The Rev. Dr. Dana Fisher hosts a discussion group at the Fox & Feather (283 Elgin Street Ottawa) between 4.30pm-6.30pm for students, young professionals, and all those interested in talking about “everything you don’t believe, that nobody wants to talk about.” It’s a great time of discussion and discovery as we explore life’s questions together.

The conversation is always free and free-flowing – and, if you’re looking for a meal, it’ll only cost you $10 for a drink and meal from a select menu. Come hungry for good food and good conversation. For more info, contact Dana at 613.232.4500 or dana@stjohnsottawa.ca

Every month we come together for an open community meal. We eat. We meet. We reflect. And we connect – with each other, with God, and with the community. As we do so, in community with one another, we try to work out what it means to be faithful in the midst of work, school, family, and relationship. In short, our community seeks to encourage one another as we connect the dots between faith and real life.

After taking July off, we’ll reconnect at the same time and place as always.

Our meals are hosted by the Anglican Parish of All Saints Sandy Hill (317 Chapel Street at Laurier). Doors open at 4.30pm, and the table is set for 5.00pm. We hope to see you there!

The group meets at Bridgehead on the corner of Elgin and Maclaren at 7pm.

Did we mention? It’s the laziest bookclub you’ll ever be in: no reading ahead of time!  Join us for a reading of a short passage of scripture, philosophy, news, poetry or something else compelling, and we’ll see where the discussion leads us.

If you’re thinking of coming, or if you need additional information, leave a comment or contact darlene.mcleod@rogers.com

Every month we come together for an open community meal. We eat. We meet. We reflect. And we connect – with each other, with God, and with the community. As we do so, in community with one another, we try to work out what it means to be faithful in the midst of work, school, family, and relationship. In short, our community seeks to encourage one another as we connect the dots between faith and real life.

We’ll be eating and meeting again in June, same time, same place. After eating, we’ll head to the local park for some Ultimate. We even have a backup plan if it rains. Bring your favourite game (or an extra disc) and join us, especially if you’re around for the summer and looking for community.

Our meals are hosted by the Anglican Parish of All Saints Sandy Hill (317 Chapel Street at Laurier). Doors open at 4.30pm, and the table is set for 5.00pm. We hope to see you there!

Shades of Springsteen, Knopfler and Dave Matthews there may be – but he stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives.

Martyn Joseph plays at St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church (2112 Bel Air Drive, Ottawa) on Tuesday May 11, 2010.

Proceeds from this evening’s concert will support Ottawa’s own Cornerstone supportive housing for women.

Tickets are $15/adv and $20/door, and are available through the St. Michael’s office (613.224.0526) or www.ticketwindow.ca.

The event’s facebook page – in order to connect with others attending the event – is found here.

One of acoustic music’s most arresting artists, the Welsh singer songwriter has been in demand on both sides of the Atlantic for over two decades. Martyn’s 25 year career has embraced some notable achievements including 5 Top 50 UK chart positions.

Martyn has toured with, amongst others, Suzanne Vega, Marc Cohn, Joan Armatrading, Runrig, Clannad, Chris de Burgh, Art Garfunkel, Jools Holland and even Celine Dion and Shirley Bassey. He has won fans everywhere with his uncanny fusion of material -feisty, pull no punches big issue numbers alongside stripped bare love songs.

Martyn’s particular strength is in the lyrical narrative of his songs, be they contemporary protests against injustice and inhumanity, a musical psalm to the fulfilment and fragilities of love, or a piercing précis of social history, “It’s the song that can soothe, explain or even in a small way save us”.

In this manner he carries on in the tradition of the six string balladeer as both catalyst and interpreter of our raddled and rewarding times, our personal and communal stories sung out loud in the spirit of Woody Guthrie, Ewan MacColl, Hank Williams and Bruce Springsteen.

Calls for Essay Submissions from Emerging Ecumenists

On behalf of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), NCC President Elect Kathryn Lohre is calling for essays written by emerging ecumenists ages 35 and younger.  Essays must address the theme, “Moving Forward Together: Visions of Young American Ecumenists.” Selected essays will appear in an anthology that will be presented at the NCC-CWS Ecumenical Centennial Gathering in November 2010.

The complete submission must be received in both hard copy and electronic form by May 1, 2010, 12 PM EST

North American Academy of Ecumenists - The 2010 Student Essay Contest

On the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement at the Edinburgh Missionary Conference, students in professional or graduate programs in Theology and Religious Studies are invited to consider how best to promote Christian unity today. Each contestant’s conclusions should be presented in a scholarly essay of moderate length (20-30 pages, double spaced).  It is permissible for essays written for course credit to be submitted as contest entries.

June 15, 2010 DEADLINE

The author of the winning essay will receive an award of $250 and funding to attend the 2010 NAAE conference in Montreal, PQ, CANADA, September 24-26, where he or she will be invited to present a précis of the essay.  The Journal of Ecumenical Studies publishes winning essays of sufficient scholarly merit.

