posted on March 29, 2010 in Patricia Schneider

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I gently lift my old Bible out of a musty storage box. Its top cover is loose so I’m careful. It holds a lot of memories. Inside it says: “Given to Patsy from Mother”, December 25, 1944. On the inside first page in fading pencil is written: “BA 1951 .”

posted on March 22, 2010 in Patricia Schneider

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A tiny speck appeared down the road to the right of the highway. I squinted, then, as the metres slipped by I realized what I was seeing. A small boy was riding a battered blue tricycle down the side of the road and behind him, pointed tail high in the air, was a small shaggy kitten.

“Stop” I screamed. “There is a child on the highway!”

posted on March 15, 2010 in Patricia Schneider

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Do mothers know everything?

I’d like to say yes, but I messed up so often that I have to confess it has been mostly a learning experience.

posted on March 15, 2010 in Columns, Wondering Wanderer

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One of the things about joining a church, it soon became clear, is that you’re expected to serve God. Apparently that meant more than just showing up on Sundays, ruminating about the message, and dropping a few dollars in the plate. You actually gotta do something.

posted on March 15, 2010 in In Song

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When I listen to CCM artists, I keep hearing the language of old hymns. Who is writing in contemporary idioms about contemporary faith?

posted on March 8, 2010 in Patricia Schneider

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“No, I don’t want to move,” I argued. It was an ongoing dispute. How I loved my little house with its pale blue siding, bright blue doors and wide white deck.

posted on March 1, 2010 in Columns, Wondering Wanderer

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In my youth I became a fan of Marshall McLuhan, cryptic sage of “the medium is the message.” His thesis, as I understood it, is a useful prism through which to deconstruct the present-day plight of the churches our age calls mainstream. You know, the ones with all the puzzled faces in the few pews the are occupied. Even Presbyterian ministers are writing revolutionary essays and letters in the pages of the Record.

posted on March 1, 2010 in In Song

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Shouldn’t churches avoid the new and trendy, and keep Mr. and Mrs. Stalwart comfortable until it’s time to shut the doors for good?

posted on March 1, 2010 in Patricia Schneider

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It’s astonishing what you become in the eyes of a younger person. I guess she doesn’t understand that as friends we can no longer toss balls back and forth to each other. Now we toss words.

posted on March 1, 2010 in News

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The Presbyterian Record received a huge boost at the end of 2009 as readers donated over $132,000 to the church magazine, topping 2008′s total of $111,000 by 16 per cent.

“I’m humbled and overwhelmed by the extraordinary support from Record readers,” said David Harris, editor. He noted the campaign’s success would allow the magazine to unfurl some long overdue marketing strategies; these are designed to appeal to Presbyterians who are not currently subscribers and to make the Every Home Plan more attractive for congregations.

“Our new circulation software allows us to take over all administration for Every Home Plan congregations and to bill subscribers directly,” he said.

The October appeal was the most successful since the annual campaign launched five years ago.

posted on March 1, 2010 in Letters

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I have belatedly written a few thoughts in response to Zander Dunn’s December letter.

Universalism is the theological doctrine that all people will eventually be saved.

To disown means: To refuse to acknowledge or accept as one’s own.

Jesus said very clearly: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” And then He continued: “Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

We are all seekers, and while we work God’s will, obedient to our place in His plan, our goal is to live with Him in glory. We can only find Him by knocking at the door, studying His word, accepting that even as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. No one else may claim eternal life.

God loves us, it is true. He loves all people of all nations and colours, but He waits for us to take His hand and accept the Son He sent to pay for all our sins. All people will be saved if they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and their Lord and Saviour. To promise salvation with no strings attached is like speaking with our fingers crossed — it’s not true. Jesus said: Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

A true teacher of Christ acknowledges Christ and the truth of His death and resurrection. He or she presents God’s truth and invites people to read and study, to discuss and question. A false teacher misleads with tangled words and fails to direct people to the word of the Lord to verify what they hear, to discern the truth.

Teachers and preachers be aware — teach and acknowledge. To be disowned before God in heaven is unthinkable.

posted on March 1, 2010 in News

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Record Support Strong, by Connie Purvis

