Yesterday’s Lessons for Today’s People
Salt & Light Matthew 5 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 People…
Read Matthew 5:13-30 with your family. Have you ever heard someone say, “Be salt and light”? Those are Jesus’ words. He said them to the people listening to Him teach. But what does that mean? Think about salt. Without it, food tastes flat. Our bodies even need salt to work properly. Salt helps things be what…
Two of the most loved series on Barefoot Evangelist are How to Lent for Teens and How to Lent with Kids. I created them to be simple, honest, and accessible for real families. They are built around the Pillars of Lent – giving, praying, fasting, and reading scripture – and filled with practical ideas you can actually use.…
Advent Be Prepared Bible Bread of Life Children Children's Stories Christianity Christmas Disciples Discipleship Easter Easter Sunday Epiphany Faith Forgiveness Healing Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Jesse Tree Jesus Jesus' birth John John the Baptist Justice Lent Love Luke Mark Mary of Nazareth Matthew Messiah Parables Paul Pentecost Peter Podcast Prayer Priests Resurrection Teen Time Temple Temptation Transfiguration Women
Pastor… Storyteller… Presider… Teacher… Professional Question-Asker…
Deborah Suddard has spent more than three decades walking with people through faith, doubt, joy, grief, love, loss, and all the messy, beautiful in-between. She’s a pastor, teacher, preacher, writer, and officiant – but if you ask her, she’s really just someone who keeps asking better questions about God and inviting others to do the same.
Deborah believes the Gospel is far too alive to be locked inside tidy theology or church walls. As The Barefoot Evangelist, she digs into Scripture the way it was meant to be read – rooted in history, culture, and lived experience – so we can hear what Jesus was actually saying, not just what we’ve been told He said. Sometimes that’s comforting. Sometimes it’s disruptive. And honestly, it’s usually both.
Her ministry is built on one simple, stubborn conviction: love is bigger than fear, and grace is bigger than rules. Deborah teaches a Christianity that is thoughtful, grounded, and deeply human – a faith that makes room for questions, laughter, protest, and hope all at once.
Alongside her theological work, Deborah also serves in Eastern Ontario as an officiant creating and leading weddings, funerals, and rites of passage that feel honest, meaningful, and deeply respectful. Whether the setting is a church, a forest, a living room, or a windswept shoreline, her ceremonies are crafted to honour the sacredness of love, memory, and transition – without pretending that life is ever neat or predictable.
What ties it all together is this:
Deborah shows up where people are.
Not where they “should” be.
Not where religion says they belong.
Where they actually are.
She walks with couples into commitment, families through grief, seekers through doubt, and communities through change – with compassion, wit, and a faith that isn’t afraid to get its feet dirty.
If you’re looking for someone who will take God seriously but not use God as a weapon…
If you believe church should feel more like a table than a courtroom…
If you’re hungry for something truer than easy answers…
You’re in the right place.
Welcome!
The Barefoot Evangelist 