Book Review: Stoneface: A Defiant Dene

November 2, 2026 Leave a comment

Stoneface: A Defiant Dene

Author: Stephen Kakfwi

Publisher: Caitlin Press Inc., paperback, 237 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author

Stephen Kakfwi, Northern Dene, is a lifelong leader in Indigenous Rights environmental stewardship and reconciliation. He served as premier of the Northwest Territories, and as National Chief of the Dene Nation, representing Chiefs of Treaties 8 and 11. He led community consultations for the Berger Inquiry into a north-south gas pipeline proposal across the Dene homeland. He led and hosted the visit of Pope John Paul II to Northern Canada. A husband, father and grandfather, he shares his heroes, homeland and residential school experiences in his songs and stories. He is married to one of the Truth and Reconciliation commissioners, Marie Wilson. Stephen is a wise Elder, as well as an insightful and inspirational storyteller.

Contents

This volume contains: a dedication to his children, grandchildren and wife, a map of Fort Good Hope, a timeline, back cover endorsements by Indigenous Premier of Manitoba-Wab Kinew, and former Canadian Prime Minister-Joe Clark, a Foreword by former Prime Minister Paul Martin, a Preface, Introduction, 36 chapters, Acknowledgements, About The Author, and photographs.

Brief Observations

This memoir is, among other things, an excellent, insightful, and extremely honest one! In it, Dr. Kakfwi describes how he was sexually abused in a residential school when he was only 9 years of age. That sexual abuse harmed his body, mind and spirit so tragically for many years. He goes into quite a lot of detail in this memoir how the residential school experiences has harmed him and caused so much pain and suffering. Even though he has experienced considerable healing, for which he is most grateful, he thinks that he will not be completely healed until he enters the next life. He states that he rejects the Catholic Church, however he does not reject Jesus. His healing has mainly come through his encounters with other wise, loving and caring Indigenous people, as well as from his family.

Dr. Kakfwi has many pleasant memories of his grandparents, who were hunters and trappers. He laments that he was not that close to his father, however: “My father did have a great sense of humour” (p. 58). His mother was often ill, suffering from TB, and away in hospital for long periods of time.

According to Dr. Kakfwi, there were several mentors and encouragers who got him involved in politics, such as: Chief T’Seleie, Georges Erasmus, other Dene Chiefs, and MLA Lynda Sorenson, who: “thought she could be a peacemaker. She wanted to fix the division between the Dene Nation office and the territorial government” (p. 135).

When Stephen was a Dene leader, he was deeply involved in the negotiations of one of the longest boundaries in the world, involving the division of the Northwest Territories for the creation of Nunavut. There were some in the NWT who were opposed to creating Nunavut. However, thanks to the leadership of people like Stephen, and the then premier Nellie Cournoyea, and John Amagoalik, whom Stephen refers to as “the Father of Nunavut,” 87 percent voted for the division of NWT, and so: “On April 1, 1999, the map of Canada changed” (p. 161), with the new territory of Nunavut in the eastern Arctic, the home of the Inuit.

Speaking of the vicissitudes of his life as a politician, Stephen mentions his defence mechanism: “Mine was to be unflappable and stoic and to rarely smile” (p. 164), hence the name “Stoneface.”

One of the key factors of his successes in politics was his respect for and understanding of the First Nations Chiefs and Elders, and their support of Stephen. Also, he states: “I was never a part of the political “boys’ club” –the people who spent much of their time together at receptions and in restaurants and bars. I didn’t like that and never wanted to be a part of it, so I wasn’t. What mattered to me were the people of the North” (p. 165).

There were a few people who influenced Stephen spiritually—including his grandfather, and Dave Courchene, a spiritual leader and keeper of Traditional Knowledge from Manitoba. Stephen regards his spirituality as: “Being connected to all of Creation is what being spiritual means to me” (p. 211).

Stephen is quite critical of some environmental groups, and animal rights groups, including Greenpeace. He criticizes them for failing to respect the culture and lifestyle of, and consult with the Inuit, Dene, Inuvialuit, and Métis. “I told them that we were the front-line people who protect the land and resources, but the Greenpeace leaders couldn’t see that, so we never wanted to see those people up North again” (p. 214).

I especially encourage those interested in and committed to Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations to read this memoir. Dr. Stephen Kakfwi is to be commended for all of the significant contributions he has made to the Indigenous peoples of the North, as well as to the rest of us Canadians in our journey towards fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action. Thank you, and may God continue to bless you Stephen!

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Brief Book Review: I Am Malala

October 2, 2026 Leave a comment

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban

Authors: Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, hardcover, 327 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Authors 

At the time this volume was published (2013), Malala Yousafzai had written for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban. Using the pen name Gul Makai, she often spoke about her family’s fight for girls’ education in her community, in the Swat Valley area of Pakistan. For her courage and advocacy, she won Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize in 2011, and was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize in the same year. In October 2012, Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban as she was returning from school on a bus. She miraculously survived the shooting. A year after this volume was published, at the age of 17 years, she was the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She has received numerous other awards. A few years later, Malala graduated from Oxford University with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. She continues to champion universal access to education through the Malala Fund, a non-profit organization investing in community-led programs and supporting education advocates around the world. 

Christina Lamb is one of the world’s leading foreign correspondents. She has reported on Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1987. Educated at Oxford and Harvard, she is the author of five books and has won a number of awards, including Britain’s Foreign Correspondent of the Year five times, as well as the Prix Bayeux-Calvados, Europe’s most prestigious award for war correspondents. At the time this volume was published, she was working for the Sunday Times and living in London and Portugal with her husband and son. 

Contents

This volume contains: Prologue: The Day My World Changed, Part One: Before the Taliban, with 8 chapters, Part Two: The Valley of Death, with chapters 9-15, Part Three: Three Girls, Three Bullets, with chapters 16-20, Part Four: Between Life and Death, with chapters 21-22, Part Five: A Second Life, with chapters 23-24, and Epilogue: One Child, One Teacher, One Book, One Pen…, as well as a Glossary, Important Events in Pakistan and Swat, Acknowledgments, and A Note on the Malala Fund, there are also some photos. 

A Brief Glimpse

Malala writes about her life growing up in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. It is a remote area, the people are mostly poor, and some feel that the government has forgotten about them. Malala reflects on her family history, her community members, her school teachers and classmates. She defends her Islamic faith, even though she struggles with, among other issues, misogynistic attitudes so prevalent among many Muslims. With the Talibanization of her community, Malala points out how her people lived in fear, constantly wondering and worrying whether neighbours or even family members would betray one another to the Taliban. 

Malala speaks fondly of her dad, was quite close to him, and he inspired her. Her father also highly valued the importance of universal education, peace and justice.

After Malala was shot, and recovering, the following paragraph underscores her deep gratitude: “We human beings don’t realize how great God is. He has given us an extraordinary brain and a sensitive loving heart. He has blessed us with two lips to talk and express our feelings, two eyes which see a world of colors and beauty, two feet which walk on the road of life, two hands to work for us, a nose which smells the beauty of fragrance, and two ears to hear the words of love. As I found with my ear, no one knows how much power they have in their each and every organ, until they lose one” (pp. 300-301).