PWS&D Support ‘Overwhelming’, by Connie Purvis

The Story Behind … a Christmas Picture, by Amy Maclachlan

A Mother Helps Mothers, by Denise Van Wissen

Presbyterian-Penned Hymn Receives Wide Acclaim, by Connie Purvis

Israelis Balk at Minaret Ban, by Connie Purvis

Letter from El Salvador : Mining and Me, by Alexander Macdonald

Presbyterians Sharing Totals $8.47 million, by Connie Purvis

Colleges Urge Assembly Council to Reverse Decision, by J. Dorcas Gordon

St. James Town Coalition Steps Up, by Connie Purvis

Caribbean Churches Call for Co-Operation in Haiti, by Connie Purvis

Finding God in the Media, by Bradley Childs

Presbyterian Chaplain Appointed ‘Commander’, by Connie Purvis

Tens of Thousands Formally Endorse the ‘Golden Rule’, by Connie Purvis

Wrapped in God’s Love, by Kate Watson

Life and Mission Agency Staff Shifts

posted on March 1, 2010 in Meditation

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Felix Möckel / istockphoto

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day — Revelation 1:10

It is not possible to be “in the Spirit” without recognizing the cross and sacrifice of Christ in an act of surrender and contrition. I know that I fall short of God’s glory. No one other than Christ has lived a day without sin. I meditate on these matters every day and review in my mind’s eye how I see Christ on the cross. As I draw close to him with a humble and contrite heart, I thank him. I am shoulder to shoulder with him as if wanting to share his burden and yoke but I know it is not possible because it is something he must do by himself. It is because of me that he is there and I can do nothing except assure him that he is not alone and that I care.

It is a solemn time but as I pause there, a peace begins to envelop me. I am not depressed by what I see at the cross but am uplifted and refreshed. It is the Good in Good Friday. The Holy Spirit stirs in me and I am in the Spirit. This wondrous transformation brings peace and conviction of the truth and dominates my mind. My worldly mind has been replaced. This is the feeling that I know is from God — it is the mind of Christ. This is what John the Apostle was referring to in Revelation 1:10 and is what I strive for constantly. It is “the Kingdom of God within” that Jesus alluded to in Luke 17:21 and is the way it will be for all believers when Jesus returns for his church.

By staying in the Spirit I am guided throughout the day whether I am conscious of it or not. The Holy Spirit can put thoughts into one’s mind (Luke 12:12), and this is the guidance I need in daily life. The fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, gentleness and self-control — are evident. Selfishness, worry, fear and impatience are gone.

This is my walk with the Shepherd in that moment until events, distractions and my sinful nature quench the fire of the Holy Spirit within. The battle between these two sides is ongoing and as events overtake me and I get caught up in work and relationships, my worldly mind begins to dominate. It is necessary to make myself refocus no matter how awkward it is. It can take as little as a few seconds to go back to the cross and Jesus and be once again transformed.

Jesus was in the Spirit all the time and lived victoriously as a result. By attempting to do the same, I walk with my Shepherd in the storms. It is his agenda. During this time I rest assured in knowing I am where he wants me to be. It allows him to guide and bless me as he can do for all believers.

posted on March 1, 2010 in Features

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illustration by Barry Falls / Heart Agency

Living Faith and I are about the same age. That is, if I count the years from my ordination. Throughout my ministry, the little green book has never been far out of sight. In the first couple of congregations I served, I led studies on the draft and then on the final edition. Folks agreed then that Living Faith was indeed “useful,” and more than “acceptable.” Those who remembered their Shorter Catechism were pleased to find a summing-up of the faith in contemporary language. The few who knew about the Westminster Confession breathed heavy sighs of relief.

Living Faith was a pretty good summing-up of middle-of-the-road Presbyterian belief in the 1980s. When the novelty began to wear off, we realized how much we had to add to it to flesh out a good study. The biblical proofs in the back of the book made us scratch our heads. (So do the proofs in the Westminster documents.) Living Faith didn’t turn out to be a great study resource in its own right. “Grist for the mill,” some folks said, but not enough to make flour for a whole loaf.

Then Living Faith began to become a fixture in our pew racks. We read it aloud, in pieces, usually without comment. The parts most read in worship — about God, the sacraments, and the life of faith — still sound good. They put what most of us already believe into good words. Words that “make sense,” folks still say. Living Faith is still “useful” and “acceptable.”

In 1998 we placed Living Faith alongside our other “subordinate standards,” the ancient ecumenical creeds, the Westminster Confession of Faith from 1647, and the Declaration Concerning Church and Nation from 1955. These documents help us interpret the Bible and offer us words to try on as we struggle to express our faith. The creeds, Confession, and the Declaration were all the product of processes that began with the intent to produce confessional statements. All were born out of times of crisis, or to answer questions that demanded response from the church. The study document “Confessing the Faith Today” from the 2003 Acts and Proceedings tells us that Living Faith was proposed as a new subordinate standard because it was so widely used and generally accepted. Creed-by-consensus. Not the well-worn path of struggle to confessional status.

