Messages
October 22, 2025
As a working minister and theologian, I have been troubled by “anti-woke” rhetoric at political rallies and in church pulpits, and those who condemn “wokeness” are often those who celebrate their devotion to Jesus. After all, “woke” is a term used to symbolize an awareness of injustices and a commitment to combatting them. . . . I think as Christians we should proudly wear the title of “woke.”
October 15, 2025
That sense of wonder and awe is often truly the beginning of faith. In opening ourselves to the sheer majesty of God – to be filled with wonder and awe – is to be humbled; it offers the opportunity to see life differently, even to be different ourselves. This is why we begin Sunday worship with praise; it is because God is deserving of praise, certainly but also to open ourselves up to all that is beyond us and our own particular cares and concerns.
October 8, 2025
While the Baptist tradition in Canada is small, it is also quite diverse; in addition to a myriad of independent Baptist churches across Canada, associated only by collegiality with other churches, there are several Baptist denominations. Together, all these churches total less than five hundred thousand members, or a little over one per cent of the Canadian population.
October 1, 2025
We can set our eyes on each and every moment, knowing the presence of the living, creating God at all times. We can fill our days with transcendent moments of awe, strung together into a lifelong journey of experiencing all of God’s goodness that is there before us. We can, through gratitude, enter into a deeper relationship with God and a deeper appreciation of life itself.
September 24, 2025
I wonder if the sixteenth-century Bishop of Geneva, Francis de Sales, was thinking about autumn – the time that nature slows down and we are given the opportunity to be more reflective, intentional, and aware of our mortality and place in the world – when he wrote: “Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
September 17, 2025
I think praying while walking should be more of a thing. Well, praying while doing almost anything. It is a sign that we are bringing our faith to bear on our ordinary as well as our extraordinary activities, a sign that we are engaged with the world and hold empathy for its needs. Prayer while walking is not so much that we might change God’s mind or heart, but that God might change ours, and spur us on to a different action.
September 10, 2025
In every culture, in every corner of the world, storytelling has been an intrinsic part of human communication since the beginning of time. From ancient tales of hunters with bows and arrows following their pray, etched on cave walls, up to modern-day novels and blogs and podcasts, stories have served as a principal means of human connection, understanding and growth.
“Through Stained Glass” is the regular email sent to congregants by our minister, the Reverend John C. Perkin.
September 3, 2025
Suddenly summer is over and we are plunging back into fall routines. In our worship at First Baptist Ottawa, as we follow our own ordering of the church year, we shift from the summer season of Kingdomtide to the fall season of Creation.
August 27, 2025
Discipleship is an important part of the Protestant church tradition, although the term implies and means different things to different churches.
August 20, 2025
Psalm 146 begins as a sacred hymn of praise, and ends that way, but there is a sudden shift in focus in the middle with the words “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help”
August 13, 2025
I was heartily encouraged by one of the books I read this summer. Titled simply Hope Dies Last, it is a collection of stories of visionary people around the globe who are responding to the challenges of climate upheaval and other devastations.
June 25, 2025
To be followers of the Way, as the early Christians identified themselves, is to walk in the example given by Jesus . . . In the summer months ahead, may we not stray too far from our model. May we continue to proclaim in word and deed the good news of the Kingdom . . .
June 11, 2025
We remember this season that the fulness of time has come, and always comes, in God’s great purposes in Christ. So the summer in the church is still a time of proclamation, but can also be a time of reflection, even of conversion. This is about living the life of Christ . . .
June 4, 2025
As I look out over the church pews, I see them empty early on Sunday morning as I prepare the sanctuary place for worship, and then I watch them come to life as Sunday worship begins, I am always mindful of those who come and occupy the pews. I know that everyone who comes into a church and who sits in a pew has a story . . .
May 28, 2025
Pilgrimage is known in many world religions. In the Christian tradition, it follows the model of the Hebrew people who would go to Jerusalem for major festivals, such as Passover.
May 21, 2025
Even as we see cultural and religious polarities in Canada, I am grateful . . . . that, even in our increasingly secular times, there is still an implicit acceptance of the fundamental biblical principles enunciated by Jesus, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another” and “love your neighbour as yourself”.
May 14, 2025
We all face storms, and the church, often portrayed as a ship, faces storms and challenges. But even in existential crisis, in the face of spiritual or practical threats and difficulties, in the face of the storms of uncertainty or doubt or challenge, we can still affirm that there is no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing choices. Just as tradition has suggested that the church is like a ship on a spiritual journey, so it also suggests that we need the right clothing for our spiritual lives.
May 7, 2025
In many ways Paul established the faith, Christian theology and the shape of the church for generations to follow him. Although not one of the original disciples, he claimed apostolic status for himself.
April 23, 2025
I think we can all realize that, in our own way, we can also be heroes of the faith. We may not slay dragons, but the good news of the gospel means we are empowered to take on the task of confronting the dragons of the world when we encounter them.
April 16, 2025
In some ways, the gospel by its very nature is a call to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, to ensure that all people know the love of God, and have a sense of belonging in the community that celebrates that love.
April 9, 2025
In [Springsteen’s] music that spark of hope and faith is fanned to fuller flame by those who believe, who yearn for the Promised Land – which is not just America made great again, but truly the Kingdom of God, a land where all people live in harmony and equality, where justice reigns and grace abounds.
April 2, 2025
In the context of Lord’s Supper or communion, breaking bread symbolizes more than just a shared meal: it is a shared experience of the divine presence, it is community and connection, it is remembering Jesus and it is a rededication to following his way.
March 26, 2025
As the world seems to slip deeper into darkness, or madness that leaves us feeling we are in darkness, let us continue to look to the light of God’s presence, so marvellously revealed in Jesus Christ.
March 19, 2025
We are the inheritors of that movement, called to be followers of Jesus, disciples who learn and listen and understand; more than that, we are called to be those who, like those who followed Jesus in person, took on the task of continuing his ministry in word and deed.
March 12, 2025
In our current age of digital communication, where tweets and social media posts are not only ways of messaging friends but also communicating shifts in international relations, we seem to be losing the art not only of conversation, but of small talk.
March 5, 2025
Today is Ash Wednesday, and in the lectionary-appointed readings one text is constant and appears every year: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17. It is an appropriate text for today in Canada.
February 5, 2025
There is so much I want to say this week, and a single pastoral e-pistle does not seem sufficient for me to respond to the disorder and anxiety of the world.
January 29, 2025
When I first arrived in Ottawa to take on the work of ministry at First Baptist, the nation was just emerging from the first wave of the COVID pandemic.