This volume will most likely appeal to readers interested in Pakistani history, culture, politics and religion, universal education advocates, peace and justice advocates, girls’ and women’s rights, gender equality, religious freedom and tolerance, and readers who have experienced various sorts of oppression, illnesses, tragic accidents, post traumatic stress, etc.

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Brief Book Review: Tales Of The Hasidim: Later Masters

September 7, 2026 Leave a comment

Tales Of The Hasidim: The Later Masters

Author: Martin Buber

Publisher: Schocken Books, paperback, 352 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author

Martin Buber was an eminent Jewish philosopher and religious scholar. He was a leading figure in the Zionist movement, and became Professor of Social Philosophy at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He influenced several Christian theologians, including: Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, the Niebuhrs, and Paul Tillich. He also authored the classic work, I and Thou.

Contents

The volume includes: an Introduction, Tales Of The Hasidim: The Later Masters, Notes, Glossary, Genealogy Of The Hasidic Masters, Alphabetical Index To the Genealogy, and an Index To The Tales.

A Brief Glimpse

In his Introduction, Professor Buber points out that the later masters followed the first 3 generations of Hasidism—mostly covering the first half of the 19th century, with some living past that period. The tales consist of aphorisms, parables, and symbolic fairy tales, they can be witty, and contain considerable creativity. Professor Buber, in his Introduction, also provides some background to the masters, as well as theological and devotional themes in their writings. Here are 5 brief examples/glimpses.

The rabbi of Rizhyn made the following comment regarding the blowing of the ram’s horn on the sabbath. “On a New Year’s Day which falls on the sabbath, the ram’s horn which summons the world to the new year must not be blown. On that day God himself blows the ram’s horn. And he certainly knows how to blow! That is why on this day our hope is so wide-awake; the source of mercy itself has wakened it” (pp. 67-68).

Speaking of the poor and the rich and depending on God, Rabbi Moshe Leib said: “How easy it is for a poor [person] to depend on God! What else has [s]he to depend on? And how hard it is for a rich [person] to depend on God! All [her or]his possessions call out to [her or]him: ‘Depend on us!’” (p. 92).

On giving and receiving, Rabbi Yitzhak Eisik said: “The motto of life is ‘Give and take.’ Everyone must be both a giver and a receiver. He[or she] who is not both is as a barren tree” (p. 220).

Rabbi Bunam taught about two pockets: “Everyone must have two pockets, so that [s]he can reach into the one or the other, according to [her or]his needs. In [her or]his right pocket are to be the words: ‘For my sake was the world created,’ and in [her or]his left: ‘I am earth and ashes’” (pp. 249-250).

“When Rabbi Yitzhak Meir was a little boy his mother once took him to see the maggid of Koznitz. There someone said to him: “Yitzhak Meir, I’ll give you a gulden if you tell me where God lives!” He replied: “And I’ll give you two gulden if you tell me where he doesn’t” (p. 303)!

Hopefully these 5 brief examples/glimpses will spark enough interest for readers of this short review to check out this volume for themselves. Highly recommended, especially for seminarians, pastors and rabbis!

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Sermon for 12 Pentecost Yr A

August 16, 2026 Leave a comment

12 Pentecost Yr A, 16/08/2026

Rom 11:1-2a, 29-32

Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

“Jews, Gentiles, and God’s Faithfulness”

Today I’d like to begin my sermon with 2 quotes. The first one is taken from Professor W.A. Poovey(Faith Is The Password: Meditations on Romans, p. 91), commenting on our Romans passage, and goes like this: “No one is quite sure what Paul means by all this. Will some Jewish people be saved? Will there be a mass conversion before the return of Christ? Will all the Jews who ever lived be resurrected and acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah? There have been people who have espoused all these views. But we have to wait, recognizing that something is in the offing, knowing that there are possibilities for Israel as well as for us.” The second quote comes from Professor Matt Skinner (www.workingpreacher.org, “Commentary on Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32,” August 14, 2011), and goes like this: “The main point Paul returns to in his sometimes tortuous discussion is this: when it comes to accomplishing salvation, everything is in God’s hands—not in the hands of the church, nor in those of Israel.” 

Today’s second lesson from Romans is part of the conclusion of Paul’s complex and agonizing chapters 9-11, wherein his focus is on his own people, the Jews, and their ultimate salvation, along with the salvation of the Gentiles. Paul’s reasoning in Romans 9-11 is rather difficult, and so he confuses a lot of people, and he lends his reasoning here in these 3 chapters to a variety of interpretations by biblical scholars. So with that in mind, here in part, is what I think Paul is trying to tell us in this passage. 

Paul loved his own people, the Jews, even though he believed that after his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus, that Jesus called him to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. So here in Romans, Paul tries to communicate a way that God may be working out God’s plan of salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. So Paul is adamant that God has not rejected the Jewish people. “By no means!” Paul states with an exclamation mark. “No way!” God has not rejected God’s chosen people, the Jews. Paul states that the Jews were elected by God to be God’s chosen people. That’s why he insists in verse 29: “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” In other words, God will never invalidate, nor remove God’s election of the Jews, God’s gifts to the Jews, God’s calling of the Jews. 

However, contrary to this, there were some Christians who came up with an incorrect, heretical doctrine called supercessionism. This big word simply means that because Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, God superseded Israel with the church. Never! Not so! Says Paul, “By no means! The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” 

After saying this, Paul comes up with a rather complicated idea, which beneath the idea, there seems to be a great mystery. The idea is that at one time before Gentiles became Christians they were disobedient to God. Paul claims that the Jews were also disobedient. The reason for both the Jewish and Gentile disobedience was so that God could have mercy on them both. For the Jews, God’s election and calling are irrevocable. God’s saving grace brought Gentiles into the church, and they were baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. Through their baptism, God also made a covenant with them, with us, so now, too, they and we are members of God’s family. So God was and still is able to remove disobedience from both Jews and Gentiles in order to show both of us mercy. 

Theologian, [NT scholar, and Lutheran bishop of Sweden,] Krister Stendahl has called us Christians, “honorary Jews.” It is an honour we have not earned or merited, but like any real honour, one that has been bestowed by God. Our honour rests upon the faithfulness of God to Israel. The astounding Christian claim was that just as God chose Israel to be a holy people, a light to the nations, a witness to all the world, so God has, in Christ, miraculously, unexpectedly, graciously chosen us Gentiles. We are, in Paul’s words elsewhere, grafted [as wild olive shoots and branches] onto the [olive] tree of Israel, thereby made part of God’s promises to Israel. 

Therefore, to a great extent, the basis of our hope as Christians lies in the truth of God’s faithfulness to Israel. And, as Paul says, God does not lie. God is faithful.1

That reminds me of a couple of things. On a Gunsmoke episode…the parents of three sons were killed. Matt who serves as Dodge City’s almost everything, has the responsibility of finding foster parents for them. Matt, with Kitty’s help, of course, asks a woman who already has ten children of her own. She offers no hesitation. “Of course, my husband and I will take them.” Toward the end of the program, Kitty remarks to Matt about that woman, “Some people have an unlimited capacity for love [and mercy].”2 How much more is God’s capacity to take into his family all of humankind, Jews and Gentiles, “for God so loved the world!”

