Vol XVI. No. 26
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019 http://colleagueslist.blogspot/.ca http://colleagueslistii.blogspot.com
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net
This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns, write to me personally - waholst@telus.net
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Dear Friends:
This week I share with you as my Special Item a book that was self-published several years ago by a long term friend and colleague, now retired and living in his home province of Saskatchewan. It is both a personal and theological/spiritual reflection on ministry, and while our experiences differ our learnings have been surprisingly similar.
I thank Dan for initiating this, and I think that many of you would come to benefit from reading it, whatever your background might be.
The other contents of this letter have also been selected from a Canadian, but ecumenical and global perspective.
Wayne
PLEASE NOTE - If a link, below seems to be dead, cut and paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page and it should work.
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SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice -
UPSTREAM LIVING IN A DOWNSTREAM WORLD by Daniel Haugen
Friesen Press,Victoria, BC
Published in 2015, Hardcover $35.21
Paperback $17.49, Kindle $7.91
ISBN #978-1-4602-6328-0
Publisher's Promo:
Upstream Living in a Downstream World is the story of one pastor's journey in ministry, a journey that carried the Rev. Daniel Haugen through several parishes, president of Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute in Outlook, Saskatchewan, and back into parish ministry.
But the book is more than story after story of one person's ministry, for each story or group of stories become the foundation for broader theological and pastoral reflection on ministry and the church in our contemporary world....
--
Author's Bio:
Pastor Haugen holds a B.A. with a major in Western European History from the third to the nineteenth century and a minor in Political Philosophy. He also holds an M.Div. degree with a Biblical major and later completed an S.T.M degree in Old Testament studies.
The author has been a Pastor in the Lutheran Church since 1973. His pastoral experience included 18 years of parish ministry and 19 years at a Lutheran High School; 17 of those years as President of this educational institution of the church. In 1997 Pastor Haugen was invited to be a guest lecturer in Bogotá, Colombia on Torah for Today and Youth Ministry and in 1999 was a participant in an International Lutheran Education Conference on the Gold Coast of Australia.Now living on a forested acreage where two rivers meet near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, retirement has been a time for reflection on ministry, preaching by invitation (on most Sundays) and the enjoyment of family and grandchildren. In the winter months Pastor Haugen still plays hockey three or four times a week before a couple months of winter escape to Arizona.... --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Foreword by Wilburn Nelson:
This book is more than stories of one person's ministry, for each story or group of stories becomes the foundation for a broader theological and pastoral reflection on ministry and the church in our contemporary world.
(Pastor Haugen began his ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada which then merged with the Canadian synods of the Lutheran Church in America to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada during the years 1973 to 1986.)
The foundation for Pastor Haugen's ministry is the Lutheran doctrine of grace and the presence of Christ in the lives of the people he served. The grace of God is reflected in each story as are his reflections on the joys, blessings and frustrations of ministry.
Pastor Haugen experienced God again and again in those he served.
Dan Haugen can be quite forthright in his critique of the church in today's world, yet through it all he remains steadfast, as he relates to the church locally, regionally and nationally. His critique is not to disparage the church or its ministry, but rather to raise issues confronting the church in Canada and today's world.
It is a very different world today than it was in 1973 when he was ordained. His goal is productive discussion of contemporary issues in both church and world.
-
My Thoughts:
I first met and got to know Dan Haugen when I moved from eastern to western Canada in 1971 and became acquainted with many different kinds of Lutherans from those I knew while growing up. Dan comes with a background of pietistic or evangelical Lutherans than I had known. It has been a growth experience for me to come to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of his tradition as he has come to know mine.
Both of us have come to appreciate people on local congregational expressions of Christian community who sought to live faithful lives of goodness and service. We have learned some of the dangers of getting too much involved in ecclesiastical structures and politics.
Still, we agree on the need for sound theology and authentic spirituality. We come to the later stages of our lives and ministries with gratitude for what we have experienced, even though we both have our scars to show for living a challenging vocation.
Also, I have come to appreciate fidelity to the truth as we understand it, and faithful service, as important ways of assessing another's ministry.
At this time of life it is a great blessing for both of us to have good partners and loving, caring families of many kinds, surrounding us.
I think that many of you would find this book meaningful.
--
Buy the book from:
Friesen Press: https://tinyurl.com/y3aytqs3 Amazon.ca: https://tinyurl.com/yctefsoa
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COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.
