PCC Responds to Idle No More
The church has issued a public statement in response to the Idle No More movement and Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s call to meet with the Governor General and prime minister.
“These events offer us an opportunity to reflect on the Presbyterian Church in Canada’s commitment to establish right relations with Aboriginal people,” reads the statement, published two days before the prime minister met with chiefs on Jan. 11.
One month earlier, Chief Spence began a hunger strike, protesting the failure of the government to honour its treaty relationships with First Nations. She called for a meeting with the prime minister and Governor General.
Her act of protest became a catalyst for the Idle No More movement, which galvanized around fighting Bill C-45. Many believe the bill could endanger Canada’s ecological well-being.
“There is an urgent need to hear and respond to the concerns raised by Aboriginal people regarding changes to federal legislation that they believe will have an impact on them,” the church’s statement says.
It suggests members view Idle No More and Chief Spence’s hunger strike through the lens of the church’s 1994 Confession to Aboriginal peoples: “With God’s guidance, our church will seek opportunities to walk with Aboriginal peoples to find healing and wholeness together as God’s people.”
The church asks members to pray for government and First Nations leaders, seek opportunities to talk with First Nations peoples about their concerns and take time to visit the Idle No More website.
In a letter published the same day, the moderator of the 138th General Assembly, Rev. Dr. John Vissers, urged the prime minister to see his Jan. 11 meeting with First Nations leaders as an opportunity to “build on the apology you offered on behalf of all Canadians in the House of Commons on June 11, 2008.”
“This is a moment for bold initiatives to resolve long-standing issues such as treaty rights, land claims and the deep levels of poverty among so many Aboriginal people,” he wrote. ¦ —Seth Veenstra
at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s event in Saskatoon, June 2012.
Church Hosts Day Camp During Teacher’s Strike
When thousands of teachers were preparing for a one-day strike on Dec. 18, parents throughout Ontario were scrambling to find child care. Rev. Derek Macleod was already anticipating the strain a stike would put on parents in his neighbourhood.
“I’m a parent of three kids—all in elementary school. I knew there’d be other parents like me who would want a safe, healthy place for their children to be if there was a strike,” said Macleod, senior minister at Glenview, Toronto.
He came up with the idea of “Strike Camp,” a day long program for schoolchildren.
“We see it as a way to respond to a need in our community,” said Macleod. “It’s part of taking our kids’ needs seriously.”
Facilitated by church staff and volunteers, Strike Camp provided 20 children with a day packed with activities including baking, arts and crafts, a movie and hide-and-seek in the church. Macleod said they were prepared to accommodate 50 grade school students.
“A ministry of hospitality is so important.” He said he sees Strike Camp in the same light as the weekly Out of the Cold program for the homeless. “It all comes from the same motivation.” ¦ —SV
Beloved Professor and Writer Passes Away
The celebrated educator, author, and pastor, Rev. Dr. Sheldon MacKenzie passed away Dec. 27, in Chilliwack, B.C., at the age of 82.
Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1958, MacKenzie served as pastor in Alberta, Quebec and Newfoundland before becoming a full-time professor of religious studies at Queen’s College Anglican Seminary, Memorial University, in 1972.
Affectionately referred to as “Dr. Mac” by his students, he received the inaugural Memorial University President’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 1988.
“He had an excellent relationship with his students. He brought a sense of pastoral care to the classroom, forming personal relationships with his students,” said Rev. Dr. Morley Hodder, head of religious studies while MacKenzie was at Queen’s College.
“He had an amazing ability to communicate often with great enthusiasm and humour.”
After 22 years at Queen’s College, MacKenzie and his wife, Jay, retired to Nova Scotia. While living there, he taught at St. Francis Xavier University, preached in local churches and wrote prolifically. He published 10 books including three collections of sermons.
In 2001, the couple moved to Chilliwack, B.C., where MacKenzie passed away.
A memorial service is expected to take place at Salem, Pictou County, N.S., in the summer.
¦ —SV
Radio Host and Pastor Dies
Rev. Glenn Cooper, a pastor, former staffer at national church offices and radio host of The Hymnbook, died suddenly on Jan. 9. He was 67.
Cooper worked in radio broadcasting prior to his ordination in 1976. He went on to pastor churches in Point Edward and Brigden, Ont., before becoming associate secretary of Resource Production and Communication in 1992. In 1998, he returned to pastoral ministry—this time as minister to St. Andrew’s, Westville, N.S., where he served for 10 years.
“I’ve never met a man more devoted to what he was doing. When it came to doing funerals and visiting the sick, I don’t know if there was anyone who could have done a better job,” said Alonzo Ferguson, an elder at St. Andrew’s.
After retiring from pastoral ministry in 2008, Cooper stayed active, biking the Cabot Trail with his wife Rev. Iona MacLean and singing bass in the PresbySingers, a chamber choral group in Pictou County.
“He was passionate about music, especially Canadian choral music. He was sure about what he loved and I think he secretly wanted you to share his enthusiasm,” said friend and colleague, Rev. Jeffrey Lackie.
“Often he would give his sermon and then skip up into the choir and join us for the anthem, and oh boy was it nice when you got to sing beside him,” said Bill Thompson, who served as clerk of session while Cooper was at St. Andrew’s.
His radio show, The Hymnbook, combined Cooper’s love for music, faith and radio. Broadcast by several stations, his colleagues said the show was a source of pride and joy for Presbyterians in Pictou County and beyond. He hosted The Hymnbook until his death. ¦ —SV
WCRC to Leave Geneva
After 65 years in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Communion of Reformed Churches will be relocating its offices to Hanover, Germany.
The move, scheduled for December, comes in response to concerns about the cost of running an organization in Geneva, including staff salaries and the high value of the Swiss franc. Most WCRC membership fees and donations are made in Euros or American dollars, which have dropped in value in the past several years compared to the Swiss franc. The move to Hanover is expected to save the organization more than $200,000 a year.
WCRC is a network of Protestant churches, representing 80 million Christians in 108 countries. ¦ —with files from WCRC
‘The Need to Do Justice’
Theologians and activists met in Toronto in late November to discuss the theme of the World Council of Churches’ assembly, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.”
“Churches cannot challenge injustice if they do not recognize its entrenched presence within the Church itself,” the group said in the theological reflection it prepared. “[The message of Micah 6:8] reminds us of the need to do justice, since it is not an object to be obtained, a destination to be reached or an intellectual ideology to be imagined, but a reality achieved through radical concrete action.”
The group of 25 theologians and activists make up the WCC’s working group on Just and Inclusive Communities. They consider the perspectives of racial and ethnic minorities, migrants, indigenous peoples, India’s Dalits (or members of the “untouchable” caste) and people with disabilities.
The group met at the headquarters of the United Church of Canada from Nov. 25 to 29.
The working group also made a series of suggested revisions to documents intended for the upcoming WCC assembly in Busan, South Korea, which is scheduled from Oct. 30 to Nov. 8.
For more information on the assembly or the WCC, see oikoumene.org ¦ —CW
