Yesterday’s Lessons for Today’s People
A Vision Matthew 17 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then…
Read Matthew 17:1-9 with your family. The Transfiguration is a big word for a simple truth: For a moment, the disciples saw who Jesus really was. Not just a teacher.Not just a miracle-worker.Not just their friend. They saw God in action. And then He went back to walking dusty roads with them. Sometimes God lets…
Valentine’s Day didn’t begin with roses, chocolates, or candlelit dinners. It began with a priest. As the story is told: In the third century, under the rule of the Roman Emperor Claudius II, young men were forbidden to marry. The emperor believed single men made better soldiers than husbands and fathers. A Christian priest named…
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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 