This conference was inspired by the 2010 annual theme for the World Student Christian Federation chosen by the General Assembly of “environmental justice and climate change.” This conference will bring together both faith and advocacy perspectives to train student leaders how to work in their communities to defend all forms of life.

In the WSCF, we often speak of being in “solidarity” with our fellow human beings in other parts of the world, when we hear of the violence, dehumanization, or natural disaster they have faced. This expression reflects the deep level of compassion we find central to the message of Christianity and the work of Christ, working for the liberation and dignity of all people. This conference will challenge us to express our solidarity with all living things.

This conference will explore, through speakers, workshops and small-group discussion, the struggles we face in our communities to preserve the environment, from the quality of the water we drink and air we breathe to the richness and diversity of species and their habitats.

In addition to the vulnerability of the whole world to the risks of climate change, capacity for adaptability is not evenly distributed within a society: as it is people on the economic margins in those societies that bear the greatest cost of climate change. Not only will less wealthy human communities, and particularly those in high risk areas, be especially vulnerable as a result of the impacts of future anthropogenic climate change but also the larger life community of the earth.These effects on the larger life community are yet other reasons that we can speak of the ecological crisis as a moral crisis.

With a holistic understanding of the ecological crisis, ecofeminist liberation theologian, Ivone Gebera, connects the suffering of people living in poverty with the suffering of the Earth community. In a similar fashion, the importance of the vision of the future that Arthur Walker-Jones has discerned as operative in the Psalms endorses that “social justice is interrelated with the well-being of Earth.”

In the spirit of liberation theologians who called to our attention the need for a preferential option for people living in poverty, in order to overcome social injustice, and given the current effects of the climate crisis, we might also now speak of the need for a preferential option for the earth made poorer by human abuse.

Towards that aim, this conference seeks to educate students of the spectre of global ecological crisis and of the intricate connections of climate change and poverty, which in turn helps the students to approach the ecological issues in a holistic manner. In addition, the conference also aims at inspiring and equipping students with tools that would be helpful in working on local ecological and social issues through their respective local Student Christian Movement units.

For more info, visit http://www.wscfna.org/ecojustice.html

]]> http://www.theopentable.ca/eco-justice-conference/feed/ 0 http://www.theopentable.ca/writing/ http://www.theopentable.ca/writing/#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:05 +0000 admin http://www.theopentable.ca/?p=534 When Shane Claiborne visited Ottawa, we were all sent into the streets with chalk and a mission. Now it’s time to post those photos of love and hope written in the places we walk.

We write these words to challenge and inspire the city. We lament, sing, scream, laugh and pray our words on our streets. We are witnesses to the ends of the earth.

And if we did it once, we can do it again – keep on looking for opportunities to challenge and inspire the city. And keep on posting your photos!

To check them out, head over to our facebook page, and then add some more!

We’re privileged to host a private screening of this new film at Carleton University’s Azreili Theatre on Wednesday April 7, 2010. A panel discussion and Q&A with the Director will follow. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students.

Facebook Event

Event Poster

The film “Return to El Salvador” brings the struggles of this beleaguered country the size of Massachusetts back into view. Filmmaker Jamie Moffett and his crew introduce you to a Salvadoran couple who fled death threats in the 1980s, finding asylum and a political platform in the United States; to a couple who, after studying in Brazil during the worst part of the war, returned to El Salvador to work with churches and poor communities in the department of Santa Ana.

They take you to meet the family of a murdered anti-mining activist and people seeking the truth about his death and interview human rights officials who have worked diligently for decades to record and name the atrocities that occur every day. Most important, they bring you the hopes for the future of the Salvadoran people and help you to find significant ways to walk with them in their journey.

Tickets are available for sale through the Carleton Ecumenical Chaplaincy (T20 in the Tory Tunnel) or can be reserved by emailing Andrew Stephens-Rennie at oayouth[at]gmail[dot]com

Every month we come together for an open community meal. We eat. We meet. We reflect. And we connect – with each other, with God, and with the community. As we do so, in community with one another, we try to work out what it means to be faithful in the midst of work, school, family, and relationship. In short, our community seeks to encourage one another as we connect the dots between faith and real life.

With exams and final papers coming to an end this month for many students, we’re sliding into chill mode.  Scrabble, Settlers, Monopoly, Checkers…  Bring your favourite board game for some easy going fun and relaxation.

Our meals are hosted by the Anglican Parish of All Saints Sandy Hill (317 Chapel Street at Laurier). Doors open at 4.30pm, and the table is set for 5.00pm. We hope to see you there!

NOTE:  For any folks who are sticking around Ottawa for the summer, there WILL be an Open Table meal at the end of May.  At that meal, we’ll see who’s around for the summer and how we might be a supportive community over the upcoming months.