[Our Romans passage also reminds me that]: Several years ago, a group of research psychologists conducted an experiment. They gave a standard test to all the students in a school system on the West Coast. They then informed the teachers that certain students could be expected to blossom intellectually that year, while others could be expected to show little improvement. Actually, the two groups were chosen at random, completely without regard for how well or poorly they did on the test. At the end of the year, however, another battery of tests revealed something extremely interesting—namely, that those students who had been labeled “about to blossom” were significantly more advanced than the others. Teacher attitude had made a real difference over the course of the year. 

In his book No Longer Strangers, Bruce Larson stresses that when we meet another person and see primarily a problem, we imprison that person in her or his problem. On the other hand, he points out when we view that person primarily as God looks upon him or her, as thoroughly redeemable, we call forth a new being. This, it seems was also Paul’s approach to [both the Gentiles and] the Jews.3

I know in my own faith and life journey that, having served on the board of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, Alberta Region, I met a number of Jewish people, and through dialogue with them, my Christian faith has grown and has been strengthened. I also have come to appreciate their deep faith in God. For that I am most grateful. God continues to love the Jewish people, and in a world where there is so much antisemitism, God calls us to love the Jewish people too. 

1 Wm. H. Willimon, “The Faithfulness of Israel’s God,” in: Pulpit Resource, Vol. 27, No. 3, July, August, September 1999 (Inver Grove Heights, MN: Logos Productions Inc.), p. 29. 

2 Emphasis: A Preaching Journal For The Parish Pastor Vol. 26, No. 2, July-August 1996 (Lima, OH: CSS Publishing Co., Inc.), p. 44.

3 Emphasis: A Journal For The Minister August 1, 1984, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Lima, OH: C.S.S. Publishing Co., Inc.), p. 20.

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Sermon for 3 Easter Yr A

April 19, 2026 Leave a comment

3 Easter Yr A, 19/04/2026

1 Peter 1:17-23

Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

“Life in Christ”

Once there was a young lad leading his donkey in front of some soldiers. Several soldiers began to harass the boy. One soldier asked him, “Why are you holding onto your brother so tightly?” Without hesitation, the boy replied, “So he won’t join the army.” 

Peter, in our second lesson, was also writing to Christians living in Roman provinces of Asia Minor—modern day Turkey—who felt like this young lad, harassed and threatened by the pagan culture around them. Peter provides several word pictures of what Christ has done through his death and resurrection; who these Christians are now because of Christ’s saving work; and how they are now able to respond as they proceed to live a new life in Christ. 

The first picture we are given of these new Christians in Asia Minor is that of exiles, aliens, or refugees. If you talk with exiles today, many of them share similar concerns or fears of the dominating culture into which they have come to live. As a minority group, it is difficult to maintain and preserve one’s identity—especially if the mainstream culture is hostile to you and pressures you to give up your own cultural or religious identity. These Christians lived in a culture that worshipped many gods and goddesses. The worship could involve wicked and immoral acts and beliefs in conflict with Christian acts and beliefs. 

In one sense, we Christians are all exiles in this world—since our true, eternal home is in heaven. Therefore, there will always be certain temptations of the mainstream culture that threaten our status as Christians and may lead us away from Christ and our Christian faith. Exiles, if they face hardships and even persecution, long for the day when they can return to their true homeland where everything is familiar; where they can feel and live in peace and security. The same is true for us as Christians, we long for our true homeland where we can live in familiar surroundings; where we can feel and live in the peace and security of God and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, Peter instructs these Asia Minor Christians to live with the proper kind of fear—not the fear of the majority culture all around them. Rather, they are to live in reverent fear of God, as are we while they and we live in exile. What is reverent fear? Well, it is fear that expresses itself in awe. Awe and wonder at the power and love and presence of God in Christ. Awe for what God in Christ has done for us. Awe that trusts and believes God is in control of the world and has planned things out very carefully and lovingly even since before the foundation of the world. Awe that says, “No matter how difficult it is to live in this world, I am in God’s hands. He gives me life today and every day and provides what I need. He has also provided for me eternally—thanks to the saving work of Jesus Christ.” 

Another word picture that 1 Peter provides us is that of Christians who are captives, slaves in need of being rescued and freed from the sinful ways of the pagan world. The saving work of Christ here is pictured as a ransom—that is to say, he paid the costly price to rescue and free us from our sinful ways. This word picture is also meaningful in our contemporary world.

A number of years ago, you may recall the story of Canadian hostage, Norbert Reinhart, owner of the Ontario-based business, Terramundo Drilling. He turned himself in to Colombian rebels in exchange, as a ransom for a kidnapped employee. The story began when the rebels kidnapped diamond-driller Edward Leonard. 

Reinhart eventually made a deal with rebels to free Leonard. The deal involved Reinhart changing places with Leonard. At the time, Foreign Affairs Minister, Lloyd Axworthy did not approve of the deal. He told Reinhart and Reinhart’s family that negotiations should have been left to the Colombian government. However, once Reinhart turned himself in to the rebels, they released Leonard, who went back to his family in Creston, B.C. 

Christ, says our second lesson, ransomed the Asia Minor Christians and us not with perishable things of this world, but with his precious blood, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He paid the price of his suffering, even dying on the cross, shedding his precious blood, which atoned for the sin of the world. Just as the Passover lamb’s blood on the doorposts of the Israelite slaves in Egypt saved their lives—so Christ’s blood atones for and saves our lives. Just as the Passover for the Jews is a festival celebrating their freedom from Egyptian slavery; so Christ’s death and shedding of blood and God’s raising him on the third day is our celebration of our freedom from the powers of sin, death and evil. 

A third picture that 1 Peter provides concerning the work of Christ and the identity of Christians is having been born anew thanks to the immeasurable love of Christ displayed by his suffering, death and resurrection. Such profound, all encompassing love of God in Christ transforms us; gives us new birth through the living and enduring word of God. The Good News, the Gospel, proclaiming and receiving this word of God changes us. Having received this love of Jesus, we now are free to love one another. 

Something of Christ’s love for us and our freedom to respond in love by passing it on to others is demonstrated in the life of Albert Schweitzer. At 38 years old, Albert Schweitzer had earned a doctorate in philosophy, a doctorate in theology, and a doctorate in music. He was world renowned in each area, and his work in each is studied today. However, oddball for Christ, he then invested six years to earn a medical doctorate. He believed that God had spoken to him. He quoted Jesus, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it,” and then Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor Schweitzer departed to the unhealthiest part of Africa to spend the second half of his life serving some of the world’s most needy people. He was so odd, so out of the ordinary, so counter-cultural that in 1952 he was granted the Nobel Peace Prize.

The early Christians to whom Peter writes could, as did Albert Schweitzer, trust God’s word to them and maintain reverence and joy in life, knowing that this isn’t the only or the final world they’ll live in. Peter reminds them who they are in order to renew their wonder and reverence because of God’s love shown through Jesus and to encourage them not merely to remain in the faith but to progress in the Christian life.

The Holy Spirit within us prompts us to stretch in our thinking, living, and loving for God, despite the pressures upon us in any culture to live as less than Christians. Albert Schweitzer stretched in faith and service. Like him we aren’t supposed to reflect the values and behaviors of the society in which we live. We’re odd. We’re here to reflect God’s glory, setting our faith and hope in God.1 

Coming back to the text, because we are exiles, and Jesus has provided for our needs, in response to his provision, love and grace, we are instructed to live our life in Christ by following his example. One way this happens is by caring for the exiles, the refugees today. We can do this in helpful, practical ways in our community, as well as by supporting organisations like Canadian Lutheran World Relief. We can and do make a difference. Here’s one example: in supporting CLWR, some 27 Farmer Field School Sites are now active, training farmers in sustainable nature-based solutions. Meanwhile, 47 new market gardens are improving nutruition and income for families. 

