What to look forward to in the Sep/Oct Faith Today!

We are in the final stages of putting the Sep/Oct issue of Faith Today to bed. That means a flurry of emails and activity between editors, copy-editor, design guru and writers as we tweak, trim and “ooh and ahh” over what the cover looks like, one of our most eye-catching yet we think.

We are in the final stages of putting the Sep/Oct issue of Faith Todayto bed. That means a flurry of emails and activity between editors, copy-editor, design guru and writers as we tweak, trim and “ooh and ahh” over what the cover looks like, one of our most eye-catching yet we think.

But it’s inside the cover that we (and you!) find what matters the most of course. And we think you are really going to enjoy this stimulating and challenging issue of Canada’s Christian magazine. Here are a few things to look forward to:

John G. Stackhouse Jr., lately of Regent College, now of Crandall University in Moncton, provides our cover, “In search of adequacy: meeting the challenges of our time with intellectual rigour.” This is an article for everyone: pastor, lay person, professor. Here’s a sneak peek:

Just as we generally put our trust in our family doctors, while still feeling free to look up medical information online and chat with our friends about their hospital stays, so we ought to have confidence that our pastors are equally reliable experts. Yes, pastors aren’t infallible, and they might need to refer us to theological specialists from time to time, but for the usual run of intellectual challenges to our faith we ought to find our pastors to be adequately expert. Are they?

Writer Julia Cheung of Vancouver takes us downtown to that city’s infamous east side, to explore what ministry is really like in Canada’s poorest postal code. Here’s a glimpse:

Coming, praying, hoping. That is the way most of these workers and volunteers approach their ministry here. It is the way of Christ, the way of one friendship at a time, happening through the city. Where politics and controversies continually float above your head, the quietly obedient stride on.

Are you up on the latest from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and how the recent recommendations could impact ministry in Canada? Seasoned senior writer Debra Fieguth provides some answers:

Before reconciliation can fully be realized, however, there needs to be a whole lot of truth. During its hearings across Canada, the commission received more than 6,750 statements from survivors, family members and others. Just listening to the stories of residential school survivors was draining for many. “You almost want to shut down emotionally and say ‘I can’t hear this anymore,’ ” says Willard Metzger, executive director of the Mennonite Church in Canada.

And editor Karen Stiller takes us to Cambodia with her, with an inside view of what a short-term mission trip can be like. If you’ve ever been on one, some moments in this story will feel familiar:

We have been told to dig through this hill. It simply needs to be a trench through the hill wide enough for a person to stand in it. In the history of mission trips all over the world, never have two people been more badly matched to a task. She starts to dig up high. I dig down low. We have no idea what we are doing.

So, there you have it. Just a sampling of what is to come in Sep/Oct. If you haven’t subscribed for a print version, do it today so you don’t miss a thing.