Or should that read "No Jesus in Canada?" Well, according to a tip from a Canadian friend, Geoff Wilkins, who writes News Briefs for conservatives in the United Church of Canada (UCC) a telling item was printed in The Observer, the United Church of Canada's Magazine:
Many who read News Briefs do not see The Observer and so they will have missed a brief but important item in the January ’05 issue (p. 11). While traveling across Canada, Moderator Peter Short has been talking pastorally with UCC clergy about the stresses they face and how they find themselves able to cope with them. The Observer reports he told General Council Executive that when he asked clergy what sustained them in their work (“What turns the lights on”), “they didn’t talk about Jesus.” He has put that question to 475 clergy, and “only a handful” named Jesus. “Somehow the name of Jesus or the personality of Jesus, however that came up for them, has gone away.” Asked to reflect on why this might be, GC Executive came up with a variety of reasons, many of which may well strike readers as shallow and predictable. The item’s concluding statement?-- “[M]any of the people in paid accountable ministry are in spiritual crisis and don’t know Jesus.”
If they don't know Jesus, then Who are these guys preaching?
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