May our response to Christ’s life, death on the cross and resurrection be one of loving servanthood, sharing the Good News of the Gospel in thought, word, and deed.

1 David O. Bales, “Oddballs for God,” at: <https://sermons.com/sermon/oddballs-for-god/1443504&gt;.

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Destructive AI water data centres

March 21, 2026 Leave a comment


I am posting this excellent, and most disturbing article because, (I believe, if Maude Barlow is correct) we human beings, along with all other living creatures on this planet, cannot survive without water. It seems that governments are the blind leading the blind when it comes to supporting and creating AI water data centres. These data centres, in order to keep their servers cool, use up to 40 litres of water PER SECOND! Moreover, this used water cannot be recycled! This is absolutely unethical and outrageous! In a global warming world, where water is becoming a more precious resource all the time, how can humankind justify these insane AI water data centres to exist?! If you agree with Maude Barlow’s article, please do all that you can by advocating against governments and the companies who create these data centres to stop creating them, otherwise if droughts and water shortages continue, which they very well might with climate crises, then humankind is knowingly destroying every living creature on this planet! Humankind needs to be way wiser in our stewardship of water. You can also read this article and other ones on the Council of Canadians website here: https://canadians.org/analysis/who-is-minding-the-water-data-centres-will-use/?source=email-enews-oct-13&link_id=7&can_id=907844063d445577bb20c238baeabf71&email_referrer=email_3155799&email_subject=data-centres-and-two-tier-healthcare

WHO IS MINDING THE WATER DATA CENTRES WILL USE?

by Guest Contributor January 28, 2026 Analysis

by Maude Barlow

Originally published in the National Observer.

Mark Carney has a plan to turn Canada into the “world’s leading energy superpower,” which includes a national energy corridor and electricity grid, a dramatic increase in LNG exports and massive investment in critical minerals and AI data centres. 

All of these need a great deal of freshwater, which, in a world rapidly running out, gives Canada a competitive advantage. But do we have water to spare? Is anyone looking at the impact on Canada’s water supplies of the major transformation we are entering into? 

Of immediate concern is the frenzy to invest in AI. American high-tech company Gartner reports that worldwide spending on data centres will top US$15 trillion in 2025. Harvard economist Jason Furman says that AI investments accounted for more than 90 per cent of US GDP growth in the first half of this year. AI data centres are a major threat to water everywhere. The average 100 megawatt data centre consumes about two million litres of water every day. It is important to note the water — the vast majority of it pulled from municipal utilities — is used for cooling the servers and not returned to the watershed. Bloomberg reports that data centres consume about 560 billion litres of water annually, but that might be an underestimate. The Houston Advanced Research Centre says that data centres in Texas alone — a state gravely close to running out of water — will use over 185 billion litres of water in 2025. 

Evan Solomon, minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation, is very keen for Canada to become an “AI powerhouse,” calling this our “Gutenberg moment.” He has visited the gulf states and signed an AI deal with the UAE. American OpenAI, one of the world’s biggest AI companies, has approached Canada to be part of its global network of data centres to store the massive amounts of information collected by its services, including ChatGPT. In its recent budget, the Carney government dedicated over $1 billion to boost Canadian AI and quantum computing. 

The provinces are on board as well. Bell Canada is planning a “supercluster” of six data centres in British Columbia. Facing a surge in demand, the Alberta government has created the AI Data Centre Strategy, with the goal of attracting $100 billion in investments over five years. Microsoft has bought seven large tracts of land in Canada for its data centres, including a golf course near Quebec City and a former department store in Etobicoke, whose future mega data centre has been approved to use up to 40 litres of water per second for cooling purposes. And this is just the beginning. 

Where will this water come from? According to Agriculture and Agri Food Canada, 85 per cent of the country is classified between abnormally dry and extreme drought. Severe drought conditions have plagued BC for years. Alberta is at Stage 4 (of five stages) of a large-scale water shortage. Quebec is preparing new laws to reduce water consumption and the Maritimes are experiencing a “once-in-a-50-year drought.” There are 847 American and as many as 340 Canadian AI centres already established around the Great Lakes Basin, over 100 in the GTA alone, with massive plans for expansion. But there is almost no data on how much water they are consuming, as the industry has fought attempts to force disclosure through legislation. The Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes warns that mega data centres could drain already-endangered groundwater supplies in the Great Lakes region if protections aren’t put in place. As it is, drought has driven St Lawrence River water levels to near historic lows. 

Around the world, scientists and environmentalists are sounding the alarm on this industry. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and drinking water, is so concerned he recently called for a global moratorium on new data centre construction, saying we have collectively embarked on a suicide mission. 

Canadians know we have to end our economic dependency on the United States. And we know that some of this will entail using our natural resources. But unless we put protections in place, our water could be sacrificed in the process. That would be a travesty. A new Bank of America report warns that the worldwide freshwater supply could run dry by 2040. We Canadians have a special responsibility — to ourselves and the world — to protect our water heritage. 

Maude Barlow served as senior advisor on water to the UN General Assembly. Her upcoming book is Earth For Sale, The Fight to Stop the Last Plunder of the Planet.

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Sermon for 4 Epiphany Yr A

February 1, 2026 Leave a comment

Engraving of the Prophet Micah by Gustave Doré

4 Epiphany Yr A, 1/02/2026

Based on Micah 6:8

Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

“Justice, lovingkindness, walking humbly”

Today, in our first lesson, we have one of the twelve “minor prophets,” Micah, preaching a major truth. Even though Micah comes from the backwater village of Moresheth, about twenty-five miles south west of Jerusalem—nonetheless, there is nothing minor or back waterish about this prophet’s message! Micah’s message is equally as important as that of his eighth century B.C. contemporaries Isaiah, Hosea and Amos. Micah’s message in verse eight today is not only an apt summary of all the Old Testament prophets—it is also an inspirational truth for us Christians today, which compliments the teachings of Jesus in Matthew, chapter five. Listen again to those words: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Or as the CEV renders it: “The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands: “See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.”

First then, doing justice. How do we do justice anyways? Often we likely tend to cringe at the notion of doing justice. After all, we’re saved by grace and justified before God thanks to the saving actions of Jesus. Why do we have to do justice anyways? Well, because justice is an integral part of the very essence and being of God. God is a just God, and since we are created in God’s image, then it follows that we too will do justice. Not because we are some sort of fanatics and take pride in pushing people around to gain self-righteous brownie points. Not because doing justice saves us—God in Christ has already done that. Rather, because in faith we respond and will want to do what God himself loves and values. God loves everyone—including, and perhaps especially those who suffer injustices. That’s why Jesus is busy spending himself on the blind, the lame, the sick, the social and religious outcasts of his day. That’s why we too are called into a ministry of doing justice. 