Creeds and confessions in all eras have been bold statements. Often creating or contributing to passionate arguments. The Nicene Creed was both a dogmatic and a political statement. It may have contributed to peace in a failing empire. It didn’t end the argument over the person of Christ it was supposed to settle. Our last contemporary statement, the 1955 Declaration, was inspired, in part, by the daring words of the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany. The Declaration was also a response to the post-war rise of totalitarianism in the east and the military-industrial complex in the west. Some in our church saw a need for a statement more suited to the 20th century to stand alongside the 23rd chapter of the Westminster Confession.

The Declaration was a bold statement, controversial in its time. In the name of Jesus it lays a claim on both Christians and the state. In 2010 it deserves a second look and probably a revision. But it can still stir the blood in a way Living Faith doesn’t. We could stretch a bit and say Living Faith was a response to the oft and vaguely described “crisis of modernity.” What did, and does, it say to the modern world? It says, in language Presbyterians recognize, that we still believe pretty much what we’ve always believed. It makes no bold claim on us or the world. At least no claim the world would dispute.

The Westminster Confession, somewhat like the Nicene formula long before it, arose in response to a political reality and to answer drift and fragmentation in a kingdom’s church. It proved to be too much for the English church. Puritan and rationalist influences notwithstanding, the Scottish assessors at Westminster were happy to take the document home, where it soon eclipsed the less exhaustive and more doxological Scots Confession. The Westminster Confession did little to cement unity within the kingdom, or in the church south of the auld sod.

Like all true confessions, it was a bold and not entirely successful experiment. Like any document, it began to decay the moment it was printed. We have been reluctant to amend or contradict it. We prefer to honour it as a product of its time, and as a foundational document. We no longer accept the rationalism that led its authors to declare double-decree predestination. The anti-papal rhetoric wounds our ecumenical souls. The Confession provokes us to think, to question, and to seek new ways of expressing ourselves that are in continuity with our old standards. Continuity doesn’t mean slavish allegiance.

Even if we passionately ignore it, as many of us now seem to do, our intentional ignorance of it is a theological statement! Living Faith started some conversations when it was young. It may still be a good conversation-starter. But as I look back over my ministry, and my life with Living Faith, I don’t see anything it provoked me to do. The Declaration, on the other hand, has shaped my attitude to government and my political duty, and set the tone for more than one sermon. It has helped me navigate my way through Biblical passages locked into their original contexts in ancient empires.

Walter Bryden delivered a masterful lecture on the 300th anniversary of the Westminster Assembly. He declared that confession is the central act of Christian life. In response to God’s grace we confess our sin and proclaim our faith. Written confessions of faith, Bryden believed, properly represent this pattern. Bryden honoured the Westminster Confession, but offered two important criticisms. It doesn’t resound with praise, as other Reformed confessions do, and it doesn’t reflect the humility that is so much a part of Christian confession. Though it allows for the fallibility of all councils, it’s hard to see where the authors genuinely admit they might be wrong.

Living Faith begins with worship and ends with a doxology. In that sense it’s more in the mould of a Reformed confession than the Westminster Confession. Nothing in Living Faith could lead a reader to conclude its authors, or its church, claim to have a corner on truth. But a reader outside the church might wonder what Living Faith and its church really stand for and believe is worth confessing as uniquely their own.

Living Faith wasn’t written to be a confession of faith in the Reformed tradition. It wasn’t crafted to become a subordinate standard. There was some demand in our church a quarter-century ago for a new resource to use in study and worship. Not a definitive, declarative document. Much of it is worth our attention, as a springboard to further inquiry. Reading some parts of Living Faith in worship can teach, at least a little, people who would never attend a study program or join in a discussion. Parts of Living Faith call for new work. Section 8.5, “World Peace,” for example, speaks today in only the broadest of strokes. It’s fixed in its time, at the end of the cold war, when threats to peace were still the big wars and big bombs of the superpowers.

We have to be careful not to ask too much of Living Faith. Paragraph 8.2.3 can’t support the weight we placed on it in 2005, when General Assembly referred to the subordinate standards to answer a question that was nowhere near the agenda when Living Faith was written. We twisted an affirmation of monogamy and faithfulness in marriage as it was only known in the 80s into a definitive statement about gender and sexuality. (We did the same to the Westminster Confession. I don’t raise this point to suggest a position one way or the other on the vexed issue of same-gender marriage. I suggest we misuse Living Faith, and our other standards, when we force them to speak on matters their authors didn’t address.) We read the Bible selectively, and take it literally, on matters that frighten us. The Bible is big enough to take our abuse. Living Faith isn’t.

The councils that crafted the ancient creeds went on for years. The Westminster Assembly met for six years. During those years much work, hard work, was done. There was debate and dissent. Drafts tried and rejected. Passions ran deep. None of the councils achieved unanimity, but no one could discount the blood, sweat, and tears that were spent in the interest of crafting creeds.

