I’ve been serving Canadian Memorial United Church since 1996. The United Church of Canada is a progressive mainline church in North America, and within the United Church, Canadian Memorial has as its mission to “teach a progressive Christian spirituality”. Not everybody likes the term “progressive”, because it seems to imply a comparison with all those other regressive churches.
 
I don’t really know what to do about this. It’s meant to be descriptive. We believe in changing as the Spirit moves us. We believe in updating our faith. Revelation is ongoing, not confined to any book or single person, or to 2000 years ago. We take the Bible seriously, not literally, and we don’t think that religion is about private salvation. To be honest, I’d be happy with calling ourselves “evolutionary”, which is what progressive means to me in any case.
 
I’ve been married to my wife, Ann, for 20 years and counting. I have a daughter, Sarah, who is an actor living and working in LA, putting together a successful film career. Most recently, (until the writer’s strike) she was a lead in the TV series Shark, with James Wood.
 
As you can see from the photo I’m into yoga, specifically hot yoga or Bikrams yoga. I’ve been doing this as a physical and spiritual discipline since 2005. The reason I’m doing it is that I’m an aging jock and my body has taken a beating from playing so many sports. It’s also a way to tune into the chattering ego as it curses the teacher, the heat, my hamstrings, etc.
 
I’m also a guitar player and love to sing. Bruce Cockburn is at the top of my list of musicians I love to cover. I must confess that since I started writing books, the old guitar is getting a little dusty, along with my voice. But I miss it and I shall return in time.
 
My current sport of choice is tennis, but I’ve been giving it a rest for the last couple of years to try and heal my shoulder. I have this lefty spin on my serve which my opponents hate, but which my shoulder girdle apparently hates even more.
 
I also enjoy golfing with my wife. I’m currently a 15 handicap, in search of Audubon certified (ecologically friendly) courses to play.
 
I’m a bit of an insatiable reader. Currently, I’m into all things Integral. Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory has been blowing my mind for the last few years. My next book will likely have something to do with looking at Christian spirituality through an Integral lens.
 
I also love film and from time to time will include “reviews” on my blog, or at least some scattered thoughts.
 
 Together, we have four grandchildren, who live in Ontario.