Sermons and Blog,
January 28th, 2021
"Liberation"
https://tinyurl.com/y3xy68oq
--
Philip Yancey.
Colorado
Philipyancey.com
January 22nd, 2021
"Talking With the Other Side"
https://tinyurl.com/y6rwkub6
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX.
Personal Web Site,
January 25th, 2021
"God Cannot Tell a Lie"
https://tinyurl.com/yyq38cc6
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CTV.ca
January 15th, 2021
tinyurl.com/1f8j3g8n
THE LANGUAGE OF LAMENT
Coping Biblically With Chaos
The Salvationist
January 17th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/yxpbcyh2
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THE CRUMBLING MYTH OF
AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM
A Call to Face Reality
The Christian Century,
January 25th, 2021`
https://tinyurl.com/y56d5mkt
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SEEKING UNITY, BIDEN SHOULD
LEARN FROM NELSON MANDELA
African Leader Faced Deep Divisions Too
Religion News Service,
January 22nd, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/yxpllaxn
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THE REMOVAL OF TRUMP FROM
TWITTR WAS LONG OVERDUE
An American Catholic Perspective
National Catholic Reporter,
January 25th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/y357g33v
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THE END OF THE PRO-CHRISTIAN
PRESIDENCY OF DONALD TRUMP
No US President was So Openly
Devoted to Evangelical Christians
Religion News Service,
January 19th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/y5p5kat6
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GERMAN TEENS GO TO ISRAEL
TO ATONE FOR THEIR FAMILIES'
HOLOCAUST HISTORY
A Spiritual Growth Experience
Religion News Service,
January 22nd, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/y5o9vy6o
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S MORAL RECKONING
ON THE JEWS AND THE HOLOCAUST
Evolving Awareness and Conviction
Religion News Service,
January 26th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/y3hsp4l2
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AMANDA GORMAN IS A LIGHT TO US ALL
SAYS CANADIAN CATHOLIC CONCERNING
BIBEN INAUGERATION POET
Catholic Register, Toronto
January 25th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/y4spadum
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CONSECRATION AND INSTALLATION
OF BISHOP-ELECT ANNA GREENWOOD-LEE
Former Calgary Priest is Becoming Anglican Bishop of
Vancouver Island (Listen to her video intro)
Anglican Church of Canada
January 25th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/yxgj7zau
Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online -
That Pow'r which rais'd and still upholds
This universal frame,
From countless, unbeginning time
Was ever still the same.
- Robert Burns
--
Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul;
[we] cannot live in health without them.
- Mahalia Jackson
--
Without community service, we would not have a strong
quality of life. It's important to the person who serves as
well as the recipient. It's the way in which we ourselves
grow and develop.
- Dorothy Height
--
Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious,
to believe that the world could still change for the better.
And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold
that one is tempted to say, “What do I care if there is a
summer; its warmth is no help to me now.” Yes, evil often
seems to surpass good by far. But then, in spite of us, and
without our permission, there comes at last an end to the
bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a
thaw. And so I still have hope.
- Vincent van Gogh
--
Never burden yourself by looking far ahead. Always live
one day at a time. If you can do this, you will live like
children, birds, and flowers. For them each day is a lifetime.
Every day unfolds new joy, new hope, even if every day may
have brought you new shadows and new nightfall.
Every day you may have broken down in guilt and failure.
Every day may have shown you your helplessness a
thousandfold. Yet each new day brings new sun, new
air, and new grace..
- Eberhard Arnold
--
One of the advantages that comes with age is the ability
to view life through a longer lens. I’ve witnessed this in
grandparents and other seniors who have played influential r
oles in my life. Without their model, I don’t know where I
would have learned to believe that a prodigal child can
be restored; that marriage is a gift of grace, even in hard
seasons; that hope for calmer waters in difficult times is
no trivial posture, but a mighty act of faith.
- Collin Huber
[we] cannot live in health without them.
(end)
This Winter, Our Groups Meet on Zoom
Monday Night Study 7:00PM to 8:30PM (90 minutes)
Ten Online classes run from January 25th to March 29th.
Our Book - "Braving the Wilderness" by Brene Brown
You can buy it from Amazon.ca or Indigo
It will be your only cost for the series.
Register for Zoom on our website
Go to the Ministries heading and click ACTS
Thursday Morning Bible Study 10:00AM to 11:00AM (60 min.)
This winter we are studying the Gospel of John
Classes run until April 8th, 2021
Invite new friends to join us via Zoom.
If you have questions, contact Wayne at waholst@telus.net
(end)
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