posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

Ontario recently banned all forms of religious arbitration in family matters, including Sharia law. Bill 27 was passed Feb. 14, making it illegal for religious bodies to hold their own court to decide matters related to family law. Such practices were allowed in Ontario since 1991, and had been used most extensively in Jewish circles.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

Rev. Chuck Congram, right, was a highlight at the REAP Evangelism Conference in February in Hamilton. Relevant Effective Accessible Practical — this was the second of three conferences focusing on outreach ministry. Glen Soderholm, left, led worship with his original music: "May the Peace of Christ go with you, and also with you." Look for another conference next year!

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

Trinity York Mills, Toronto, and Evangel Hall are teaming up for the fourth straight year to raise money for the inner-city mission. “People in the community see a congregation doing something that's not abstract. And there's real excitement in the church,” said Jerry Crowder, an elder at Trinity.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

It's always the case: if you want something done, ask somebody who is busy. Take Marilynne Grant for example. She is an elder at Knox, Oakville, Ont., and she also sits on the executive of of the Oakville May Court Club, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The club's 200 members raised $65,000 last year for a variety of different projects. One of the most popular is a puppet project that visits schools, teaching various life lessons, and a lunch box program that delivers food items to 11 schools in the Oakville area. They also support local groups working with disabled adults, cancer patients and people living with HIV, run a scholarship program which gave $20,000 to 21 students last year, and organize several annual fundraisers that support various community initiatives. “I've made so many close friends,” Grant told the Record. “And you work really hard to raise money and give it back to your community.”

posted on May 1, 2006 in Presbytery Profile

Share :

There is a propensity for forward-thinking and innovative ministers who aren't afraid to push the limits in the Presbytery of Barrie. While remaining Presbyterian, they have embraced the 21st century with contemporary worship, a renewed focus on outreach and evangelism to win people to Christ, and pared-down services that appeal to younger and/or unchurched folk.

posted on May 1, 2006 in Features

Share :

There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.- Charles Robert Darwin, The Origin of Species

posted on May 1, 2006 in Grieving

Share :

It takes no talent to become a widow. There's no course of study. Your spouse dies and, then, there you are, a full-fledged widow but with absolutely no experience. And even though you knew weeks beforehand that this was going to happen (as I did) you still aren't as prepared as you thought you were going to be. When my husband Art drew his last breath and I knew he had passed on, I felt utterly bewildered, not knowing just what was expected of me. Should I weep and wail, or should I be quiet and stoic? Actually, I did both — weeping and wailing in private for myself, and quiet and stoic for my children who were suffering their own deep grief.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

Canadians marched outside of Toronto's City Hall on March 22 for World Water Day, a time for countries to draw attention to the United Nations' recommendations for global access to fresh water. Led by KAIROS and other social justice bodies, protesters were pressing for community control of water services throughout the world.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

(AM) — The world's major international ecumenical bodies are proposing joint work, meetings and even a merger in the near future, signifying “an appetite for renewal and reform” within these bodies, according to Rev. Stephen Kendall, principal clerk of the Presbyterian Church and chairman of the finance committee at the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. “Primarily, it's an expression of the unity of the church,” said Kendall.

posted on May 1, 2006 in Mission Knocks

Share :

As convener of the Presbyterian World Service & Development committee, Rev. Karen Horst had the opportunity to reach out to Malawi's AIDS orphans. Malawi has been struck particularly hard with the AIDS pandemic and its destruction affects every layer of society. Children are particularly vulnerable when the adults who normally provide for their security are dead of AIDS. The community of Collingwood and First Presbyterian quickly understood the pressing need and set about preparing a memorable fundraiser.

posted on May 1, 2006 in Features

Share :

We were walking along a dusty village road, across a muddy creek with its slimy green pools of water that were waiting for the rains to come and wash them clean; pools that were being used for local laundry.

posted on May 1, 2006 in For the Journey

Share :

Mom, stop the truck!” yelled Chelsea.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

Sattler's Stained Glass Studio in Nova Scotia launched the first Maritime Stained Glass Registry to document the Maritimes' stained glass treasures last summer. The purpose of the registry is to serve as a record if a window is lost or damaged, and to act as a conservation aid.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

Former moderator Rev. Mark Lewis has been appointed to one of the denomination's largest congregations, St. Andrew's, Kitchener, Ont. He will be inducted on May 7, and will fill the gap left after a three-member ministerial team had its pastoral ties severed by a presbytery-appointed committee in September 2004.

posted on May 1, 2006 in For the Record

Share :

It takes an Internet search engine a quarter of a second to locate more than 32,000 references to the phrase “crisis or opportunity,” probably about the same time it took Henry Kissinger to come up with the quip, “There cannot be a crisis next week; my schedule is already full.”

posted on May 1, 2006 in Features

Share :

God, in your grace, transform the world.

posted on May 1, 2006 in Speaking Up

Share :

It began with Pierre Berton's 1965 book The Comfortable Pew, commissioned by the Anglican church, which had chapter headings such as Pretensions to Absolute Rightness, The Lukewarm Pulpit and The Ecclesiastical Caste System. It was a hot-button book at the time, much discussed and debated, in which Berton laid out “some of the areas in which I see the church going bankrupt.” The United Church of Canada produced Why Our Sea is Boiling the same year, seeking to refute Berton's claim, if only for that denomination. But, what of the Presbyterian Church?

posted on May 1, 2006 in Features

Share :

Before my wife, Heather, and I left for Malawi in sub-Saharan Africa last November, many friends and acquaintances advised us that this trip would be a life-changing experience — one we would never forget. They could not have been more right. As we drove into Blantyre, the largest city in the south of the country, our first impression was “this is not right — this is not normal.” Now that we are back in Canada we look around and think to ourselves “this is not right — this is not normal.” We had both done our homework and had read in-depth the articles and publications relating to the AIDS situation in Africa but all the studying could not have prepared us for what we were about to see. In Malawi, which is called the warm heart of Africa, we looked upon the faces that went with the numbers. We saw the giants of faith and marveled at an inner strength the Lord bestows on those who reach out to Him during times of hardship.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

Wilma Welsh, an elder at Knox, Guelph, Ont., has been named moderator-elect for the 2006 General Assembly, to be held this year in St. Catharines, Ont. Her name will be presented at the opening session of assembly, where commissioners will vote.

posted on May 1, 2006 in News

Share :

The Presbyterian Church in Canada's website will feature a link to a new online questionnaire for the 2006 Census of Population, handled by Statistics Canada. The link will be available beginning May 2, while the census officially starts on May 16.