What practical things are we to do to participate in acts of justice? Well, of course we need to continue to look after our less fortunate neighbours in need by clothing them, feeding them, and so on. However, today Micah challenges his people in ancient Judah and us to go deeper with doing justice. He says this will involve changes in the very structures and behaviours that make a society discriminate against certain groups of people by favouring others. In Micah’s day, it was the wealthy merchants who rigged their scales of weights and measures and thereby cheating their customers to make the poor poorer. Micah says God is not pleased with this; therefore the cheating merchants are called upon to change and repent of their dishonest business practices. In our day, it involves some pretty radical changes of structures and behaviours among the wealthy nations of the world in particular. It is not good enough for us to only give the poor nations aid when they need it. Rather, we are called upon to change the policies of organisations like the World Bank who set up the economic and political rules to favour the rich countries over the Two-Thirds poor nations. Closer to home, here in Canada and Alberta, it may mean looking at the root causes of and then doing something to change policies so that there will be less people homeless and poor. We all know that change does not come easily, nor do people like changes. Yet, that is what our God calls us to do if we are to participate in doing justice. Models of doing justice I think come from the Scandinavian countries, which are Lutheran, and where they have created a system of cradle to grave social programs to provide for everyone.

Yet, justice alone is definitely not enough, says Micah. Justice always has to be tempered by mercy if it is going to be true justice. Justice without mercy only leads to revenge. In our passage, Micah instructs his people and us “to love kindness,” or as the CEV renders it, “let mercy be your first concern.” The Hebrew word here is chesed, and it can be translated as: mercy, kindness, loving kindness, steadfast love, covenantal faithfulness and loyalty. 

How, then, do we act to be merciful, or show constant love, to love kindness? We first of all shall place a high priority on the quality of our relationships with each other. We shall want to be and remain loyal to each other in committed relationships with our God and one another. 

Here is one example: Bishop Kivengere (1919-1988) and his wife Mera attended a Good Friday service at All Souls Church in London. The sermon centred on Jesus’ words from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Festo carried in his heart hatred for one of the 20th century’s most brutal dictators who terrorized his country and plotted Festo’s death. A year earlier, Festo and fellow Anglican bishops in Uganda wrote to dictator Idi Amin challenging his human rights abuses. Festo preached on “The Preciousness of Life” to high government officials and rebuked the state for abusing the authority given it by God. Days later, a close friend and fellow bishop was murdered because he spoke out against illegal executions. Festo’s friends warned that he was next on Amin’s hit list. He and Mera fled to neighbouring Rwanda where he continued his message of reconciliation while nursing hatred in his heart for this vengeful dictator.

The enormity of Jesus’ prayer for his betrayers at the Good Friday service at All Souls Church couldn’t be avoided. Festo hadn’t let go of the bitterness and resentment that was eroding his soul. He remembered praying, “Lord, I am here and now forgiving Idi Amin.” A deep sense of release and empowerment come over him in that moment to extend forgiveness.

He later wrote a book with the shocking title, I Love Idi Amin. A reporter asked him how he could compose a title about a man often described as Africa’s Hitler. Festo said, “I may not like him, but I am obliged as a Christian to forgive him. As long as he is alive, he is still redeemable.”1

On the gentler side of kindness and mercy, it means to be sensitive to others and walk with them in their moccasins—to mourn with those who are mourning, to laugh with those who are laughing, to love those who are difficult to love, to become friends with the stranger, and so on. 

Micah then goes on to spell out a third action of faith, “to walk humbly with your God,” or as the CEV puts it to, “humbly obey your God.” This, of course, reminds us of Jesus’ beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Walking humbly or living in humble fellowship with our God is not valued or a top priority in our society. Our society favours and idolizes the rich and famous, those in the spotlight. 

According to Rabbi Meir of Apt: “The true service of God is the achievement of humility with joy. How can one rejoice in feeling humble? By knowing that thereby one is fulfilling the will of God. That alone is sufficient reason for joy.” Humility does not mean that I must have a low opinion of myself. I can be fully aware of my God-given talents, and I should put them to use in the service of God.

Such walking humbly reminds us of Jesus himself, who went about his ministry not among the Herods and Pilates of the world, but the ordinary folk like Peter, Andrew, Mary Magdalene, and Martha. Jesus who was despised and rejected; who died a cruel, criminal’s death—yet, when all other famous figures of history are forgotten, Jesus is still remembered more for his walking humbly than for his being rich or famous and living in the spotlight. So too, most of us are not destined for riches and fame and living in the spotlight. Yet, like Jesus, we go about walking humbly and in our unique, small ways, making a difference in the church and world. We do this remembering Jesus’s words in John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, becauseapart from me you can do nothing.” Amen, may it be so!

1 Peter James, Prayers from the Cloud: 100 Prayers Through the Ages, sent daily to my email. 

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Book Review: Visions of The New Jerusalem

January 24, 2026 Leave a comment

Visions of the New Jerusalem: Religious settlement on the prairies

Edited by: Benjamin G. Smillie

Publisher: NeWest Press Publishers Ltd., paperback, 207 pages, including: Preface, 13 chapters, Contributors, and Notes

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Contents

The Introduction and Conclusion were written by Benjamin Smillie, II Historical background to prairie settlement, III Two faces of the New Jerusalem: Indian-Metis reaction to the missionary, IV Gestae Dei Per Francos: The French Catholic experience in western Canada, V Anglicanism on the prairies: Continuity and flexibility, VI Protestants—Prairie visionaries of the New Jerusalem: The United and Lutheran Churches in western Canada, VII New Jerusalem on the prairies: Welcoming the Jews, VIII Mennonites and the New Jerusalem in western Canada, IX The western settlement of Canadian Doukhobors, X Building the New Jerusalem on the prairies: The Ukrainian experience, XI St. Peter’s: A German-American marriage of monastery and colony, XII Hutterites: An interview with Michael Entz. 

Observations

In his Preface, Benjamin Smillie—a United Church of Canada minister and professor of church and society at St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon—begins with this volume’s origins: “The idea for this book originated in a public lecture series sponsored by the Saskatoon Public Library in the fall of 1978” (p. ix). He contends that the biblical hope of a new Jerusalem enabled the settlers to survive physically, spiritually, financially and politically. 

In his Introduction, Smillie states that the population of settlers in the prairie provinces grew five-fold from 419,512 to 2,353,529 between 1901 and 1931. These settlers represented diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. According to Smillie, there are four main themes in this volume: “the New Jerusalem as a political reality; as a heavenly city; as a centre of worship; and as a gift from God” (p. 3). 

In chapter 2, James McCrorie—a sociology professor at the University of Regina—points out how the English Canadians regarded themselves as superior to the Indian-Metis peoples, calling them “savages,” and hence essentially stealing the land they lived on for centuries, making way for the settlers. The Canadian government never took the treaties with the Metis and Indians seriously. McCrorie also outlines the policies of the Canadian government and the CPR regarding the settlement of immigrants, as well as some of the organisations and political parties of the settlers.

In chapter 3, Marjorie Beaucage—a Metis woman and former member of Our Lady of the Missions Order—and Emma LaRoque—a Cree-Metis professor of native studies at the University of Manitoba—emphasise that the culture and religious traditions of the Metis and Indians were not respected by the settlers. There was a “dehistorization” of the Indigenous peoples, and: “Indians were described as “treacherous,” “dirty,” “barbaric,” “grotesque,” “superstitious,” “red devils” (p. 30). Today we know how damaging and destructive the residential schools have been for Indigenous peoples. 

