George Hermanson

Instructions For The Community, Year B, September 27, 2009, Pentecost 17

September 27, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
17th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Mark 9:38-50
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the issues we face in a multi-religious world is how to accept others as having insight into the nature of reality. Do other religions have truth? Is often how the question is posed. Then there are other voices that are not religious, do they have some truth? Do those outside the religious community have important insights we ought to pay attention to? Do other religions have something to teach us? Do other voices tell us something important?

Seeking Wisdom, Year B, Pentecost, September 13, 2009

September 13, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
15th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Proverbs 1:20-33
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

James 3:1-12
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

Mark 8:27-38
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Every day we are faced with some decision. Information about this and that surround us: issues about family life, ethical concerns, political questions rain down on us daily. We have to decide how to respond and often, because the information is contradictory or confusing, we don't know what to do or say or act. Wisdom is scarce.

The passage from Proverbs could have been written in our time. We could easily have read it in Maclean's or the newspaper. Wisdom cries out in the street. She raises her voice in the town squares, she calls out at the busiest corners. She looks for those who heed her voice and follow her ways but she finds none. Calamity and disaster prevail. Fear and terror. Death and injury and hurt. It could be written about Iraq or Afghanistan; Israel or Lebanon.

Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society

November 10 and 11

Dr. Philip Clayton

Dr. Philip Clayton is currently Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Claremont Graduate University, and Ingraham Professor at Claremont School of Theology. For more information see Professor Clayton's website.
B.A., Westmont College
M.A., Fuller Theological Seminary
M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D., Yale University

Dominion-Chalmers United Church
355 Cooper Street, (corner of Cooper at O'Connor)
Ottawa ON.
www.dc-church.org

Sponsored by Ottawa Presbytery and The Madawaska Institute.

Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society
An Exploration of Theology for the Emerging Church

Christian language is alive and well in the churches, and sometimes even outside them as well. But serious reflection about what Christian language means in our world today is in deep trouble.

This event will help us reflect on what it means to be an emerging, missional, transforming church. 

It will make a radical call to pastors and laypeople to get involved and transform theology as we know it today. It will offer concrete advice on how to explore and voice our Christian beliefs so that they have a transforming impact on both church and society.

Pushing The Boundaries, Year B, Pentecost, September 6, 2009

September 6, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
14th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

James 2:1-10
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

Mark 7:24-31
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

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I love Jazz. It takes rhythm, melody and beat to rework tunes that are familiar. The boundaries of the familiar are pushed and we are lifted into new intensity, harmony and beauty. We feel the music in a new way. Our senses are expanded. All music shares this, for you can hear Beethoven or Bach in new ways. This happens when the musicians give a performance that push the boundaries of what went before and makes us hear the piece in a new way. There is a risk taken and the boundaries pushed.