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The Homeless God

11/28/2015

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By Caleb Ratzlaff​

Westview Christian Fellowship is located in the Queenston neighbourhood, a district in St. Catharines that has abnormally high rates of poverty, homelessness, and illiteracy. Westview has become a strong community partner through sharing its resource and expertise with a women’s Centre, Westview Centre4Women. The Centre provides refuge, community, and a variety of services for women living in the Queenston neighbourhood. Although the Centre was initiated by the church as a response to a need in St. Catharines' downtown context, the Centre, in turn, responded to needs in the church when some of the participants became involved in leadership and support.  Last year a number of women from the Centre expressed interest in an introductory course on Christianity. After trying the Alpha program, an evangelistic program which seeks to introduce the basics of the Christian faith, we decided to create our own curriculum to better suit our situation.
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While considering this neighbourhood and the request for a course on Christianity, I was struck by one of the many compelling arguments found in Nik Ansell’s most recent book, The Annihilation of Hell: Universal Salvation and the Redemption of Time in the Eschatology of Jürgen Moltmann. Simply stated, Nik argues that Scripture is a story about the work of God and humanity making a home, a place in this world defined by care, respect, and love—something many struggle with in Queenston. This got my imagination turning: if creation is God’s domestic homemaking skills at work, was God homeless before he turned on the lights? Does God experience similar feelings and challenges as those associated with homelessness?* It’s a strange speculative thought, that creation emerges out of a God forsaken space, a space Moltmann argues is within God, akin to a woman’s womb.

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Session One: Wonder Wednesdays

11/22/2015

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By Caleb Ratzlaff

Last year Westview Centre4Women asked Westview to run an Alpha series, an introductory course on Christianity from an Evangelical perspective. Despite hosting a relatively successful series, a number of challenges with the material became apparent. The women found the Alpha videos very dry and the language difficult to understand. Nevertheless, as with many Alpha series, the real benefit came from the simple fact that we were gathering together as a group to learn about life, religion, and the Gospel. This year the Centre has again asked for an Alpha-like series, so a small group of us have taken up the task of improving on what was accomplished last year. If you're interested, here's a link to the new curriculum we developed


This year we’ve decided to do a few things differently, beginning by foregoing the Alpha videos altogether and renaming the group Wonder Wednesdays. We also decided to tinker a bit with the structure of the evening, adapting a liturgy from St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in California. The evening begins with a welcoming ritual that helps us set aside the business and clutter of the day and prepare to listen and learn from each other. As participants arrive they are asked to form a circle around a bowl of rocks and a jug of water. Rocks and water serve to symbolize that each of us brings his or her own unique challenges and gifts to the group. All of us experience things that feel hard, or heavy, or rough sometimes… like rocks. Each member of the circle has an opportunity to take a rock in their hands, to close their eyes and, while taking a few deep breaths, notice what may have felt hard, or rough, or heavy for them in the last week. The rocks are then gently returned to the bowl. Water reminds us that love, life, goodness, and ultimately God, flow over and under and around and even sometimes right out of the hard and rough places of life. As water is carefully poured over the rocks, members are asked to take a few deep breaths and notice what has been a gift for them in the last week. As we pour water over the rocks we remember the gifts we bring and the things that bind us together. The end of the welcome ritual is signaled by the chime of a bell, the reading of the lord’s prayer, and the lighting of a candle.  

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    About

    This blog has multiple contributors. The beliefs and opinions expressed by each are one-sided and partial. We hope that by confronting and expressing our one-sidedness through dialogue this blog is able to reflect the life of Westview as we gather together and live in the Queenston Neighbourhood and beyond. If you are interested in contributing, please contact Caleb at calebratzlaff@gmail.com. 

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