posted on September 1, 2007 in News

Share :

ENI — Few churches see sustained growth as a result of Alpha courses, a new study argues, despite the popularity of this introduction to the essentials of Christianity.

posted on September 1, 2007 in News

Share :

Staff changes continue at the church's head office. Keith Knight has resigned as associate secretary for Resource Production and Communication to pursue other career opportunities. Knight served in the position for more than eight years, and led the re-vamping of the church's website.

posted on September 1, 2007 in Features, Youth

Share :

It's no secret that churches are getting older. Churches all over our country have seen a drop in attendance of younger families and youth. Calvin, Kitchener, (my church) is no different. For years we have had a stable, but ever-growing-older congregation. Although Calvin operates the Children's Arts Program (a children's and youth music theatre summer camp), a breakfast program for the school across the street and a youth group; none of these programs have really kept youth and young families coming back to the church. For me, there was something missing that I could not quite put my finger on, and although they were trying many things, I didn't feel as connected with the church as I could be.
That all changed when I helped with a youth-led service, where I announced that a PYPS weekend was coming up and that if anyone was interested they should come and talk to me. I didn't really expect any newcomers to take interest, but I thought I would give it a try. Sure enough, no one asked me about the retreat and I kind of left it at that.

PYPS leadership retreat

The next Sunday was something entirely different. after church, during our coffee hour, an older gentleman came up to me and said, “Brenden, tell me about PYPS.” I joked that he was a little old to be going to the retreat. He probed further and asked how the response to my announcement had gone over with the youth and if anyone new was coming, to which the answers were no. It would just be my family and my girlfriend going. He wasn't satisfied with the answer I gave him.

He asked why others were not going. I said, “Well, money and the uncertainty of a new event.” He excused himself to go talk to his wife and another member of the church. A little later, he called me over to them and told me that the church was willing to cover the cost of any youth who would be willing to come and that the church would pay for a van (providing transportation), which a church member would drive for safety. I had to take a step back, because I was not expecting that at all! That afternoon, I called around to all our youth in the church and had many answer “yes” and even more answer with “maybe.” When I talked to many of the youth, they were more than surprised with the offer of full payment and transportation provided by my church. Still more people offered to help drive and baby-sit younger kids that some of the youth were responsible for. I was not amazed by the amount of money that was being donated to us; I was amazed by the amount of support that was given to us from my church. Churches always try to support their youth, but often we don't see it.
I challenge churches to take a stand and make sure that you are supporting your youth. It doesn't always take a donation of money but it can be something as easy as asking us how we are doing in school or coming to one of our events. Some churches have devoted themselves to their youth by appointing an elder just for youth and young families. If that doesn't show support I don't know what does. This older gentleman has done that for our church, he has said I want to support youth and I know my church wants to so let's get the ball rolling. There are people all over the country like this man, who care about the youth of their church. All they need to do is stand up for the youth and show that the church supports them in what ever they do. Anyone interested in standing up?

posted on September 1, 2007 in Features, Youth

Share :

Connie Purvis

Photography by Alex Luyckx

This is our last year in Presbyterian Young People's Society. And now we are approaching the edge of a void with some trepidation. Behind us is a veritable army of friends, memories, laughter, prayer and passion for peer-oriented ministry. Somewhere in our distant church future may be session meetings, budgets, and AGMs. And the void we approach as we leave a decade of peer service in the Synod of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda PYPS is where our church loses many of its 20- and 30-somethings.
For the past decade we have both been greatly involved in the ministry of our synod-wide youth organization. We have run events, planned worships, retreats, budgeted, organized finances, marketed and advertised our ministry and have grown and learned from others we have worked with. We consider ourselves to be qualified, experienced individuals with a strong background in peer ministry and event planning and organization. Our home church, like many Presbyterian churches, doesn't seem to have a place for us. We are approaching the void.

Jane Rouhinen & Amanda Brown

We are career starters, we are young adults, we are university graduates, newly married couples, and future-oriented individuals. We are motivated, dedicated and passionate. And there does not seem to be a place for us in our churches. Churches are focused on maintaining the large, influential groups. Young adults often feel dismissed — whether that be the intention or not — at least for a few years, until we have aged sufficiently to be taken seriously, or until we have children in the Sunday school and have a “right” to speak to church issues. We find ourselves feeling frustrated, voiceless and oftentimes ignored.

Sarah Backa

It sometimes seems that years of attending, planning, organizing and leading a synod-wide ministry count for nothing when we return to our home churches. The frustration of starting all over, of having to prove ourselves forces many of us to simply leave the church. and with the change in family planning, the focus on “career first,” and the pressure of the outside world and workplace, the time between leaving the church after youth group and coming back with small children is ever widening.

