions for names, such as Creator Sets Free (Jesus), Bitter Tears (Mary), Father of Many Nations (Abraham) and House of Bread (Bethlehem). Such descriptions may feel distracting at times but most of us have found them helpful, as they provide us with extra information for understanding the biblical text, including the meaning of the words in the original language.

Using the First Nations Version of the text is a simple and concrete way of acting out our desire to learn from Indigenous voices. We are hopeful that the Holy Spirit will work in and through this translation to allow many to grow in appreciation of the Bible and how we can learn from other cultures.