About Lection Connections and the Authors

Lection Connections are intended to lift up international news stories and current events, linking these to the lectionary passages for each Sunday.

Adults, clergy, and adult Bible study leaders might visit this section of the website each week to enrich Bible study, for personal reflection, or to prepare sermons. Lection Connections is posted in conjunction with each week of Seasons of the Spirit.

Fraser Macnaughton has been minister of St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland since 2002. He also has served as minister in Ayrshire, University of Dundee, and Glasgow. He has taken church groups to Malawi in central Africa, and also hosted groups from Malawi. Having previously been coach to Scottish Universities Rugby team, he founded the Orkney Rugby club women’s team, the Orkney Dragons. He maintains a lively interest in bird watching, conservation issues, and history, as well as keeping fit through yoga, road cycling and swimming. 

Joan Kessler is a minister with the United Church of Canada, currently serving Wood Lake Pastoral Charge, Lake Country, BC. She arrived in January 2020. After only a few weeks with the congregation, worship services and all other activities moved online due to Covid-19. Virtual worship has been both a challenge and a blessing to her and the small congregation she serves, and she looks forward to reflecting on these experiences and what it will mean for the Church over the years to come. She approaches her worship planning by viewing the lectionary through a socio-economic lens and how the biblical story relates to our current context. Joan’s pastimes and interests include yoga, coffee, day hiking in the Okanagan, and connecting with family and friends.

Sandra Rooney served sixteen years as Executive for Mission Education and Interpretation for the United Church of Christ (USA) Board for World Ministries. She retired in 2001 and moved from Cleveland, Ohio, to Green Valley, Arizona, in 2005. She is a member of the Good Shepherd United Church of Christ in Sahuarita, AZ, where she currently serves on the Mission Task Force, sings in the choir, assists with the church's food pantry and coordinates a women's book discussion group. She has also served on and chaired the Stewardship Board as well as serving a term as Moderator of the congregation. She is an avid hiker and photographer and takes special pleasure in experiencing Road Scholar (Elderhostel) Intergenerational programs with her grandchildren. Top concerns include compassionate immigration reform and protecting the environment, with special focus on water resources.

Paul Turley is a minister with the Uniting Church in Australia, currently serving an inner-suburban church in Adelaide, South Australia. Paul has lived and worked in different parts of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He is fascinated by the cultural similarities and differences between these three nations and wants to understand what it means to be a spiritual person and specifically, a follower of Jesus in each culture.
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