In chapter 4, Raymond Huel—a history professor at the University of Lethbridge—observes: “Unlike Protestant eschatology which stresses the presence of God in history, the Catholic experience takes the form of a liturgical vision in which history becomes complete in the mass, the ultimate form of worship” (p. 50).

In chapter 5, Frank Peake—an Anglican parish priest and history professor at Laurentian University—provides a brief history of the Church Missionary Society, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the Colonial and Continental Church Society. He states that the low and high church conflict lasted over a century. He observes: “Anglicans…did not come to build the New Jerusalem—they brought it with them. But, lest that sound arrogant, they were sadly aware that the Church of God is a “school for sinners” rather than a “museum for saints” (p. 66). 

In chapter 6, Benjamin Smillie points out that according to a 1971 census: “the United and Lutheran churches numerically represent nearly forty percent of the religious affiliations on the prairie” (p. 69). Today, of course, both of these mainline Protestant churches have shrunk considerably. Speaking of the doctrine of election, Smillie tells this “amusing apocryphal story about a theologically liberal student who stood before a conservative ordination committee of the Presbyterian church in the United States. As his orthodoxy was being tested prior to ordination, he was asked, “Do you believe in original sin?” “Yes,” was his response. “Do you believe that some are elected to salvation and others to damnation?” “Yes,” was the more hesitant answer. Then came the toughest question, “Would you be willing to be damned to the glory of God?” To this his reply was prompt, “I would go further; I would be willing to see this whole committee damned to the glory of God!” (pp. 72-73). Smillie also provides some history of the early Methodists, the Temperance Colonization Society, and Temperance Colony, and the idealism of the Social Gospel to build a “kingdom of righteousness,” and the failure of an elitist social Darwinism. 

In the same chapter, Norman Threinen—a Lutheran parish pastor, executive secretary of theology of the Lutheran Council of Canada, and founding editor of Consensus (a Canadian Lutheran Journal of Theology)–writes about “The doctrine of the two kingdoms and the Lutheran immigrant.” Lutheran immigrants came from the Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Germans from eastern Europe and Russia, with the overall hope of improving their lot. Threinen provides a short history of the Lutheran two kingdoms theology, which he contends dates back to Augustine. “Under the doctrine of the two kingdoms, God provided for order in society and in the church” (p. 87). Therefore, Lutherans have tended to support the political authorities rather than prophetically critique them—although there have, of course, been exceptions. Threinen also provides some history of the Lutheran Immigration Board of Canada, and the founding of Canadian Lutheran World Relief, to originally focus on the settlement of refugees from Europe after World War II. 

In chapter 7, Abraham Arnold—a lecturer, writer, broadcaster and executive director of the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties—points out the primacy and universality of Jerusalem for the Jewish people, dating back to biblical times, as well as in later Jewish tradition. “Jerusalem is destined to become a lantern to the nations…the metropolis of the world…[and] All nations, without exception, must go up towards Jerusalem….” (p. 91). Therefore, Arnold emphasises that building a new Jerusalem on the prairies is a Christian concept, not a Jewish one. The persecution of Jews in Russia led the Jews to consider immigrating to settle in western Canada. Arnold provides some history of Jewish immigrant farmers in Moosomin, Wapella, Lipton, Cupar and Edenbridge in Saskatchewan, and in 1908 a synagogue was built in Edenbridge. Politically: “Jews were among the builders of the CCF-NDP movement from the very beginning” (p. 102). And: “Winnipeg North became known as a Jewish Jerusalem…” (p. 102). 

In chapter 8, Ted Regehr—head of the history department, University of Saskatchewan—states: “The Mennonites wanted to establish their own utopia, separate and somewhat different from British ideals” (p. 110). Mennonites settled in all three prairie provinces, the first group came to Fort Garry on July 31, 1874. Mennonite settlers endeavoured to live by Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, emphasising complete exemption from military service, German language schools, and religious freedom. Canadian political and non-Mennonite religious leaders were prejudiced against and opposed to Mennonites. The Mennonites “found the Social Gospel hostile to their distinctive culture, language, and social practices” (p. 117). Regehr also mentions the founding and important work of the Mennonite Central Committee. Eventually, Mennonites gave up their view of a utopian Kingdom of God on earth for a spiritual, heavenly one. 

In chapter 9, Koozma Tarasoff—author of a Pictorial History of the Doukhobors—provides a history of how the Doukhobors came to Canada from Russia. He points out that there were three groups of Doukhobors: the Independent Doukhobors, the Community Doukhobors, later known as the Orthodox Doukhobors, and the deviants, later known as the Sons of Freedom. The latter group “were often rejected from membership in other groups, and often were an embarrassment to the whole Doukhobor population” (p. 131) because of their protests, when they would strip naked. The Doukhobors were pacifists, opposed to institutional religion, and lived in a communal way of life. They settled in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. After World War I, Doukhobors, Hutterites, and Mennonites were prohibited from voting because they were conscientious objectors. For a time, these three groups were also prohibited from immigrating to Canada, however in 1921 this was repealed for Hutterites and Mennonites, and in 1926 for Doukhobors.

In chapter 10, Stella Hryniuk—lecturer in the history department of the University of Manitoba—and Roman Yereniuk—professor of Eastern Slavic church history, St. Andrew’s College, Winnipeg—focus on the history of the Ukrainian immigrants coming to the prairie provinces from places like Galicia and Bukovina, the eastern provinces of Austro-Hungary. Mostly peasant farmers or unskilled labourers, they were mainly members of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic churches. “For the believing Christian, the Church—the New Jerusalem,–was realized and is continually realized through the liturgy” (p. 141).

In chapter 11, Bede Hubbard—a member of the Benedictine Order and former editor of the Prairie Messenger—states that “German Catholics in Saskatchewan includes German, German-American and German-Russian immigrants…” (p. 153). After providing some history of the Benedictine Order, Hubbard then shares the history of the German-American immigrants who established St. Peter’s Abbey at Muenster. One of the significant ministries of St. Peter’s Abbey that reached readers both Catholic and non-Catholic, was the publication of The Prairie Messenger. It was a prophetic voice promoting, among other things: universal health care, socialism (not communism), co-operatives, minority rights, church renewal and reform, ecumenism, social justice, rural life, and environmental protection.

In chapter 12, Gail McConnell—author of the Churchill River Enquiry Report, and free lance writer—interviews Michael Entz, leader of the Waldeck Hutterite Colony. The Hutterites—among other things—live in communes based on the Book of Acts, are pacifists, and believe in adult baptism. They immigrated to the three prairie provinces because of religious persecution—some were even horrifically tortured in the United States. They dress differently and modestly to emphasize that they are not of the world, even though they are in the world. According to Entz: “In the outside world there are too many temptations” (p. 166). There are three different groups of Hutterites: the “Schmiedeleut,” or “blacksmith people” in Manitoba, the “Dariusleut” in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and named after Darius Walther, and the “Lehrerleut” or “teacher’s people” in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Even though they have prospered and live peacefully, for the Hutterites, because nobody is perfect, the New Jerusalem will be a heavenly one. 

This volume even though it was published in 1983, will be most beneficial to those interested in western Canadian religious history. 

