The Christmas season means many different things to different people. For many, Advent is a rich spiritual stretch of reflection and waiting. For others, it is a stressful ball of chaos marked by last-minute shopping and big family gatherings. Or perhaps a difficult time of loneliness and grief, or a magical celebration of hope and cheer. For the unlucky few—and here I will accept your prayers and your pity—it is a 24/7 cycle of made-for-TV romantic movies.
We have new content suited for this complicated season. Our managing editor Steve Thorngate writes about Advent songwriting and addresses the dilemma about whether to use liturgical language of light and darkness. For those who still have shopping to do, books make great gifts, and we have new reviews of some fascinating books: one about the gender of God (and Jesus), and one that uses visual art to explore queerness in a rural Mennonite community.
The video of the week is about another new article. Elizabeth Felicetti chats with me about ordination—how it has played out for one incarcerated aspirant, and what that situation might reveal about ordination more broadly. (Also make sure to read her article!)
Email me: How are you feeling about this year’s Advent/Christmas season?
“I found myself tiptoeing up to the language of light and darkness and then stopping short of using it—I was trying to write around the problem, to have it both ways.”
Priest and writer Elizabeth Felicetti chats about the ordination discernment of Luke, an incarcerated man, and about the flaws of ordination processes more broadly. Can the church truly extend forgiveness for past crimes?
“Shelterbelts illuminates the faithful practices and queries of a rural community in Manitoba as its members grapple with their histories and identities.”
