Amy Bratton

Amy Bratton is the Director of Operations & Publishing for the New Leaf Network and the project manager for the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project. She lives in Saskatoon, SK with her husband, Tim, and their two sons, Oswald and Ira. She is a lay leader at Riversdale Neighbours church and an Adjunct Professor with Rocky Mountain College in the area of Spiritual Formation. She writes and speaks about the history of Christian spirituality, with a focus on the early Methodist understanding of Christian maturity known as “perfect love.” Read more from her in her book Witnesses of Perfect Love: Narratives of Christian Perfection in Early Methodism.

 

Read more from Amy Bratton:

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First Sunday of Advent
First Sunday of Advent

Welcome to the 2024 New Leaf Advent Reader, Advent Undone: When the Mysteries of Christmas Have Come Unravelled. In the coming weeks, reflections will be coming to your inbox and online from writers and artists across Canada. As we wait for the arrival of Jesus on Christmas day, the season of Advent makes space for our complicated emotions and complex situations.

Gentle Whispers
Gentle Whispers
First Sunday of Advent
First Sunday of Advent

Welcome to the sixth annual New Leaf Advent Reader. I am so excited to share this collection of reflections with you! In 2018, when we put out our first set of daily reflections, I felt like I was leveraging the whole network to find people willing to write a reflection for this unknown project…

Whispers of Scarcity
Whispers of Scarcity

That little whisper in my ear or a feeling in my gut that says there is not enough to go around. I need to fight for my share. My fear that something that can’t be healed will happen to my kids. My tendency to overestimate and project far into the future the negative consequence of one small action (or inaction). These are the ways that the accuser uses temptations in my life…

Advent 2022 Thank You
Advent 2022 Thank You

We have arrived at the end of this year’s Advent journey. We appreciated your joining with us as we navigated the Known and Unknowns of our Advent experiences. Even as the lectionary readings move from the apocalyptic and mysterious to the familiar Christmas narrative, there are still mysteries that linger…

First Sunday of Advent
First Sunday of Advent

I have been learning that in life, there are many uncertain roads to walk. Uncertainty seems to be more prevalent now, as many of us face global pandemic uncertainties alongside all the other existing ones…

Fog Ahead
Fog Ahead

It’s been two years since the world began shutting down where I live in Saskatoon. My Facebook and google photo memories have been popping up these past few weeks with the events that I still remember as the last time I did this or that.

I see the memory of my gratitude for my birthday gathering and I can’t help but think “ahh, the last party we threw.” …

First Sunday of Advent
First Sunday of Advent

Thank you for joining us for the 2021 New Leaf Advent Reader. I am excited to share this collection of reflections from writers across Canada during the Advent Season. The authors are pastors and poets; historians and theologians; laypeople and church leaders. And they all come together to wrestle with the tensions of the Advent season…

Muddy Easter Morning
Muddy Easter Morning

Each Good Friday and Easter, I have this strange habit of checking to see if the weather matches the theological mood of the day. Will Good Friday be gloomy and rainy? Will Easter be bright and sunny, preferably after a few gloomy days?

Third Tuesday of Advent
Third Tuesday of Advent
Welcome to the Advent Reader
Welcome to the Advent Reader

Welcome to the third annual New Leaf Advent Reader. We are so glad you are here with us to journey through Advent while reflecting on change and disruption.

Called in Different Directions
Called in Different Directions

Last summer I spent many of my evenings listening to the voices of the multivocational ministers that had agreed to participate in the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project. I was working on transcribing recorded interviews to pass along to the research team for analysis. A few nights a week, after my 1-year-old son was in bed I would go down into our basement to the computer tucked in a corner next to the furnace….

The Tensions of Easter
The Tensions of Easter

Here we are at the end of Lent and Holy Week. And, I don’t know about you, but this has been a very strange season….

Advent 2019 Thank You
Advent 2019 Thank You

Dear Advent readers,

Thank you so much for going on this Advent journey through scripture and reflections with us…..

First Thursday of Advent 2019
First Thursday of Advent 2019

The liturgical season of Advent is a space where the mixed emotions of longing and grief are given space to sit in tension. In contrast to the “Christmas season” filled with Christmas parties, one more gift exchange to buy a gift for, hunting for the most desired gift on a child’s wishlist and preparing far more food than is good for many of us. Creating space for the tension between what we long for and the struggles that are immediately before us is a delicate task.

First Monday of Advent 2019
First Monday of Advent 2019

In the sparkly season of Christmas, I often feel out of sync when life is stressful or dark or just full of emotions. I know that Christmas can be full of happiness for many people, but sometimes I just feel the pressure to do Christmas “right” when I can’t muster up the requisite joy on my own.

Welcome to Advent 2019
Welcome to Advent 2019

Tomorrow is the beginning of Advent. Here on the New Leaf Blog, we are going to be journeying through Advent together with writers from across Canada. The New Leaf Network is a Canadian network spread across this northern country.

Nothing is Wasted
Nothing is Wasted

Most of my work is done sitting in front of a computer, balanced out by chasing my two young boys around. But one day in September I got outside with my boys and I set out to do some harvesting in our yard.

Small
Small

When I think of Canada, I often think of big – big landscapes, big mountains, big open spaces. But Canada is also small – small populations (relatively speaking on a global scale), small towns, small beauty.

Nothing More to Give
Nothing More to Give
2018 - A Year in Review
2018 - A Year in Review

It has been an exciting year for the New Leaf Network. The podcast has flourished, the blog launched and we had some great events. Check out our top blog posts and podcast episodes of 2017.

Second Tuesday of Advent
Second Tuesday of Advent
Advent Reader - Welcome
Advent Reader - Welcome
Prayer for Canadian Thanksgiving
Prayer for Canadian Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving grows closer here in Canada, I am reminded of the positive impact that gratefulness has on my life. Well, in actuality, I’m reminded, with a heavy heart, how much thankfulness

Canadian Children and the Legacy of Raffi
Canadian Children and the Legacy of Raffi
Silence and White Privilege
Silence and White Privilege
2017 - A Year in Review
2017 - A Year in Review

It has been an exciting year for the New Leaf Network. The podcast has flourished, the blog launched and we had some great events. Check out our top blog posts and podcast episodes of 2017.

New Life in this Soil
New Life in this Soil
The Nones and the Dones - Resources
The Nones and the Dones - Resources
Don't Let the Fear Control You
Don't Let the Fear Control You

Next week, New Leaf is putting on a pre-conference day about the religious landscape in Canada at a big Church Planting event in Montreal. It crossed my mind that one reality of my upcoming travel is that I probably won’t have to wait in line for the restroom like I usually do at big events. The mens room will likely be more crowded than the ladies room.

New Leaf Lead Team, Writing Collective Author, Advent Author, Learning CentreAmy BrattonAmy Bratton