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Festschrift: A Tribute To Dr. William Hordern

December 4, 2025 Leave a comment

Festschrift: A Tribute To Dr. William Hordern

Edited by: Walter Freitag

Publisher: University of Saskatchewan, paperback, 270 pages, including a Greeting, Foreword, William Hordern: Curriculum Vitae, Roster of Institutional Sponsors, Roll of Congratulators, Contributors to the Festschrift, Footnotes, Publications of William Hordern, and an Index

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

I am very grateful to have been privileged to study under the Rev. Dr. William Hordern. Dr. Hordern was a world-renowned theologian, and an excellent professor. He was the teaching assistant for Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich at Union Theological Seminary, in New York City. He was a professor at the Quaker school, Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania, and at Garrett Theological Seminary, a Methodist seminary in Evanston, Illinois. From 1966-1985, he served as President of Lutheran Theological Seminary, after the merger of Lutheran College and Seminary and Luther Seminary, in Saskatoon. He also served as a pastor in 3 congregations. The institutional list of sponsors and festschrift contributors affirm that Dr. Hordern was highly respected ecumenically, among a wide variety of denominations. 

The Main Body of this volume consists of Part One Studies in Systematics/Ethics, and Part Two Biblical/Historical Studies. Part One has the following 10 essays: Perspective by Dr. Hordern’s wife, Marjorie Hordern, The Question of God and the Trinity by Carl Braaten, Karl Barth Juergen Moltmann and the Theopaschite Revolution by Ronald Goetz, Narrative Theology: Translation or Transformation? By Millard Erickson, Black Theology: It’s Origin, Method and Relation to Third World Theologies by James Cone who was William Hordern’s student, An Update on Liberation Theology in the Canadian Context by Benjamin Smillie, Lubricating the Camel: Clement of Alexandria on Wealth and the Wealthy by Walter Wagner, Realism and Freedom Within a Penitentiary by Gary Watts who was William Hordern’s student, Luther’s Attitude Towards Poverty: Theology and Social Reform by Richard Hordern who is William Hordern’s son and a professor at Luther College, Regina, Is the Emperor Naked?: Religions and Religion in Theological Education by Roland Miller. 

Part Two has the following 8 essays: Righteousness as Relationship by Adrian Leske, Luther in the Thought of Bultmann by Walter Freitag, The Courage of Faith at the Eucharist According to Martin Luther by Egil Grislis, Martin Luther in the Writings of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, by Eugene Tate, Printing and the Reformation by George Forell, Henry Melchior Muhlenburg’s Canadian Connections by Helmut Lehmann, Canada’s Lutherans in a Mediating Role? by E. Theodore Bachmann, and The Search for Christian Unity by Otto Heick. 

Depending on the readers’ preferences and backgrounds—as is the case in a volume like this, some of the essays will be more instructive and inspiring than others. 

In this review, I shall briefly highlight one essay from Part One, and one from Part Two, which hopefully will spark readers of this review to read this volume themselves. 

Richard Hordern, in his essay, begins by stating that: “Luther’s teachings on poverty and wealth are at the core of his theological program” (p. 94). In the Middle Ages, poverty was understood by the Roman Catholic Church as a spiritual blessing and a virtue for both those in monastery who took a vow of poverty, and for poor laity, who were given alms, which were viewed as good works. Therefore, there was no need to end poverty, nor to view it as an injustice or “an injury to the human spirit” (p. 94). 

Luther the monk didn’t see poverty as a spiritual blessing. Rather, he saw it as a hypocrisy among the monks—for they claimed to be poor but lived in comfort and idleness, since the commonfolk paid for the monks’ “poverty.” 

Several of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses of 1517 critiqued how the church burdened and exploited the common and poor people with indulgences, for example, in thesis 43, Luther wrote: “Christians are to be taught that [s]he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than [s]he who buys indulgences.” (Luther’s Works 31:29). In Luther’s response to Johann Eck, Hordern concludes that according to Luther: “We are not called to a virtue of poverty: we are called to abolish poverty” (p. 98).

For Luther, theological reform should also involve economic reform for the poor—so in his appeal To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, he suggested the creation of a “common chest” to provide for the poor. 

Luther was opposed to the early form of capitalism, he criticized high mark-up costs for a product: “What else does this mean but this: I care nothing about my neighbour; so long as I have my profit and satisfy my greed….” (Luther, Trade and Usury, p. 239).

Against monasticism and Anabaptism: “Luther argued that Christians should not hesitate to use the material goods that God has given in trust for the neighbour, provided we have no more than we actually need to conduct our affairs in life” (p. 101). 

Luther’s “theology of the cross” is rooted in the Incarnation, hence in life’s realities rather than abstract thought. The “theology of the cross” is revealed: “through human weakness, suffering, humility, oppression, and poverty that we find God and truly understand Christ and the nature of Christ’s salvation through the cross” (p. 103). 

Every Christian justified by God’s grace through Jesus is called to respond by loving one’s neighbour, especially the neighbour in need, for Christ meets us in the neighbour.

Otto W. Heick, in his essay, starts by stating: “Luther had no intention of destroying the unity of Western Christianity” (p. 216). Luther did not want his supporters to call themselves after his name. The most important marks of the Church for Luther are the Word and the sacraments. He, on occasion, also added the keys, ministry, prayer, suffering, and the influence of the Word in peoples’ lives as marks of the Church. 

Professor Heick points out that in Germany during the Reformation the princes and magistrates play an important role. “The Augsburg Confession, for example, was signed by seven princes and the civil authorities of the cities of Nuremberg and Reutlingen” (p. 217). It was similar in Denmark and Norway, where King Christian III imprisoned and deposed the Catholic bishops and confiscated their estates, and then paid the salaries of evangelical clergy. In Sweden, King Gustavus Vasa had the Church directly place under his authority, and a proclamation stated that Sweden was “an Evangelical Lutheran nation.” 

Heick provides a survey of how Lutherans have understood and defined ministry and ordination—there were, and still are differing views. For example, is the ministerial office only a spiritual fellowship or is it a combination of a spiritual fellowship and a divine institution? There was Heinrich Hansen, in Germany, who lead the Hochkirchliche Vereiningung (High Church Association), and: “published a set of Ninety-Five Theses in commemoration of the fourth centennial of the Reformation” (p. 219). There was Danish theologian, hymn writer, and bishop without a diocese, Nicholai F.S. Grundtvig, who believed that: “The living Word has priority over the written Word for the Gospel was spread by the living word of the Apostles and the Church independent of the written Word” (p. 219). 

Professor Heick, writing prior to the merger of the Lutheran Church in America Canada Section, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada into the Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada in 1986, has a brief commentary on the issues that caused the Missouri Synod to refuse to join the merger. Heick also provides a short history of the various Lutheran organisations that eventually resulted in the formation of the Lutheran World Federation. He highlights when and where the LWF assemblies met, as well as their themes. The title, Lutheran World Federation was adopted at Lund, Sweden in 1947. 

Under the section “Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue,” Heick has a brief historical summary of these dialogues on: “the Status of the Nicene Creed as Dogma of the Church (1965), Baptism (1966), The Eucharist as Sacrifice (1966-67), The Eucharist and the Ministry (1968-70), the Primacy of the Pope (1970-72), Teaching Authority and Infallibility in the Church (concluded in 1978), and Justification by Faith (1983)” (p. 222). He also provides a brief historical summary of the World Council of Churches statement on Baptism, the Eucharist and Ministry. “Both forms, “infant baptism” and “believer’s baptism” embody the primacy of grace and express the response of faith within the believing community” (p. 224). 

