I am white, I am Protestant, and I am from the resourced sector - though I have not always managed my resources as I might, so stumble a bit in that department.  Never the less, as such, I come with the collected trauma that those categories have inflicted on others. I am a child of the sixties and still hold to the tattered hope that 'Make Love not War' is a viable way forward. I am married to a professional musician. We have three grown children. I am currently trying to learn from the kith I live with daily. I love music of all kinds. I am concerned about the state of our collective hearts. 

I am an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church of Canada and a Spiritual Director trained in the Ignatian tradition. My training at Knox College, Toronto School of Theology, is from the Reform school of thought. My training at Regis College, TST, is from the Jesuit tradition. My studies at Claremont School of Theology are based in the United Methodist tradition that embraces all faith traditions and all those wishing to pursue the way of peace and justice for, and with, others. The Doctor of Ministry program in which I am involved is entitled, "Spiritual Renewal, Contemplative Practice, and Strategic Leadership."

I most recently served a two United Church of Canada congregations close to my home which together are known as the Shelburne/Primrose Pastoral Charge. Primrose United Church is a small, quintessential white clapboard church located in a rural setting. If you can't bake pie, well, let's just say being able to bake a decent pie is an important asset. In the spring they host a busy plant sale and in the fall host a country concert at the local music hall.  Throughout the year they cater to different community events. The church has a meditation garden that has recently joined the international Quiet Garden Movement. 

The other church, Trinity United, is located in a small, but rapidly growing town that once served the farming population. We are partners with the local Farmer's Market and a venue for local concerts and theatrical productions. We host a weekly SoupHaus, ESL classes, and provide space for numerous community activities. 

As we embrace and befriend other faith traditions alongside our reform roots, Trinity United shares its worship space with a Catholic congregation, a Seventh Day Adventist congregation and a worshiping Muslim community. 

This last year the pastoral charge has partnered with First Line for Syria and Partera Peacebuilding International. First Line was formed in response to the growing number of refugees in our area and their needs. Partera offers local and international training in non-violent empowerment for change.

My life experience is eclectic, both theologically and intellectually. I have traveled some in my life. I was raised in a nominally Christian home that was artistic in nature, valued the acquiring of knowledge and was spiritually welcoming to all people.

These are the assumptions that inform my work.

 We are all connected one to the other in an intimate web of relationships.

We are all beloved equally. Being beloved is our essence.

If we are living at this moment, we are in God’s presence.

Being beloved and being surrounded, embedded, emerged in the divine has nothing to do with what we do, who we are in outward appearances, our morality, our nature, our faith, or lack thereof.

It is simply a fact of our being alive. Each breath is a divine breath, intermingled with all others, intermingled with the natural world, no matter where we live, who we live with, or where or how we worship or do not worship.

There is nothing we can do to live outside the milieu of the sacred because we are embedded within it.

However, we can reject the knowings that it offers by denying its existence. Or we can encourage familiarity with it by making ourselves available to its teachings. The divine holds all wisdom, but we may intuit this wisdom when, in humility, we align ourselves with a desire for goodness, truth, and above all, love.

It is the great spirit's job to do the miraculous, what we are not capable of doing.

It is our job to live compassionately, one with the other, in deep respect and appreciation of all that has been given to us, and all that may still be offered.