The Front Page
I was very excited, as a first-time commissioner to General Assembly, when the Rev. Peter Bush moved that the PCC commit itself to planting 10 congregations a year, for five years (2012-2016). This call to action had all the markings of — dare I say it? — a revival movement in the PCC
Youth in Mission: It’s a three-week whirlwind tour; a glimpse into the people, places and partnerships of Malawi’s Church of Central Africa Presbyterian and Canada’s Presbyterian Church. It brings together nine Canadian youth, most of them veteran camp counsellors, and five Malawian youth from various presbyteries in Blantyre synod.
by Sarah Smith
I spent days researching and learning as much as I could about Malawi and mission trips. I read countless articles about the dangers that mission trips pose to developing nations — about how North Americans run amuck preaching, offending, and taking away jobs with construction projects that could have employed several local workers.
by Carol Gamuti
It was on May 5, 2010 that we expected our friends from Canada, but when we got to the airport we didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t know what they would be like. But now the trip is over, and it has been like an undreamed dream come true.
by Mike Birks
As an international development graduate from Trent University, I was looking forward to seeing firsthand some of the development projects supported by Presbyterian World Service and Development. I initially chose my major because I thought it would teach me how to help those suffering from poverty.
by Amy MacLachlan
Not all amalgamation stories have a happy ending. But Burlington East Presbyterian, located west of Toronto, has seemingly discovered a recipe for success.
by Matt Foxall
I had been joyfully co-leading youth ministry in Kitchener, Ont., with my wife, when the unexpected happened. I began to feel that God was leading me away from my comfortable place to head out into something new, unknown, and perhaps even chaotic — to spearhead youth ministry with another congregation.
Rev. DeCourcey Rayner was the right man at the right job at the right time. A minister and a journalist he helmed the Record through the turbulent 1960s and ’70s. His magazine never shied away from the times. And, he wasn’t always loved for it.
"A Gift Opens Doors", by Erin Walton.
The late DeCourcy Rayner edited the Presbyterian Record from 1958-1977. A minister and journalist, he was elected moderator of the General Assembly in his last year as editor.
His editorial direction revealed that Rayner was concerned about the relevance of Christianity during a time in which the turbulence from sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll was blowing the doors off the church.
During Assembly I invited commissioners to sail with me into the future God is preparing for God’s people on a ship I christened, Generosity (see my blog for June 18).
I now want to extend that invitation to the children and young people in our church. To them I say, become crew members on the HMS Generosity, for truly you are the ones who can inspire us to climb on board and hoist our sails for places unknown.
My column this month was inspired by Shawn Brouwer, of the Presbyterian church in Langley, B.C. He had sent in a People and Places submission and I noticed at the bottom of the email his signature stated, “Begin Anywhere.”
I asked Brouwer about the phrase. He wrote, “Begin Anywhere is a phrase I picked up from Bono or Jeffrey Sachs (he wrote The End of Poverty) or maybe Bono quoted Sachs.
by Emily Bisset
If you are looking or listening or watching for God in church, you may well find God in the words, the liturgy, the order of service, or the music. But, the presence of God often becomes palpable in worship in the moment of silence after the choir anthem or a wonderful hymn, with the last note hanging in the air.
by Laurence DeWolfe
One of the books I refer to when I’m teaching an introductory course in pastoral ministry is called Family Ties That Bind. Not to be confused with Erma Bombeck’s “It’s funny because it’s true” book Family — The Ties That Bind … and Gag! The first book is about self-awareness and growth through what’s called “family of origin work.”
by David Webber
“Did you see that?!” Linda exclaimed.
Bud the Lab snore-snorted loudly, jumped up from his coma and woofed at about the same timed as I regained consciousness myself. Linda was pointing under the branches of a low-slung white spruce tree adjacent to our camp. I peered out of the window of the travel trailer but all I could see in the dim light of evening were shadows.