A college and careers group was attempted within our home congregation. It went well at first, but quietly faded into fewer meetings, and fewer members. We wondered if it was the group itself. The consensus was that it was not, but that many of us didn't feel comfortable being a part of that group while not feeling a part of the congregation. So what are we doing wrong?

Cleveland Stevens, Lin-See Wallace & Steph VonFarra

Patricia Browne & Brenden Sherratt

As youth and young adults we need to take responsibility for the lack of our peers in our congregations! Many young adults, ourselves included, have spent a long time putting the responsibility on our churches, on our elders, or the ministries available. As we leave PYPS and youth group and approach the void, we realize that we are the only ones who are truly responsible for filling that void. We've just spent a decade in peer-for-peer ministry, and now we're faced with starting all over. But at least this time, with PYPS behind us, we're equipped. We're prepared. We have the skills, the passion, and we recognize the need. So let's step up, young adults, let's make our voice known, and create a place by ourselves, for ourselves. and maybe — if we do it right — our peers will follow.

posted on September 1, 2007 in Books

Share :

Defining Work: Gender, Professional Work, and the Case of Rural Clergy
by Muriel Mellow
McGill-Queen's University Press

“Location, location, location” matters not only in business; it also impacts how ministry is done. Muriel Mellow, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge, has listened closely to her informants, for she accurately describes the ambiguities confronting rural clergy.
Is attending a community event ministry (work) or not? Recently the Mitchell Hawks, our local Junior “D” hockey team, made it to the league finals. Our family decided to take the 90-minute road trip to see game two of the series. at the second intermission I was getting hot chocolate when a man from Mitchell said to me, “It was good of you to come all this way to support the team.” No longer was being at the game something the Bushes were doing for fun, I had a role, a function. I was not just a fan, I was “the minister.”
Where are the boundaries between private and public life, between family and community? For some rural clergy the minister's study is in the manse; more ministry happens in the family's home than does in the church building. The family and the private are incorporated into the work of ministry.
What does it mean to keep professional distance, when the people I curl with are also the people who sit around the session table with me? Rural clergy are professional advisors and neighbours. They are people paid for services rendered and a friend to talk to while waiting for children to get out of school.
Mellow, married to a United Church of Canada minister, interviewed 40 United Church rural clergy for her study seeking to elucidate the connection between work and rurality, in particular how female and male clergy conceptualized their work. The subjects were equally divided, women and men, and were clustered in various parts of the country. She claims she found no significant regional differences.
Rural clergy challenge a number of stereotypes. First, rural clergy, women and men, blur the line between public and private life, making “work in the private domain visible.” Mellow argues rural clergy do not follow masculine patterns of work that demarcate private and public, but rather use feminine patterns of work in which private and public are indistinguishable. Second, rural clergy challenge the lines between professional work and volunteer work. They are paid to work alongside volunteers often doing the same tasks: think for example of presbytery and session meetings or congregational suppers. Further, clergy are paid so that they might volunteer in the community. Third, rural clergy help reveal the limitations of professional definitions of ministry, opening up the possibility of finding more helpful ways of conceptualizing ministry.
Exceptionally well written, it provides lots of opportunity for conversation and will reward readers with glittering insights.

posted on September 1, 2007 in Books

Share :

My Red Couch, and Other Stories on Seeking a Feminist Faith
Edited by Claire Bischoff and Rachel Gaffron
The Pilgrim Press

This title on the bookshelf was a magnet to my hand. I'm glad it was.
The world Council of Churches' 1994 Re-imagining Conference spawned a movement, but Claire Bischoff and Rachel Gaffron became conscious of the absence of young women's voices there. They therefore conceived this book.
Their feminism “is based on a core belief that women and men were created in the image of God … [and is] a wholistic category that influences all life, including religion.” By “faith” they mean “reliance on or trust in a transcendent being or power,” something that is “about where our heart is, what gives our life meaning, and what impels us to action.”
The writers, 21-35 years old, represent almost a dozen denominations, including Baptist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic, as well as some who no longer associate with a traditional faith community.
One is an English professor whose church decided not to hire a female minister. She tells the story of a woman who rejected church and faith when her studies opened her up to the concept of patriarchalism. She speaks of how she struggles with how she feels in her heart and finds herself in joy on Jesus' lap when she prays.
Another finds the idea of God as Mother intuitively right, but has more problems with herself as mother and the surrender it involves. And another explores the complexity of being a middle-class Korean-Canadian feminist Christian in a multicultural democracy where she still experiences marginalization as a Korean woman. She follows the Jesus who came for the marginalized, and embraces her multiple identities to share with all.
And, of course, there is Sara Irwin's My Red Couch, an Episcopal priest's hilarious account of hiring a mover to hoist a fluffy red couch to her apartment. when the mover found out what Irwin did for a living, he poured out his personal religious story as if he'd been waiting for years. “None of us can be ourselves alone,” she writes. “As feminists or Christians or Jews or lawyers, we are all ourselves in relation to one another … we are inscribed in larger and larger contexts, ultimately in God … when I stifle my truth as a feminist in church, i'm betraying other feminists … we can only labour in faith and hope for God's promise of justice and peace.”
Amidst the diverse dilemmas of these young women, two themes are constant. One is how deeply they love their faith tradition; the other, how deeply they mourn narrow patriarchal handcuffs. Their pain is so great because their love is so great.
The editors close their introduction by noting: “Storytelling is both an empowering and educational activity. By sharing our stories, we validate our experience [and] give witness to personal truths.”

