Current Issue
Mar 2012
VOL 27 NO 2
Mar 2012
Shared Hope - Growing Relationships, One Conversation At A time
Mission Statement
As the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the mission of Canada Lutheran is to engage the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada in a dynamic dialogue in which information, inspiration and ideas are shared in a thoughtful and stimulating way.
Contact Us
Canada Lutheran
302-393 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB
R3B 3H6
E-mail: canaluth@elcic.ca
Barb Wiebe—Circulation
Phone: 204.984.9177
Toll-Free: 888.786.6707 (ext. 177)
Fax: 204.984.9185
E-mail: bwiebe@elcic.ca
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And then...and then...
Few people get as excited about telling a story as 5-year-olds do. When I was teaching elementary school in Ontario some years ago, I also acted as the school librarian. One of the joys of my week was hosting story time for the junior and senior kindergarten classes. First I would read them a story, and then they would take their turn and tell me a story.
As each child told her or his story, it was almost as though they were reliving the events. A story about taking the dog for a walk involved demonstrating how tightly she’d held the leash when Caesar saw a squirrel. A story about a new baby in the family included using a soft voice and showing exactly how to hold the baby “right.”
One child was especially enchanting. His stories would go on and on, following a stream of loosely associated recollections, each more thrilling than the last. The events of the story were connected by the phrase, “And then…” So a story that began with a morning raking leaves would continue with “And then my sister got to go with my dad…and then I was watching (—a popular children’s cartoon)…and then did you know my guinea pig is a boy?…” and so on.
I feel a bit like that young storyteller in offering you this issue of . I’m excited by the breadth and variety of ways in which the ELCIC is living out its faith, and I don’t want to leave anything out. We’re reaching out to at-risk youth in Coquitlam, BC, and then we’re revisioning rural ministry in Alberta, and then we’re headed to wilderness adventure camp in Canadian Shield country and then…and then… Just like spring, God’s Spirit is unstoppable.
Take, for example, the ministries among Aboriginal Peoples featured in this month’s cover story, “Growing Together: Learning Friendship from Canada’s First Peoples.” Three different profiles of Lutherans learning to live into right relationship with indigenous communities may just inspire your congregation to consider where the unstoppable Spirit is leading you.
These are exciting days for the ELCIC. As the new editor of , I’ve got my eyes wide open, taking it all in. I can hardly wait to see where God is taking us next.
Susan McIlveen, Editor
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