Opinion
Everyday Ethics
Your adult son has a history of being careless with money. Despite your urging to buy something more modest, he and his spouse bought a house they couldn’t afford. Now they’re having trouble paying the mortgage. You recently came into some money. Do you help them out, or should they learn from their mistake?
By Lee Simpson and Kevin Little January 2010
Column
Human rights, by their very nature, are doomed to be taken for granted
By Michael Webster December 2009
Observations
Understanding the church's past is critical for moving purposefully into the future
By David Wilson December 2009
Everyday Ethics
You’re a lifelong churchgoer; your daughter and son-in-law are atheists. Three days before Christmas, they must leave town to be with his father, who is gravely ill. They leave their two school-age children with you. You always attend Christmas Eve services. Do you bring your grandchildren with you?
By Connie denBok and Bob Giuliano December 2009
Column
A message for Christmas from the moderator
By Mardi Tindal November 2009
Column
Debate about God is a good thing when done intelligently
By Brian Platt November 2009
Column
We mustn't ignore the conflict that pushed oppression so far beyond our borders
By Connie denBok November 2009
Observations
By rejecting our elders, we are losing our connection to a truly great generation
By David Wilson November 2009
Everyday Ethics
Your grandson has applied to a prestigious university, and his marks are just shy of the admission cut-off. You know he would have sailed through had he not missed so many classes in his last term due to his parents’ messy breakup. The dean of the college is an old friend. Do you call in a favour?
By Ken Gallinger and Ruth McQuirter Scott November 2009
Column
It's possible to find God even in a frayed moment
By Keith Howard October 2009
Column
What does God do?
By Trisha Elliott October 2009
Everyday Ethics
You began by helping an elderly neighbour with her lawn. Then you agreed to buy a few groceries, fix her cabinets and clean her eaves. Now she phones twice daily, and her “little requests” take a lot of your time. She has no family and no one else to support her. What do you do?
By Lee Simpson and Kevin Little October 2009
Observations
Commissioners have confessed to the church’s brokenness and embraced the inevitability of real change
By David Wilson October 2009
Column
It’s encouraging to think that in the bleakness of disappointment, any of us can reinvent ourselves in mid-life
By Larry Krotz September 2009
Column
Did Jesus make mistakes?
By Sandra Beardsall September 2009
Observations
You’re either passionately for energy megaprojects or against them. The divisions are as basic as the terminology.
By David Wilson September 2009
Everyday Ethics
You are a minister and an outspoken opponent of gambling. After a community kitchen meal for the poor, you find a crumpled lottery ticket on the floor by the coat rack. Out of curiosity you check the numbers on the Internet and discover it’s a winner.
What do you do?
By Connie denBok and Bob Giuliano September 2009
Column
God tends not to communicate with me in direct ways
By Karen Stiller July 2009
Column
What is the point of prayer?
By Peter Wyatt July 2009
Observations
Where the United Church's course will lead remains to be seen, but this much is certain: there will be no going back to the church of our forebears
By David Wilson July 2009
Everyday Ethics
Your church’s Sunday school is on the rebound. Another new student arrives in your classroom. She’s a troubled foster child with a history of being expelled from school and bounced from home to home. Despite your efforts to help her integrate, she is becoming increasingly disruptive. Other children have stopped coming. What do you do?
By Ken Gallinger and Ruth McQuirter Scott July 2009
Everyday Ethics
A wealthy member of the congregation where you are a minister plans a gift that will sustain the church for many years. There’s a catch: he wants you to cancel “Spirituality and Suds” pub nights that are popular with young adults from the church and the community. Do you turn off the tap?
By Lee Simpson and Kevin Little June 2009
Observations
Singing sensation Susan Boyle reminds us that we are all people of spirit, whether or not we call ourselves spiritual
By David Wilson June 2009
Column
United Church camps attract those with little or no interest in faith. And that's a good thing.
By Brian Platt June 2009
Column
What is conscience?
By Thomas Reynolds June 2009
Column
How much do you have to believe to be a Christian?
By Ken Gallinger May 2009
Column
Octogenarian love isn't for the faint of heart
By Patricia Clarke May 2009
Observations
The collapsing economy has exposed failures almost too monumental to comprehend
By David Wilson May 2009
Everyday Ethics
The fire inspector has ordered some costly upgrades at the financially struggling church where you work as an administrator. A parishioner who has been unemployed for several months offers to do the work at a good price. But he wants to be paid in cash so his employment insurance benefits aren’t affected. Do you agree?
By Connie denBok and Bob Giuliano May 2009
Column
Shedding some light on the art of journal keeping
By Larry Krotz April 2009
