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2023 WALKING TOGETHER Lenten Devotional

During the Season of Lent we will be featuring guest writers each Saturday in our Walking Together online devotional. If you have not subscribed, please join us and pass it on to others.

Guest contributors for Walking Together Lenten Devotional:

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About Our Contributors

Rev. Dr. Karen A. Hamilton
The Rev. Dr. Karen A. Hamilton is the former long term General Secretary of The Canadian Council of Churches, the broadest ecumenical council in the world, and the former Co-Chair of the Parliament of The World's Religions, Toronto 2018.

She co-teaches an annual interfaith course in Jerusalem and is the recipient of national and international awards in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue. Her doctorate is in Old Testament and Preaching and she has co-sponsored a number of Syrian and Ukrainian refugee families. Her up-coming interfaith social justice book, Faith as Protest: Answering the Call to Mend the World will be published by Novalis, spring 2023.

Rev. Dr. Laurie Barber
The Reverend Doctor Laurence Barber is Pastor Emeritus of Kingsway Baptist Church in Etobicoke where he was Senior Pastor for 13 years. He has served Canadian Baptists in Ontario and Western Canada in three pastorates (Uxbridge, (Altadore) Calgary and Toronto) and as CBWC and CBOQ Area Minister (for MB & SK and the GTA). Before retirement, Laurie was CBOQ's Director of Missional Initiatives. He is married to Jane with whom he shares three children and four grandchildren. Along with several hobbies Laurie also creates and scores short inspirational videos.

Rev. Dr. Scott Hoezee
The Rev. Dr. Scott Hoezee is a 1990 graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary. He served two congregations as pastor: Second CRC in Fremont, MI, and Calvin CRC in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2005 he began working at Calvin Theological Seminary as a member of the faculty and as the first Director of the Seminary's Center for Excellence in Preaching. Rev. Hoezee has written several books, including The Riddle of Grace, Remember Creation, Proclaim the Wonder, and most recently Actuality: Real Life Stories for Sermons That Matter. He also co-hosts the Groundwork radio program along with Rev. David Bast and is a regular contributor to the blog "The Twelve." Along with his wife, Rosemary, he has two adult children.

Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis
The Rev. Dr. Karoline M. Lewis is the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, where she has taught since 2007.

Lewis is the author of Belonging: Five Keys to Unlocking Your Potential as a Disciple: A Lay Preacher's Guide; How to Craft a Faithful Sermon; Embody: Five Steps to Leading With Integrity; SHE: Five Keys to Unlock the Power of Women in Ministry (including an accompanying facilitator guide, participant guide, and DVD); and John: Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries, as well as numerous articles and book chapters. Lewis was one of the 100 religious scholars in the United States to be a part of the Values and Voices Campaign 2016 (valuesandvoices.com) and again in 2021. Her newest book coming soon is Preaching the Word: Contemporary Approaches to the Bible for The Pulpit.

Ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Lewis holds degrees from Northwestern University (B.A.), Luther Seminary (M.Div.), and Emory University (Ph.D., New Testament Studies, and Homiletics). She is the Program Director for the Festival of Homiletics, a contributing writer for Working Preacher, and co-host of the site's weekly podcast, Sermon Brainwave. Lewis leads conferences, workshops, and retreats internationally on the Gospel of John, the New Testament, interpreting the Bible, preaching, leadership, and women in ministry. You can learn more about Lewis and connect with her at karolinelewis.com.

Rev. Dr. Michael Quicke
The Rev. Dr. Michael Quicke is known throughout the Baptist world as a leading pastor, preacher, author, and Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Northern Baptist Seminary near Chicago. Previous to his years in Chicago, Michael was the Principal of Spurgeon's College, London, England, and prior to his academic career Michael served two Baptist Churches in the U.K. including St. Andrews St. Baptist Church in Cambridge. Michael and Carol, his wife of 54 years, retired back to Cambridge, U.K. where he assists in his local church. Michael continues to write and serve as a guest preacher. They have two sons and five grandchildren. Michael has written three books including 360 Degree Preaching and Preaching as Worship. Michael first came to Yorkminster Park in 1980 as a summer preacher and quickly won a place in our hearts. He has been in our pulpit many times since and was also a keynote speaker/preacher at the Lester Randall Preaching Fellowship. You can keep up with Michael's latest reflections on his blog: http://michaelquicke.blogspot.com

Rev. Dale Soble
The Rev. Dale Soble, the youngest of three children to Bill and Carol Soble, was raised in Belleville, Ontario. The family's home church was Victoria Avenue Baptist Church where Dale was baptized when he was thirteen years old. After high school, Dale attended McMaster University, thinking he would eventually turn toward a career in journalism, but he was drawn or pushed into ministry in his final years of arts. Following graduation, Dale enrolled in McMaster Divinity College. His first church was a small country church, Wainfleet Baptist. While there, Susan and Dale were married in 1978 and had their first child, Nicholas. They were called to Lakeside Heights Baptist Church in the West Island of Montreal during which time their children, Katie and Nathaniel, were born. From Montreal they were called to First Baptist Church, Ottawa, where Maggie was born. The next adventure in ministry came when Dale became one of the Area Ministers for the CBOQ, watching over 80 plus churches in the southern part of Ontario. After ten years as Area Minister, Dale accepted the call to Murray St. Baptist Church in Peterborough. Since retiring in 2015, Dale writes weekly blog posts at theunconventionalbaptist.blogspot.com and occasionally fills in as the on-call chaplain at the local hospital. Susan spent part of her childhood at Yorkminster Park when her father, the Rev. Dr. Bruce Neal, served on our ministry team. Susan retired in 2022 and their seven grandchildren keep them busy and happy and proud. For several years Dale and Susan have been part of our online congregation and we are honoured that they have now joined our church.

Rev. Dr. Barbara Mutch
The Rev. Dr. Barbara Mutch was appointed to the staff of The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada in 2015 and currently serves as the Senior Director of Accreditation. She was ordained by the Baptist Union of Western Canada in 1988 and served on the pastoral staff of First Baptist Church Regina for 15 years. Following her pastoral leadership, she spent 19 years at Carey Theological College in Vancouver, during which time she occupied the Charles Bentall Chair of Pastoral Ministry and, for ten years, was the Academic Dean. She currently resides in a village on the Ohio River just north of Pittsburgh.

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