Living Faith, I’m sure, wasn’t easy to write. Its authors took their work seriously. But what they gave the church 25 years ago wasn’t a confession of faith in the Reformed tradition. It’s time for us to begin the long, hard, urgent work of finding words to confess our living faith today.

posted on March 1, 2010 in Letters

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To add further comment to the residential school issue, I feel it has been a great travesty of justice in which politics and greed play a major part.

At any given time one has to make decisions based on options available. This would be true when the residential schools were founded. I believe they were founded for best reasons, not to punish.

To see the whole scene distorted as evil is tragic. To see it exploited in the name of greed and expediency is a sad statement on human character.

To see decent teachers and staff tarnished is a crime.

They deserve better.

posted on March 1, 2010 in People & Places

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It begins with the personal: In 1984, while visiting her mother, Marjorie Moore became aware of the need long term care facility patients have for visitors. She took a course on pastoral care and worked on her own for four years. Today, a quarter century later, Marjorie has converted a personal mission into a network. She works along with nine volunteers to visit people in hospitals, nursing and retirement homes in the Burlington and Oakville, Ont., areas. She was honoured last November by her congregation of Knox. Later there was fellowship and, of course, cake.

posted on March 1, 2010 in Called to Wonder

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Click here for this month’s Called To Wonder.

posted on March 1, 2010 in People & Places

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The Huron Carol is a Canadian classic, telling of the birth of Jesus from an aboriginal perspective. The children of Burns used a new narration written by Canadian author David Bouchard and pantomimed the story. The children learned about the culture of the Huron people from the early 1600s and created a set and costumes to depict that era — note the creative use of canoe paddles.

posted on March 1, 2010 in Letters

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A few thoughts, by Gina Sikkema, West Huntingdon Presbyterian Church

A great travesty of justice, by Fay Strang, Marmura, Ont.

Verb Takes an Object, by Diana Allan, Toronto

Christmas Art, by Georgina Bone

WWJRead?, by Adrian C. van Draanen, Richmond, Ont.

Thank You for Submitting, by Leighton A. Peach, Simcoe, Ont.

Surprise and elation, by Alan Wybrow, Stratford, Ont.

No Politics in Record, Please, by Nancy Lease, Quebec

Served With Dedication, Compassion And Love, by N. L. Lewis, Richmond, B.C.

Knox Centred, by Clark Wiseman, Dutch Settlement, N.S.

Confused Online, by Wanda Thompson, Guelph, Ont.

Stratford Amalgamation, by Eleanor Waldie, Embro, Ont.

Let’s Have An Agape, by Joseph C. McLelland, Pointe-Claire, Que.

What About The Rest Of Us?, by J. Gordon Neal, Whitby, Ont.

Wrong Directions, by George Smith, Victoria

Two Extremes, by J. Gordon Neal, Whitby

Tears Are Not Enough, by Kenn and Jeanne Stright, Halifax

posted on March 1, 2010 in News

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The church’s relief and development agency was “drowning in generosity” by the end of 2009, reporting a total of $2.67 million despite fears that it could fall short of its budget by almost half a million dollars.

Presbyterian World Service and Development launched an appeal for funds in mid-September when donations at the end of the third quarter were down 45 per cent compared to previous years. Although the agency typically receives the lion’s share of its support in the final quarter, staff projected the steep shortfall if the trend continued.

Donations flooded in, generating almost $2.67 million — 57 per cent of the total year’s revenue — in only four months and surpassing the $1.5 million needed to meet commitments to partner organizations.

“I feel like I’m just drowning in generosity,” said a jubilant Colleen McCue, head of PWS&D’s finances. “I’ve worked here for nine years, and looking back I’ve realized that every time — every single time — we’ve put out an appeal people have come through for us.”

“The PWS&D staff and committee are so committed to their mission and committed to the church, and they believe the church is really behind them and supportive of what they’re doing,” said Rev. Dr. Art Van Seters, convener of the PWS&D committee. He suggested the staff took a risk when they launched their appeal last fall, but they chose to “tell the story straight” and trust fellow Presbyterians to chip in.

“It says a lot about our church. Our church really does have a larger vision, and PWS&D is a major part of that vision. And at a time when both society and the church are facing a real challenge; when people could say, ‘we’ll look after the congregation and leave this off.’ But for many people PWS&D isn’t an option.”

Haiti Update

At press time, PWS&D’s phones were ringing off the hook as support poured in for earthquake-stricken Haiti. As of Feb. 8, donations for Haiti relief totaled more than $600,000.

Individual donations received before Feb. 12 were matched by the Canadian government.