Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperors and to God the things that are God’s.
Matthew 22:21
I was once part of a ministerial social justice committee in Labrador. We worked with the community to raise questions about a potential NATO weapons training centre. It was being considered for an area that the Innu community was claiming should be part of their land settlement. The local Member of Parliament wrote a letter to the newspaper saying that the church had no business in the debate. Our place was to get people to come to church, not to be involved in social issues like aboriginal land rights.
Do you think the church should be involved in issues like this? Where in your experience has the church’s involvement been helpful? When has it not been helpful? Where would you like to see the church become more involved?
Peter
About Me
- Reverend Peter Lougheed
- Peter Lougheed is married to Jan, a Diaconal Minister, serving at Woodroffe United Church in Ottawa. They have three children, Tonja, Dan and Deb and a granddaughter Mackenzie. Growing up in a traveling family has led Peter to sojourns in Saskatchewan, India, Kirkland Lake, Shawinigan and Oshawa. Peter obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Victoria College and a Master of Divinity degree from Emmanuel College in Toronto in 1979. The Lougheeds served congregations in Gaspe, East Labrador; Kanata and Eganville, Ontario. Currently Peter sits on the Ottawa Presbytery Stewardship Committee.
1 comment:
The Church needs to be involved in issues which have an impact on the local community and also to support global issues which impact our sense of justice and social conscience.
We support El Salvador in various methods such as house building and as observers in elections. We also help refugees to get established within in our community.
I think that it is not a good idea for the church to support a specific political party when we live in a functioning democracy.
I think we need to become more involved in environmental issues and in the effort to decrease poverty and starvation. Corn based ethanol is something which is a problem to both and yet we as a country are spending large amounts of tax based funding to support it.
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