A large black and white version of this was used to illustrate a magazine story, “The Gathering Storm,” as United Church leaders grappled with the issue of ordaining homosexual ministers. (The Second Mile, June 1988). Robert’s illustration of a small isolated church, surrounded by storm clouds, was both dramatic and non-judgmental. Robert joined a church in Halifax at around the time he made this painting and saw life crisis as a testing of faith. It intrigued him that the church itself had its own tests to pass in order to stay relevant in the modern world.