posted on September 1, 2007 in Photo Essay

Share :

Rev. Dr. DeCourcey H. Rayner was a legendary fellow. A minister, he was also editor of the Record, and moderator of the 103rd general assembly. It was in his capacity as editor I know him best: I occasionally pick up issues he produced, from the Sixties, and read them cover-to-cover. He had a strong balance between tradition and the modern, between being a general interest religion magazine and a denominational newsletter. Some of those stories are as fresh as this morning's headlines.

posted on September 1, 2007 in Mission Knocks

Share :

Two young Presbyterians get ready to clean a local shelter in London, Ont.

Words to live by.

Dave Jansen, or "Duct Tape Dave", a youth leader at the event, is duct-taped to the wall to signal a covenant with God.

Put more than 50 Grade 6-8 youth in one Presbyterian church, add 30 rolls of duct tape, 20 dedicated leaders and some cool craft supplies. Spend the next 11 hours participating in community-building recreation, meaningful worship, amazing “in our own city” mission projects and just plain fun. The result? One Day Wonder — a junior youth event organized by youth leaders within the Presbytery of London and held in February.

Spurred on by the experience at Canada Youth 2006 and the knowledge that the wider church offers little for pre-highschool youth, the youth and young adult committee within presbytery began planning a one-day event.
Chalmers, London, agreed to host the conference. More than a dozen churches within the presbytery supplied leadership, supplies or meals in order to make the event a success. Our theme was Psalm 8 — a Psalm that sings of how amazing our Creator is and of how we are miraculously called to be partners with God in creation. The day included holy motion and community building as well as recreational workshops like road hockey, duct tape wallet making, beading, line dancing, and board games.

Mid-way through the day, all of our youth boarded buses to engage in meaningful mission projects throughout the city. We put together boxes of food at the food bank, cleaned a local shelter and made treats and crafts for children. Our day culminated with worship in the sanctuary of Chalmers, led by Scott McAllister and Reuben St. Louis.
One Day wonder was a day for new friendships. It was a day of clergy and lay people working together in youth ministry. It was a day of adults and senior youth mentoring preteens in the faith. It was a day filled with exuberance and energy. It was a day where we took our role as partners in creation seriously — engaging in mission and ensuring we did not create any unnecessary garbage or waste. It was a day when rural and city churches were equal partners. It was a day of worship, of retreat, of fun and silliness. It was one day of wonder.

Enjoying active worship.

posted on September 1, 2007 in Features, Youth

Share :

Rosemary Brett

I have spent several months trying to write down something that captures the Presbyterian Young People’s Society in words. At last I have come to a decision: I can’t do it. It just isn’t possible. Not if I want to express it properly, anyway. I could tell you, “Youth between the ages of 15 and 25 meet three times a year.” I could say, “We worship in new ways.” I could add mission projects, or discussion groups, or guest speakers, but those things are just what we do. I want to tell you what PYPS is.

To that end, I have constructed a list. Or, at least, I will have constructed it as soon as I’ve finished writing this. I have a feeling it is going to be sort of unusual, a little random and possibly a bit confusing. That’s ok. At first glance, PYPS seems to be those things, too.

So here goes.

PYPS is…

Erin Woods and Courtney Love

God: But not Stand-in-the-choir-and-chant-Hallelujah God. Rather, Jump-up-and-down-and-scream-yourself-hoarse-because-he’s-awesome God.

People: Young people. New people. Strangers, friends, mentors, crazy people of the loveable type.

Singing: New songs, old songs, praise songs, songs invented on the spur of the moment.

Food: Well, we can’t forget that, can we? Good food, hot food, messy food eaten without utensils…

Laughing: Laughing in play, in discussions, in meetings, in worship – yes! – in worship, too.