In his section “The Ecumenical Movement,” Heick states: “Luther was no separatist nor an unyielding dogmatist. In his negotiations with Martin Bucer he was satisfied with saying that the body of Christ is present in the Supper “with” the bread (Wittenberg Concord, 1536, Engl.)” (p. 225). From the 17ththrough to the 19th centuries, Lutherans were involved in colloquies and dialogues leading up to the formation of the World Council of Churches, and since its formation Lutherans have participated in the WCC. 

Back in the 17th and 18th centuries: “The clime at the court of Hannover….Linked by marriage to the Catholic house of Hapsburg, the Electress Sophia, friend of Leibnitz, herself of Calvinist training, became in 1713 heir apparent to the throne of Great Britain. Her son, George I, ascended the throne in 1714. Because of his dual reign, he was head of the Lutheran church of Hannover, of the Anglican establishment in England and of the Presbyterian church in Scotland” (Footnote 28., p. 256). 

Since through modern technology, we live in a global village and are able to communicate with Christians of every denomination as well as members of every world religion, confessional isolationism is no longer a reality. 

In “Publications of William Hordern,” there is a 10 page bibliography of his books and articles. 

This volume is still available for purchase online at, for example: https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/9780888801487/. Theologians, pastors and seminarians will most likely find this a worthwhile read—I rate it as 4.5 out 5. Thank God for the life and legacy of William Hordern! 

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Sermon for 1 Advent Yr A

November 30, 2025 Leave a comment

1 Advent Yr A, 30/11/2025

Isa 2:1-5

Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

“God our hope-filled Judge and Arbiter”

Today, the first Sunday in the season of Advent, marks the beginning of a new church calendar year. Advent means coming. In Advent, we emphasise the coming of Jesus in the past, present, and future. 

God willing, for the next few weeks, I’m going to focus on the Isaiah passages. I love the Book of Isaiah, and if I were an OT scholar, I would definitely specialize in this wonderful book, sometimes referred to as “the fifth gospel,” because it has so many “Good News” prophecies, which we Christians believe are messianic, and refer to Jesus. 

The compilers of the lectionary throw us a curveball during Advent. The portions from the Hebrew Scriptures are foretelling the coming of a Messiah who has not yet appeared. The New Testament passages, on the other hand, not only presuppose a first coming but look forward to a second. As Martin Buber has pointed out, the biggest single difference between Jews and Christians is that while we are both messianic faiths, when it comes to cataloging how Messiahs come and go, we have very different timetables.1

That reminds me of the following story. Pastor and Professor Fred Craddock says: My now-deceased friend Oswald Goulter, thirty years a missionary to China, was under house arrest for three years. He would be released by the Communists if he promised to go home. He said he would come home. He wired back, the missionary society sent him money for his transportation, and he took a ship. He went down to India to catch a ship, and when he was in the coastal city in India before leaving, he heard that there were a lot of Jews sleeping in the barn lofts in that city. They’d been denied entrance to every country in the world except that one, and they had gone inland and were living in barn lofts. It was Christmas time. Oswald Goulter went around to those barns and said to the Jews, “It’s Christmas! Merry Christmas!”

They said, “We’re Jews.”

He said, “I know, but it’s Christmas!”

They said, “We don’t observe Christmas. We’re not followers of Christ. We’re Jews.”

He said, “I know, but what would you like for Christmas?”

“We don’t keep Christmas.”

“I know, but what would you like? If somebody gave you something for Christmas, what would you like?”

They said, “Well, we’d like some good German pastry.”

“Good!” So he went looking, and he finally found some German pastry at a shop there in that city. After cashing his passage check, he took boxes of German pastries to these Jews and said, “Merry Christmas!” Then he wired the missionary society and said, “I need a ticket home.”

When that story was being told, there was a young seminarian sitting in the front row, and he was absolutely incensed. He said to Dr. Goulter, “Why did you do that? They don’t believe in Jesus!” And Dr. Goulter said, “But I do. I do.”2

So too, like in this story, Dr. Goulter, by giving those Jews the gift of German pastries, gave the Jews a bit of hope with that gift, the words of our Isaiah passage also offer hope. Also, in response to Isaiah’s oracle of promise and hope, the nations will one day turn their weapons of war into tools of peace. 

It is interesting that Isaiah, whose name means: “The LORD gives salvation,” speaks this oracle of promise and hope before oracles of judgement. You’d think that it would be the other way round, however it’s not. Hope then comes first in order to help his straying people of Judah and Jerusalem face their judgement and soon to come Babylonian exile. They would feel abandoned by God in their Babylonian exile. However, maybe they too would remember this oracle of promise and hope that one day their lot would improve, and God would lead them out of exile, back home. 

Isaiah shares this vision of a hope-filled, promising future. Notice that this future places Zion, another name for Jerusalem, at the front and centre of the world. It will be the most important place. Reference to it being the highest place, probably means that it will be the most important place spiritually and politically for the nations. Peoples from all nations shall journey to Zion-Jerusalem to be taught by the LORD. The Torah, God’s instruction, and God’s other word in the prophets and writings shall be taught and learned by peoples of all nations. This teaching and learning will help everyone to put into practice what God wants for the nations. I like the way Eugene Peterson renders it in The Message: “He’ll show us the way he works so we can live the way we’re made.” What a wonderful word of hope and promise! 

Isaiah goes on to say: “He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples.” Here however God as Judge is not bad news. Rather, it is good news. The consequence of God’s judgement will be hope rather than despair, love rather than hatred, forgiveness rather than punishment, peace rather than war. God as Judge here is a God of grace. The judgement is gracious and merciful, leading to life rather than death. 

In concert with God as Judge, God will also be Arbiter. In our society we are familiar with the phrase “binding arbitration.” Usually it involves two opposing groups, like for example, the government and a union. An arbiter functions like a mediator, because both sides are not getting anywhere in their discussions. Both sides have hardened their positions, and are not prepared to make any changes or compromises. An arbiter works with both sides in as neutral a way as possible to hear both sides and present both sides in negotiations, with a view to try and come up with an acceptable agreement between the two groups. Eventually when an agreement is reached, the arbitration, the agreement is binding—in other words, both sides are responsible for living up to their commitment to the terms of the agreement, to do what is necessary to honour and keep the agreement. 

Recently, here in Alberta, with the government employing the notwithstanding clause by legislating the teachers back to work, there really was no arbiter, and no settlement of differences—only the threat by the government to punish teachers if they refuse to go back to work. The government now claims that they don’t have to come to an agreement with the teachers until 2027. 

This is not the kind of binding arbitration involved in our Isaiah passage! God is the perfect arbiter, and does everything possible to help all nations live in agreement with his ways. So much so to the extent that in response to God’s work as arbiter, the nations will be able to change their weapons of war into tools for peace, tools used for agricultural purposes. The hope here is that: “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” What a wonderful hope, God’s perfect peace that comes through Jesus, Messiah, and Prince of peace. For that, thanks be to God! 

1 Robert McAfee Brown, Reclaiming the Bible: Words for the Nineties (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), p. 47.

2 Fred B. Craddock, Craddock Stories (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2001), pp. 141-142. 

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