About

This site is part of the ministry of Tim Lissimore. As I used to be an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada, it is important for me to state that my current ministry is in no way connected to the United Church of Canada, nor do I in any way represent the institution. I left the United Church officially in 2012 when it became clear to me that God was calling me to a ministry which simply doesn't fit in that institution. I have not found a human institution where I do fit. So here I am.

There will be more on this on the blog portion of my site as this ministry continues to evolve.
Currently, this site is the visible ministry of A Thin Place Ministries. What is invisible is all of the informal pastoral care and spiritual companioning work with folk both on my small island of Gabriola in BC, Canada, as well as a handful scattered mostly across western Canada.
I am floating the dream that one day this site may evolve into something that, along with paid workshops or speaking arrangements and sales through my woodworking site (The Carpenter's Son's Apprentice) may free my family and I enough financially that I may devote considerably more time to this ministry. At one time I thought this ministry might develop Creation and Creator based workshops and retreats aimed at simultaneously reconnecting people to Creation, and therefore, their Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.
Much of the timing and form of the evolution of this ministry seems to be driven, however, by the fundamental need to sustain my family with food and shelter. I dream of posting every day. And I will do that. But at present (October, 2015) providing bread for the table is proving to be a challenge of significant proportions, soaking up more time and energy than will allow me to pursue this site and ministry with any more vigour than I am. A deep and heartfelt "Thank you!" to those who are supporting myself and my family in any way. I must also say that the ministry that I find myself in while simply interacting with people while trying to make a living is helping to shape the ministry I wish to do here.

The content of this site is purely a reflection of PART of my thinking at a given time, place, and mindset, and may not reflect either what I have thought in the past nor what I will think in the future. It likely doesn't adequately capture what I think in the moment, either. Every reader (or listener or viewer, depending on the type of post) will bring their own way of looking at things to what they read, hear, or see, (their own hermeneutical perspective), and thus different people will take different things from the same content. That's where comments and feedback becomes more than a little useful.

At this time, the only advantage to a user of subscribing is the ability to post comments.

Anyone may request a username and password for this site. I do request, however, that you write a sentence or more about what you are most interested in and why you would like to become a subscriber or make comments about the site. This is not a test! It is a relationship in the making! You can contact me here. Anyone in the world with access to the internet can view this site. There is much of me in this site. I'd like to get to know any of you who are interested in following along!

Comments are such a gift. God gives us all such unique insights and perspectives. I deeply, deeply appreciate all comments, feedback, and insight given in thoughtful, prayerful, and respectful fashion.

Because the emotional and spiritual safety of this community is so important, all submitted comments need to be approved by an administrator before they will be publicly posted. I hope this will not take long, but there may be a delay of up to a day before your comments are posted to the site. For a wide variety of reasons, anonymous comments will not be posted. To be in relationship, we must own what we speak, write, and do, or we risk doing so with no integrity.

A couple of people requested that I set up a means to allow people to voluntarily donate to this ministry and to the rest of the ministry of my life. Let me be very clear about three things up front. The first is that not everybody can give financially. The second is that financial givers receive nothing more than the people who give prayer support or those who give me their time or talents. You receive a blessing in your heart from God as well as my humble thanks, prayers and blessings. My ministry is not a government listed charity and I can not offer tax receipts - just prayerful gratitude. You who can and do contribute to putting bread on my table help make this site and my outside ministry possible in physical ways. If you are so moved, please see the Support page.

I am a child of God.

To some, the above might be a short statement of not much consequence. It certainly was to me at one time. I not only took it for granted, but I at one point would have even laughed to think that I would ever say such a phrase with any meaning at all.

Currently, I am living on Gabriola Island, BC. I have a very small woodworking business, The Carpenter's Son's Apprentice. Once upon a time, I was a fisheries biologist. Then, I became an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. I am officially no longer either of those, though parts of those vocations are still part of me. I am a follower of the Carpenter's Son, and seek his guidance in all things - sometimes paying attention more successfully than others.

This About page will evolve!

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