Challenges: Don’t worry — I don’t mean challenges challenges. I mean, “Who can run this course and eat that food the fastest?” “Which team will invent the most creative superhero dressed up in these random items?” “Who will make the strongest newspaper armour?” “Who can collectively get the fewest hours of sleep throughout the entire weekend?” That last challenge, by the way, is not formal. PYPS does not condone, take responsibility for, etc., etc. But, you know, who needs sleep when you’re having fun?

Itoro Udoh-Orok

Travel: Ok, here’s the thing. our particular synod is the Synod of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda. We’ve travelled all around Ontario, but now we want to go to Bermuda … But someone always thinks it’s a bad idea. Still, we’ve gotten to know every corner of our part of Ontario through PYPS.

Silliness: Oh, yes, there is silliness. Sometimes I think that’s what really holds us together. Giggling when the president makes jokes while reading the rules aloud. Grinning and groaning at old jokes from previous weekends that just keep coming back. Laughing uproariously at the skits and songs performed at PYPS talent shows. Just plain, healthy, silly fun.

Church: But fun church. Fast songs with words that mean something to our generation. Slow songs that come from our hearts. Drums and guitars to mix things up. theme addresses on topics chosen by youth. Prayer in new ways. Church that is God-centered and youth-directed. Fun church.

Learning: Again, fun learning. about the church, about our world, about ourselves.

And that is what PYPS is. To a point. Actually, I could say more. A lot more. But I won’t. You’ll get bored. So I’m going to stop talking now. Really, I am. I mean it. Good bye.

posted on September 1, 2007 in For the Journey

Share :

Photo - gprentice/iStock

“Do ya think there is any gold at the end of that rainbow, Dad?” Chelsea was smirking as she leaned over the back of the front seat of the pickup and pointed across the lake.
“Yep, there's always gold at the end of a rainbow,” I said. “Twenty thousand green Irish leprechauns don't lie. The only problem is that the end of that rainbow over there is a powerful long ways off. I just know if we stopped the truck, unloaded the boat and roared over there to fetch the gold, just as soon as we got close, those darn leprechauns would move the end of the rainbow. Ya just can't trust guys in green tights.”
I chuckled at my own ingenious story. But there was some truth to it. As far as I knew, the physics of refracted light dictated that it was impossible for a person to stand right over the end of a rainbow and still have the rainbow fixed in sight. “Looks like we get to see yet another one of your cockeyed stories tested and proved wrong,” said Linda.
Sure enough as we roared down the road beside Lac la Hache, the rainbow began to move in front of us. Soon instead of seeing just one end of the rainbow we could see both ends and everything in between. It began to shrink in size and it became as brilliant as if it was painted in acrylics. As we hurtled down the road, one end of the rainbow was resting on the lake about a hundred yards to the right of our truck and the other end was about the same distance in a farmer's hay field to the left. The whole rainbow affair was moving in front of us, or at least with us. And then as the road and the lake took a sharp turn to the right, lo and behold we drove right over the end of the rainbow, or at least right through it.
“Ha! You are so wrong!” Chelsea spoke with the satisfaction only a 14-year-old can muster on the occasion of a parent being caught flatfooted and erroneous. Surprisingly, I had no retort. The Spirit of God was already dealing with me, goading me in whatever part of my being that my stories come out of.
What the Spirit began to goad me with was a question. What if it was that simple? What if there really was gold at the end of a rainbow, or money growing on trees, or geese that laid golden eggs, or 54-million-dollar lotteries that you actually had a reasonable chance to win? This autumn, as often happens with the Cariboo ministry, we are financially strapped. Our income is down at every level. As usual, it is keeping me awake at nights. In the long sleepless nights I often fantasize about money growing on trees or collecting at the end of rainbows and such. It sure would make doing mission work for Christ a lot easier. It sure would make my life a lot easier.
But it has never been that way. just as soon as God calls his people to engage in a mission for him, it seems the resources bucket shows up with a hole in it. Oddly, when I read my Bible, that's always the exciting part. It's the part where God gives the tree, shows up with a ram, blows in with manna and quail, points out five smooth stones. I love those parts of the Bible stories … those parts where God whips in and provides for his servants just at the last moment.
Or is it at just the right moment? When I first became a Christian, the story in the Bible of abraham marching up the mountain to sacrifice his son Isaac was my least favourite story. As a father of a couple of young sons at the time of my conversion, I just couldn't get my head around the thing. Over the years of my faith, it has become one of my favourite Bible stories. Abraham is asked by God to do what all other gods of the land and of the day demanded to assure prosperity; i.e. give up your first born son in a rite of human sacrifice. When God showed up with a ram for Abraham, at first reading of the story it seems a “last moment” kind of thing (Gen. 22:14). But when I read it more carefully, it is clear that it is a “right moment” kind of thing. It is through the experience of running out of provision and having to absolutely depend on God, that Abraham comes to know God as not only expressly different from all other gods, but as “the Lord will provide.” This revealing of God is so important in the story that Abraham memorializes the teaching by naming the mountain Yahweh Yir'eh — the Lord provides (Gen. 22:8, 14). The interesting thing is, the phrase in the story usually translated “the Lord will provide” can also be literally translated as the “Lord will see” and later the “Lord will be seen.” Through meeting a need when abraham was at the end of himself and all other provision, at just the “right time,” God is revealed to abraham so profoundly that it is as if he is visible. WOW! I'll take that over pots of gold and lottery wins every time.
God revealed through providing. I've never thought about it very much but my experience with luck, as in pots of gold at the end of rainbows or pots of money at the end of lotteries and such, has never been very good. My experience with God providing, usually at just the right moment, has been profound. I don't believe in luck. I believe in God and his providence. Calvin Brown, the Presbyterian minister who baptized me when I was 30 taught me that. Like him, I won't even allow for potluck dinners … we call them potprovidence dinners. I even go one further, every time God provides, he is revealed. Remember that, the next time you have a pot-providence dinner or celebrate the Lord's Table and you will be richly blessed.
In the mid seventies, Merla Watson wrote a praise song celebrating the abrahamic concept of “God Will Provide.” at the time it was titled “Jehovah-Jireh.” In our congregation we sing it using the more biblically correct transliteration, Yahweh-Yir'eh.

