I (Richard Manley-Tannis aka me) began blogging with the United Church of Canada (UCCan) during the Emerging Spirit Programme in 2008. Though I approach the world through a Christian lens, I celebrate that all human truths fail to fully appreciate a universe & reality that cannot confine the Holy. In A Deacon’s Musing, I meander & ruminates, reflect & challenge. Hopefully some of it makes sense & I invite you to ask questions, push me to clarify & listen with intention!
I have journeyed journeyed with alternatives to the Canadian adjudicative judicial system & continues to endeavour to merge my practical conflict resolution & organisational development experience with appropriate theological & academic explorations. As well, I really appreciates the nuances of organisational & systems analysis. In such pursuits, I utilise such tools as Appreciative Inquiry & the Enneagram. In 2014, I began my PhD with The Taos Institute & Tilburg University. In this next journey of learning, which ended in 2020 with my graduation in the Netherlands, the completed project was an academic exploration of shifting the UCCan’s narrative from one of deficit and fear to one of abundance, mission and hope. The project ends with a practical application (i.e. workshops) to assist congregations live out the findings of the dissertation.
Since 2018, I have had honour to fill the role as Principal of St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon, SK, Canada. In this capacity I am excited to be part of a team that is engaged in nurturing and preparing leadership in the church through the explicit lens of justice!
Now I am wide-eyed-open to where Creator is next inviting me …
Appreciative Principles|Free Choice
This ten-part A Deacon’s Musing series will explore the intersection between the change philosophy known as Appreciative Inquiry and a Christian theological orientation grounded in diversity. I am most grateful to be co-shaping this conversation with my mentor and friend Maureen McKenna.
The Struggle
22-23 But during the night he got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He got them safely across
#MicroPoetry|October ’17 Verses
Every month I tweet #MicroPoetry! In 140 characters, they are part prayer, thought, reflection, challenge or something in-between. I look forward to sharing them with you and hope that they may lead to reflection, musing
#MicroPoetry|October ’17 Memes
Too often it seems that words and images are placed against one another. The gift of a meme, when hopefully done well, is that the word and the visual serve to complement and enhance
#MicroPoetry|October ’17 Reflections
#ShineOn The #MicroPoetry of the blog began as a creative practice in 2012. Using the confines of twitter's 140 characters, this discipline has been a generative opportunity to use words to poetically muse. Starting
#MeToo
I am the child of a survivor. When I called my parent to share what I was considering writing about for this week’s musing, I did so with a deep respect and awareness of what a survivor walks with every and each day. I remember the nightmares waking me and the moments of extreme fragility in my growing.
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