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Aug 8, 2024 | 
anglicanjournal.com | Martha Tatarnic
How the games are shot through with both sin and graceIt’s hard to argue with my daughter. When she takes the time to be critical of something, she comes loaded with information and well-reasoned, clearly-articulated arguments. She thinks the Olympics are scandalous.
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Oct 11, 2023 | 
medium.com | Martha Tatarnic
One week ago, my dear friends Cheryl and Tanya and I were having Communion together on a rooftop patio in Jerusalem, Israel, and were meandering around the city commenting on how safe and at home we felt, what a profound gift it was to be in this holy land. This past weekend, war was declared between Israel and Hamas. Hundreds have died on both sides, with many more injured. Leaders have made aggressive statements which have escalated the violence, calling on their military reserves to fight.
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Sep 18, 2023 | 
medium.com | Martha Tatarnic
I was having a conversation with a group of my clergy colleagues recently. "It can be hard to talk about success in the church," one parish priest noted with dismay. "Nobody wants to hear about it."I could feel my stomach clench as they said these words. We had been sharing about the amazing and successful things each person in the group was doing in their churches. Their accounts were hopeful, exciting, inspiring.
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Aug 31, 2023 | 
anglicanjournal.com | Martha Tatarnic
In my recent book, Why Gather? and during the talks I’ve given about it across Canada, I’ve spoken openly about my struggle with burnout in ministry. Although I didn’t want to admit it at the time, I went into 2020 actively wondering if there was something else I could do with my life. With the advent of COVID-19, those wonderings became all-consuming. The pressure and anxiety of juggling so many needs and expectations, and then the sudden free-fall in which we all found ourselves, were too much.
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Aug 31, 2023 | 
anglicanjournal.com | Martha Tatarnic
The Anglican Church of Canada will publish a set of writings on medical assistance in dying (MAID) this September with …Bringing justice and peace to a new season But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. —Amos 5:24 The Season of Creation, a …Writing only days after the conclusion of the Assembly and General Synod 2023 held in Calgary, let me reflect on …Burnout is the whole church’s problem In my recent book, Why Gather?
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Aug 28, 2023 | 
medium.com | Martha Tatarnic
Our pink movie-going outfits, ready for a double feature film lineup: Oppenheimer and Barbie. As a child, I played Barbies in an uncomplicated, guilt-free way. I loved the clothes and hair, the miniature household items and the make-believe world. I didn't have the Dreamhouse doll house, but I did have a dream kitchen-complete with egg cartons and milk bottles, ice cube trays and peanut butter. Each tiny plastic item was a treasure.
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Aug 10, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Patrick J. Willson |Brad East |Martha Tatarnic |Dawn Araujo Hawkins
The Anima Christi is said to have been a favorite prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In it, Jesus is asked to “call” and “bid me come” when the hour of death draws near. In a contemporary reworking of the prayer, David Fleming makes a more expansive supplication: “On each of my dyings shed your light and your love.”I prefer Fleming’s version. Of course I hope that I will know Christ’s intimate presence on my deathbed. But in the life I live now, I hunger for so much more.
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Aug 9, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Patrick J. Willson |Brad East |Martha Tatarnic |Jessica Mesman
As our last meetingof an inter-congregational experiment in dialogue was drawing to a close, I felt pleased. The atmosphere was warm and congenial. We’d talked about important subjects and about our most deeply held values in a way that seemed promising for further conversation.
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Aug 8, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Patrick J. Willson |Martha Tatarnic |Jessica Mesman |Brad East
As a young man, at age 26, Paul Simon shared a vision of what it would be like to be old in his song “Old Friends” (with Art Garfunkel): “Can you imagine us / Years from today / Sharing a park bench quietly? / How terribly strange / To be seventy.”Not all visions from youth come true, of course. When Simon was 70, he was not sitting on a park bench quietly. Far from it. He was touring the world, performing songs he had written over a remarkable career spanning over five decades.
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Aug 7, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Patrick J. Willson |Martha Tatarnic |Jessica Mesman |Brad East
In my “sunday’s coming” email for this week, I thought about what Jacob could have done differently to be a better parent. While being a good parent doesn’t guarantee that siblings won’t feel how they feel or make their own choices, being a parent who manipulates emotions and relationships between children definitely doesn’t lead to anything productive or healing. But I’m also taken with the latter segment of this text and the path to Joseph’s enslavement.