JEHOVAH-JIREH [YAHWEH-YIR'EH]
by Merla Watson
Jehovah Jireh [Yahweh Yir'eh],
my Provider,
His grace is sufficient for me,
for me, for me;
Jehovah Jireh [Yahweh Yir'eh],
my Provider,
His grace is sufficient for me.

My God shall supply all my needs
according to His riches in glory;
He will give His angels charge
over me,
Jehovah Jireh [Yahweh Yir'eh]
cares for me, for me, for me,
Jehovah Jireh [Yahweh Yir'eh]
cares for me.

1974 Gordon V. Thompson Music C.C.L.I. #710966

posted on September 1, 2007 in News

Share :

ENI — The Vatican has issued Ten Commandments for motorists:

posted on September 1, 2007 in Rayner Prize

Share :

It's nothing new for Brits to sing the blues. The first British (rock) Invasion drew its inspiration from the Rhythm and Blues artists of the southern USA: The Rolling Stones and The Beatles began their careers by covering the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson. While the defeatist tone of How Soon Is Now lies like a lonely shadow at the feet of the defiant climax of One, the accompanying lyrics of each song demonstrates their complementariness. The hopeful tone of the U2 lyrics goes beyond a generic peace, love and happiness theme to address the real work of authentic community. Immediately following the beloved lyric comes the tender warning and exhortation, “We're one, but we're not the same. We've got to carry each other.” The realization that we are not the same is both helpful and hopeful, for it points us towards the uniqueness of every person and indicates that the answers to relational problems are not to be found in the lone individual. To ignore our individual uniqueness is to enable inadequate conflict resolution and to deny ourselves the privilege and benefits of carrying one another. Still, while the picture of carrying one another satisfies our sentimental values, the reality of living in community is far more complex.

posted on September 1, 2007 in News

Share :

Gathering at a growing project in Manitoba for the $100-million announcement. Photo - Dan Wiens, CFGB

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank has signed a new five-year agreement with the Canadian International Development Agency worth $20 million per year. This is up from the three-year, $16-million arrangement the agencies previously shared. Signed in July, the agreement also offers greater flexibility in programming. The good news was officially announced on July 19 at a celebration in Manitoba.
“I didn't get everything we wanted, but we can certainly work with this agreement,” said executive director Jim Cornelius in a press release. “Thank you to the Foodgrains Bank supporters who lobbied their MPs on our behalf.”
Cornelius told the Record that the board of directors is generally satisfied with the terms of the agreement which, in addition to the points noted above, include the following:

• Continued flexibility to use CIDA cash resources to support nutrition programming.
• New flexibility to fund cash-based food security activities with CIDA's matching contribution (which increases the ability to support food security activities from $2 million a year to $5.5 million a year).
• An increase in funding for CFGB's public engagement and public policy programs.
• A new results and performance measurement framework.

