Questions arise as 'most godless place' gets first saint GMT
Bishops of Hiroshima and Nagasaki want nuclear weapons' ban Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Climate leadership from rich nations 'can build common agenda' Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Zimbabwe trade union leader forced to flee, say Christian students Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Women play secondary role in news, global media project finds Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Washington Cathedral hosts Christian-Muslim summit Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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When the stunning First Church, Montreal, building was sold to a developer in the 1980s the advertising campaign promised "a stained glass window in every condo". First (1786-1984) was once amongst the most important congregations in Montreal, and was itself a union of Chalmers and St. Gabriel's, the latter of which dated to 1784. In 1984 it joined with Knox, Crescent, Kensington.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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I am writing this letter as a private individual, not on behalf of our presbytery or any other body.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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In the March issue there was a comment in my interview with Reg Bibby about "pie eyed aboriginals." The phrase was used in a story he told that criticized a local church for its racism. I do not believe Mr. Bibby intended the phrase in a racist manner; his point was that the church was comfortable with "bedraggled" non-natives in its service. Nor was it my intention to allow its use in any derogatory sense. However, the phrase itself speaks of a systemic attitude towards First Nations people. This language is so deeply imbedded into our culture we fail to recognize its assumptions. On behalf of Mr. Bibby and myself, I apologize for the use of this casual assumption and for any pain it may have caused.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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The country's largest ecumenical organization, the Canadian Council of Churches, will again run at a deficit for 2005. Its $326,000 budget includes a projected deficit of $8,000. The council is funded by its 19 member churches. The Presbyterian Church contributes $25,000 a year. "We're doing everything possible to bring it down, but we're operating on a bare-bones budget," said general secretary Rev. Karen Hamilton. "There's nothing left to cut."
posted on May 1, 2005 in Presbytery Profile
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What sets the Presbytery of Winnipeg apart from others is the high proportion of resources it devotes to aboriginal ministry. The presbytery of 12 charges supports three aboriginal outreach centres: Flora House and Anishinabe (both in Winnipeg), and Anamiewigummig located farther north in Kenora, Ont. Together, they receive almost 30 per cent of the presbytery's budget and require the most resources — both financial and human. "Our purpose is to meet the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of the people in our area," said Warren Whittaker, director of Flora House. "We try to follow Jesus' model in Luke — to bring liberty to the captive and sight to the blind."
posted on May 1, 2005 in Features
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The green hills and fertile coffee fields of Colombia seem worlds away from the busy roads, cold pavement and towering skyscrapers of Toronto. But the congregation at Glebe Church made the connection. Being small, they wondered what one congregation could do to help the plight of coffee farmers and their families. They didn't have to look far to discover a solution, and began selling fair trade coffee a year ago. Glebe doesn't make any profits from the sales — they simply want to promote the coffee and increase awareness of the issues surrounding it. "Farmers selling coffee get a fair price so they can educate their children, feed their families and improve their land," said Bob Elliott, an elder at Glebe.
posted on May 1, 2005 in Michael Coren
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I'm not a poet, not a politician, not an actor, not a student, not an anarchist and don't pick up every fashionable cause that lands within my reach. But I am a Christian. And it is my faith that leads me to have severe reservations about globalization and the lack of fair trade, which seems a likely consequence.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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The Presbyterian Church (USA) saw the largest drop among mainline churches in the United States last year. According to the National Council of Churches' 2005 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, PC(USA) fell almost five per cent, with about 3.2 million members remaining. It ranks ninth on the list of America's 25 largest churches. Other denominations to decline include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, American Baptist Churches in the USA and the United Church of Christ.
posted on May 1, 2005 in Mission Knocks
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Amidst the tall trees and tranquil shores of Georgian Bay in Penetanguishene, Ont., members of First Church are counting their blessings — and extending those blessings to others. Thanks to a friendship between the church's minister, Dr. Gerard Booy, and missionaries in Mozambique, the congregation is helping build a classroom for students in the small village of Gurué in northwestern Mozambique. "Living in Canada, we're fortunate," said Mary Sheriff, chair of the missions team that coordinated the project, "but do we realize it? This was a chance to get to know each other more, and our community more, and to learn about others living elsewhere."
posted on May 1, 2005 in Features
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St. Columba by the Lake, in Pointe Claire, PQ has been operating a fair trade store for nearly a decade. Over the years they have acted on scripture, raised their community profile and tripled their sales to about $400,000 a year. "We have our building on a very forgotten back street of suburban Montreal. We have very little visual prominence in the community, which is symbolic of what's happened to many suburban Christians. Their faith is private and hidden away," said Rev. Ian Fraser. "But we decided we wanted to be more prominent in what we believe and get the church back on the main street of the community."
posted on May 1, 2005 in For the Journey
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"We are going to have to get Jim to fell that big Lodgepole Pine tree before it demolishes our house," Linda said in bed over coffee one early morning.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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It's been 60 years since Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged, along with six others, by the SS, for a conspiracy against Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler. His death at 39 was extraordinary on several counts. His Lutheran tradition had inculcated a sense of duty to obey the state as an authority ordained by God, not to plot treason against it. In the 1930s, he had been advocating pacifism as the Christian response to violence, yet the plot against Hitler was to involve complicity in an attempted assassination. Changing circumstances repeatedly forced Bonhoeffer to re-examine what obedience to God required in a context where politicized evil became apocalyptic in scale.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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As one of the longest reigning popes in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, John Paul II is being remembered for many things. But Presbyterians seem to remember him for one particular contribution: his commitment to ecumenism. "The pope's interest and encouragement to the ecumenical endeavour has been a great source of strength in our work," said Rev. Stephen Kendall, principal clerk of the church. Richard Fee, Moderator, sees this as the pope's greatest contribution. "He made a genuine effort towards ecumenism and interfaith dialogue."
posted on May 1, 2005 in For the Record
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Do you ever come away after reading the Record and wonder how you can help people in need who live in some faraway country in South America, Africa or Asia? I don't mean relief aid, such as for the tsunami, but helping to provide long-term solutions. Are you frustrated by stories about corrupt dictators and pillaging businesses that rape the land and pay workers dirt wages? Do you find the arguments for and against globalization give you a headache?
posted on May 1, 2005 in Features
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The best sellers from Ten Thousand Villages
posted on May 1, 2005 in Features
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Andrew Bloomfield's hearing and comprehension are acute — it is only the method of communicating that needs to be facilitated.
posted on May 1, 2005 in Features
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"Time to wake up, girls!"
posted on May 1, 2005 in Features
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Ethics don't have to be expensive, it's just a matter of shopping around. Just let your taste buds and your budget decide.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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The justice initiatives committee of KAIROS, of which the PCC is a member, presented the federal government with a petition bearing more than 10,000 names urging the immediate implementation of refugee appeals as promised.
posted on May 1, 2005 in News
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Former students of native residential schools have filed a $12.5 billion lawsuit against the federal government and the churches who ran the schools. The 90,000 claimants are seeking compensation for loss of language and culture.
