Precious in the sight of the Lord [is] the death of his saints.
Psalms 116:15
In this season of celebrating a birth let us remember our friends who made our lives better, richer and happier; those who made us smile; those who took us by the hand, gently massaging our reluctance, and brought us closer to the word and to salvation.
This is an incomplete list, of course, and for that we apologize.
Rev. Dr. J. J. Harrold Morris. 1929-2008
We in the church like to think we own our ministers, especially the good ones, and you will hear many people today say proudly Harrold was my minister.
Harrold's advice was always welcome and wise and I count it a great honour to have been his minister this past year. His most frequent instruction to me however, would come when he found me working in the office on Saturdays or when we would be serving dinner together with Jeanette on Sunday evenings for the Out of the Cold program. He would say to me: “Go home. You are needed there more than you are needed here right now. Don't do what I did.”
Harrold held degrees from all three of our denominational colleges and ministered with distinction congregations in Western and Central Canada. He was elected moderator of the 115th General Assembly. Our current moderator Rev. Cheol Soon Park was Harrold's student here at Glenview, Toronto.
Through the grace of God, our beginning and our end, we give thanks to God for the gift of Harrold. We are all different because he lived. May he now rest from his labours and rise through the power of the resurrection into that great company of the saints in light. – Rev. Derek MacLeod, Glenview, Toronto, June 20, 2008
Rev. Dr. Mariano DiGangi. 1923-2008
Mario was Italian, Sicilian, the son of immigrants. From his artwork you could tell his love for his native soil. The warm colours, the reds, the ochres, the bright greens.
What was there about this man that God used him so mightily? There was an essential humility, a self-effacing, even self-deprecating, inability to take himself seriously. Given other pulpit personalities and his gifts of oratory and his adoring congregants, that was no small gift. I think that one thing that saved him was his marvellous sense of humour, his puns. When I turned 60, always a sombre moment, he lightened the occasion by giving me a book of humour inscribed “to a senior (as well as signore).” He was a delight to work for – as my wife, who served at InterServe along with many others, will vouch for. He was organized, thorough, fair, compassionate and even-tempered.
When all is said, however, the answer to my question as to why God used him would be found in a single word: Grace. I conclude with a quotation from a sermon he preached on Isaiah 6 over 40 years ago: “The livelier our sense of guilt and grace and gratitude, the more faithful and fervent will be our obedience to our Lord and Saviour. When we are grateful for the grace that is greater than all our guilt, our souls are stirred to deeper reverence and higher loyalty.” – Rev. Dr. A. Donald MacLeod, Knox, Toronto, April 22, 2008
Robert Carter, age 88; served national church; minister at Knox, Agincourt, Ont.
Robert Cochrane, 1931-2007; minister at Flin Flon and Brandon, Man., Nanaimo, B.C, Toronto, Hamilton and Milverton, Ont.
R. F. Cunningham
Basil Dass, age 76; minister in Tottenham, Beeton and Schomberg, Ont.
Nora Gorham, 1923-2007; minister at Patterson, Toronto.
Dennis Irving, age 61; minister at St. Mark's, Moose Jaw and Knox, Briercrest, Sask.
John Johnson, age 80; minister at St. Giles, Prince George, B.C., St. Timothy's, Ottawa, Lagos, Nigeria and MacNab Street, Hamilton, Ont.; Curator, National Presbyterian Museum and longtime convenor of General Assembly's Committee on History and Archives.
David Jones, age 44; minister in Scarborough, Brockville and North Bay, Ont.
Cecil Kirk
Charles MacDonald
Douglas MacDonald, age 93; minister at Alma Street, St. Thomas; St. Andrew's, Tillsonburg; St. Andrew's Windham Centre, Tolmie, Port Elgin and Knox, Burgoyne, Ont.; served in the Canadian Armed Forces infantry and chaplaincy.
Henry (Hank) McNeill, age 93; minister in Brantford and Mount Pleasant, Ont.
Wilfred McLeod, 1917-2007; minister at St. Paul's, Wiarton, St. Andrew's, Welland, St. John and McNab Street, Hamilton, Ont.
Grant Noland
Lyle Sams, served as chaplain in Shilo, Egypt, Kinston, Petawawa, London, Ont., Valcartier, Que., and Chatham, N.B.; minister at St. Andrew's, Que.
William Skelly, age 87; minister in Anaclone and Ballyarnett, Ireland, Draydon, Moorefield, Rothsay, Thorold, Brantford, Tillsonburg and Dunnville, Ont.
Gilbert Smith, 1913-2008, minister at Trinity, Bangor and Magheragall, Ireland, Peterborough, Brantford, Mount Pleasant, Ont. and Victoria, B.C.
Howard Smith, age 84; minister in Jarvis, Burlington, Norval, Winchester, Timmins, Ont. and Ormstown, Que.
Robert Syme
Roy Taylor; minister in Roslin, Fuller, Roxborough, Stirling, West Huntington, Sudbury, Paisley and Glammis, Ont.
George Telcs
Wilbert Young, 1923-2008; minister at Fallingbrook, Toronto, First, Collingwood, St. Andrew's, Hamilton, Ont. and First, Pictou, N.S.; first general secretary of the Board of Congregational Life.