“Our efforts to end hunger just got a little stronger,” said Heather Plett, CFGB's communications director.
CFGB's annual fall information meetings will be held November 26-30, and are open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Foodgrains Bank. More information will be posted on their website as it becomes available. Visit www.foodgrainsbank.ca. ¦ –AM

posted on September 1, 2007 in Youth

Share :

Rev. Ian Fraser and St. Columba's youngest elder, Neil George.

Neil George is a remarkable young man. At the age of 16, this Honour Roll student who recently graduated from Lindsay Place High School, Pointe-Claire, Que., has already proven that one person, who is determined and passionate, can have an impact on the world. In addition to his love of snowboarding, golf and baseball, he spends a lot of time raising money. Two years ago, Neil's passionate journey was launched into high gear as an apt extension of participation in his home congregation's (St. Columba by-the-Lake, Montreal) mentoring program, which paired an adult from the congregation with one of our six teens preparing to join the church. A few group get-togethers were interspersed with outings organized by each dyad. As discussions based on the Gospel of Luke led to casual outings or coffees at Chapters, mentors and teens alike experienced an awareness of not only the challenges faced by different generations, but the shared awareness of the spiritual paths each are traveling. The experience culminated with a weekend retreat at Mount Tremblant, where meals, hikes, and worship led to discussions linked to spirituality and what it means to join the church.
Following his participation in the program, Neil became the youngest elder in the history of St. Columba. The session, and the congregation as a whole, was seeking to be inclusive and to engage our youth in interesting and challenging ways, and Neil fit the vision to a “T.” As is his fashion, Neil adds a new dimension to the session. He asks questions that many elders would not, and his ability to challenge the adults' way of doing things is a breath of fresh air.
Two years ago, Neil was inspired by the words of Rev. Ian Fraser, who had travelled to Malawi with a delegation from national offices. His slide show and talks highlighted the immense problems faced by Africans suffering from HIV/AIDS. Also, Neil and his mother Doreen attended a speech by Steven Lewis where the audience was challenged to give help — now. This prompted Neil to report that he “didn't understand why people weren't helping.” Neil saw the “desperate need in the people's faces.” He felt that he could do something to make a difference. Neil speaks of his personal journey as he relates to God. Therefore, the comfortable and familiar surroundings of St. Columba seemed the place to start. With Fraser's encouragement, Neil began to draw up the plans necessary to raise more than an astounding $10,000 for the Towards a World Without AIDS campaign of Presbyterian World Service and Development. More specifically, St. Columba has been supporting totS, an AIDS prevention program run by Dr. Rick Allen for the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Kenya.
First on his agenda was a Mums for Moms in Malawi. St. Columbans bought potted mums which were displayed in the sanctuary. Then at the end of the service, the purchasers took them home. Each mum contained a message providing more information about the TOTS program. The profit of more than $600 served to launch his zealous plan. Next a car wash was held at St. Columba. Several youths and Neil's dad, Dave, washed over 20 cars and raised a few more hundred dollars. A harvest dinner furthered this good start. Other teens from Neil's mentoring class joined him and Catherine Notley to cook and serve seven turkeys, loads of mashed potatoes, gravy, lots of vegetables and homemade pies. At this event more than $1,200 was raised. Encouraged by this success, Neil worked out a deal with a local nightclub, that he and his friends would get professional talent to donate their time, and Neil would guarantee the crowd. Monies from ticket sales would go to the fund. The evening was a huge success, as not only did the 200-plus crowd have fun enjoying the talents of Guffman Five and Dawn Tyler Watson, but the ticket sales added another $6,500 to the cause.
The spring of 2007 brought with it another Mums for Moms campaign. The beautiful flowers helped to remind the congregation of the continuing plight of those in the throes of AIDS. Neil's ideas abound: fashion shows, golf tournaments, more dinners and car washes. the sky is the limit for this teen.
Neil has graduated from high school and now heads off to Dawson College to study social science and math. He plans to pursue his interests in cooking and business and looks forward to a future where his passionate response to the greater need of others continues. His desire is to visit Africa, to witness the situations, see what good is being done, and in true “Neil fashion” discover how he can help and play a role in easing the suffering of others.
We need to celebrate the good deeds of our teenagers; not so hard to do when Neil George is in charge of the plan!

posted on September 1, 2007 in Books

Share :

