Monday, April 1, 2013 at 12:53PM 
Photo: Sue Careless (Inset: www.Dreamstime.com)
By Allyson Eamer
CHRISTIANS HAVE TENDED to avoid speaking openly about depression. It’s not a word that has fit comfortably within the Christian lexicon. We’re acquainted, through Scripture, with downcast, weary, faint-hearted, despairing and distressed. We can cope with discouraged, troubled
Monday, April 1, 2013 at 12:49PM 
Allyson Eamer (Supplied photo)
By Allyson Eamer
THE JOHN HOPKINS Health Alerts Newsletter recently described studies which suggest that when it comes to combating depression, people with a set of regular spiritual practices and beliefs have an advantage over those who don’t. (1) This further underscores the mandate for church leaders to provide godly support and resources to parishioners with depression. As Paul Scuse, an Individual, Marriage and Family therapist, puts it:
Scripture tells us that God reaches out to us and loves us, even as we are experiencing depression. God may also bring into our life
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 11:59AM 
(Photo: Robert Robotham)
By Debra Fieguth
THE COMMUTE from the suburbs to downtown Toronto can be long, exhausting, or just plain boring. According to Statistics Canada, the trip to work in Toronto takes an average of 45 minutes each way – the longest in the country.
Plus, says Diocese of Toronto church-planter Ryan Sim, the commute dictates everything else about your life: waking and sleeping times, what you eat (because you’re in a hurry), what kind of childcare you get, what kind of car you drive, and what you do with the precious leisure time you do have.
So when he began researching the community of Ajax, just east of Toronto, in November 2011, Sim soon realized that the daily commute was a major factor influencing what kind of church life
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 11:48PM 
By Sue Careless
WE ARE CALLED by God to be a people of prayer but if we are honest, none of us is as prayerful as we should be. We all struggle with prayer: we talk a lot about God but not enough to him. We could all use some encouragement to become more prayerful across the day and across our lives.
Is it acceptable to find that encouragement from the prayers of others? Are we cheating God when
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 11:23PM 
(Photo: Sue Careless)
WHY IS IT that we often enter Advent with more sighs than smiles? Weariness and not joyfulness often characterizes our December mood. It’s hard to focus on the coming Messiah with so many other things demanding our attention. That reality is why, on the second Monday of December each year, St. John’s, Vancouver holds a service