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.
So, when I was approached by Armour Heights', Toronto, to adjudicate a bursary they have in Rayner's name, I was honoured. The award “is designed to encourage students training for ministry in our denomination to strive for excellence in writing articles, from a Christian perspective, suitable for publication in magazines, newspapers etc.”
I was asked to choose the subject for an essay of no more than 500 words. The winning entrant, published below, will receive $500 from the bursary' the runner-up $250.
For the subject I chose a news article I had quoted in one of my columns last year. We had four submissions. All of them can be read on our website.
“The Irish band U2 has given Britain its favourite song lyric, according to a survey released by music channel VHI. The line 'one life, with each other, sisters, brothers' from the song One topped the poll. Runner-up was the downbeat, 'So you go and stand on your own, and you go home, and you cry, and you want to die.' From The Smiths' How Soon Is Now.” AP story, The Toronto Star, April 17 2006
Needless to say, choosing a winner was difficult. All of them were smart and well written and I'd love to see them in future issues of the Record. But I had to make a decision. So I did—Matthew Ruttan, of Knox College. The runner-up is Heather Anderson, at Presbyterian College, Montreal.
As for future entrants in the Rayner bursary, I offer two small pieces of advice: read carefully the terms of the contest, and, a magazine article is not a verbal sermon, though its hard to tell the difference at times.