The Hour of the Witch
by Steve Wohlberg; Destiny Image

The Gospel According to Harry Potter
by Connie Neal; Westminster John Knox Press

It has often been said that there are two sides to every story. within Christianity, there are diametrically opposed views when it comes to many issues today. Pick any hot topic — from the style of music we ought to use in worship to euthanasia to The Da Vinci Code — and you will find Christians passionately committed to opposite views. So why should it be any different when it comes to J.K. Rowling's boy wizard, Harry Potter?
The remarkably successful series of children's novels — now being made into movies as fast as Hollywood can crank them out — has long been debated among Christians. Two recently published books demonstrate this point. The Hour of the Witch contends that the series is inherently wicked, leading young readers away from Christ and into a fascination with witchcraft. Wohlberg condemns the books on nearly every point. He equates their success to a cult following (and he does not mean this in the colloquial sense of a harmless but avid popularity), denounces the humour in the books as in bad taste, argues that the darker parts in the stories are responsible for nightmares and criticizes Rowling's characters for occasionally using an off-colour word. He appears to believe that young readers should be reading their Bibles instead of Harry Potter novels.
On the other hand, The Gospel According To Harry Potter takes a more positive approach to the novels. Neal uses scenes from the first four books of the series as points of departure for spiritual teaching. In her approach, Headmaster Dumbledore is seen as a God-like figure, the letters that invite Harry to Hogwarts are related to the invitation God extends to humanity to live in relationship with him, and platform 9¾ becomes a lesson on the necessity of faith.
Neal makes the point in her introduction that people will find what they want to find in the Harry Potter series. That seems to be the very point that wohlberg completely misses.
I have to admit I tend to lean towards Neal's way of understanding Harry Potter. I have long wondered why some enterprising Christian writer has not taken the story as a whole and applied a Christian reading to it. While Neal does an admirable job with small snippets of the first four books, I long to read what someone might write about the entire series as a loose allegory. It may be that such an enterprise will soon be attempted, now that the final book has been published.
Nonetheless, I have found myself reading the series with the theory that Harry represents Christ (not that he is Christ, but that he represents Christ), that Dumbledore represents God, and that magic represents the Holy Spirit. The wizarding world represents Christianity, and the Muggle world represents those who do not know about Jesus Christ. Voldemort is so plainly Satan that it is laughable to think of him as anything else.
At the very least, this type of reading brings me to a basic point as a Christian: I believe that the holy Scriptures should inform how we read everything else we encounter. I agree with Neal that “glimmers of the gospel” are sprinkled throughout secular novels, songs, films and TV series. These glimmers are gifts to any who are seeking creative ways in which to communicate the Gospel to a world which knows the story of Harry Potter much better than that of Jesus Christ.

posted on September 1, 2007 in Features, Youth

Share :

Morrah Cameron

Photography by Alex Luyckx

Arms nailed down
Are you telling me something?
Eyes turned out
Are you looking for someone?

Jars of Clay say it so beautifully in their song “Liquid” which appears on their self-titled album. So the question is: if Christ is telling us something — what is it?

And are we listening?

For the past three years I’ve attended Oakville’s Catholic Youth Organization’s Way of the Cross. Youth from the Catholic parishes of the city, along with a few scattered from the other denominations, make their way solemnly from downtown Oakville, Ont., to the outskirts of the city stopping along the way to enact the Stations of the Cross. But is this message lost in today’s society? We are being constantly bombarded by the media. No longer is it just print ads in the newspapers, commercials on television or radio. Billboards in bright flashing colours and large screen TVs glow long into the night distracting drivers inching their way along in rush hour traffic on clogged highways. Just take a walk along Yonge Street in Toronto and they will be there as well, similar to Times Square in New York City. Ads on websites, text message ads from your cell phone provider, and telemarketers calling to your home.

Andie Pees & Patricia Browne

Lin-See Wallace

Sean Fraser & Michael Watt

Can we actually hear what Christ is trying to tell us?

When Elijah was looking to hear a word from God did he hear it in the loud noises of the storm? No. He heard it in a small still voice. Are we drowning this out by allowing ourselves to get distracted by the loud noises of our modern society? Is this just another scheme of the devil’s to keep us from hearing or spreading Christ’s message? The youth of today are especially prone to this distraction, as we are one of the most highly targeted brackets of advertisers.

The trouble is that the world is telling youth one thing and the Bible is teaching the complete opposite. The world tells us that we have to get there on our own, that money is power, and if we seek out power, we won’t have any more problems. Weakness is scorned and violence should be repaid with violence. Christ, on the other hand, teaches self-sacrifice. To be willing to humble ourselves, to be a servant and follow his example. To be willing to even die for another person. To turn the other cheek and forgive those who hurt us rather than seek our own vengeance.

This is the main problem that I see facing PYPS and the Church in general. So should we change the message? Should we gloss over the parts that aren’t “in tune” with the world? No! The message must remain intact and unaltered — the Bible tells us so — but maybe a change in approach is required. Maybe we need to find ways to counter the attraction of the world.

