In the dozen years I have been a member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada my life has been touched and transformed by some remarkable people. Many of them have been other lay members whose friendship and inspiration have nursed life’s bruises and rekindled flagging spirits, but important in a different sense have been those called to the ministry of word and sacrament.
Senior minister when I joined our church was the Reverend Dr. James Armour–his invitation to “call me Jim,” I learned later, was not frequently proffered. His sermons, I thought, were quite good although I had nothing then with which to compare them. His stately gravitas, however, led me to imagine that quite literally he could march from the sanctuary, part the traffic on Sherbrooke Street, and lead us all to glory. We are fortunate that since retirement he has maintained a strong connection with our church.
Assistant minister Richard Topping succeeded Dr. Armour, and it is he that I know best. Generous with both his time and his penetrating sense of humour, patient with a questioning newcomer, Richard maintained our church’s tradition of outstanding preaching. He was clearly a competent manager-administrator and even more clearly a theologian-scholar convinced of God’s love and our forgiveness in Jesus Christ. His sermons produced laughter, tears and reflection, incrementally adding to a growing storehouse of faith. That he was— and apparently remains in his new post at the Vancouver School of Theology—an ardent fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs seems to be the only speck in his eye.
I knew three young ministers serving as assistants or students. I had serious theological debate with The Rev. Ruth Draffin, now at St. John’s in Cornwall, Ont., about whether it is possible to worship God on a Sunday golf course instead of in church. I think she won. The Rev. Steve Filyk, now at Kerrisdale in Vancouver, and The Rev. David Clark, now at Calvin Presbyterian in North Bay, Ont., each brought a fresh enthusiasm to both their teaching of the gospel and some of the dusty traditions of the past.
More recently, as we have moved through the complex process of calling a new minister, I have found that youthful enthusiasm also flows from, uh, more experienced hands on the deck of God’s ship. The Rev. Dr. Dale Woods of Presbyterian College, our interim moderator, and The Rev. Rod Ferguson, as interim minster–preacher, he wanted to be called–offered us steady navigation in troubled waters and confidence in both our future and in God’s loving care.
There is one other reverend who has deeply touched me. The Rev. Stewart Folster has ministered to needy urban natives in Saskatoon for almost 20 years, saving souls one sandwich at a time. The Native Circle Ministry has moved from living rooms to rented quarters in a suburban church to a large and increasingly well-equipped downtown drop-in centre. I’ve had the good fortune to visit Stewart twice and to share time with him on his occasional visits to Montreal, learning that behind his soft-spoken, almost shy, demeanour lies a deep faith in Jesus Christ he has seamlessly woven into the tapestry of his Ojibwa heritage that understands everything in the world around us as “all my relations,” as Stewart signs of his e-mails. It reflects a humility I like and admire that deepens my Christian faith.
There have been others, of course, visiting preachers and local ministers met informally at Presbytery coffee klatches, but as I reflect on those men and women “of the cloth” who have deeply touched my life, I become aware that we are blessed by all those who have taken up Christ’s cross. Matthew called them workers in God’s harvest field. Paul called them Christ’s ambassadors. Jesus called them fishers of men. I am grateful to have known some of them.
