It is almost a decade since the Presbyterian Record left the umbrella of the church governance to become a federally incorporated not-for-profit to continue publishing the magazine founded in 1876 by Montreal businessman and journalist James Croil.
The board of directors, who govern the Record, has also increased to 11 from nine and will add another position next year. So it is a good time to introduce the directors.
Michael Munnik, an Ottawa-based journalist who grew up in the West, leads the board. Prior to becoming a director, Mike contributed a number of articles to the Record. Mike is also an elder at Knox, Ottawa.
The two longest-serving members of the board are Sandra Demson and Mary Chudley. Both joined in 2005.
Sandra is also one of two lawyers on the board. An elder at Rosedale, Toronto, she recently retired from private family law practice in the city. Sandra is also a former vice-president of the Canadian Council of Churches.
Mary Chudley currently works in the field of health administration. Prior to that, she was Youth in Mission coordinator for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, based in Montreal. Alison Toscano joined the board with Mike Munnik in 2006. Alison attends Unionville Church in Ontario, and is director of operations at Supply Chain & Logistics Association Canada, a non-profit organization of business professionals interested in improving their logistics and supply chain management skills. She is also president of A Toscano Consultants Ltd.
Four directors joined the board in 2007: David Blaikie, Duncan Cowie, Brooke Klassen and Rev. Fred Speckeen.
David Blaikie is a member of St. David’s, Halifax, where he is a professor of law at Dalhousie Law School. A graduate of both Harvard’s law and divinity schools, David is co-author of The Legal Guide for Canadian Churches.
When he joined the board, Duncan Cowie lived in Aurora, Ont. Since then, he has moved first to Shanghai and more recently to Manila, where he is executive vice-president of international business services provider Transcom North America/Asia. Duncan is an elder at Thornhill Church, Ontario.
Brooke Klassen is undergraduate programs advisor at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan, and has embarked on her MBA. She holds a degree in commerce, specializing in marketing, and attends St. Andrew’s, Saskatoon.
Rev. Fred Speckeen is retired in name. He has travelled to about a third of the world’s countries, living and working in several as a missionary. He was president of four community and vocational colleges and has owned small businesses and served many boards of both for-profit and not-for-profit corporations.
In 2008, the board began reflecting on the expertise needed around the table to guide and govern the magazine and decided to add three positions by 2010, two this year.
Rev. Ian Fraser also retired from the board in the summer after seven dedicated years of service, the last four as convener. Ian was an eloquent and passionate promoter of the Record, as anyone who heard him address the past four assemblies will know. With Ian’s retirement, three new directors have joined the board.
John Barrett has spent most of his life involved in businesses of various sizes and has owned and sold several of them. These days he manages to clerk the session at Zion, Charlottetown, while spending about 100 days a year travelling across North America as director of sales, marketing and development for Veseys Seeds Ltd.
Norm Diffey is an elder at Paulin Memorial, Windsor, Ont., where he chairs the mission and outreach committee. He recently retired as a professor at the University of Windsor in the Faculty of Education and has spent many years teaching French and German in Quebec.
Rev. Maria Lallouet is minister of Community Presbyterian, Welland, Ont., and clerk of the Presbytery of Niagara. She brings not only long experience in the church to the table but prior to emigrating to Canada, she was a journalist in Hungary for 15 years.
Given the challenges facing magazine publishers today, we are grateful for the time these people give to oversee the magazine’s operations.
A word of apology for the late delivery of your October issue. October was also the launch of the Record‘s annual appeal. Thank you to those who have already sent in their donations and a gentle reminder to those readers who have yet to do so.