Tabitha Clark, Jono Lee & Kelly Saunders

posted on September 1, 2007 in Youth

Share :

What does it mean to be a Presbyterian? I've had that question in my head for a while now. A little over a year ago I researched a thesis for sociology class at school: Christian teens are less likely to engage in at-risk behaviour. It was an interesting project, and the presentation went well, but things always get a little harder when the teacher asks, “Does anyone have any questions for Erin?”

posted on September 1, 2007 in For the Record

Share :

Reading an issue of the Presbyterian Record such as this one leaves me with such mixed emotions: joyous amazement at the vitality and accomplishments of youth in their church and community, and frustrated bewilderment that despite their proven abilities, some of them find their voices are limited or shut out altogether in the church's decision-making bodies. As one writer (p. 20) puts it:

posted on September 1, 2007 in Features, Youth

Share :

Photography by Alex Luyckx

As I stood in the bow of my boat and looked wideeyed towards the land of Real Life, it left me breathless. I had heard of this world for a long time and its shadow had loomed over me throughout my undergraduate years and high school activities. But now it was within sight, yet still felt so far away, and it rose darkly through a thick mist which obscured its features.
Doubtless you have heard rumours about Real Life; its reputation inevitably precedes it. the land is a dangerous, worrisome place full of career paths, bills, taxes, car insurance, house insurance, life insurance, mortgages, downsizing and (perhaps most terrible for all of us who pursue higher education when its shores first come into view) student loan repayments. Yet it has its wonders too, or so I'm told, although many of them seem to be less certain than their unpleasant counterparts. Marriage and parenthood, in particular, seem to occupy some grey area between wonder and worry, but often they are lumped in with the former which is encouraging to all who seek such experiences.

Kelly Saunders & Jono Lee

The land itself is governed by a benevolent King who, despite his genuine desire to bring help and not harm (Jer. 29:11), has a penchant for surprises (Matt 24:36; Mark 13:32; Luke 17:26) and counterintuitive ways of enacting his will (see entire Bible). His methods prove somewhat problematic for the citizens of His Kingdom and, indeed, they are a source of frustration for newcomers to Real Life. Fortunately, such newcomers soon realize that the King of Real Life is the same enigmatic King who has governed them since birth. This is a consolation to most, but it does not diminish questions about what the strange new land has in store for its denizens.

Keegan Smith

As I planned for my eventual trip to this mythic land I was often advised to stock up on credentials. These, it seems, are like gold in Real Life. It is not enough for my generation of explorers to have a degree in their pocket and the world at their feet. Rather, one must have a degree, an impressive resume and plenty of extracurricular activities. one must plan ahead. Indeed, fellow adventurers, such advice is warranted as these credentials are most useful when navigating the treacherous terrain of Real Life.
As I worked towards my eventual voyage, I often exhausted myself with many involvements. Classes, essays, a part-time job, a place on the editorial board of an undergraduate journal, a vice-presidency of a campus club, membership in various other clubs, a role on the executive of the Presbyterian Young People's Society …. I never had time for rest, it seemed, and still I looked for things which might look good on a resume or an application for graduate school. And the risk I ran (indeed, the risk I still run, as there is still a year between my boat and that mist-covered shore) was to focus forever on the future and forget where I was and what I was doing. I was doing things for the credentials they would give me, not for their own sake. And in doing so, I fear I have missed a wonderful part of the journey. My activities became chores, not involvements which excited me and brought out my creativity. And the loss of creativity is a great loss indeed. And so, fellow explorers, may I offer another piece of advice. Plan for your arrival, but do not miss the journey, for by looking ever ahead much beauty passes us by unawares.

Patricia & Ryan Browne

I shall leave you with a last rumour, interesting and unverified by myself. Apparently, somewhere in Real Life flows a river around an island called Some Day. This mythic shore is captured wonderfully by L. M. Montgomery, and as I have seen only glimpses of the place she writes of, I shall say little of it here. Apparently it is a beautiful, enchanting place, and I would very much like to see it. But the path is elusive, or so I have read, and thus if anyone knows the way, I ask that you tell it to me. For, despite my journeys thus far, I mistrust my sense of direction. I fear I always will. Perhaps, as I travel Real Life in the years to come, I will spy that isle — if only at a distance — for I have yet to meet one who has reached its shores. ¦

posted on September 1, 2007 in Rayner Prize

Share :

I was walking through the woods with my daughter. She's three, so her days are filled with new revelations, like how water splashes when a stone gets thrown in or that the breeze on her face also makes the trees sing. Three is great because jabbers and giggles have become words and phrases. I hear her discover and get to rediscover. I answer the simplest question and am reminded of insights I'd forgotten. I feel no pressure to be anything more than I am, and discover again the peace of just being.